Balanced Life Chart

Image by Kim Carney

Reproduced with permission

Balanced Life: Myth or Possibility?

Tracking what you're doing on a daily basis can help you realize what is missing in your life.

The latest issue of my newsletter, entitled "Get a Life! A Chart for Living a Balanced Life(Even if You're an Academic)" just came out on Wednesday. In it, I wrote about the fact that academics feel that they're never good enough and that there's always someone better than them. Both of these factors, among others, lead to a guilt-caused imbalance in their lives. You can find the PDF of the Balanced Life Chart here:

Balanced Life Chart

You are Worthy, so Reward Yourself

One way to motivate you to take some time for yourself is for you to notice what you are accomplishing on a daily basis.

If you realize how much you're accomplishing, then you will feel that you deserve to take time to savor a cup of tea, to schedule a lunch or squash game with friends, or to read a book for pleasure!

So, reward yourself in a way that is meaningful to you. It doesn't have to be food, you don't have to buy anything. Your own reward may be spending time with the kids, or it may be hiring a babysitter so you can sit in the park. Small rewards that are meaningful, even symbolic -- it could be something like lighting a candle, meditating or taking a short walk, all help you feel better about yourself and your life.

I created (along with the help of one of my brilliant clients), a Reward Chart. I'm providing a download of the Balanced Life Chart in a Word Doc format, so that you can modify it as you need. You can download it here.

Reward Chart

Feel free to change the categories, delete categories, change the size and shape, etc. The idea is to give yourself credit for the things you do already, and then REWARD YOURSELF FOR NUMBER OF MINUTES SPENT WRITING DAILY. Sorry for shouting. Do not reward yourself for accomplishing something like finishing a chapter. Reward yourself for EFFORT!

Comments

Academic Exhaustion Syndrome: Four Recovery Strategies

The semester’s over. If you’re anything like the academics I coach, you feel like death warmed over. Those last stacks of grading got done on sheer will, determination and fumes. And this is before considering your writing deadlines, committee responsibilities, and other demands. You are suffering from Academic Exhaustion Syndrome. Academic Exhaustion Syndrome (an advanced, more scholarly state of burn out) is a state of emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, ending with grading, over the course of the semester and academic year. As the stress continues, you begin to lose interest and motivation to work, you have fantasies of standing up and screaming in the middle of a meeting, and you wonder what temporary loss of reality testing made you decide to become an academic. This dreaded Syndrome can: Reduce your productivity and saps your energy Make you irritable and have thoughts of strangling an undergraduate Make you feel like you have nothing more to g

"ABD" -- what does it really mean?

I thought I knew what the definition of ABD was. It was exactly the same as defined here in Carnegie Mellon's University Doctoral Candidate Policies for All But Dissertation (ABD) : After the completion of all formal degree requirements other than the completion of and approval of the doctoral dissertation and the public final examination, doctoral candidates shall be regarded as All But Dissertation(ABD). I have, though, occasionally run into the term ABD being used as a somewhat disparaging designation for one who fulfills the formal degree requirements of the Ph.D. but never finishes the dissertation, and then quits the program. Most recently, I saw it in What They Didn' t Teach You in Graduate School: 199 Helpful Hints for Success in Your Academic Career , by Paul Gray and David E. Drew. Number 9 of their helpful hints is one that I strongly agree with: "Remember that a Ph.D. is primarily an indication of survivorship." They go on to say, "You stuck wi

The Second Holiday Writing Challenge for Academics

Here's a little boost for those who need a little kickstart to write over the holidays. I first offered a Holiday Writing Challenge back in 2005, so I'd say it's about time to do it again. Here's what you do: Post in the comment section: what you'd like to work on (if anything) over the holidays, and the maximum amount of time you'd like to spend on it daily . Please keep this time limit reasonable and low unless you're under huge deadline pressure -- in which case you don't need this challenge in order to get something done! Whether you're a professor or a grad student, make sure you get a copy of the Dissertation Toolkit. These tools will give you more information and tips for productive and creative writing. For those of you who have had trouble making yourself write, you may want to start with VERY short writing goals . Even 5 or 10 minutes will be enough to get you jumpstarted. Don't go more than 25 or 30 minutes withou

academiblog

Search This Blog