Initial Publication Date: September 26, 2012

Work-Life Balance

Juggling teaching, research, publishing your work, service, and personal commitments can be a big challenge. That said, taking time out for yourself is important in preventing burn-out. The resources below offer tips and advice for effectively managing your time, including balancing personal and professional commitments.

Jump down to additional resources on: Time Management | Balancing Personal and Professional Commitments

Workshop and Conference Presentations

Work-Life Balance for Engineering Faculty (PowerPoint 2.6MB Jul30 12) - This presentation was given by Susan Robinson (ProfessorDestressor.com) at the 2012 Minority Faculty Development workshop and provides extensive tips for improving your work-life balance. Robinson also provided a Work-Life Balance worksheet for Engineering Faculty (Acrobat (PDF) 257kB Jul30 12) to personalize your work-life balance strategy.

Work-life balance worksheet (Microsoft Word 28kB Mar19 12) - This handout offers tips and advice for time management and juggling work responsibilities while also making time for your personal life.

Time Management

  • Finding your Balance, from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers pages with resources on time management, including worksheets to help you prioritize and organize your schedule, case studies from faculty from a variety of institution types, and tips on balancing your work and family commitments. Although these web pages are written primarily for geoscience faculty, the information is broadly applicable for any faculty member.
  • Establishing your Absence, an article by Rick Reis, acknowledges the importance of establishing your presence at work, but focuses on the importance on taking time out from work for your personal life.

Balancing Personal and Professional Commitments

  • The American Astronomical Society Committee on Status of Women Work-Life Balance Resources page contains an annotated list of articles (with hyperlinks to full-text, where available) that address successful case studies and solutions to challenges related to being a woman in the sciences, especially as it relates to having children.
  • Minorities and Women in Science Interviews from The Optical Society contains transcripts of interviews with women and minorities who have found success in their career in the optical sciences. Interviewees discuss their career as well as give an idea of how they balance their work and life outside work.