How to Survive & Thrive in Academia: Finding Work-Life Balance

Video Description

I discuss work-life balance and its challenges, particularly in academia. I address common misconceptions about work-life balance and why academics often struggle with it, including competitive funding, positions, and inadequate leadership. I also discuss the science behind work-life balance, covering concepts like depletion, enrichment, the spillover effect, peak-end theory, delayed gratification, and the impact of daily fluctuations. Then, I separately discuss the general work anxiety and the anxiety caused by supervisors, offering possible practical solutions for students and postdocs. Finally, I share actionable tips on how to improve work-life balance in your own lab. Follow Dr. Andrew Akbashev: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-akbashev/ X: https://x.com/Andrew_Akbashev Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.akbashev/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewakbashev Website: andrewakbashev.com 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - If your situation is critical PART 1: Misconceptions & Reasons for Imbalance 01:03 - Misconceptions about work-life balance 02:22 - Definition of work-life balance 03:52 - Why academics struggle with work-life balance 04:21 - Reason 1: Highly competitive funding 07:01 - Reason 2: Highly competitive positions 08:39 - Reason 3: Inadequate group leaders 09:36 - Work-life balance as "a risk to productivity" PART 2: General Aspects 10:39 - Finding your happiness 13:18 - Switching labs in academia is hard PART 3: The Science of Work-Life Balance 15:03 - Depletion & Enrichment 16:59 - The spillover effect 18:31 - Daily fluctuations and Peak-End theory 20:19 - Delayed Gratification theory 21:34 - Your work role as an enriching factor 24:11 - Occasional rewards are insufficient 24:21 - Temporary setbacks 26:06 - Boundary theory and control of spillover PART 4: Summary from the Research 28:46 - What is work-life balance 29:47 - The sense of balance changes regularly 30:17 - Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations 31:39 - Clear separation between work and life 35:28 - Transient depletion 36:12 - Communication apps and devices 37:30 - Context-dependent association PART 5: How Professors & Admins Can Improve Work-Life Balance 39:49 - The right to disconnect 40:21 - Commuting 41:10 - Clear expectations and help people say "No" 41:49 - Mentorship 43:33 - Minority and female scientists 44:26 - Avoid extrinsic motivations 45:22 - Prompt others to discuss work-life balance PART 6: Rationalizing Your Work-Life Balance 46:52 - Intro 47:33 - Approach 1: Self-reflection 49:18 - Approach 2: Journaling 51:04 - Approach 3: Creating lists and connecting the dots 55:05 - Approach 4: Understand your personal traits & personality 56:47 - Approach 5: Seek professional help PART 7: Work Anxiety That is Not Caused by Advisors 58:39 - Intro 59:02 - Talk to your advisor 1:02:49 - Externalization 1:04:01 - Comparing yourself to others 1:04:52 - Poorly designed experiments 1:06:48 - Don't work from home (if possible) 1:07:47 - "NO" to more duties 1:10:13 - Discussing overwork with an advisor 1:10:40 - Sleep PART 8: Work Anxiety Caused by Supervisors 1:12:21 - Intro & general advice 1:16:39 - Communicate feeling pushed too much 1:17:40 - Stay healthy, focused and sane 1:20:08 - Seek advice from experienced people 1:21:46 - Group-wide discussion with a supervisor 1:23:23 - Seek multiple sources of advice 1:24:32 - Applying for PhD fellowships 1:25:34 - Changing the lab PART 9: How to Improve Work-Life Balance in Your Lab 1:27:06 - Intro 1:27:27 - Work ownership 1:28:10 - Failures are experiences 1:29:13 - Feedback system 1:30:06 - Students seeking help from each other 1:31:10 - Frequent overwork 1:32:05 - Personal life 1. This is an important discussion of core principles of work-life balance and conceptual frameworks in this field: Rothbard et al. Balancing the scales: A configurational approach to work-life balance. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior (2021), 8.1, 73-103. 2. This paper discusses the importance of saying “NO” and the challenges that ‘people pleasers’ face in academic and research environment. Quinn & Hartland-Grant. The importance of personality and personal beliefs for understanding work-life balance in higher education. Studies in Higher Education (2024), 1-12. Other references: Azevedo et al. Examining junior faculty work-life balance in public affairs programs in the United States. Journal of Public Affairs Education (2020), 26, 416-436. Wayne et al. In Search of Balance: A Conceptual and Empirical Integration of Multiple Meanings of Work–Family Balance. Personnel Psychology (2017), 70, 167-210. Larson et al. Reflections on tenure, the two-body problem, and retention in the 21st century academy. Journal of Public Affairs Education (2020), 26, 506-530. Some tips on how to take breaks during the day: https://hbr.org/2023/05/how-to-take-better-breaks-at-work-according-to-research