I promised something smart today, and here goes.
It’s the end of the academic year. It’s very busy. Year-end reporting, hiring, grading, meetings, contracts. I also have my translation and now my newfound career as a Ukrainian author in addition to an intense research career I already have.
It’s a lot.
Because this is an exceptionally busy time, I switched to a 4-day work week. I now take Thursdays off. And of course, I don’t do a lick of work on weekends. When the university makes me attend something on a weekend, I take half a day off on Wednesday to compensate.
I don’t switch to a 4-day work week in spite of it being busy. I do it because it’s busy. You can’t run a marathon when you are overloaded. When you are overscheduled and overworked, you need to switch to a sprint model. In that model, you must sit idle most of the time, then switch on for an intense, short push, and then switch off again to preserve energy.
You are burned out and exhausted because you are trying to do a marathon at the exact time when you are most depleted.
Once the busy season ends, I’ll go back to my normal schedule and won’t take any days off during the week. Because that’s when a marathon is appropriate.
An exceptionally busy time is when you need the most rest and many long, slow walks among lilacs in bloom.