Their suggestions:
- Prioritize, and where possible, separate the priorities in time.
- Set goals to stay on target and motivated.
- Support of family, advisors and friends is critical. Parents provided childcare for several panelists, either during particularly hectic experiment periods, or allowing the panelist to travel to conferences.
- Try to keep regular time for family, but don’t feel guilty if need to change it or miss it this week. And also keep some time for yourself to do something you love like reading or running.
- Focus on the present. Let go of the guilt for sacrificing housework, limiting social time with classmates, and postponed deadlines.
- Pre-pay for vacations/tickets so that you are not tempted to say “I’ve got too much to do right now.”
- Click here for a the handout.
Questions:
Did any of you
consider working part-time? No.
Part-time is generally frowned upon, especially for
those that have not attained tenure. Full-time
expectations even for those that are part-time.
International students do not have a part-time
option.
Childcare Centers?
Great help. Can’t predict how you will feel
about daycare. Lots of moms think they want a
childcare facility, but change their minds after
birth. At the same time, it’s very hard to
give up a career you love, even its just for a short
period.
“Even the best-laid
plans…”. Timely examples: a fifth panelist
cancelled to care for a sick child, and one of the
sitting panelists was called away for a period to
coordinate assistance for an older child.
