{ Work-Life Balance My two cents… Martine Ceberio Associate Professor of Computer Science.
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Transcript of { Work-Life Balance My two cents… Martine Ceberio Associate Professor of Computer Science.
{
Work-Life BalanceMy two cents…
Martine CeberioAssociate Professor of Computer Science
Because we need / want (?) to attend to both
Because we feel time-conflicted
Why Work-Life Balance?
Certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family
It's up to us as individuals to take control and responsibility for the type of lives that we want to lead. If you don't design your life, someone else will design it for you, and you may just not like their idea of balance.
We have to be careful with the time frame that we choose upon which to judge our balance. A day is too short; "after I retire" is too long. There's got to be a middle way.
We need to approach balance in a balanced way.
The small things matter. Being more balanced doesn't mean dramatic upheaval in your life.
Some interesting pointshttp://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work/transcript?language=en
Pick a career that will make you happy You need to know what you want Set your priorities and do your best to
stick to them There are all sorts of possible priorities
Take Control
There is no perfect day There is no need to postpone hope of
balance until retirement
Example: When I travel, there is no balance Just like on vacation, there is no balance
either But over time, you can achieve it
Be Realistic
As was said earlier, it depends on your career…
It depends on what you want I am going to focus on what I know:
Being a professor at a university With 2 children (almost 6, and 7)
How about an academic career?
Flexible Run by passion (of research, of teaching)
So that helps with “taking control”, doing what you like
Good things about this job
On the tenure track (and possibly beyond )
Pressure to produce scholarly work, to obtain funding
Challenge to balance Research / Teaching / Service
Trips away from home and family
Challenges for Work-Life Balance
80-hour weeks ~ 11-hour days, 7 days a week…
80-hour weeks before children Doable but consistently? I did it before children but did not make me
the most interesting person
80-hour weeks with children Has happened but was very exceptional Impossible in the long run, for me
What people say and some do
I set my priorities Family first: my children Resist pressure: e.g., tenure-clock stop
I yearn to achieve balance over time Weeks are my time-frame Some days are harder than others
How do I address that?
My experience Had my two children during tenure track Tenure-track lasted 8 years (stopped the tenure
clock twice) Took a summer off for my first child, an FMLA for
my second child, another FMLA for my mother’s illness
Had health issues Stopped working 80-hrs 3 years in
My tips Do what you like: resist pressure Stand for your values You do not want to get tenure on a job you do not
like, at an institution and with colleagues who do not share your values
It is possible!
Questions?