Feeling overwhelmed by research and teaching duties in Higher Education?

I have seen mentoring take scholars a great distance on this journey. It requires a mentor who is willing to listen, engage and support. Someone who is not overloaded with ego, and a mentee who is willing to take advice, make the time necessary and do the work. While in some cases, either mentor or mentee may look at it as an opportunity for a free ride, when done properly, there is really no substitute. Where a university or other institution is wanting to support, the greatest incentive is making time available in workloads for this type of work. Putting the resources in place is necessary for this is costly work and not something that can be imposed.

I believe time management is the key. Everyone has 24 hours but some are good in managing it the others struggle. To manage time effectively consider the 5 T's framework: - Track: Monitor how you spend your time - Triage: Prioritize tasks based on importance and urgency - Timebox: Allocate specific time slots for different activities - Trim: Eliminate or delegate non-essential tasks - Tools: Utilize productivity apps and techniques to streamline work e.g. Microsoft Focus, RescueTime, Trello etc This framework can help balance research and teaching responsibilities more efficiently. And stop assuming you are Captain Planet.

In these days of very high student loads, time is often in short supply. From my experience the best time managers start with strong and thorough preparation, clear teaching goals, graduated assessment schedules, and global communication strategies with students (and tutors) such as weekly newsletters and specified contact hours during semester. Don’t forget to program some down time, and lower expectations for research production. Your health and sanity must come first!

Existem algumas estratégias que os professores podem adotar para lidar com a sobrecarga. Priorizar tarefas, importante identificar as tarefas mais importantes e delegar ou eliminar aquelas que podem ser adiadas ou “deixadas de lado”. Importante estabelecer e definir limites claros entre o trabalho e a vida pessoal para evitar a sobrecarga e garantir tempo para descanso e relaxamento.

Establecer Prioridades: Identificar y clasificar las tareas más importantes y urgentes. Utilizar una matriz de prioridades (por ejemplo, la matriz de Eisenhower) para decidir qué tareas hacer primero. Planificación y Organización: Utilizar herramientas de planificación como calendarios digitales, aplicaciones de gestión de tareas (Trello, Asana) y agendas para organizar las actividades diarias, semanales y mensuales. Técnicas de Productividad: Aplicar técnicas como el método Pomodoro, bloques de tiempo dedicados, y la técnica GTD (Getting Things Done) para mejorar la concentración y la eficiencia.

I am an educator and guest lecturer at well known universities. Th good news is that you can use AI assistants to help you manage your task. Let's start with the research and use perplexity ai. Thank you can ideate and talk to a LLM like ChatGTP Claude or Gemini to prepare your learning material based on your topic. If you need a presentation you use Gamma. To make sure the presentation refelects your topic- check with ChatGTP and attach as pdf. Want to do a questionnaire to check if students got it- also ChatGTP or other LLMs can help you. Make use of these tools so that can provide a valuable and enjoyable experience and limit your time for this preparation to focus on engaging with students.

Ante todo es importante la organización y la planeación. A todos se nos complica priorizar pero hay que identificar aquello que es necesario realizar ya y definir tu agenda de trabajo balanceada con tiempos de descanso. Desde luego delegar tareas es necesario y es una oportunidad para tus colaboradores a quienes tienes que implicar en el proceso, aunque también debes supervisar y revisar lo que se termine integrando.

BE HONEST with your administrator if your load is too heavy. Have suggestions ready for faculty members/graduate assistants to whom tasks could be delegated. Present detailed instructioins regarding what needs to be done (especially if those helping are new to academia). Only delegate what you absolutely can't do not what you don't want to do :)

Depending on your discipline, and access to funding, one productive strategy is to aim for an academic conference every year in the focus area you are excited about. Convert your conference paper into an article submission for a journal. Aggregate your articles as the basis for a book length study. It’s not always easy to lecture in your research area but that doesn’t mean your teaching will not be enriched by your research. Research always deepens thinking and synergies will arise unbidden.

With good quality learning material accessible to all, teachers should not be a sage-on-the-stage anymore. They should only be answering and explaining when approached by students. The teachers should spend time identifying problems or challenges not attempted in the past, for assigning to the students. They should themselves get involved in problem solving with their students and ensure proper approach and record failures also.

Ense?anza Activa: Incorporar métodos de ense?anza activa como el aprendizaje basado en proyectos, el aprendizaje colaborativo y las discusiones en clase para aumentar el compromiso de los estudiantes. Tecnología Educativa: Utilizar herramientas tecnológicas como plataformas de aprendizaje online (Moodle, Blackboard), aplicaciones interactivas (Kahoot!, Quizlet) y recursos multimedia para enriquecer la experiencia de aprendizaje. Evaluaciones Formativas: Implementar evaluaciones continuas y formativas para medir el progreso de los estudiantes y ajustar las estrategias de ense?anza según sea necesario.

Totally agree that self care is vital. I started to meditate in my 30s and it became my constant practice. Meditation proved to be a subtle but highly effective way to manage stress. Just 20 minutes a day on rising will pay great dividends.

Mindfulness is a great strategy for managing stress. When feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and ask yourself what your bottom line is, as everything is not equally important. I also practice the 4-7-8 breathing technique to short circuit stress, which has some clinical/biological benefits. Finally, those who are spiritual can explore traditional practices that have worked for generations. In Malaysia, the ladies used to rub Minyak Angin Cap Kapak (mentholated oil) on their temples and under the nose to feel better, which is now replaced with the more modern aromatherapy scented oil.

Networking is very helpful. And communication with networks is very important. Sharing best time efficient, and productive practices is always helpful. Sometimes looking into others overwhelming situation you feel relaxed and contented, and at the same time learn how are they dealing with it to prepare yourself for such situations

Truly agree.Networking within your organisation and with academia from other institutions can greatly help you build wider perspective to the research problem you are currently dealing with.Reach out to people,ask for collaborations and publish great work . As it is rightly said “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” So keep connecting and keep growing !

Redes Profesionales: Unirse a asociaciones y redes profesionales en tu campo (por ejemplo, American Educational Research Association, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) para compartir recursos y conocimientos. Colaboración Interdisciplinaria: Fomentar colaboraciones con colegas de otras disciplinas para desarrollar proyectos de investigación conjuntos y enriquecer la ense?anza con perspectivas multidisciplinarias. Mentoría y Coaching: Buscar mentores dentro y fuera de la institución que puedan ofrecer orientación y apoyo. También, actuar como mentor para colegas más jóvenes, lo cual puede ser gratificante y proporcionar nuevas perspectivas.

In contexts of substantial workload in research and teaching within higher education, it is paramount to adeptly prioritize tasks based on their academic significance and consistently allocate time to meticulous planning and organization. Advisably, establish clear, pragmatic boundaries for time management across activities, delegate responsibilities judiciously, and cultivate a robust support network encompassing peers and students alike. Furthermore, maintaining a harmonious equilibrium between professional commitments and personal life by conscientiously scheduling periods for relaxation and leisure is pivotal for sustaining both productivity and emotional equilibrium.

Incredible that in all these great advise including putting all Responsibility onto students who pay you to do your jobs, not breach your fidiciary duties thus landing yourself and your higher education into a massive 20K group action lawsuits like Rapechat Uni (Google it) and 200K group action lawsuits against the Russell Group.. At no point did any of you simply say: "It is unreasonable that as an Academic, a group of under qualified managers (large % of them barely have a Bachelor) is telling me to violate Academic Freedom, put students last! I am expected to do 50% Business Development & 50% barely teaching and that is UNACCEPTABLE standard for me ETHICALLY!" You are all boiled like a frog & too scared to blame abusive employers?