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[slacwriter]

After posting to "Balancing...," I realized that Department Chairs and Deans might have quite a bit of insight into this matter, so I've reported here:

I have a calendar problem. My calendar fills up weeks in advance, with no wiggle from or flexibility to address things that just come up. I figure the way to solve this is by including "flex hours" or a "flex day" every so often, which doesn't get scheduled until the day of or the week of. This would be kind of like a doctor's office keeping a balance of well-visit appointments, scheduled in advance, and sick-visit appointments, scheduled the day of an illness. Does anyone here have experience with this practice? If so, please tell me about how you've done it. Any advice would be appreciated.

[ursula]

I block in a "Research Day" -- more like a half day, really -- in my calendar every week.  As long as I'm okay with it not being the same day every week, it has worked well.  Not much research gets done, but it's a breathing space for catching up.

[michigander]

I've done this with success.  It's a necessity to keep some level of control of your calendar, particularly if you're in a situation where others make appointments for you.  The important thing is to do it judiciously so that no one can complain that you don't leave them enough open times to make the appointments or schedule the meetings that are necessary.  I'd recommend not blocking off full days very often -- maybe just when you're pushing a deadline for a special project that requires a lot of concentration without interruptions.  However, an hour or two now and then, particularly if it's not always at the same time of day or on the same day of the week, will probably not even be noticed.

If you're in a situation where your calendar is available to a number of other people who get too much personal entertainment (or ammunition for criticism) from looking over your shoulder, be careful how you label the time block.  Instead of "personal time" or something non-specific like that, use the name of the project you'll be working on or something non-threatening and important sounding like "required regulatory paperwork."  I've seen high level people like provosts or directors of university foundations reserve one day or half-day per week for student walk-ins.  Depending upon what you need to use this time for, maybe something like that could work for you.

[slacwriter]

Thanks for these replies. Here's a clarification that may get more to the point of my concern:

I don't have trouble blocking out time to write, to prep for class, to get administrative ork done, etc. The problem is that, after blocking all of that out, the other times in my week fill up weeks or months in advance with appointments (colleagues, students, et al), leaving no time for the things that come up today or this week and just have to be handled today or this week. I need to address that issue of leaving some "flex" time open. How do you all approach that?

[zharkov]

I wonder if you are "blocking off" too much time?  That is, are you filling your calender with things like, "write from 9 to 10, prep for class from 10 to 11, go to meeting X from 11 to 12, lunch from 12 to 1, class from 1 to 2" and so on?   The way I work, I would only block off only actual scheduled meetings and classes.  Everything else is sort of flex time, depending with is most important and urgent.  Not that I'm saying my way is the best, but perhaps a difference in style. 

[tee_bee]

I wonder if you are "blocking off" too much time?  That is, are you filling your calender with things like, "write from 9 to 10, prep for class from 10 to 11, go to meeting X from 11 to 12, lunch from 12 to 1, class from 1 to 2" and so on?   The way I work, I would only block off only actual scheduled meetings and classes.  Everything else is sort of flex time, depending with is most important and urgent.  Not that I'm saying my way is the best, but perhaps a difference in style. 

I think the problem is that a blank spot on a calendar may be considered by us to be flex time, but to our "clients," as it were, it's open time to fill with meetings. I am on this thread because I share the OP's problem. I have been blocking time out on my calendar by setting two hour blocks on some days as "unavailable." Because our Uni uses Google Apps, I can set the name of the block as "private" so it simply shows up as blocked off. I have been trying to block time during days that have begun to fill with meetings--say I have a 9, and 11 and a 3. I block off 1-3 so that I can do other things I need.

Every school is different, but the pace at my University is such that Friday mornings seem pretty easy to block out for some research or catching up time.

I am very interested in this thread--I am a newish (about 1 year) associate dean, and my work-research-life balance is a disaster. I am just now getting on top of it.

[oatmeal]

I wonder if you are "blocking off" too much time?  That is, are you filling your calender with things like, "write from 9 to 10, prep for class from 10 to 11, go to meeting X from 11 to 12, lunch from 12 to 1, class from 1 to 2" and so on?   The way I work, I would only block off only actual scheduled meetings and classes.  Everything else is sort of flex time, depending with is most important and urgent.  Not that I'm saying my way is the best, but perhaps a difference in style. 

I think the problem is that a blank spot on a calendar may be considered by us to be flex time, but to our "clients," as it were, it's open time to fill with meetings. I am on this thread because I share the OP's problem. I have been blocking time out on my calendar by setting two hour blocks on some days as "unavailable." Because our Uni uses Google Apps, I can set the name of the block as "private" so it simply shows up as blocked off. I have been trying to block time during days that have begun to fill with meetings--say I have a 9, and 11 and a 3. I block off 1-3 so that I can do other things I need.

Every school is different, but the pace at my University is such that Friday mornings seem pretty easy to block out for some research or catching up time.

I am very interested in this thread--I am a newish (about 1 year) associate dean, and my work-research-life balance is a disaster. I am just now getting on top of it.

Yes, this is an interesting thread. As an associate dean, you will do well to get any research done at all (especially if you are in academic affairs) as you will find your hours full of meetings, more meetings, campus events, and writing reports. There is a steep learning curve and once you master that, things might (might) ease up slightly, but not much, because of the bureaucratization of the academy. There will be ever more reports to write and conferences to attend. If you manage to "balance" work-research-life, then I hope you can write about how you did it. Good luck to you.

[tee_bee]

I wonder if you are "blocking off" too much time?  That is, are you filling your calender with things like, "write from 9 to 10, prep for class from 10 to 11, go to meeting X from 11 to 12, lunch from 12 to 1, class from 1 to 2" and so on?   The way I work, I would only block off only actual scheduled meetings and classes.  Everything else is sort of flex time, depending with is most important and urgent.  Not that I'm saying my way is the best, but perhaps a difference in style. 

I think the problem is that a blank spot on a calendar may be considered by us to be flex time, but to our "clients," as it were, it's open time to fill with meetings. I am on this thread because I share the OP's problem. I have been blocking time out on my calendar by setting two hour blocks on some days as "unavailable." Because our Uni uses Google Apps, I can set the name of the block as "private" so it simply shows up as blocked off. I have been trying to block time during days that have begun to fill with meetings--say I have a 9, and 11 and a 3. I block off 1-3 so that I can do other things I need.

Every school is different, but the pace at my University is such that Friday mornings seem pretty easy to block out for some research or catching up time.

I am very interested in this thread--I am a newish (about 1 year) associate dean, and my work-research-life balance is a disaster. I am just now getting on top of it.

Yes, this is an interesting thread. As an associate dean, you will do well to get any research done at all (especially if you are in academic affairs) as you will find your hours full of meetings, more meetings, campus events, and writing reports. There is a steep learning curve and once you master that, things might (might) ease up slightly, but not much, because of the bureaucratization of the academy. There will be ever more reports to write and conferences to attend. If you manage to "balance" work-research-life, then I hope you can write about how you did it. Good luck to you.

My side of the shop is research, so it's not nearly as taxing, it seems, as the academic affairs dean, although she seems to have a schedule just like you described.