Great advice! I’ve worked only at small teaching focused schools, so some advice or point of view does differ. One thing I heard too late in my career relates to goals but also time, balance, and self-preservation. Commit to a maximum number of things in any job category, basically, based on personal needs, goals, etc. Illustration: do you get requests to do keynotes or conferences that involve travel, money, etc? How many of these will you do in any 12-month period? The person who offered this example said she commits to two a year because otherwise, she’s away from young kids when she doesn’t want to be. The first two good such offers get her “yes,” and the rest get her “what about for next year…?” This also soothes decision fatigue, endless cost/benefit analyses, and overload. She’s able to commit to X number of whatever in any given 12-month period and that’s what she does. “Time budgeting” based in clear priorities, needs, etc. For me, this approach also soothes the ego/fear — what if no one ever asks me again…? — that always created overcommitted stress, anxiety, racing for little pots of funding ($200 for an $1800 trip), etc.
I’ve also taught a tonnnn of courses. New preps annually, or overloads, or all-college new courses. Advice about NOT doing this is helpful for this who teach a lot, have large enrollments, etc. Finally: choose 1 or 2 goals for teaching each year, minor tweaks. Example: one August I decided I wanted to eradicate “you guys” in my speech. So that was a big goal. Accomplishing it was good and didn’t make me feel like I was coasting in my teaching. It was enough.
This is SUCH great advice! Thanks so much for chiming in Ree. Setting boundaries is so good, otherwise things definitely start to "creep" in unhealthy ways. Appreciate you!
Great advice! I’ve worked only at small teaching focused schools, so some advice or point of view does differ. One thing I heard too late in my career relates to goals but also time, balance, and self-preservation. Commit to a maximum number of things in any job category, basically, based on personal needs, goals, etc. Illustration: do you get requests to do keynotes or conferences that involve travel, money, etc? How many of these will you do in any 12-month period? The person who offered this example said she commits to two a year because otherwise, she’s away from young kids when she doesn’t want to be. The first two good such offers get her “yes,” and the rest get her “what about for next year…?” This also soothes decision fatigue, endless cost/benefit analyses, and overload. She’s able to commit to X number of whatever in any given 12-month period and that’s what she does. “Time budgeting” based in clear priorities, needs, etc. For me, this approach also soothes the ego/fear — what if no one ever asks me again…? — that always created overcommitted stress, anxiety, racing for little pots of funding ($200 for an $1800 trip), etc.
I’ve also taught a tonnnn of courses. New preps annually, or overloads, or all-college new courses. Advice about NOT doing this is helpful for this who teach a lot, have large enrollments, etc. Finally: choose 1 or 2 goals for teaching each year, minor tweaks. Example: one August I decided I wanted to eradicate “you guys” in my speech. So that was a big goal. Accomplishing it was good and didn’t make me feel like I was coasting in my teaching. It was enough.
This is SUCH great advice! Thanks so much for chiming in Ree. Setting boundaries is so good, otherwise things definitely start to "creep" in unhealthy ways. Appreciate you!
Great advice, and congrats on reaching this amazing milestone!
Thank you so much Jillian!