How to pace yourself over the few months

Plus a running story, F-bombs, song lyrics, and a shoutout to a cartoon classic.

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

When I was in my mid-twenties and a relatively inexperienced runner, I signed up for a 5K. I was living in Dallas, Texas on a nine-month Fulbright scholarship and saw this as a rare opportunity to participate in the type of massive road race that we don’t have on the Canadian prairie.

When the race started I was swept up with the energy and momentum of the thousands of runners around me. I was running faster than I should be and I quickly realized this. I forced myself to slow down and was feeling more confident. But then, up ahead, I saw him. A fit-looking guy with a red bandana and the kind of smug jock frat boy look that inspired the German word “backpfeifengesicht”. The kind of guy who felt entitled to make demeaning comments to me about my body size in high school. The kind of guy who I disliked on sight.

My eyes narrowed. I picked up my pace. I started to close the gap and then I narrowed it some more. I pushed harder. “Ha ha!”, I thought as I passed him, “Fuck you, dude.”

A minute later, a tiny octogenarian resembling Mr. Magoo blew past me, taking my momentary self-satisfaction along with him. 

I learned valuable things at that race. I learned that knowing I need to pace myself is not the same thing as actually pacing myself. I learned that certain (types of) people bring out my competitive side, and not in a good way. And I learned that if I am not going to choose humility, life will choose it for me. 

I have been thinking about the issue of pacing since the start of the month. In my corner of academia, we are early into the spring-summer period, which runs May-August. The busy fall and winter terms are finally behind us (🥳 🎉🎆) and we finally have time to work on All The Things. Conference season is only weeks away and there are projects to move forward and papers to write and grant applications to be submitted in the fall. There is much to do, and time is moving fast, and holy crap it is already the middle of May. Perhaps if I just pick up the pace a bit…

Does this resonate with your own thinking at all? If so, that’s what today’s small thing to try immediately is about, so you are in the right place.  (Southern Hemisphere colleagues, please adapt the ideas to suit your circumstances!)

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Slow the Fuck Down

In the words of one of my favourite Simon and Garfunkel songs, “Slow down, you move too fast. You’ve got to make the morning last.” The same applies to spring and summer in Canada - blink three times and it is gone. It needs to be savoured and enjoyed.

But in my experience and observation, it is common for academics to treat spring and summer as a months-long sprint of work and productivity and effort. We start with high expectations that we will write a certain amount per week, even if we have never written at that level for a sustained period before. We set goals to “produce” a certain number of papers or chapters or applications or all of the above, despite the fact that we are tired from the fall and winter terms and working with others who are also tired. We assume that the pace we can (maybe) achieve for a week or possibly a month can be sustained for months on end — and expect the same of those working with us. And then we are disappointed in ourselves and our teams that our human bodies and minds living human lives cannot keep up the pace.

Unrealistic plans and unsustainable paces are cruel to your team, your present self, and your future self. They are plans for failure and burnout. So: slow the fuck down.

“That’s fine for you to say, Loleen,” you might be thinking, “but I need to finish my dissertation/book/grant proposal/multiple articles/data collection/insert-your-own-thing-here.” Fair enough - and even more reason to set a sustainable pace, in my opinion. Here are some steps to do so:

1. Have a reason you want to pace yourself. Some possible reasons (select all that apply to you) are:

✔️I want to protect my mental health and avoid burnout.

✔️I want to retain my team members and respect their wellbeing.

✔️I want to spend more time with my family, friends, cats, and the neighbours’ dog.

✔️I live in a place where it is winter for 5+ months of the year and a nasty winter at that and it is finally nice out and I want to enjoy time outside, dammit.

✔️The last year was a lot to deal with and I need a bit of time to reenergize and recover.

✔️I am more productive when I am not pushing myself so hard.

✔️Some other reason(s) not listed above.

2. Identify a realistic pace in terms of work hours and anticipated output. Then pick a pace slower than that, because you are human and thus may be delusional in your expectations for yourself and others. The fact is, your work speed is your work speed. You likely have a range of speeds (days when you are in the flow and getting shit done, days that you are just chipping away and moving stuff along), but chances are good that your productivity over the next few months is going to fall within that range. So embrace that. More specifically, embrace the lower end of that range. Assume that you will be just chipping away rather than churning stuff out. And assume this of the people you work with as well.

3. Be aware of things or people that are likely to trigger your impulse to exceed your pace. It is highly possible that you will encounter your own “red bandana backpfeifengesicht dude” in the months ahead. This might be a colleague who is publishing three books this year, or a colleague who just won a major grant and has a book coming out, or a colleague who claims to be on track to submit three or thirteen or thirty-gazzillion articles by August 31. The temptation to think shitty thoughts about yourself and then try to keep up will be strong. So you need to be stronger. Remember why you want to pace yourself. Remember what a reasonable pace is for you, with your circumstances and realities. And then let them do their thing and pretend to be happy for them. You’ve got your own pace to maintain.

Until next time…

What is a reasonable pace for you for the months ahead? How do you plan to ensure you don’t exceed this? Please reply or comment to let me know. I do love hearing from you. 

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. I do want to note for the record that it is entirely possible that the red bandana backpfeifengesicht dude was and is a lovely human being. I humbly apologize to him for my unfair thoughts about him while I was KICKING HIS ASS. 

Sigh. I learn nothing over time, do I? 

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