For the last few weeks, I have been holed up in my home office working quite intensively on several writing projects, and now that June has started, I am beginning to make the final push through summer on several deadlines. There is a lot left to do. Along the way, I have taken some breaks to enjoy attending convocation, to get out of town for a family birthday, and to catch up with friends passing through town. And what this brought to mind as I sat down to assemble this week's round up is how comforting the routines of academic life can be, but also how much the "work" of what we do is mostly invisible.

An article about workaholism in academia caught my attention a few weeks back when it was being widely circulated on Twitter. The story itself, of a tenured prof who collapsed following several years of trying to keep up with an impossible work load, was nothing I hadn't seen first hand as a grad student or faculty member. But what was compelling was the conversation the article sparked on social media, along with comments following the article, that called for a serious reassessment of how success and accomplishment is to be measured in academic work life. Part of the discussion centered on creating personal boundaries, learning to say "no" and getting a handle on priorities and how time is managed outside the classroom, but another important part of the conversation focused on being more forthcoming with family and friends about how much the work of academia is all-consuming and difficult to "turn off." A few summers ago, a reading group I belonged to read The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy and I wanted to bring it up this week as a recommendation for those who may be needing a good primer on how to find that work/life balance. I will be dusting my copy off again this summer for a re-read. Enjoy the links!