The summer break is a valuable time for research faculty to pursue scholarly interests, collaborate with peers, and engage in professional development. And the contrast with the start of the fall semester can feel like getting pushed straight into the deep end. You may face a pile of administrative tasks, teaching responsibilities, and service commitments. We know some even feel a sense of time speeding up: you know that the semester is going to be so packed, and you’re just envisioning how to keep your head above water until the winter holiday breaks when you’ll have time to “catch up” on everything that falls behind.

So, how can you ease this transition? Below we give some suggestions for approaching the new academic year in a way that feels both productive and sustainable.

Plan Ahead, Calibrate Expectations, Set Realistic Goals

One of the best ways to ease into a more intense period of work is to plan ahead, adjust your expectations, and set realistic goals for yourself. Before the summer break ends, review your research agenda and prioritize your priorities. Identify the most urgent and important projects that you need to focus on, and break them down into manageable steps. You can use tools such as calendars, planners, or apps to organize your schedule and track your progress.

Adjust your expectations and goals in light of any shifts in your workload. When you take on new responsibilities, other responsibilities have to receive less of your attention and effort. It is not fair to expect yourself to perform your ongoing work to the same level when you’ve added more to your plate. As you look at those priorities above, recognize that with reduced time and effort available, activities might take longer or projects might progress more slowly to the next milestone. This doesn’t mean you’re a failure or that you can’t juggle multiple responsibilities. It means you’re a human.

Practice Your New Routine and Anticipate Obstacles

Give yourself some time to adjust and adapt to changes in your routine. Experiment with schedule shifts to accommodate new commitments while ensuring that you can still have some focused time for your deep work—i.e., if you are going to teach a class or attend departmental meetings, might you stack some meetings after those events so that you have a meeting-free time block on another day? Also try to keep some blank space in your schedule (maybe not literally on your public-facing calendar, because others will definitely fill that space with meetings) to enable some flexibility and adaptability when changes or challenges arise. Think through obstacles or challenges around adopting your new routine, and brainstorm for some creative solutions.

Aim to Maintain Summer’s More “Spacious” Feeling in Your New Semester Routine

While it is important to dedicate yourself to your research, teaching, mentoring, and other roles, dedicating all of your waking moments—and somewhere you really should be sleeping— will quickly deplete you and have you counting down the days until winter break. Be sure not to put yourself back into a cycle where you come absolutely last after everything and everyone else. 

If your summer involved some fun and/or relaxing moments—more outdoor time, travel for pleasure, etc.—reflect on the benefits of those experiences and try not to limit them only to the summer or break periods. Make play and rest part of your usual habits. Play and rest (and exercise) are beneficial even when they are only in small doses, so don’t get caught in thinking that you can only do these things if you have a big chunk of time available or that they’re only helpful if you can do them on a consistent schedule. Have 10 minutes? Get outside, stare at the clouds, and let your mind go blank–or whatever allows you to hit reset. Play and rest help us maintain a feeling of spaciousness and recharge, especially when work is intense. 

Conclusion

Shifting back into the academic year can be challenging after a period of months where the pressure is reduced a bit. Try to practice self-compassion—including by avoiding overloading your plate—to enable yourself to look forward to the semester as well as the winter break.