Hi Professors,
Many of my clients and faculty friends this semester have been feeling really overwhelmed and tapped out. They’ve been in survival mode, struggling to make progress on their own research and writing while trying to stay on top of their teaching and their service commitments.
Some of them are also navigating challenging workplace politics that are deepening their sense of burnout. They’ve been pushing from one week to the next and there’s this kind of relentless feeling to the overwhelm.
And this was all happening before the US election, which was a little over one week ago. Yeah, I know. It feels a lot longer!
So, I wanted to check in with you:
How are you doing right now?
How are you holding up?
And how is your general health at this moment?
In this 30th episode of the Rise with Clarity Podcast, I’d like to talk about assessing your bandwidth in these trying times. This can be a helpful tool for those of you who still need to show up and manage the remainder of the academic semester.
This episode builds on some of the things I discussed in Episode 7: Reassess Your Priorities at the End of the Semester.
Now, before getting into our topic for today, I just wanted to share that I, like perhaps many of you, have been trying to process my emotions and thoughts over the past week or so. Truth be told, I wasn’t all that surprised with the results of the US election. But that doesn’t mean that the final call still didn’t pack a punch.
I want to be able to acknowledge all of those raw feelings that came up for me the day after—like disgust, anger, and intense judgment. And this isn’t because I wholeheartedly supported the policies of the losing party. As a minoritized individual in the US and the daughter of Korean immigrants, it’s hard not to dismiss the fact that racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and fear and loathing of the Other have always been baked into American history and culture, and have in fact remained resilient.
And moving forward, all of these things are bound to get appallingly worse and more palpable.
Right now, I’m trying to take good care of myself while focusing on my family, my clients, and my work. I’m being very strategic with the kinds of media that I am engaging with.
I do want to give a shout out to Dr. Ethel Tungohan of the Academic Aunties podcast, who recently was in conversation with Dr. Petra Molnar the day after the election was called. They reflect on the consequences of Trump’s re-election in terms of border policies, research, higher education, and life for minoritized citizens.
And I also want to share with you an excellent reflection by Dr. Brielle Harbin, who wrote a blog post called “Being a Leader in the University Classroom During Challenging Times,” Harbin takes us through her thought process of revising her lesson plan on the day after the election. She writes:
What does it mean to be a leader in the university classroom during challenging times, like a deeply polarized election when half of your students may be rejoicing while the other half are distraught?
For me, being a leader in the classroom required showing up to the moment in the way students wanted and, more importantly, needed me.
It required that I lean into the uncertainty of asking students what was on their minds and adapting to be what they needed at the moment.
It required a willingness to take a risk and give up nearly all the control I had as an instructor.
I knew that I would have to be willing to let students see me pause, think, stumble over my words, and carefully select the words I used to offer responses to their questions.
In short, the moment would require honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability.
Harbin came up with an exercise where students would anonymously write down thoughts, feelings, or questions on index cards. These cards were then read aloud and then reflected upon by the class.
Harbin explained that several students noted that they hadn’t considered the perspective that the speaking student just shared.
I wanted to share this with you because one of my very first thoughts post-election was of the sole woman of color faculty member at a PWI who had to show up to teach the day after the election. It could not have been easy or comfortable for her.
But yet, it’s just one more additional layer to what she has to cope with in order to survive in her faculty position.
Assessing Bandwidth – A Possible Tool for You
So, moving back to the topic of bandwidth, which is what I started the podcast with. “Assessing Bandwidth” is a tool that I’ve developed and used a lot with my clients.
First off, bandwidth can be defined as the “maximum amount of data transmitted over an internet connection in a given amount of time.” Now that is a technical definition that comes from well, Verizon. Yep, probably the only time I ever cite Verizon in a podcast!
More generally, we use the term bandwidth to talk about capacity. Like the energy or mental capacity that is required to deal with a task.
Bringing this into higher ed: If you’re feeling overwhelmed and sickened with what may be going on in the world or in the new administration, it’s likely that you will not be at full mental capacity to engage with your work—even if you’ve carved out the necessary blocks of time.
There’s too much interference that is preventing you from having clarity of mind.
The “Assessing Bandwidth” tool can be used to determine where you are at in terms of your emotional or mental capacity. By candidly acknowledging and assessing where you are in terms of your bandwidth, you can then set goals that will match your capacity to handle a work-related task—especially in the midst of a lot of other crap.
So how would you do this? It’s very simple.
Ask yourself: On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, what is your current bandwidth for engaging with your work right now?” And let’s just say it could be article revisions.
Based on your answer, you can then “right-size” and “reframe” your work-related tasks to where you feel comfortable and confident.
If you’re feeling like you’re at a 3, perhaps the best thing to do is to get some rest. And if you are able to open your Word document and format a footnote, then that’s a win for you on that day.
I think it’s also good to be honest with yourself when doing this exercise.
How many of you are operating at a 9 or a 10 on a daily basis?
If your baseline is actually a 3 or a 4, then it might be good to take stock of all of the different things that are on your plate right now. What is top priority? And what can be put on the back burner? How can you move up to a 5 or a 6? What would that take to adjust in your life?
Maybe asking for an extension on those article revisions can give you some much needed breathing room this month.
I know that so many of you push through the fatigue and then also start to feel bad that you’re not able to get more stuff done. Let me tell you this: I’m pretty sure that many of you are doing a lot and may be at or near capacity. So in order to prevent burnout or future health crises, be aware of what you can or cannot handle at the given moment.
And to close off, I’m going to leave you with this quote from Octavia Raheem, who like Tricia Hersey, offers similar messages of prioritizing rest:
This is not the time to do all of the things. This is the time to truly clarify what is yours to do. Rest creates far more clarity than frenzied doing. Clarity leads to more precision in strategy. Precision in strategy leads to even bolder steps forward. Be still now and your next move will come from a place of inexhaustible power.
Take care of yourselves right now, Professors, in these trying times.
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Additional Resources
Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal by Rebecca Pope-Ruark
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
