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How Do I Maintain a Good Work/Life Balance?

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Surviving and Thriving in Postgraduate Research

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Abstract

In this chapter, we identify five important life dimensions necessary to keep in balance, or avoid a distressing imbalance, during your postgraduate research journey: employment, mental well-being, physical health, social interaction and spiritual well-being. We argue that there is a difference between your productivity (outputs) and your productive capability (capacity to produce desired outcomes). A work/life imbalance can stifle your productive capability thereby compromising the necessary fuel that drives your performance over an extended period of time-term. If you focus only on your research and little else, you will soon burn out and wonder why you are losing interest and motivation and possibly falling behind on your research plan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Ray Cooksey

  2. RMIT University Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Gael McDonald

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  1. Ray Cooksey
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  2. Gael McDonald
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Correspondence to Ray Cooksey .

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Cooksey, R., McDonald, G. (2019). How Do I Maintain a Good Work/Life Balance?. In: Surviving and Thriving in Postgraduate Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7747-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7747-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7746-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7747-1

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