Motivational Mondays

Mondays have a very bad reputation. It signifies the start of another work week and many people dread going back to work. Some dislike their jobs, some hate getting up early, and others dislike the busy schedule they have. For many of us in academia, we start our week with feelings of disappointment and regret for all of the things we didn't finish over the weekend. We may be beating ourselves up for taking that much needed nap or for just lounging for a few hours.

I won't tell you that you needed that break or that you have to allow yourself to relax. We all know these things intellectually, but we still feel the panic that ensues from "taking a break." Instead, I will offer you an alternative way to look at the beginning of the week. Why not take this opportunity to set the tone and re-focus for the onset of the week.

When I was a little girl, my mom would always say that we need to "start the week off right." So, let's do that. We will use our Motivational Mondays post to post something inspiring and motivational to get us all going and headed in the right direction.

This week's tip will be brief: Spend one hour at the beginning of the week (Today) reviewing your goals, calendar, schedule, and upcoming dates to make a plan for the week. This hour spent will translate into several hours gained because you will know exactly what you must do in order to get your goals accomplished for this week. We have all heard the simple, but difficult to follow quote that reads, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." So, let's not plan to fail this week.

Happy Monday!!! If you have ways you motivate yourself on Mondays, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Welcome to Academic Noire

Photo from: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1824

Hello! Welcome to Academic Noire, a blog for women in academia. I am so glad that you have come to check out our blog. 


I graduated with my Ph.D a little over a year ago and I finally feel as if I am beginning to embrace academia again. My experience in my doctoral program was very stressful. Actually, the word stressful does not fully captures what I was feeling at the time. I felt... overwhelmed, worried, apprehensive, sick (at times), undeserving, anxious, and the list goes on. I am sure you can identify feeling like that at some point, but despite those challenges I was very blessed. I had a wonderful support system of other sisters that were going through the process right along with me. The best thing about my group of sisters was that there was always at least one of us who could motivate the others when feeling down or discouraged.


I have cried and laughed with these women. We also pushed each other to stay focused, shared information imperative to our degree completion, worked together, and supported each other. These women also helped me to navigate the politics and harmful personalities that can exist in the academy, or any environment, for that matter. Most importantly, when I was in a mental space that was unhealthy, they encouraged me to make a change. I refuse to imagine what might experience might have been like without them. It was painful enough with them.


However, this experience did push me to wonder about those who may be isolated in the walls of academia. So, Mel (one of my sisters) and I decided to create a space for us all to get together and support each other. We hope that this website will provide a space to connect, support, and inform each other as we all progress on our journeys. We also hope to share some information that can help us all achieve success while remaining mentally, physically, and emotionally happy. 


I will finish my first post with a quote from Zora Neale Hurston that captures what I hope we can do with Academic Noire.


"It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble, and then not worth much after you get it."


Again, Welcome.