Setting Boundaries in Academia
Resist the pressure to work at an inhumane pace.
Academic advisors are rarely able to provide the level of support students need, and that’s why so many graduate students struggle.
Our work together is about developing personalized strategies and systems of support so you can thrive in your graduate program.
My brain felt like mush and was ready to turn off for three weeks.
I was looking forward to plopping myself down onto the couch and re-watching Madam Secretary. I just had to stay present for one more meeting before winter break could start.
I sat in my advisor’s office, describing how my first semester’s finals as a PhD student went. After ten minutes of small talk, they changed the subject.
“I wanted to catch you before you left for the holidays. Since you’ll be on my research team next semester, there’s a book you need to be familiar with. Please read this during the winter break.”
They slid across the table, a thick book. It looked to be about five-hundred pages. A part of me internally withered and mourned for my couch rotting plans.
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Luckily, that was my first and only winter break where I did work for my abusive advisor. Even though I switched advisors, I still spent the following winter breaks preparing conference submissions, journal article proposals for special issues, and grant applications.
Academia may follow the Gregorian calendar time wise, but not deadline wise. It follows the precarious manhood calendar—if you’re not working towards something every week, you’re obviously doing something wrong.
As the holidays are coming up and you’re looking forward to the break, you might learn the hard way that academia doesn’t believe in breaks. Thanksgiving and winter breaks don’t mean time for rest. It means time away from classes to focus on research, conference proposal deadlines, grant deadlines, etc.
There are no boundaries in academia. You’re encouraged to abandon yourself. The less grounded you are, the more susceptible you are to dehumanizing yourself and others. Maybe you’re already feeling burnt out.
You don’t need permission, but if you really need to hear it from someone, I’ll say it. It’s okay to take breaks throughout your graduate program. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in academia, it means you’re human. Your body refuses to function at a pace set by greedy colonizers.
Here are some tips I recommend as you make your way to the end of the academic term. Setting academic boundaries can look like:
Replying to emails when your schedule and workload permit
Silencing email notifications after work hours
Stopping research after a certain hour
Eating consistent meals at a designated time
You are a scholar and a researcher, not a mule at someone’s beck and call. Take the time you need to rest, be present with your loved ones, and restore yourself so that you can continue pursuing your degree with fresh energy.
How do you set boundaries during your program? Let me know in the comments!
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