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Boost your career with strategic scholarly retreats

Strategic scholarly retreats can guide your career through focused reflection

I recently spent a full day completing a personal scholarly retreat, after realising that I was caught in a cycle of deadlines and commitments that left no time for figuring out what to focus my attention on. I was constantly responding to urgent matters, leaving little time for strategic career planning or deep scholarly reflection. And I was feeling a sense of stagnation, with important goals and professional development opportunities continually sidelined by day-to-day pressures.

Scholarly retreats

And then I came across the idea of a personal retreat when listening to the Bookworm podcast (I forget which episode):

Every 90 days, I get away for at least 24 hours to reflect on the last quarter and think about the direction in which my life… is headed. Why every 90 days? Because I find a quarter is the perfect timeframe for planning. It’s long enough to make significant progress but not so long that you end up procrastinating on what you intend to do. It also gives you four time periods to learn from your mistakes and make adjustments as needed instead of one if you did traditional annual planning.

The insights gained during these retreats can help ensure that your daily academic work aligns with your broader scholarly vision and career aspirations. It’s also important to note that these aren’t leisurely getaways; they’re intensely focused periods dedicated to scholarly reflection and career planning. By carving out dedicated time away from your usual academic environment, you create a space to critically evaluate your career trajectory, reassess teaching methods, and guide your professional development. The one that I did left me feeling mentally exhausted, but was also intellectually and creatively inspiring.

Activities

During a strategic scholarly retreat, you could engage in activities such as:

  • Reviewing your research pipeline and setting concrete goals for upcoming projects or publications.
  • Evaluating your teaching methods and brainstorming innovative approaches to enhance student engagement.
  • Mapping out potential collaborations or interdisciplinary projects that align with your long-term research interests.
  • Reflecting on your work-life balance and identifying strategies to maintain scholarly productivity while avoiding burnout.
  • Assessing your professional development needs and planning steps to acquire new skills or expertise relevant to your field.

Practical steps

Now, I realise that many academics face hard constraints on their time and resources, and may not have the flexibility and autonomy to set aside a full day for this kind of planning. So here are three practical steps to incorporate strategic retreats into your routine:

  1. Start small: If a full day away isn’t feasible, begin with a “micro-retreat” of 2-3 hours, maybe once a month. Book a quiet room in your campus library or a local café, turn off all notifications, and focus solely on your career reflection and planning.
  2. Leverage existing travel: When attending conferences or giving invited talks, add an extra day to your trip for a strategic retreat. The change of environment can stimulate fresh thinking, and you’re already away from your usual responsibilities.
  3. Coordinate with colleagues: Propose a departmental or research group “strategy day” where colleagues collectively engage in focused planning. This can make it easier to justify the time and potentially share resources for a more substantial retreat experience.

Remember, the goal isn’t to step away from your academic responsibilities, but to engage more deeply with your scholarly ambitions and career trajectory. For me, this strategic retreat was an intense work-focused session that reminded me of my core scholarly values and longer-term commitments, which helped me put into place some structure and plans for the rest of 2024.

By making strategic retreats a regular part of your academic practice (I think that once a quarter is perfect), you’re not just planning for success – you’re actively shaping the course of your scholarly journey. The clarity and direction gained from these focused sessions can lead to more impactful research, more effective teaching, and a more fulfilling academic career.

Build a deeper understanding of your working context as a starting point for creating a sustainable and meaningful academic career.

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