Ready to stop dreaming about quitting academia for a cafe job?
One time, I met this woman about my age at a work Christmas party, and she was so confident and at ease in herself, like she had life absolutely figured out. The way she spoke about work had me thinking, 'Wow, she's so confident for an academic!'
And then the penny dropped… she wasn't an academic at all. She worked in HR.
Why is this even a thing? And can you believe my brain even went there in the first place?
We academics literally get up in front of 100, 200+ students on a regular basis to talk about hard, advanced topics. Yet, I found it remarkable that this woman carried herself like she knew what she was doing—like she actually had a grip on this whole work thing. Meanwhile, many of us in academia are just trying to survive the next Teams meeting without throwing our laptops out the window.
What's this all about, then? Well, academia is a game of constant evaluation. It's not just about doing our job—it's about proving we're good enough all the time. We're either worrying about the next grant, writing that never-ending paper, or juggling a mountain of admin tasks that have nothing to do with our actual research.
Then there are the journal and grant rejections, the student feedback surveys, citation counts, and numerous other metrics that I'm far too bored to list here. Plus, there's the looming pressure of being an expert in a field where the more you learn, the more you realise how little you know. It's no wonder we feel like we're always playing catch-up!
I'm not saying our friends in Professional Services don't feel the pressure or imposter syndrome—absolutely not. But there's something unique about the academic workload. It feels infinite like it could go on forever. There's always more to do, always a push to be better. And that relentless cycle can mean that, for some, that satisfying sense of accomplishment is always just out of touch.
This is why some of us dream about getting a job in a cafe, or on a supermarket check-out, or just a paper round. Anywhere, we can clock off when the job's done instead of lying awake at night running through a mental to-do list. Before waking up at 4.30 am, thinking about our next projects for 2 hours before the alarm goes off, starting work knackered and anxious.
But what if I told you that you can actually have that now? The job you worked so hard for and a life with a calm mind aren't mutually exclusive. Once you learn the tools to work with your thoughts, slow down your emotions, and gain the confidence to make changes in the areas of work and life that aren't working for you, everything shifts. Not only will you be switching off at 5 pm, relaxed and ready for the evening, but you'll also massively boost your productivity because you won't be worrying about every tiny detail.
If this sounds like the dream, it's time to join The Sisterhood—my membership community for women in academia, where you'll learn how to kick overwork to the curb, reclaim your time, and get back to feeling good about your work. Because let's face it, the only thing you should be up at 4:30 am for is a flight to The Maldives or something 🛫
