#64 Burnout in Research is Not Normal

Hey friends,

A PhD student reached out to me recently. 1^st year.

Completely lost. Completely tired and discouraged.

But then you realize it’s quite common

Many PhD candidates look stressed

Maybe you feel it too, even as an early career researcher who went through a similar PhD experience

The pressure to publish
The endless cycle of deadlines, endless peer reviews, and other duties
Answering emails. Attending meetings.
All while trying to stay on top of your research

It looks like it will never stop
You wake up and there’s always another task, another draft, another thing you forgot to do

"I'm very busy," we say, to prove that we're working hard
That we’re serious about research

But let’s be honest: you cannot sustain a life like this

Research takes time.
It needs focus. Quiet time. Clarity of thought
You can’t rush deep thinking, or make good ideas on demand when you’re constantly tired

Your brain wasn’t built to run at full speed all day, every day
You are not designed to jump between different tasks without rest, without pause, 24/7/365

We don’t fix this by downloading a meditation app
We fix it by changing how we live and work

Here’s what that can look like in research:
• Block time to think and write without distraction (no notification, no distraction…)
• Try to block time for similar tasks (no task switching)
• It’s ok to say no to work that doesn’t align with your priorities (I stopped counting the number of times I was offered to work on interesting studies and publish more papers)
• Try to protect your evenings and weekends (I’m grateful for my wife and children to make this time so important)
• Focus on meaningful work, that does not drain you
• Go for a long walk, do some exercise. Your brain will thank you

• Ask yourself:

• What if success in research meant doing important work well (because you cannot do everything)?

• What if productivity was about results, not hours at your desk?

• What if rest/sleep made you a better researcher, not a less committed one?

The best researchers I know aren’t the ones who never stop
They’re the ones who stop often. They go for a run, a walk, do something totally different during week ends and evenings
They think clearly, protect their energy, and come back with fresh insights and ideas

Let me know how you manage your time/energy to better handle endless workload

As always, if you need clarification or assistance with your research projects, feel free to reach out to me, and I will respond

See you next Sunday!

Jamal

This is all for this week.

Let us know in the comments if you have other suggestions to overcome language issues in research.

As always, if you need clarification or assistance with your research projects, feel free to reach out to me, and I will respond.

See you next Sunday!

Jamal

My favorite things this week:

1. A Training session at the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (CNRST) in Morocco, covering Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports, EndNote and InCites. Full house and rich interactions

2. A session in Kenitra (Morocco), at the University Ibn Tofail. Great discussions with the participants!

3. One meeting at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (Morocco

4. And another meeting at the International University of Rabat