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Wellness

Wellness

Wellness is?

  • is a choice, a way of life
  • an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of which the individual is capable (Dunn, 1959)
  • what is necessary and desirable for an individual to have the capability to function at his or her best in all areas of life

Why Wellness?

  • Research-based Benefits:
    • Enhanced productivity
    • Improved
      • Efficiency and decreased errors/mistakes
      • Time management
      • Professional image
      • Morale
    • More efficient communication
    • More likely to seek challenges & want to improve
    • Better employee health, less sick days, reduced absenteeism
    • Reduced employee turnover
    • Greater
      • Motivation & job satisfaction
      • Tolerance of others
      • Sense of “being a valued member of a team”

Wellness Strategies

  • Build on existing wellness strengths and behaviors
  • Set challenging yet attainable wellness, personal and professional goals
  • Incorporate the mantra of "good -better - best"
  • Seek to be educated and informed
  • Promote and reinforce caring for co-workers
  • Explore, test and challenge new approaches (actual change)
  • Broaden your circle of friends (multiple contexts - work, hobbies, sport, family, neighborhood, etc.)
  • Encourage others to join you in wellness experiences
    • Encourage others to be well!
  • Keep track of your successes
  • List your successes and progress towards goals
  • Have FUN!

Work - Life Balance

What does W-LB Mean?

  • The ability to simultaneously achieve one’s goals and feel satisfaction in all spheres of life (Kirchmeyer, 2000)
  • Satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict (Clark, 2000)

Strategies to Achieve a Better W-LB (Mack, 2016)

  • Seek Mentorship
    • Support the various aspects of professional life
    • Teaching, research, service, administration, tenure-track
  • Workplace Efficiency
    • Time management (see below)
    • Consider using apps to guide/prompt you
  • Separate Work Time and Personal Time
    • Focus on where you are
    • Manage your professional workload - key cause of poor work-life balance (Ryan & Peters, 2015)
  • Self-Promote
    • Aggressive publication record and successful grant application agendas
    • Your brand and credentials are first
    • May need an off-campus space for research efforts to increase focus

W-LB Leadership Recommendations (Ryan & Peters, 2015)

  • Manage Time
    • Monitor workloads
    • Implement fair and transparent workload management systems
    • Set clear and realistic targets
    • Value output not time spent at work
  • Utilize family-friendly policies with caution
  • Provide adequate reward and recognition
  • Develop a supportive culture that does not promote long work hours
  • Ensure equality and diversity initiatives are fully supported

Time Management

Effective time management is one of the key factors in attaining overall wellness. Utilize the link to the Time Management Matrix o analyze your utilization of time.

Faculty Burnout

  • Occurs progressively over time
  • Burnout is
    • "A response to chronic everyday stress, a tolerance that gradually wears away under the never ending onslaught of emotional tensions" (Maslach, 1982, p. 11)
    • "...a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do 'people work' of some kind" (Maslach, 1982, p.3)
    • “A breakdown of the psychological defenses that a worker uses to cope with intense job related stress” (Dwyer, 2011)
    • To deplete oneself. To exhaust ones physical and mental resources. To wear oneself out by excessively striving to reach some unrealistic expectation imposed by oneself or by the values of society." (Freudenberger, 1980, p. 16)
  • According to Watts & Robertson (2011), there are gender differences in how burnout revealed itself
    • Males - via depersonalization
    • Females - via emotional exhaustion

Edelwich & Brodsky's Four Stages of Burnout (1980)

  1. Enthusiasm - initial period of high hopes and energy
  2. Stagnation - the thrill is gone, still doing job
  3. Frustration - questioning ones own effectiveness; emotional, physical and behavioral problems emerge
  4. Apathy - natural defense mechanism; chronic frustration; meeting minimum requirements

Resources

  • Bothwell, E. (February 8, 2018). Work-life balance survey 2018: Long hours take their toll on academicsTimes Higher Education
  • Bothwell, E. (February 8, 2018). Career impact on relationships ‘worst for junior academics’. Times Higher Education
  • Dunn, H. (1959). High-level wellness for man and society. American Journal of Public Health, 49, 789
  • Dwyer, T. (2011). The essentials of an effective child welfare system. In C. Jenny (Ed.), Child abuse & neglect: Diagnosis, treatment, & evidence. St Louis, MO: Elsevier Inc.
  • Edelwich, J. & Brodsky, A. (1980). Burnout: Stages of disillusionment in the helping professions. NY: Human Sciences Press
  • Freudenberger, J. & G. Richelson. (1980). Burnout: The high cost of high achievement. Garden City. N.Y.: Doubleday & Co
  • Kirchmeyer C. (2000). Work-life initiatives: Greed or benevolence regarding workers’ time. Trends in Organizational Behaviuor, 7, 79-94
  • Mack, D. (March 25, 2016). Sick & tired of being sick and tired. Inside Higher Ed
  • Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout - the cost of caring. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall
  • Malesic, J. (October 5, 2016). The 40-year-old burnout. The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Minter, R. (2009). Faculty burnoutContemporary Issues In Education Research, 2(2), 1-8
  • Newcomb, L. & Clark, R. (June, 1985). Faculty burnout: Problem& perspective. NACTA Journal, 4-9
  • Richert-Kazmierska, A. & Stankiewicz, K. (2016). Work–life balance: Does age matter? Work, 55(3), 679–688
  • Ryan, M. & Peters, K. (2015). Leadership & work-life balance. Higher Education Leadership & Management Survey, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education
  • Watts, J. & Robertson, N. (2011). Burnout in university teaching staff: A systematic literature review. Educational Research, 53(1), 33-50
May 26, 2022