I wrote a piece for the Guardian’s Higher Education Network, all about the power of “no“. The piece was designed particularly with early-career researchers in mind, but there might be some resonance for researchers at other stages of their careers, and maybe even more widely.
I always struggle with turning down requests, which tends to make for an interesting, diverse, and very tiring career. I have absolutely enjoyed getting involved in a range of unusual and interesting research (and other) projects in the last six years but it has come at the cost of balance in my life. I’m pretty sure that I will continue to struggle with balancing work and whatever else it is that people are supposed to do when they are not working. At least writing about saying “no” has made me think about my own internal mechanisms for saying no.
In case you missed the link to the article I wrote, here it is: “Early career research: the power of ‘no’“
Professor Adam G. Dunn 