On leisure and the academic lifestyle | Virtual Canuck.
I often see posts from academics about how demanding and busy the lifestyle is. For some reason most of the posts I’ve seen like this come from faculty in Education. I won’t (at least for now) speculate on why that might be. And to be fair, I also know academics in Education who don’t talk about how busy they are – perhaps because they’re too busy.
Now, in the interests of full disclosure, I don’t know Dr. Anderson well and I am not trying imply that his post is anything but genuine – I’m simply pointing to it because it came across my screen today and made me think about the many other posts like this I’ve seen. Dr. Anderson’s post certainly seems to indicate that his own life is pretty well balanced in spite of the demands placed upon him by his avocation. I also know that he has a pretty solid publication record and a sound reputation. That can mean that he does indeed work very hard and it is also possible that he has actually earned all of the praise he has been given.
I say can because I also know academics with impressive publication records who didn’t actually write most of the publications that bear their names (or even do the research). I know academics who hand out faculty teaching award nominations to their own students before their final grades are in (can you say, abuse of power?) I know faculty who nominate themselves for every award they can find, and who go to great lengths to make themselves look good. I take it all with a grain of salt now. Appearances are not always what they seem to be.
A few academics have great integrity; a few are total shysters; the odd one is downright dangerous; most fall somewhere in the middle.
I’ve been an academic for > 30 years. I often hear about how demanding it is to be an academic and how carefully we must balance our lives in order to meet all of our obligations. Some people post itineraries of what they do during a ‘typical’ day to prove how busy they are. I’ve done that too. It’s fun – but it’s self serving. Admit it.
While I’ll grant there are some who really are as busy as they say they are, most aren’t. It’s easy to waste a lot of time during a day. I’m not even trying to imply that that’s wrong – I think it’s important to putz around sometimes, to yak about silliness, and sometimes just to stare out the window or straighten all your pens in your drawer. That’s not what gets under my skin. What gets under my skin is the pretense that people are busy and dedicated when they really aren’t. It’s dishonest. It’s also part of what fuels the image of the Academy that many people from ‘outside’ have.
We should be honest.
Academics are neither unique nor particularly deserving of admiration when it comes to juggling a busy life.
I’ve also been a part-time farmer for 25 years. Many of the full-time farmers I know work considerably harder than any academic I’ve ever met – for far fewer rewards, no benefits, no pension, no health plan or wellness perks, and, often, no holidays (ever) and very little income. Curiously, I almost NEVER hear these people talking about how busy their lives are and how hard it is to balance their profession with their family and other things. Mostly, they just do the best they can. And surprisingly, most of them say they love the life they have.
There’s an old joke about the farmer who wins millions of dollar in a lottery. When asked what he’s going to do with the money, he says, “It means I can keep farming for a few more years.” I know it’s just a joke, but it actually does reflect the attitude of many of the farmers I know.
How many academics would keep doing what they’re doing if they won millions of dollars?
One of the things that a wise person once told me was that there are two ways to be rich: Have more, and want less.
As far as genuinely feeling busy and not being: anxiety does that. Beating both of these things is my goal for this year. Be happier with less, and worry much, much less. I don’t know how academics propose to beat it, where it exists.