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Finding the Balance: Fitting Professional Activities Into Your Career
by Tanzi Merritt
When I entered library school -- the beginning of my career as a librarian -- I was thrilled to be joining a profession where getting involved is part of the job. Active participation in professional and community organizations would not just be tolerated, but encouraged. Never again would I be dealing with employers who would barely allow an extra 15 minutes at lunch for an alumni luncheon. In my new life as a librarian I would be encouraged to be on committees, attend conferences, and promote libraries and librarianship through advocacy and community service. I was ready, and I dove right in!
Students get a nice discount when joining professional organizations, and I took advantage by joining them all. I joined ALA, SLA, and the Kentucky Library Association. I tried out membership in several divisions and roundtables of all three groups, looking for a good fit. I enjoyed being active in my school's student chapter of SLA, and served as the Vice-President and President of the student chapter of ALA. The combination of classes, an assistantship in the reference department of my university's library, and involvement in professional organizations wasn't hard to balance. I was learning so much in my classes, and both my job and activities allowed me to put that new knowledge into practice. I couldn't wait to start my first professional job and get even more involved in professional organizations on a larger level.
I thought it would be simple. After all, I'd successfully managed a full plate of activities and responsibilities throughout high school, college, and grad school. After a little over a year trying to balance a full-time job with professional and community involvement, however, I've found that it's not as easy as I thought!
Am I Experiencing Burnout?
Some might think that it's impossible to experience burnout so early in a career. However, I would argue that the beginning of a career in librarianship is probably the easiest time to experience burnout. As new librarians, we're ready to take on the world! We want to be involved in every aspect of the profession that piques our interest, and opportunities to become involved abound. Once word of our enthusiasm gets out, though, offers to serve on committees and work on projects just keep coming -- and many of us haven't yet found the point where we must begin to say no. In my own struggle to find balance (and I'm not there yet!) I've learned some things that bear passing on.
Finding the Balance
- Participate in professional and community activities that you
enjoy. While many of us can do a good job with a project that we
don't really care for, why bother? Taking on a project that you
won't enjoy sets you up for burnout. The stress of the activity can
cause your creativity to dry up, or you might put a project off, or
you might just not do the kind of job that you are capable of doing.
You'll likely be disappointed in yourself, and, worse, you might
disappoint others that are relying on you. Even if you do a
fantastic job, if you haven't enjoyed any of the work, you'll be
drained from the experience, and -- you guessed it -- burned out! If
you know at the outset that you aren't going to enjoy yourself,
don't get involved with that particular activity.
- Don't feel guilty about saying no, or even "maybe later." Never
feel bad about telling someone that you can't participate if you
don't have the time to do the kind of job you'd like. Others will
respect your decision. After all, they want to see their project
succeed, and will appreciate your honesty. If you really, really
want to be involved and can't bear to say no, let the person know
that you are interested and would like to become involved when some
of your existing commitments are through.
- Don't be a librarian 24/7. It's both acceptable and healthy to take some time away from work and professional activities and do something completely unrelated to your career. Exercise, watch TV, or take up knitting. Whatever it is you like to do, take the time to do it! Your mind and body will thank you, and you'll be ready to jump right into planning that conference presentation or clearing off that pile of papers on your desk when the time comes.
Follow Your Instincts
Getting involved in professional and community activities is rewarding in many ways. Through our involvement we can share ideas and ways of doing things, further our knowledge of issues facing the profession, and reenergize. Because of the wealth of opportunities, however, it's very easy to bite off more than we can chew. There is no magic formula for determining how much is just enough -- the threshold is different for each of us, based on a little something called life. While most of us will have to learn the hard way at least once, keeping the above tips in mind can make finding the right balance for you a little bit easier!
Tanzi Merritt is the Senior Reference Librarian at the Kentucky Virtual Library and is involved in ALA's New Members' Round Table, the Kentucky Library Association, and the Lexington Young Professionals Association. She's currently attempting to find the balance! Special thanks from the author go out to Stacey Greenwell, Desktop Support Librarian at the University of Kentucky, James Manasco, Engineering Librarian at the University of Kentucky, and Sean Kinder, Assistant Professor and Humanities & Social Sciences Librarian, Western Kentucky University.