Life & Academia
Academia
Rethinking work-life balance: A researcher's guide to designing a sustainable academic life
Last Friday, I dropped the ball in spectacular fashion. Overwhelmed by multiple projects and commitments, I missed an important email from my son's school about a day trip. By the time I realised my mistake, it was too late - all his classmates were going on this exciting adventure, but he wasn't.
The guilt was immediate and crushing.
This experience made me think deeply about work-life balance, particularly for those of us driven to create an impact while desperately wanting to maintain a…
Oxford Brookes University Graduation Guest Speech: Two Unconventional Truths
I was the guest speaker at a graduation at Oxford Brookes University on 6 September 2023. I feel both honoured and humbled by this experience. I always looked at the guest speakers at graduations and thought they were super-humans – they looked calm and in control – as if they were busy cooking oats for a family member while, in actual fact, they are the centre of the attention of 300-odd people.
While I don’t know what I looked like up on the stage, I do know that humans are humans – we stre…