6. Manage Conflict
By far, my least favorite part of graduate school is all the conflict. It is a riot! Watching professors behave badly, watching graduate students argue and bicker with each other, watching people cry, watching undergraduates get upset about grades...it is enough to make a person go crazy. Conflict is part of every job and every aspect of life in which two people are involved. Even the most harmonious people face conflict. However, the breed of conflict that is present in academia is unique.
Academics are highly intelligent people. For the most part, hard working people. And very driven. These three characteristics combined spell trouble. I have dealt with more conflict in academia than in any other part of my life over the past 26 years (and keep in mind that I taught middle school in a high-poverty area). I could continue to complain about the conflict I have witnessed, but I'll stop here.
It is important to manage conflict to the best of your ability. For me, this has taken several unique forms. First, I have learned that when conflict arises, I need time. When appropriate, I need time to breathe, collect my thoughts, and process all possible outcomes. Once I have done this, I can approach the situation with a level head and help come to a reasonable solution. Secondly, I have learned that I have to escape the ivory tower walls of academia. I am blessed to have friends who are not part of academia and family who keep me grounded. Without them, I would never survive this world. Thirdly, I have learned that I have to expect the unexpected. Most of the conflict I have seen come up in academia is conflict that could not have been predicted. It is impossible to know what is going to cause an uproar, no matter how much you try to plan. Moreover, I've learned that if you try to plan for everything, you are going to make yourself insane. Finally, I have learned not to bring this conflict home with me. Again, this is where the family and friends come into play. Work stays at work. End of story.
5. You don't have to do it all right now
I have been working on several projects for over a year now. It is fun to see the projects grow, change, and reach a point where the information can be disseminated. It is even better to see how that research leads to new ideas. In academia, we call this a research agenda. The goals of what a researcher hopes to accomplish in his/her career. The hard part is seeing this list continually grow and feeling like I am not doing anything to progress on it. In academia, things take time. It takes a great deal of time and energy to take a project from conception to completion. It takes even more time for that project to reach the masses.
A very wise professor told me earlier this semester, "You don't have to do it all right now. You have a 30-year career ahead of you." That made me feel so much better! She was right. I have more than 30 years ahead of me to accomplish all I want to accomplish. It's ok if I don't get to go to that conference this year. Or if my manuscript doesn't get published in that journal. Or if I don't get to teach that class yet. I have time. It won't all happen overnight. The luxury of having too many ideas is that my career will be rich and full, and I won't run out of things in those 30 years.
4. Journal as much as possible
I have thoughts. A lot of thoughts. About everything. I have learned to journal about those thoughts as much as possible. I have a hand-written and digital journal for every project I am working on. These journals allow me to document and keep track of my thinking. I write about what I read, what statistics I run, why I made a certain choice about a survey, who was on my team, what we talked about in meetings, everything. These journals then become the fuel for my manuscripts, presentations, questions, and future research.
I have also found that I remember more when I write about it, and my mind doesn't feel as cluttered. When I don't write, I am constantly worried that I am going to lose an idea or a thought, so I hold onto it tightly. This wastes precious memory space in my brain. When I write about the idea or thought, it is captured forever and my mind is free to think up more thoughts. I have found that I think more critically and deeply about topics and about a wider range of topics than before I started journaling. It has revolutionized my academic process.
3. Write with a purpose
I used to sit down before a blank screen on my computer or a blank page in my journal and have no idea what I was going to do. The silly, past version of me called this "Writer's Block". Often, I would be intimidated and would have no idea what to say. Now, I always write with a purpose. The purpose may be as basic as "clean out your head" or as complex as "write the discussion of the MLB paper". The key is that there is always a purpose. I know why I am writing and don't spend time before a blank screening staring, well, blankly.
Even in writing this blog post, I knew I wanted to reflect on what I learned this past year. I did a little prewriting and was ready to go. I already had my purpose set. Sometimes the purpose morphs during the writing process and that is ok, too. The point is to start somewhere.
The final two top lessons learned of 2013 will be revealed soon!
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