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[daisyaday]

I am a department director and I don't deal well with the stress of supervising a disfunctional department. I handled two grievances this week and today my brain has just shut down. I just sit and stare at nothing on the computer screen while my eyes glaze over, wishing I could go home and sleep.

How do you deal???

[stickball]

I feel for ya.  Here are some of the things I've done in the past that have worked with varying degrees of success:
    - Aggressively exercise
    - Laugh a lot (don't take it so seriously)
    - Spend more time with supportive family
    - Step down as administrator for a while (return to full-time senior faculty status)
    - Drugs (some legal, some not so much)

[embitteredhistorian]

I feel for ya.  Here are some of the things I've done in the past that have worked with varying degrees of success:
    - Aggressively exercise
    - Laugh a lot (don't take it so seriously)
    - Spend more time with supportive family
    - Step down as administrator for a while (return to full-time senior faculty status)
    - Drugs (some legal, some not so much)

I think that's great advice for anyone.

[digger]

Let me add to Stickball's list:

• If you need to sleep – sleep.
Your body is telling you a break is in order.
I have a couch in my office and am not above telling my AA "no calls", shutting the door, and catching a few winks. I put in more than enough time to not feel guilty.

• Schedule time every week (as you would a meeting) to devote to your research-creative activity.
The job wants to push you into a 100% administrative mode (service) & suck the life out of you.
Remember, you are evaluated (teaching/research-creative activity/service) periodically.
Obviously you will have service covered but on the other fronts - what will you have to show in five years?
In my case, I allocate 20% to studio work.
No calls, no visitors, no pets, no TV, no family – just bliss.
It great for my mental health & I am keeping up with (and often surpassing) my peers.
Really, it's better than taking a catnap & - trust me on this – the place will not collapse if you are not sitting at your desk.

• Its not personal.
Don't become emotionally committed.

• It's just a job - it's not who you are.
You can always do something else.

• Network with your fellow chairs/directors.
You will find they are probably dealing with the same lunacy as you.
Coffee with them at 10AM is nice but, my best conversations with them happen around 5PM over many brews & wings.

• Network with your faculty.
If you know their perceived needs and they feel comfortable enough to talk with (and often dump on) you - you can regularly avoid grievances by informally negotiating between the two parties. Start by asking about their family/pet cat/whatever - they are people first. Treat them that way.

• If the program is truly dysfunctional -- stress comes with the turf.
In the words of  Super Chicken "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!"

Best of luck.

[daisyaday]

Thanks folks. I do need to exercise more. I took a long (4-day) weekend and I feel much better dealing with things now than when I posted that cry for help. I will review your suggestions again for more help.

Daisy

[rugger101]

Faculty are amazing, aren't they?  I think earning a PhD degree and the tenure track process serves as a fertile breeding ground for selfish, whiny, passive-aggressive people.

When the job gets tough, I tend to do things like write letters of recommendations or take a group of students out to lunch.  I also try not to bring any of the garbage home.  As one of my chair colleagues wisely told me, "this job is temporary, your family is permanent."

[daisyaday]

Thanks rugger and thanks again everyone. I have printed your suggestions and put them in my notebook for  referral in future times of difficulty. I had one meeting today I was dreading and it went better than I expected. I think that is because I took the time to think about my options for handling it and even met with the HR director to brainstorm.

I'm a much calmer Daisy today.

Daisy

[hongkyongnae]

thank you everyone. good advice above...especially the naps, drugs, and not taking it all personally..

i recently entered admin and enjoy my job, but it is stressful and a number of faculty are often unwilling to behave in a civil, constructive, and collegial fashion.

in addition to the suggestions above i have found setting certain days aside for certain activities/interactions keeps me from having to deal with the problems each and every day. while each day may bring its own challenges and woes, i know that i wont have to have to face the same problems every time i come into campus.

[scotia]

Three weeks ago I realized I was rapidly approaching meltdown and stopped working long hours and even left early so I could spend some time outdoors with my camera (once I get immersed in making photographs everything else tends to recede).

At work I scheduled meetings with a couple of my very positive younger colleagues to do some research mentoring: moving from defensive to 'hey isn't this interesting!' was a great tonic. 

[anthroid]

Faculty are amazing, aren't they?  I think earning a PhD degree and the tenure track process serves as a fertile breeding ground for selfish, whiny, passive-aggressive people.

When the job gets tough, I tend to do things like write letters of recommendations or take a group of students out to lunch.  I also try not to bring any of the garbage home.  As one of my chair colleagues wisely told me, "this job is temporary, your family is permanent."

What an unfortunate perspective you have, Rugger.  I'm not sure your outlook on faculty will serve you all that well.  I find it much more effective to treat my faculty as though they are competent, mature, worthwhile people until they definitively prove otherwise.  Painting all faculty with such a broad brush, as you do in this post, has the potential to a) create serious problems in your department and b) make the rest of us, who sincerely want to be excellent academic administrators and advocate for our faculty, look bad.  You may want to rethink your position or rethink your ambitions.

Daisy, the best medicine for stress that I've found is romping with my dog, playing on the forum, taking long walks, getting out of town for the weekend (I know that's hard in your situation), and, mainly, growing a very thick skin while realizing that very little of what faculty throw at you is personal.  I try very hard not to take things personally--my faculty (like my students) don't actually know me personally so the vitriol, when it comes (and generally it comes from a tiny if persistent and LOUD minority of my otherwise wonderful colleagues), can slide right off me. 

[rugger101]

Anthroid, I was by no means trying to paint all faculty with a single brush.  The vast majority of my colleagues are wonderful people who have dedicated their lives toward improving my institution and serving its students.  A poor choice of words on my part.

[anthroid]

Anthroid, I was by no means trying to paint all faculty with a single brush.  The vast majority of my colleagues are wonderful people who have dedicated their lives toward improving my institution and serving its students.  A poor choice of words on my part.

Thanks, Rugger.  I agree that a small portion of faculty are jerks, but so are a small portion in any workplace.  I don't really think there is something specific to the Ph.D. process that breeds unpleasant people--I worked in the "real world" for a number of years before starting a Ph.D. program (now a long time ago) and the jerk-to-wonderful ratio was about the same as it is in the academy.  How the jerkiness gets expressed may vary, a little, but by and large jerkiness is jerkiness.