Dr. Crazy needs to start saying no to every single request for the next two years. In the past year, I have:
1. Agreed to be an officer in an organization.
2. Agreed to co-edit a mini-journal.
3. Agreed to serve on a search committee (which is now done).
4. Agreed to serve on a university-wide-focus-group-thingie.
5. Agreed to do a stupid advising training thingie.
6. Agreed to discussion-lead two classes in the next two weeks that are not my own.
7. Agreed to be on a panel with some colleagues for a conference next spring.
I'm sure there are more things. The point is, I'm doing enough things. I think I'm going to have to put a sign on my office door that says "No!" and just point at it whenever anybody asks me anything.
The question is, what makes me always say yes? Am I a professional slut?
12 years ago
4 comments:
Maybe it is like tipping at the coffee shop. You do it once, and you can never turn back.
I am doomed to give the coffee people $1.00 tip every damn day.
well, it looks like from the post below that you know how to negotiate a productive and qualified "yes" even if it is a yes.
43folders.com had a really good post on learning the power of the qualified yes a few months back. Saying yes, but then laying out the circumstances under which you are willing to say yes.
You say yes b/c we are conditioned from our earliest days in grad school to believe that if we don't take every opportunity to do something that's offered to us, we won't be as competitive/won't get a job/won't get a book contract/won't get tenure/etc. etc. etc. Arghh!
Update: i just had a conversation with my chair in which i told him that I have to say no to every single additional request for the next two years, and he told me that I was absolutely right. I then pointed out that he is often the person who asks me to do things, and we both busted out laughing. Love my lovely chair.
Also, I'm actually getting even better money than I'd said was my minimum (again, love my lovely chair) - twice as much.
And it turns out the discussions I'm leading are over a book that I taught last year, and so I've done all of the prep already.
Post a Comment