Don’t worry – be happy

 In which I got to say Shit in Times Higher Education (first published there 2023)

The editor has allowed me 800 words to give you the secret to academic happiness, but I can sum it up in eight: stop giving a shit about every little thing. To be honest, it doesn’t even need the “about every little thing”. But I should probably expand a bit, and not least because I get paid by the word.

In case my head of department is reading this and I sound overly nihilistic, I need to provide some clarification. I am not saying “don’t try” and I am not saying you don’t have to work hard – whether we like it or not, academia isn’t a nine-to-five job. What I really mean is stop stressing about the things you cannot control – which, to be honest, is most things. I also mean loosen your attachment to the standard metrics of academic success – “high impact” papers, measures of esteem, fellowships of exclusive organisations. Most of these things have little or no relevance outside the ivory tower – as a fun way to test this, explain to a non-academic friend how you paid £8,490 for the privilege of someone else posting your research data online.

A more grown up way to put it is to have some perspective, but that way I don’t get to say shit in Times Higher Education.

An important point in the N.G.A.S. philosophy is that it applies predominantly to the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – those of self-esteem and self-actualisation. No amount of not giving a shit is going to help if you are underpaid, overworked and worrying where your next contract is coming from. If you are in this position, you have my utmost sympathy. But if you have survived that stage and are still feeling unfulfilled and miserable then read on.

Much of the current system equates academic happiness with academic success. But this can lead to chasing of endpoints for the sake of accolade rather than enjoyment of the thing itself. The goal should be a well-written paper that, through the effort of yourself and your team, pieces together a story addressing a research question that was important to you. The goal should not be getting it past a specific editor, who has a particular target audience in mind. One of the healthier developments in recent years has been the uptake of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the move to recognise papers for their own merit, not just for where they are published.

Likewise with funding, write the best grant you possibly can, enjoy the process of thinking up new ideas, but accept that it may not be what the funders are looking for at that time and you might need to repackage for somewhere else.

And there are so many things that matter more than papers and grants. Strip away the stuff that is valued collectively by “the system” and focus on the stuff that matters to you. Be that teaching an enjoyable course with engaged students; widening participation in your field; answering a research question or finding the perfect bon mot for your writing. Academia sans merde gives you amazing opportunities to set your own path.

A corollary is to do things outside the academy that give you joy. If all you have in your life is your work, it is much easier for it to overwhelm you when things don’t go according to plan.

Not giving a shit doesn’t mean not caring about others. Another advantage of stepping away from externally defined success is that it is likely to reduce bad behaviour. The zero-sum model of perceived excellence, where only a select few PIs can win and everyone else loses, promotes toxicity. Focussing on actual excellence can be done with others, and everyone can win.

Hopefully, I have persuaded you of the case for caring less. But doing it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Letting go takes commitment. You need to work at it, especially in the face of the little siren voices that say you need more success to be happy.

A particular temptation is comparison. Never give in to this one. If there is one sure-fire way to be miserable in academia it is to compare yourself to other academics and their externally broadcast achievements. Bear in mind that those broadcasts are about achievements framed in defined (and quite artificial) terms, not about happiness or fulfilment. You can do better, by focussing on what matters to you and the consequences will be of far greater value.