Burn Out

Burn out is fast approaching. I do monitor for potential burn out but sometime it’s just out of my control. I can cut back on certain things but they are normally the “me” things. No easy solution but to accept sometimes it’s all too much and to settle for a cup of tea. Blogging is great for that. I feel like I’m sitting down, debriefing with a bunch of imaginary friends. It’s nice not to continually burden the local friends with my mundane dribble.  Read a great article on burn out the other day from Dr Mum.

Check it out.
http://drmum.anu.edu.au/Becoming_Dr_Mum_Report/Avoiding_burnout.html

 

Todays burn out topics

1.      Liam (7yr old) has a temperature and sore throat. He spent the night in our bed (which means I’m sleep deprived again) and he’s now asleep at 10:30am. My lovely hubby offered to stay home so I can do my uni work but I already have prior engagements based at home. It was just last night Isaac came into our bed due to health issues. Its musical beds in our home at the moment

2.      Our dog Alex had a paralysis tick yesterday which is worrying me today. His eye is twitching and he’s a bit slower. My brother lost his dog to a tick which makes me very aware of tick problems.

3.      SWICH lunch. A bunch of academic women are coming around for lunch. I did get one snail out of the home grown lettuce. It’s great to socialise with similar buddies who have done, are thinking about or are doing these crazy PhDs.

4.      School canteen. Long story to share another day

5.      Annual review. I’m awaiting a phone call from the post-grad coordinator to finish this tiresome process off. I’m going to complain about library access issues for mums on leave today. Basically I’m a happy camper about uni and they have no plans to kick me out yet due to my limited productivity.

6.      Musical festival for Kai (8yr old) tonight. The cornet is broken again but fixing it can wait. He can still play.

7.      Internet is down and the kid’s computer has a porn adoring virus…

8.      I really need to finish this paper for uni I’m writing…NO MORE BLOGGING ; )

Actually it’s not so bad now I’ve written it down. Time to study and watch over Liam, our sick sleeping 7yr old.

Annual review

Previously I decided to combine school holidays by taking the kids to a meeting with one of my supervisors. Whoops. To start with the rendezvous of a playground was not actually clearly explained to my supervisor. Secondly whilst chatting away about the PhD I failed to tell Liam where I was in the park. He got worried and freaked out searching for me. Finally blood dripping from an accident to the youngest resulted in a quick retreat from the crazy meeting. Yes I got the signature but really it’s easier to ditch the kids with friends and concentrate on the study, not try to do both.   

It’s that time of the year again. Fill in the forms, chat with the supervisors and get the post-graduate coordinator to sign it off. The continued enrolment and pay depends on this process. I’ve done it nine times already. Being part-time and remote has taken these reviews to a cruel excessive level. A normal candidature would only do three possibly four. I’ve also got four supervisors even though the norm is two. I find the combined knowledge of all four makes this multidisciplinary PhD possible. They each play an important role. It does make the five signatures required for the review an onerous task but it’s always good to catch up with them all, be it in person, telephone or over Skype.

This time I have learnt and will trade play-dates and pay kid-care to avoid juggling the kids whilst meeting my supervisors. I want to listen to the supervisor’s advice fully not half-heartedly as I wait for the next spill of blood, wet pants or dirty face requiring Mums love.  

Ice-cream Pilgrimage

At the moment we are holidaying without a car or the hubby. Sol is stuck at home editing conference proceedings. Academic life is never ending. So the boys and I head off each day on a pilgrimage to the shops. Kai on rollerblades, Liam on his scooter , Isaac on the tag along and the dog somewhere nearby. We really visit the shops to buy milk and bread but the kids are convinced to come via the promise of ice-cream. Of course we forgot the bread today.

A small progress made on the PhD today.  I emailed the annual review paperwork to my supervisor. DVDs are a great babysitter for some peaceful time. Shame the spiderman DVD is so scratched we didn’t get the full allotted time. My email is exploding at the moment. I give it a quick scan for anything important each day but I’m not in processing mode with three young men in tow.  



Dalmeny