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Quotes

"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"
Facilitator: Dr. James A. Knight, Jr.

Favorite Strategies from the Group

What are the things you do that help you bring balance to your life? In a workshop for College of Agriculture women faculty and year-to-year professionals, each woman shared one of her favorite strategies. Jim Knight added some suggestions based on his own experiences and ideas he has collected from his years as an educator and consultant. Summary follows:

Keep your environment orderly. Having stacks around can equal pressure.

Attitude is everything. Attitude can help you view the glass as half full rather than half empty.

I have learned to say "NO." Saying no can be very difficult but sometimes it is the right answer.

My family has to have a certain amount of priority. In the long run what is RIGHT FOR YOU is the most important consideration.

I set aside "inviolate" time (both daily and weekly) for research, exercise, my family.

At all costs I try to avoid coming in on weekends any more. Looking back I really don’t know how much more I accomplished but I do know it took its toll on me emotionally and physically as well.

Get enough sleep.

Know what time of day you do your best work. Find out when you are really at your best and do your most important work then.

I take a family time out. I do not do any work from 7:00-10:00 p.m. That means there are nights that I start working at ten o’clock which means I get less sleep. I can do it for three or four nights in a row but not indefinitely. It’s a trade off.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Take your work seriously but yourself lightly.

Don’t take work home. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Additional comments: I take a lot of stuff home and wind up not really doing it after all. If I take it home and don’t do it, it creates more guilt.

If I have to go to a meeting I really don’t want to go to, I reduce stress by playing the role of an actor portraying the way I want to be perceived by the audience.

Sometimes you have to remember: "I work to live not live to work."

"The sage has no difficulties because she confronts them." (This quote was posted by my computer all through graduate school.) Avoid all the little things that might cause you to procrastinate.

Sometimes we spend more energy worrying or fretting or stewing, when we would be better off just grabbing hold of the thing and getting it done.

I use "To do" lists and I check them off. It feels good. Another good thing about lists--you don’t have to worry about remembering all the things you have to do.

I started exercising about four years ago. Every morning I run and I organize what I have to do that day. Some of my best research ideas have occurred to me when I exercise.

I run as well but in order to make time for running, I try to eliminate time spent on the little things to do around the house. I call it "multi tasking"; when I am on the phone I am always doing other things as well (compliments of cordless phones). My family is grown and scattered so I am on the phone a lot; this is one way to get housework done and still have time to talk with them.

I gave myself permission to hire someone else to clean my house. There are a lot of things that I have to do at work so when I get away from work I am only going to do the things I really want to do. I decided to hire people to do some of that other stuff that has still got to be done.

Another choice is to delegate it. Negotiate the division of tasks at home. Spouses and kids can do some things. At work let students and TA’s do some tasks; don’t hold on to everything.

Upon completion of my Ph.D. my dissertation advisor said, "You obviously got this education because you wanted to do something that will give you satisfaction. Even if it takes almost your whole income pay people to do the things that you are not able to do around the house. Then you will get so much more satisfaction out of spending time with your children or your spouse or your work." I have used this to varying degrees throughout my career.

Sometimes I choose not to answer the telephone. I do 90 percent of my professional communication via e-mail. It lets me decide when I want to take time to do it, it lets me think about what the question is, and I can give a more rational response.

If I need something researched or found on the web, I will have one of the student workers do it because the web can be addictive. Two hours can go by in a hurry. I prefer to avoid temptation.