Because of the recent winter holidays, I noticed lots of professors talking about work-life balance both on Twitter and in real life. Everyone has their own personal way of establishing this balance, but I am intensely annoyed by the ultra-famous professors who Tweet that we should be spending our time with family during the holidays rather than doing any work. I have to wonder if these people got to where they are by taking lots of time off, and my guess is that they did not. I think my problem with these Tweets is that rather than just saying that they're happy to be taking time off for the holidays, they're implying that there's something wrong if we're not. So with that said, and realizing that hearing about other people's philosophies on vacations may not be that helpful, below is what/how I think about taking time off...
1. As a PI of a lab with NIH funding, you have to work hard. You are competing against people who never take any time off, people without kids or family, people who prioritize work first. This is just a fact of life. As a PI, there's always more work to do.
2. However, a week off probably means very little in the grand scheme of a year. It's very unlikely that you will miss out on some major breakthrough that you wouldn't otherwise make. It's very unlikely that you would have written an extra grant or paper during that week. It's very unlikely that your students or postdocs will need you at all that week.
3. As a matter of fact, people in the lab like it when the boss is on vacation. In my experience, I never accomplished less when my boss was away, but it felt like a mini-vacation for me because I felt like I could be more flexible with my own hours. Might the PI taking a vacation actually also be good for the psyche of our lab members?
4. When I am away on vacation, I usually spend a few early mornings in a coffee shop with my laptop doing small tasks. This includes things like replying to emails, approving time sheets, and maybe reading/reviewing a paper or writing a reference letter. I do not do anything that is truly laborious, and I do this work in a leisurely, enjoyable way, i.e., while drinking coffee, eating pastries, and people watching.
So basically, my vacation philosophy is that it's good to do a few times a year, but that it's my own personal decision whether or not it's time that I can afford to lose at work. And furthermore, being on vacation doesn't mean that I'm 100% off the grid and checked out from the lab.
