Rekindling passion for research post tenure

[diamond_day]

So I got tenure last year (yay), but am now tired, and burnt out, and honestly really tired of my research and the direction my field is going in (not yay). It doesn't help that I worked so hard and nonstop during my PhD and pre tenure period that I ended up with some recently diagnosed possibly chronic health issues that have forced me to slow down (dr's orders).

Does anyone have any advice for feeling like I care about my research again? I realize I have almost infinite flexibility to figure something out (grants are strongly encourage but we are ultimately hard funded), but when I try to think of next steps I just feel so.... bored. Of everything. Which I think is the burn out talking, but I've added exercise and meditation and all the usual self care things and it's not budging. I'm also hesitant to totally restart my area of research if I ever want to make it to full professor (but again, at the moment I don't even know what that idea would be). I have a big backlog of recent research in my field that I keep tagging for myself to read, but it's like pulling teeth! Whenever I'm not doing something required I feel totally unmotivated to do anything extra.

Am I just supposed to keep gritting my teeth and finish my current projects with collaborators and hope something clicks for me? How do I speed this process up? I feel like the lack of ideas is giving me a minor existential crisis. The thought of coming up with an endless stream of research and grant ideas for the next 30 years makes me want to go back to school and become something more applied or just go work retail like I did in college. Advice to get over this hump? The Chronicle articles on unhappy Associate Profs feel pretty resonant, but none of them really seem to say what to do *do* about it.

[polly_mer]

Is there anything anywhere that you want to do?

I ask, because I've had a couple projects just languishing for years that I "should" do, but I can't get excited about doing.  In contrast, at various times, I've been very pleased with the results on following up on ideas I had in the ideas notebook based on attending one-off seminars over the years that aren't directly related to my previous research.

Attending more general interest seminars as well as reading more general interest magazines (e.g., Popular Science, Scientific American, Wired, Technology Review) has helped kindle some interest in areas related to my background, but not directly areas in which I've worked.

I keep up my interest in higher education in large part because I'm very excited to see how certain situations turned out as well as being a knowledgable voice when my non-academic colleagues start with the shoulds related to higher ed that are in direct opposition to the current realities of what we can expect from recent graduates.

Is there something similar in which you could become the local/regional/national expert because the area is interesting to you and you don't have to justify your activities to a sponsor this quarter regarding progress?  Is there anything you'd like to read that counts as research as some type?  Were there any side projects years ago (possibly even back in grad school) that you abandoned at the time, but you still have unanswered questions that spark an interest?

[ciao_yall]

So I got tenure last year (yay), but am now tired, and burnt out, and honestly really tired of my research and the direction my field is going in (not yay). It doesn't help that I worked so hard and nonstop during my PhD and pre tenure period that I ended up with some recently diagnosed possibly chronic health issues that have forced me to slow down (dr's orders).

Does anyone have any advice for feeling like I care about my research again? I realize I have almost infinite flexibility to figure something out (grants are strongly encourage but we are ultimately hard funded), but when I try to think of next steps I just feel so.... bored. Of everything. Which I think is the burn out talking, but I've added exercise and meditation and all the usual self care things and it's not budging. I'm also hesitant to totally restart my area of research if I ever want to make it to full professor (but again, at the moment I don't even know what that idea would be). I have a big backlog of recent research in my field that I keep tagging for myself to read, but it's like pulling teeth! Whenever I'm not doing something required I feel totally unmotivated to do anything extra.

Am I just supposed to keep gritting my teeth and finish my current projects with collaborators and hope something clicks for me? How do I speed this process up? I feel like the lack of ideas is giving me a minor existential crisis. The thought of coming up with an endless stream of research and grant ideas for the next 30 years makes me want to go back to school and become something more applied or just go work retail like I did in college. Advice to get over this hump? The Chronicle articles on unhappy Associate Profs feel pretty resonant, but none of them really seem to say what to do *do* about it.

You might be bored and ready for a fresh challenge.

Now that you are tenured, are there other projects/committees at the university that might be interesting to you? You can make your teaching and research more efficient and make time.

You say you don't like the direction your field is going. Now that you are tenured, can you be the contrarian voice in the publishing world? Perhaps there are others who believe as you do.

[Hibush]

Your feelings are pretty common. That is one reason sabbatical leaves are often timed for just after tenure. Using that leave to dive into a new and refreshing line of inquiry really helps a lot of people. Spending six months or a year with the responsibilities of a postdoc (except for finding a job) is also reviving of the research spirit.

If you can find a program that is really active in an area that looks interesting, then see about a sabbatical there. Your odds of acceptance are probably decent since you are low maintenance and cost nothing for the PI and can bring some new perspectives to lab meetings or grad student conversations.

[delsur]

Take a break! And reward yourself for all the hard work you did to achieve tenure! You probably need some time to recharge. When I got tenure, I gave myself a summer (and a little more) to not care about anything I didn't want to care about. Maybe a little break--and mental permission to rest--will help you rekindle your passion for research.

[Ruralguy]

After I felt that way and finished the two papers I committed to, I wrote a book for the masses, even if not purchased by masses. I also served the college in interesting ways. Now I'm looking to publish code related to a pedagogical field I became interested in.

[Aster]

Take a break! And reward yourself for all the hard work you did to achieve tenure! You probably need some time to recharge. When I got tenure, I gave myself a summer (and a little more) to not care about anything I didn't want to care about. Maybe a little break--and mental permission to rest--will help you rekindle your passion for research.

This.