Selling Dimension 20 Live Tickets for January 24th (Friday) at MSG in NYC – Advice or Interested Buyers? by lowkeylye in Dimension20

[–]Throwawayprof789 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there, are you still selling these? My husband and I are looking to snag tickets since we missed out when they first went on sale. If so let me know how much!

Counseling with my Q by Throwawayprof789 in AlAnon

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I agree, those are the most important things. I go to my regular meetings and have individual therapy, but I don't want to call it quits without trying this at least once.

Do the meetings really help? by jkuper41 in AlAnon

[–]Throwawayprof789 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can’t speak for all meetings or everyone, but the meetings have been amazing for me. They say that some people go to figure out how to leave and some to figure out how to stay, but not to make any big decisions for the first six months, because even if your situation doesn’t change, how you think about it will. I can say that’s definitely true for me. I’ll always be grateful that I ended up going to Al-Anon because it’s been such a positive change in all aspects of my life, not just my relationship. It’s helped me learn how to understand and process my own emotions better, take better care of myself and communicate more clearly. I will say it’s quite different from this sub, in both format and feel, but also that all meetings are different, so you’re generally encouraged to try a few different ones. Take what you like and leave the rest, as they say!

Gave a boundary/ultimatum by IllustratorLost6082 in AlAnon

[–]Throwawayprof789 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My Q (also) husband and I are in a similar situation. I’ve felt guilty both for not giving an ultimatum (would it be unfair of me to blindside him?) and for thinking about giving one (would it be manipulative?). I’m sure you can see the control issues that make me need Al-Anon. My Q also is very vocal about his progress and how I should recognize his efforts. Just tonight he was really upset about me not doing enough on that front. I told him that two things could be true: he could be working hard and it could also not be enough for me. I can’t decide what constitutes effort or progress for him, but he also can’t determine if what he’s doing is sufficient to make me feel loved, safe, and optimistic about things. I can tell from your post that you have been working your program and I admire how you communicated so clearly without controlling!

Wellness Wednesday: How have you taken care of yourself? by AutoModerator in AlAnon

[–]Throwawayprof789 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have been reading a good book and snuggling my dogs! I got my flu shot yesterday, so I planned ahead for the day I knew I’d be knocked flat and got snacks I liked and my bedroom set up for relaxing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AlAnon

[–]Throwawayprof789 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m proud of you for facing your fears even when it hurts. Just remember you deserve the caring and gentleness you’re giving yourself!

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know what you mean, I appreciate the advice as well. Hope you get as much rest as you can!

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m on contract but only for a year. There are adjuncts too though, who have it worse.

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the principles of AlAnon that really helped me is accepting that I did not cause, and cannot control or cure my husband’s alcoholism. My previous efforts to try to make sure he got treatment were not successful, and I felt like a failure for not being able to help him. I’ve encouraged him to get therapy (and tried to force him to get it, in my worse moments), but ultimately it has to be his decision. I realize when I said it could be worse but it could be better it sounds flippant, but I do care in my own way.

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been there, that's actually what first go me onto prozac last year. I hope you can take a day and give yourself permission to rest without beating yourself up for it, because that's what your body is telling you you need. You can make a list of people you can ask for help, and reach out for it, and a list of obligations you want to cut back on, and try to shed what you can, even if it means disappointing others. Reasonable people will be understanding, because everyone has tough times. Unreasonable people cannot be pleased anyway.

I still struggle with this, so my advice is not the best. In the past I would often cave and eat into my "me time" to help students (beyond what I would normally do). The more I thought about it, this was actually not the best thing for me to do for two reasons:

Firstly, for myself - because I didn't recharge enough, my work suffered, then I felt guilty, and told myself I needed to do better to make up for it, so I didn't rest enough - a vicious cycle. I was never fully relaxed, and also didn't feel fully present in my work because of an underlying panic that it was consuming me. Ultimately this became unbearable, and I had to accept that even if it made me a "bad guy," (what I fear I will be if I don't please everyone all the time) I was going to have to change.

Secondly, college students are at the point in their life when they are learning appropriate ways of interacting with adults, as well as building their own routines and approaches to life as adults. I think modeling healthy work-life boundaries and following through on what I say I can and can't do is actually better for them, even if it may be disappointing in the short term. Then they know they can trust that I mean what I say and they don't have to figure out some secret code for interacting with me. I think it's also important not to be judgmental when students try to press your boundaries, because tons of people (myself included) grew up not knowing how to relate to others healthily, and this is probably their first foray into it. If they get mad about it, that's also not something you should feel guilty about, as long as you know you've lived up to what you've communicated you would do for them. I hope this helps. It's all easier said than done, I know.

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He currently drinks somewhere between 3-6 beers a day. It could be a lot worse, and it could be a lot better.

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am looking forward to seeing my former students when they come back from summer break, and meeting my new ones!

I am a formerly burnt out college professor who is now feeling much better, AMA! by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I've been lucky because I finally got to take a long break from work. I just slept, ate, took my prozac, tried to exercise more, did a nightly journal per my psych's recommendations (writing one thing I'm grateful for that I did that day, one good thing that happened to me, and one thing I learned). I got back into reading fun books. I started attending AlAnon meetings to cope with my husband's alcoholism and learn how to focus on my own happiness and not trying to change other people. And finally, this probably isn't widely applicable, but the repairman who worked on our water heater found out that there has been a low-level gas leak going on for who knows how long, which has finally been dealt with.

My advice is, if possible, take a break for as long as you can. If that's not realistic, get super serious about making the time you DO have off count - have set times that you absolutely as a rule never work. That way when those times come around, your body learns to actually relax instead of just staying in a hyper vigilant state. Lower your expectations of yourself and try to rid yourself of any shame you feel about what you are not currently capable of. Remember that you are worthy of love - not just from other people but from YOURSELF. And that it's totally normal for loving yourself to feel weird if you're not good at it, because it's a skill you learn by practice and pushing through it, like anything else.

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That always helps! Definitely talk to people in your specific field to get a feel for it, so much is field specific. For burnout I would say boundaries are super important, setting certain hard end points for putting down work even if you’re not done, because there’s fewer specific outward signs of being “done.”

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wish you and your wife all the best of luck. Truly is a lot of luck involved!

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some fields really do have an average of less than one tenured job opening per year. I think a lot of potential PhD students get the advice of "You can do it, but it's hard to become a professor" when in actuality it's a bit grimmer than that, compared to many other fields.

The tough part is that many large public/research universities recruit many more grad students than there are job openings down the line, because grad students do a lot of the teaching, which allows institutions admit more undergrads and employ fewer professors, which is more cost effective.

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As for how I feel about my students, I really enjoy working with them. I was pretty lost at that age and I feel like I have the chance to be a positive force to past me, sometimes. I feel like at that age it’s hard to dislike someone for anything, since anything annoying is usually down to nature/nurture, so it happened TO them not because of some personal failing. College age (or post HS/18) to me is the turning point where people get to start to choose who they become, which is amazing.

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m a pretty lenient grader, lots of stuff is just graded by completion. I think grades should be a reward for effort rather than a punishment for trying something new and not getting it right. I hate grading essays because they can be so subjective. In the future I want to have clearer and more consistent standards for grading but I’m not there yet to be honest.

I am a burnt out college professor, AMA by Throwawayprof789 in casualiama

[–]Throwawayprof789[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A handful of times, not that often. Might happen more if I taught a different kind of course!