40-hour week?

I keep stumbling on this blog while looking about the internets: http://getalifephd.blogspot.com/

A fairly recent post called for a 40 hour academic work week.

I just wanted to give an Amen! I've spent the last year or two "rescuing my life" from philosophy. This isn't a knock on philosophy (I mean, I've spent the last decade of my life in the discipline), but I found the things that made me a successful grad student -- like internalized guilt when not working, putting philosophy at the center of my world, spending 'down time' thinking about the professional side of philosophy -- didn't really cultivate sustainable life habits.

Now I make a pretty concerted effort to do things like not work after 7p or on weekends. It doesn't always happen, but it's really opened up some space for life (admittedly at the expense of productivity). For me, protecting life from work feels a bit like protecting time from students - you want to give them their due, but setting clear time boundaries doesn't make you a bad teacher.

-- Second Suitor