Academic Minimalism

My department is embracing a work/life balance theme this semester. Several lively discussions have already ensued as we figure out what work/life balance is/could be in academia and how we want to approach it. At the end of the last discussion we decided to start with each of us setting our own intention. We also discussed different ways to share this intention as well as a potential #hashtag campaign for our theme.

I’ve never done well with New Year’s Resolutions and prefer to use a word theme to guide my year. This year my word is Create. I want to create more and consume less and when I consume I want to be more mindful of what and how I’m consuming.I want to create photographs, bread, and poetry. I want to create experiences and memories. I want to create time and space. I want to create community. I want to consume that which helps me to create and not what inhibits creation.

What does it mean to create in academia? The easy answer lies in our products: books, articles, presentations, grants, studies, scholarship. While these certainly seem like ways to create, often they feel more like obligations.  Applying the theme of “create” suggests allowing myself to be more creative–more playful–with these products. Create can also be what we do in the classroom and what we do with students. It can be creating a learning experience; creating a course; creating curricula. It can be creating opportunities for yourself and others; creating relationships with students and mentees; creating a safe space for learning to occur. Create can also occur on the department level. We can create meaningful experiences for ourselves, our colleagues, our students, and our community. We can create the environment in which we want to work.

But to create more we need to consume less. In academia we struggle with our consumption. We believe we need to consume ALL the literature before we have something to say. We believe we need to consume the ENTIRE model to answer our question. We believe we need to consume ALL the material to learn the subject. We sometimes have difficulty starting and, even more frequently, have difficulty finishing because we can’t stop consuming. We also have a bad habit of consuming negativity: negative thoughts, negative beliefs, negative talk. We consume negativity about ourselves as teachers, scholars, researchers, administrators (#impostersyndrome) as well as about the functionality of higher education; the worth of academia.

We need to be mindful of what and how we consume. Consume in moderation. Consume that which enables creation. Avoid consumption that inhibits it.

Simple.

#createmoreconsumeless

#academicminimalism