- Take lunch! It is often tempting to work through lunch, especially during hectic times. Do not skip it. Even if you do not eat, take a walk. The break is needed and you will return fresh to the office.
- Set aside thirty minutes in the morning to go through your mail messages, review your calendar, and plan your day. This sets an organizational tone for the day and gets you off to a good start.
- Set aside 30 minutes at the end of the day to clear off your desk and start planning for the next day's events. There is nothing more depressing than walking into your office in the morning to face a pile of unfinished business from yesterday.
- Set aside one hour a day for phone calls only. A concentrated period of phone time accomplishes much more than interruptions of five minutes here and there.
- Remember that you are not alone! Be sure to talk with colleagues and discuss your successes, concerns, and things that did not work. Keep abreast of new techniques and procedures, and partake of programs such as the Advising Resource Center's Advisor Training Series (refer to the program schedule on this page). Keep up the network with other advisors on campus.
Portions of this article are reprinted from "Advising Reminders: Ways to Beat the Burnout Bug," which appeared in the July 1993 issue of Academic Advising News.
|