Episode 2: When to work and when to rest: Strategies for sustaining energy at grad school

EPISODE 2

When to work and when to rest: Strategies for sustaining energy at grad school

With Tara and Melissa

If you are finding your attention is fractured, your motivation is low and challenges seem overwhelming, try balancing some rest with your work. In this episode, we explore a quintessential grad school dilemma of when to work and when to rest.

Given the endless nature of academic work and the societal myth that productivity defines our self-worth, understanding how to carve out strategic rest is a crucial skill that will support your work and health.

Audio-only version

Resources

This collection of resources has been carefully curated to examine the sneaky cultural messages about breaks, the powerful research on the importance of rest for sustainable performance and provide you with practical strategies to help you carve out restorative breaks.

Structured distraction: how to make the most of your breaks at work

Dr. Anne-Laure LeCunff shares compelling evidence for why breaks are important to your work and then shares some ideas for how to incorporate them into your workflow.

How Resting More Can Boost Your Productivity

Here are five ways to incorporate more rest and rejuvenation into your work day.

Effective Academic Project Management for Starts with Self-Honoring – The Academic Writers’ Space

When you started graduate school you might not have realized you would need to be a project manager. Project management skills are rarely part of the

8 Lessons from High Performers

Nick Petrie’s research on sustaining healthy high performance in the workplace is practical and actionable for the challenges facing grad students. Discover habits you can adopt that help with the limitless work and unstructured time. As he puts it: “The work is endless, your energy is not.”

Your todo list will always be there (and that’s OK)

Claudia Hammond encourages graduate students to practice leaving your to-do list unfinished and to let it “function as a memory aid rather than a moral scorecard.”

How much work is enough work

Research suggests we may only have 4 hours of creative work in us each day. Many innovators have short work schedules to recharge their creative batteries.

Willingness: The Essential Skill for Processing Emotions

In this video Emma McAdam explains the concept of willingness from Acceptance and Commitment therapy. You might try this approach to help you to take breaks when feelings like guilt or anxiety get in the way.

‘Laziness Does Not Exist’ and Other Realities of Productivity Culture

Synopsis: Dr. Devon Price, is a social psychologist, writer, activist, and professor at Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Continuing and Professional …

Explore Dr. Karen Costa’s Scope of Practice

The scope of practice tool is designed to help faculty take care of themselves and their students. Consider filling it in for yourself as a way to get intentional about what you take on and to resist the pull to do more than is sustainable. We have our own version with grad examples below.

Tools

GSA TOOLS & RESOURCES

My Scope of Practice

Adapted from Dr. Karen Costa’s scope of practice template for faculty.

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Graduate Student Resources

In collaboration with the Graduate Student Association at the University of Guelph, join us as we explore the emotional demands of graduate school and share some of our favourite insights and tools.

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