How to manage the middle

Plus more f-bombs than usual. If you prefer your profanity with symbols in the place of vowels and/or say “gosh darn it” when you violently stub your toe, maybe skip this one.

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

I was enjoying a beautiful winter run last Sunday when I overheard my own thinking. It went like this:

Right foot: “Fuck”

Left foot: silence

Right: “Off”

Left: silence

Right (a little louder): “Fuck”

Left: silence

Right (louder still): “Off”

Left: silence

“That’s strange,” I thought. It was really a beautiful run. So I picked up the pace to try to outrun my thoughts. Result:

Right: “Fuck” Left: “Off”

Right: “Fuck” Left: “Off”

Right: “Fuck” Left: “Off”

Right: “Fuck” Left: “Off”

Huh. 

Who or what my brain was hurling invective at? Particular people? My not-as-fast-as-before self? The snow beneath my feet?

And then I recognized the target: the middle.

I am currently at or near many middle points. Middle of the semester. Middle of a big project. Middle of my current academic leadership term. Middle of winter. 

And compared to beginnings and ends, middles can kind of suck.

The beginning (of a semester, project, position, program, season) is defined by excitement, big plans, and momentum. The end has feelings of accomplishment, stories of hard-won glories, the anticipation and then the reality of celebratory cake, and of course the satisfaction of being done. 

But the middle? It is often a lot of work and slog. It is slow processes, people not getting along, students unhappy with grades, dark mornings and dark evenings (in my corner of the world, at least), waiting on reviews, waiting on responses, and knowing others are waiting on me for things I haven’t gotten to yet.

The middle is incremental actions and small moves forward, rather than the big steps imagined at the beginning or the big achievements celebrated at the end. For Brady Bunch fans, it is poor Jan, rather than vivacious Marcia or adorable Cindy.

But – and this is important – the middle is where shit gets done. The middle is the part that really matters, because it fulfils the promise of the beginning and creates the celebrations of the end. 

So clearly I need an attitude adjustment. If you are in a similar boat, today’s small thing to try immediately might be of interest.

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Manage the middle carefully

The middle is the long part. Sometimes it is the loooooonnnnnnnngggggggggg part. So you need to have a plan. I suggest the following:

Recognize and label the frustration. Acknowledge that the middle (of a semester, project, position, program, season) is often frustrating. In fact, this frustration is predictable. As I have discussed before, we should simply prepare for predictable things. So just label it: “I am in the middle (of whatever) and it can be frustrating at times.”

Avoid making rash or annoyance-based decisions. My university roommate’s mother used to tell her, “Never make important decisions after dark.” As my online shopping history demonstrates, this is sage advice. And I think it extends to the middle. Avoid making important decisions when you are in the middle. Now is probably not the time to dump your coauthor(s). Now is almost certainly not the time to decide that after you are done with this project you are never, ever researching this topic again. Now is definitely NOT the time to get bangs. Instead, listen to the 2001 Jimmy Eat World rock classic, “The Middle”, and remember that “you’re in the middle of the ride” and “it just takes some time”. And if you do feel like making consequential decisions, be sure to read my post about “how to know when to fold ‘em.”

Determine and celebrate the milestones. We often celebrate the beginning and the end. (If you don’t do this already, I encourage you to start. Life needs more celebrations.) The middle is the longest stage and it is important to find opportunities for celebration along the way. So select or create a few milestones and clearly mark them. Take your team out for a celebration lunch. Tell your students that you are the midpoint in the term and have a discussion about what they have learned so far. Gather your coauthors together for a Zoom meeting in which you share a toast to your accomplishments thus far. Buy yourself a cake and share it with loved ones. The longer the middle is, the more milestones you should determine and celebrate. Multiple opportunities for cake!

Keep moving forward. Trust that you will successfully reach the end (of the semester, project, position, program, season) and take whatever next small step is necessary. It may be slow. It may be frustrating. It may, at times, cause your brain to hurl invectives at the world during a beautiful winter run. But to again quote Jimmy Eat World, “just do your best, do everything you can”.

Forward is forward. You’ve got this.

Until next time…

What are your own strategies for managing the middle? Is cake involved? Please hit “comment” or reply to this email and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. The video for the Jimmy Eat World song is, in my opinion, pretty terrible. I suggest not watching it. But it is a great song for running or working out!

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time binge-watching television and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the  Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. I am the author of University Affair’s Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are  Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science.