Wednesday, September 28, 2016

What I need

Some better way of relieving work-stress than 'getting the stuff stressing me out done'

Because I can't get stuff done fast enough for that to work the way it once did.

(Really hoping I'm not developing something like ADD. I know it can happen to adults but my ability to concentrate on stuff is not what it once was. And now I'm wondering if there are any over-the-counter things that could help so I don't have to do the whole round of SRS MEDS and having to "dial in" a dosage and feel like crud for maybe months while that is figured out.....)

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Also, one tiny epiphany while I was brushing my teeth, though I'm not sure if this is just me justifying things: I realized some of the people who have published a lot more are also people who have never taught during the summer, and I always have taught during the summer.

well, that's going to change next year, because I've decided my time is worth more than adjunct pay. And while I suppose it looks like shooting myself in the foot (some money is better than no money), I'm not teaching next summer and am doing research instead. So we'll see. If the upshot of them instituting PTR is that more research is expected of us, they're going to see people declining to do things they don't "have" to do, even if it means a smaller paycheck, so they can chase the elusive publications.

(I still love teaching but there is a lot about academia that I'm quickly becoming disillusioned about. Perhaps this is the form my midlife crisis takes? And if so, I'm a late bloomer with it, like with everything else - I'm closer to 50 than to 40 at this point.)

1 comment:

Kucki68 said...

In Germany they sell some Gingko based stuff that is supposed to help with concentration. Might be worth checking out.

I am glad you figured out that the other people are not teaching as much and possibly not putting that much heart blood in it as you do.

I hope you find something destressing and joyful!