I will say up front that this is not a how-to guide. This balance is essential to my well-being, but I’m not very good at it. Maybe in writing this I will find some insights I can use. Maybe you will too. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch.
Self-care is about managing my own needs as a person. That can be tasks like basic hygiene, making sure I eat enough and select healthy foods, and making sure I get enough sleep. It also involves my emotional health, making sure that I’m engaging with my special interests, connecting with the people I love, and spending time in nature. It includes abstract things like “being creative” and “making a difference.”
Academics are just what you’d expect: reading the textbooks, attending lectures, reviewing the slides, working through assignments, writing papers, keeping track of deadlines, and participating in group projects. It also involves non-curricular activities like registering for classes, meeting with my academic advisor, and negotiating accommodations with the accessibility office.
These categories aren’t independent. For example, learning new things is one of the primary ways I combat depression, so digging into a school assignment can help with my emotional health as well as being an academic pursuit. More often, however, these categories come into conflict. Time that I spend reading my textbook is time that I can’t spend sleeping, for example.
It’s not always easy to balance these often-conflicting needs. Like I said, I’m not very good at it. But focusing on the areas where they synergize instead of conflict is the best way to conceptualize this balance that I’ve found. So I look at my lists, and I try to find ways they can overlap. I can take my textbook to the park along with a healthy lunch. I can listen to a lecture while I exercise. Last semester, I compiled a list of government and non-profit resources for community health for one of my classes, and it’s now in the hands of several EMS agencies to help their providers connect patients with the community health resources they need. I also recognize that getting enough sleep is essential to long term information recall and focused attention, so I can classify taking care of myself as a prerequisite for a lot of the academic work that I do.
It’s not always possible to find that overlap. Sometimes I do have to decide between turning in a rough draft of a paper and getting the sleep I need, versus staying up a few more hours and polishing it up. It’s not always easy to make these kinds of decisions, but I’ve found over time that leaning in the direction of self-care tends to be better for me in the long run. Maintaining frequent communication with my professors and setting my own sub-deadlines also definitely help keep my stress level manageable and decrease the impact if I have to prioritize non-academic time expenditures.
I’ve been studying at the university level for over a decade now, and I’m still struggling to understand the balance between self-care and academics. I’m grateful to the mentors I have that model this behavior for me, and the people in my life who support my efforts. I’ll keep trying to do this better, and if I come up with any other insights, I’ll let you know.