Advice on how to cope with all the work and when to say no to opportunities.

Of the academics contributing to this year’s Times Higher Education University Workplace Survey, more than two-thirds agree that they “spend too much time working”. Less than a third believe that their “work responsibilities allow for a healthy work-life balance”. Despite satisfaction levels of more than three-quarters for both teaching and research, it is clear that many academics are in peril of drowning in the sea of things that they are expected (and often want) to do, while also trying to find time for family, friends and fun.

So are there ways of learning to prioritise better? What is the knack to knowing when and how to say no to attractive opportunities – not to mention tasks you feel you ought to take on? We asked a range of academics to recount their own experiences, and to draw out any lessons and practical tips.

It is clear that no one finds the balancing act easy to pull off. Indeed, one contributor has gone so far as to form a mutual support group for “opportunities addicts” struggling with the “fine art of saying no”. Members tempted to take on just one extra burden are nudged back towards sanity with a succession of sobering mantras, such as: “All baby opportunities are cute. Imagine this opportunity as a teenager.”

But any academic tempted to put that phrase on a T-shirt and set up a stall at the next big international conference should first reflect realistically on the amount of work that would involve.