Getting My Life Together for Professors: How to Eliminate/Negotiate/Delegate in the Academy

If you have ever attended one of my “Work/Life Balance for Academics” workshops, you are familiar with the strategy that I call Eliminate/Negotiate/Delegate.  In case you have never attended one of my workshops, I outline the strategy for Academics (professors, administrators, etc.) below.
 
In the last blog post we discussed how to use this strategy at Home.  In today’s post, we will review this strategy with an emphasis on responsibilities as professors and administrators in the Academy.
 
Follow these steps for the Eliminate/Negotiate/Delegate strategy to begin getting your life together and feeling more balanced in your responsibilities as in the Academy.
 
Step One.  Figure out what you are doing and what needs to be done.

1. Write down your roles and responsibilities in this area (e.g. research, teaching/mentoring, clinical/lab work, grants, service, other demands – like conferences, initiatives, administrative duties, and so on).
   
2. Write down the things that need to be done but are falling through the cracks in your Academic work.
3. How you feel about everything on this list?  What does it bring up for you?
4. Go through your list and determine what you can Eliminate/Negotiate/Delegate using the following steps.

Step Two.  ELIMINATE

1. ELIMINATE:  to completely remove or get rid of something, exclude from consideration or further participation.
2. Review your list and think about what items can be eliminated (i.e., you just stop doing them and realize that the world will keep turning and your quality of life might actually improve significantly).
3. What are your strategies for determining what to eliminate?

 
Step Three. NEGOTIATE

1. NEGOTIATE: to try to reach an agreement to compromise by discussion with others, to find a way over or through an obstacle, to transfer over to another person.
2. Think about what items can be negotiated with others.  This requires having a frank discussion with your colleagues/co-authors/research team at work to assess the status of the committee, project, publication, etc. and create a viable action plan to move things forward.  The objective of the discussion is to negotiate a redistribution of the responsibilities on the committee, project, publication, etc. in a fair and equitable way.
3. What are your strategies for determining what to negotiate?

 
Step Four.  DELEGATE

1. DELEGATE: to entrust to another person, to send or authorize someone to do something as a representative.
2. Think about what home services can be delegated or contracted out – paying someone else to do it (e.g. research assistance, editing, transcribing, indexing, permissions, statistician - the possibilities are endless!)
3. What are your strategies for determining what to delegate?

 
Once you have determined what you can Eliminate/Negotiate/Delegate with your Academic duties, your original list from Step One above should be a bit more manageable.  If not, consider what is keeping you from letting go of some of these to do items. 
 
Do you actually really like being busy, spread too thin, and stressed out all the time?  Are you afraid of being judged as a slacker if you stop trying to be all things to all people?  Do you enjoy the sense of control you feel by doing everything in your department, at your institution, in your professional organization?  Do you like it when everyone has to come through you to get anything?  No judgment here - just some things to think about.
 
In my own Academic work, I recently stepped down from directing a recruitment program and from co-editing a journal.  I also declined some very interesting and exciting conference and publication invitations.  All worthy and important projects, but not for me at this time.  Saying no to these responsibilities has empowered me to say yes to more time for reflection and intentional action, more room (mental and physical space) to b-r-e-a-t-h-e.  As an added bonus, I am not dreading deadlines imposed by others.  I have no regrets about the things I have Eliminated/Negotiated/Delegated.
 
- Kathryn T. Gines, Ph.D.
 
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I am offering 100 complimentary 15-minute "Insight-Sessions."  The 15-minute Insight-Session is designed to offer you 15 uninterrupted minutes to gain greater insight into your (self-identified) BIGGEST challenge and PRIMARY goal.  (My signature areas of specialization have been work, life, wellness, balance, and bliss.  We can focus on one of these areas or you are welcome to identify another topic or concern.)
 
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