Read on Twitter
(Thread) Academic labour is notoriously hard to measure. I have tried to rectify this over the last few years by keeping close track of how many hours I work, and what I do with those hours in a spreadsheet template, which I've just revised for 2021: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W-w_pbJgsemr5vznErqqNG5UJsfxeiPUNgG8f6pXyfg/edit#gid=1226213337
This isn't about making sure I'm 'productive' or anything, but more about countering the constant feeling imposed by contemporary academia that tries to overwork you by making you feel like you have never worked 'enough'.
It's also a useful way to reflect on how much time a task *actually* took, compared to how long the university estimates it will take when determining your workload allocations. Tracking your hours is a great way to see if you are being ripped off as a worker, essentially.
So this spreadsheet, you make a habit of putting in each day how many hours you spent on emails, writing, reading, in meetings, etc, and it lets you see and reflect on how your time was spent
(fake data in screenshot!)
(fake data in screenshot!)
Structural issues require collective responses, etc., but I firmly believe resisting overwork is the most important site of collective action for academics today, and the first step of doing that is being aware of just how much you are *actually* working.
So with the new year starting, I strongly encourage my academic friends to actually keep track of your own work hours. Hopefully this spreadsheet provides you a useful tool to do that (but there's other apps and methods you might also use). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W-w_pbJgsemr5vznErqqNG5UJsfxeiPUNgG8f6pXyfg/edit#gid=1226213337
Again, this is not about 'increasing productivity' but about having the data to reassure yourself that, actually, you're probably already more productive than you are being paid to be. About being able to see, oh, I have actually done enough work this week, time to stop.
De-obfuscate just how much you work!
A final caveat: I've made this primarily with salaried academics in mind, but it's pretty customisable so if you want to use it as a casual academic, it should still be possible.
Finally, shout out to @hmberents for first having the idea for such a spreadsheet years ago and for suggestions for improvements over the last few years.
Finally finally, join the union.
Finally finally, join the union.
