I would assume the need for childcare means he has to work. So did he just like…not work? I have a remote job and there is no way I could also spend large amounts of time with my son during the day like this.
Academic here, I can do whatever the hell I want 95% of the time, only problem is that if it doesn’t add up to a shitload of work eventually I’ll be screwed. But taking a week off without telling anyone is just business as usual.
Yeah, there are absolutely tradeoffs. The distinction between work and free time becomes very vague. You might achieve nothing for days in the office trying to work, just to have an eureka moment in the middle of the night later on. So taking time outside the office is easy, but sometimes you wouldn’t manage to stop working even if you wanted to.
Most people feel very personally attached to their work, so if they don’t feel like they perform well (which is a rare feeling) it’ll often feel like a personal failure. This often leads to people overworking and all kinds of negative spirals. A lot of people long for a more structured job.
That said I personally love it - the flexibility is by far the biggest reason why I want to stay in academia. It’s not for everyone, but it is an incredible deal if you can manage to maintain some sort of work/life balance.
That’s some grass-is-greener shit if I ever heard it.
If you have an unstructured schedule, you can structure it. If you have a schedule structured for you, any change you want to make is a hassle and can be rejected by your manager.
I personally see it the same way, but for some people the pressure to schedule themselves translates to massive overworking and stress. Academia is also a bit random - sometimes you stumble upon something by luck, other times your findings suck for no fault of your own. If you worked a lot just to find yourself in the latter category it’s very easy to fall down a mental hole, working long days and weekends for months and months in order to save what’s left of your research agenda/professional life.
Academics are not necessarily famous for being the best acrobats of the work/life balance.
Idk I’m rather unstructured but I also have a hard time saying no. As a result I’m way overburdened and have no idea how to balance my time. I’m burning out, fast.
Structure isn’t the answer but hell if someone else could just say no for me I would be so happy.
If I have to schedule for myself that’ll go well for a week and then I’ll slack off. Doesn’t matter what’s at stake, I’m incapable of intrinsic motivation and keeping to my own rules and schedules. Give me a schedule though and I’ll be there on time.
It says this week, meaning we can assume they are usually able to find a spot other times it is needed. So they would have had to take time off of work to provide care, which is not really sustainable long term, but something parents have to do a lot (e.g. the child is sick and can’t attend, they need to stay home and that means a parent is out of work).
I would assume the need for childcare means he has to work. So did he just like…not work? I have a remote job and there is no way I could also spend large amounts of time with my son during the day like this.
Kinda implies he was choosing not to spend time with his daughter lol
I think he had planned to go buy a pony but had to postpone it because he didn’t manage to ditch the kid
The child was riding a bike. I couldnt outrun them either.
"Best day of my life! Daddy finally noticed me!’
Academic here, I can do whatever the hell I want 95% of the time, only problem is that if it doesn’t add up to a shitload of work eventually I’ll be screwed. But taking a week off without telling anyone is just business as usual.
That’s cool! I would assume there are tradeoffs in other areas, nothing is perfect. But that sounds nice.
Yeah, there are absolutely tradeoffs. The distinction between work and free time becomes very vague. You might achieve nothing for days in the office trying to work, just to have an eureka moment in the middle of the night later on. So taking time outside the office is easy, but sometimes you wouldn’t manage to stop working even if you wanted to.
Most people feel very personally attached to their work, so if they don’t feel like they perform well (which is a rare feeling) it’ll often feel like a personal failure. This often leads to people overworking and all kinds of negative spirals. A lot of people long for a more structured job.
That said I personally love it - the flexibility is by far the biggest reason why I want to stay in academia. It’s not for everyone, but it is an incredible deal if you can manage to maintain some sort of work/life balance.
That’s some grass-is-greener shit if I ever heard it.
If you have an unstructured schedule, you can structure it. If you have a schedule structured for you, any change you want to make is a hassle and can be rejected by your manager.
I personally see it the same way, but for some people the pressure to schedule themselves translates to massive overworking and stress. Academia is also a bit random - sometimes you stumble upon something by luck, other times your findings suck for no fault of your own. If you worked a lot just to find yourself in the latter category it’s very easy to fall down a mental hole, working long days and weekends for months and months in order to save what’s left of your research agenda/professional life.
Academics are not necessarily famous for being the best acrobats of the work/life balance.
Idk I’m rather unstructured but I also have a hard time saying no. As a result I’m way overburdened and have no idea how to balance my time. I’m burning out, fast.
Structure isn’t the answer but hell if someone else could just say no for me I would be so happy.
If I have to schedule for myself that’ll go well for a week and then I’ll slack off. Doesn’t matter what’s at stake, I’m incapable of intrinsic motivation and keeping to my own rules and schedules. Give me a schedule though and I’ll be there on time.
Sounds like my kinda job. I’d take a week off like every week.
It says this week, meaning we can assume they are usually able to find a spot other times it is needed. So they would have had to take time off of work to provide care, which is not really sustainable long term, but something parents have to do a lot (e.g. the child is sick and can’t attend, they need to stay home and that means a parent is out of work).
I’ve had plenty of coworkers have to call out because their babysitter fell through in the past.
I assume he just takes annual leave. That’s what I do in these situations.
It’s the main reason I won’t have kids