The Researchers' Newsletter – Mar 2025

Does work life balance exist for the research active?

It may not always be obvious that successful researchers in universities and in other research organisations are often also successful educators, responsible administrators, skilled clinicians, supportive colleagues and are generally good with people including clients or patients.

 

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Does work life balance exist for the research active?

It may not always be obvious that successful researchers in universities and in other research organisations are often also successful educators, responsible administrators, skilled clinicians, supportive colleagues and are generally good with people including clients or patients.

 

This is sometimes to the exclusion of other parts of their lives. Some would say incompatible with other parts of their lives.

 

From our experience coaching, many researchers have found it helpful to think away from the dichotomy between work and life and to think about how they might nurture different “portfolios” in their lives. This includes thinking as though they are ‘self-employed’ and in a position to set some goals and priorities and to think about what they say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to.

 

Building a sense of portfolio

Rather than thinking about work as all consuming, think about the areas where you want to nurture your relationships, your health, find opportunities for growth, undertake work you enjoy, and have enough free time to pay attention to yourself. The amount of energy you can invest in each of these portfolios will vary at different stages of your life, but making calm decisions about what you need for the next few years might help you to plan your career. 

 

As a researcher, you need time and control over time to do your research and to produce results. No matter how supportive your research environment, this is something you have to be responsible for - without abandoning your commitments to other areas of your life. Part of the key to this is to develop your identity as a researcher. 

 

An identity narrative

An identity is a narrative, a story. It helps to consciously write your story. The focus will be on how your research narrative is moving, and it will move in different directions. Acceptance of a publication, for example, is more than a cause for celebration. It tells you how others are viewing your work and the value you are creating. It tells you who your audience is.

 

The key is to identify what movements in your story achieve your research goals, and to understand and learn from those that have distracted or obstructed your journey. Remember that what sometimes appears as a distraction may actually be a progression. Taking time to nurture relationships gives you a clearer focus when you are spending time on research. 

 

One way to start this journey is to create your identity narrative as a living statement that you can tailor to reflect the stage of life you are at and your wider life context. You don’t write those things in the identity, because it is your research identity, but you write taking those non-work things into account.

 

Portfolio not balance

Another helpful perspective is to treat the various aspects of your life as a ‘portfolio’ of activities, all of which are important. All of which are needing to be planned and scheduled, negotiated with others and managed. These various aspects and priorities alter over time to allow for your effort to shift as well. You can change your focus between them but dropping any of them is never wise. 

 

Above all, remember that research is your work. It is not something to be done after everything else. If everything else is getting in the way, think about how you are managing your portfolios and, within the “research portfolio”, think about how to remove tasks that are of low value to your research identity. In this context eking out chunks of time for research ‘sprints’ or regular (weekly) short times for sustained research work are critical.

 Next steps: What most researchers usually need to sort out for themselves are the many competing priorities, the work and non-work demands and their own motivations, barriers, opportunities and ways of working. Using an approach such as those above can assist, just start!