Stress! Stress! Stress! (And Joy)
So, it is 8 on a Sunday morning (rather late, don’t you think?) and I’m at the computer. In front of me a todo list of making progress on a paper, make powerpoint for presentation next week and review an article for the journal of abc, fill out visa application, complete form xyz,… – all of this preferably before lunch, as I’m meeting a colleague to discuss some research (which will, no doubt add to the todo list). Sunday mornings are perfect – because it is nice and quiet and I can usually get a fair bit of work done. My partner (a GP, apparently one of the most stressful jobs you can have) is still asleep after a night out with friends – and has planned to do precisely nothing today. I can very well understand that, at first sight, I am all but supposed to be stressed. Very stressed probably! And while it’s true that I sometimes (ok, with some frequency) think that a nicely structured job like erm… a receptionist maybe?… sounds appealing, I wouldn’t want to swap jobs for the world. Of course, it is rather fashionable these days to speak of burn out, stress and how long we work. The latter is, of course a bit tricky for an academic… if your work is thinking, cogito ergo sum – non cogito ergo non sum!
So, it was rather nice to see a blog post claiming “Academia is not stressful“. Amusingly, it seems to have created quite some furious outcries and comments, especially of the sort that says: “Article written by PhD student – you just wait” or “Don’t you dare tell me, I haven’t achieved the badge of honour called complete burn out as yet!”. And while I do somewhat sympathise with the feeling that the todo-list seems to grow disproportionately longer as time passes (and having worked for a few years “outside” of academia) – I think Katie actually raises some pretty good points. Sure, there are dreadful aspects to the job, there are tasks that are terrible – and yes, most people I call my colleagues probably think the 60 hour week is something quite utopian. But, let’s face it, there are plenty of great aspects to the job – especially doing work most of the time that you want to do (or at least are interested in) – like your research. And while I’ve heard of vicious, backstabbing colleagues, I can assure everyone they are in the minority. To me, most of my colleagues are the types I’d like to spend my Sunday lunchtime with (as I will!). I’m also not easily stressed – so maybe that helps, too. But seriously – I would love to have a job just lying on a beach, watching the sun set and getting totally bored (in fact, put me on a beach and I get so cranky after an hour, that my partner has very kindly agreed never to try that again). So maybe it is time to chill a little – and put a hand up and say: You know what, dear whining people, I actually quite enjoy being an academic. And yes, it is stressful – but positively stressful. So there you go!
I love my job, too. I love the creativity, the space to think, the flexibility.
But it is stressful. The deadlines, the rejection, the many different audiences you need to engage with…
I suppose that part of the problem is that most people think this is not a difficult job and that you have lots of free time. They roll their eyes when you say you are busy or tired, whereas everyone will empathise with the stress GPs face.
The other challenge is that you do not have immediate feedback on how well you are doing. The true impact of your teaching is only visible years down the line. And as far as research and publications are concerned… Well, you know the drill.
Hopefully it won’t be too trite of me to note that academics, while under a lot of pressure, have a lot of control over the what and how of their work, and it’s that aspect of control that in the Whitehall Studies moderated the harmful outcomes of stress (like heart disease). It’s control in another guise, i.e. having enough skill for the task at hand, that in Csikszentmihalyi’s model combines with the right amount of arousal (stress) to produce ‘flow’, or peak experience, or as you put it, joy.
Yes there are times when it is difficult! There are times you feel ‘hurt’ when someone smashes your paper to pieces and makes you feel like you don’t know anything! There are times I feel like I never switch off. But..
I get to create ideas and see others share them
I ge to to help someone feel like they are reaching their potential, especially those who feel like they’ve been excluded from education.
Every so often I play a part in someone reaching their goals, like getting a PhD or an amazing job.
Yes I work Sundays and late nights as I work better at night, but I also get to take time when I need to. I am trusted to do my full hours and design my schedule (apart from classes!)
and…
I am sitting writing this on a table overlooking the South Luangwa River in Zambia watching hippos. I am sleeping in a roof tent in a camp where elephants walk through at night. In the day I interview people who yearn for the luxury of feeling ‘stressed’ and see the amazing people who are making real differences in peoples lives. Then I get the chance to share my experiences in the classroom. Getting the grant was ‘positively’ stressful. For the last 3 months travelling round on my fieldwork I have had many occasions to consider how much I enjoy being an academic and how lucky I am! I cannot think of a single thing I would rather do.
“it is less work that tires him than his way of doing it and the attitude of his mind towards doing it” … When it comes to stress for me personally it comes down to losing power (energy) in the thinking of useless thoughts, quite often they have nothing to do with work itself.
It has taken me a considerable amount of time to realise and admit that I spend much of my working time in ‘jellyfish’ condition (i.e. anxious about work needing to be done/fear of weather I will perform) – in fact this way of thinking/functioning paralyses the will and stagnates the mind. Loving what you do regardless of weather you’re an academic or a GP will always open up that second wind (perhaps even 3rd and 4th) pushing you through to the finishing line. Stress in fact can serve a great purpose, reminding us to focus on what needs to be done, obsessing about stress is what hinders the progress in my humble opinion.