How do you find the time to do all of this?

Anne-Wil Harzing - Wed 18 Dec 2024 17:05 (updated Sun 7 Apr 2024 07:13)

Yes, that's a question I often get 😊. First, as I mentioned in my top-3 career tips, don't compare yourself to others. Don’t forget that what you currently see on my website has been built up over 25 years.

Anything worthwhile that we do in our professions is the product of sustained cumulative actions, not a here today, gone tomorrow flashy initiative. It is all about being proactive but also about being persistent, and building up resilience and realism (see also: Be proactive, resilient & realistic!).

Also, much of my website was built over the past 8-9 years in the context of my function as Staff Development Lead and Research Mentor at Middlesex University. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I had a heavy teaching load or heavy administrative role as I had in my previous employment at the University of Melbourne as PhD director and Associate Dean Research.

Create synergy: never do something for a reason

Second, this is all about synergy. My motto is to never do something for a reason, but to do it for at least three reasons. That means I consciously decide to spend a bit more time to do something properly and then be able to use it for multiple purposes.

For the webinar that this post is based on for instance, I thought carefully about what I wanted to say and made sure that each chunk of it could be edited into a separate short video. I wrote out my key ideas and then used these to create blogposts with embedded videos. I have done this before with some of the other interviews I have done:

The Academic Woman interview: my career history & advice for juniors, my past and current research, building inclusive research cultures, and research mentorship.
IB Frontline interview: covering personal, research, and mentoring sections.
Towards a more inclusive and proactive academia, eight sections covering various elements of an inclusive and proactive academia.
Women in AIB interview: covering my first paper, how to publish unusual papers, publishing with a student, my current passions, five lessons I learned from my first publications, factors explaining impactful research, and how to do it?

These videos blogposts can then be shared with colleagues and other academics contacting me with questions, but also for myself as evidence for performance appraisals and applications for academic awards.

Find something you enjoy doing

Finally, it is much easier to find time for things you enjoy doing as the line between work and hobby starts to blur. During the pandemic I discovered I loved video-editing. I also thoroughly enjoy writing blogposts. As an academic our publishing efforts take forever, it is very satisfying to be able to write something in an afternoon and see that it has a direct impact on so many people.

Coming back to the topic of this webinar - providing resources to others - this something you can do too! They could be resources that you have collected anyway as part of your PhD or a particular research project. It could equally be a set of useful teaching resources. The key is that rather than keeping them to yourself, you could make them available to others.

You are likely to find that this act of generosity also helps you. It acts a bit like a manifesto saying “this is what I am interested in”. It builds up your unique profile as an academic. It also draws people to you, and you find you will expand your network because of it. But you do have to give to receive. And if we all do that, we can collectively make academia a much nicer place to work in.

Find the resources on my website useful?

I cover all the expenses of operating my website privately. If you enjoyed this post and want to support me in maintaining my website, consider buying a copy of one of my books (see below) or supporting the Publish or Perish software.

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Anne-Wil Harzing is Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London and visiting professor of International Management at Tilburg University. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.

Anne-Wil Harzing's profile and contact details >>

How do you find the time to do all of this?

Create synergy: never do something for a reason

Find something you enjoy doing

Other posts in this series

Find the resources on my website useful?