Navigating Challenges: How to Set Boundaries, Say No (Really), and Stop Procrastinating / 26-5-NCG-4

Content 

Getting things done can be difficult, especially for academics and researchers, who often have to set their own goals. Without external deadlines it’s easy to put off tasks that don’t feel urgent and end up stressed as unfinished work piles up. Saying no can be a great tool to help us stay on track, but in practice it can feel almost impossible to say no, especially to supervisors and valued colleagues. Building confidence in turning down requests from colleagues and supervisors that don’t align with our priorities and learning how to stop procrastinating is essential for managing our workload in academia and beyond.
In this workshop we’ll look at why we procrastinate, how to organize tasks so they actually get done, and how to manage requests from others in a way that works for us. We will work on strategies for saying no, setting priorities that align with our goals, and creating approaches that reduce stress and make our workload more realistic.

• Why do we procrastinate? Why do I put certain tasks off and complete others?
• How do I set realistic priorities that are in line with my goals?
• How can I approach my tasks in a way that helps me to complete them when I want to? What can I do to make sure that I get things done on time?
• How can I best manage requests from colleagues or my supervisor(s) when their expectations don’t align with my schedule? How do I know when I should say no, and when it makes sense to say yes?
• What do I do to feel confident about saying no? What makes it so difficult, and why is it so important?

Participation

Doctoral researchers (all disciplines) of the Berlin University Alliance.

Before booking a workshop: please make sure that you can attend for the entire duration to receive a certificate. Check our terms and conditions.

• Need to cancel your participation? : possible up to 14 days in advance
• Log into your DRS account on our booking platform www.drs.fu-berlin.de
• Click on "My course list"
• Choose the course in question andgo to "course details"  
• Click on "cancel booking". 

Further Information 

Doctoral programs calculate credit points based on the number of work units earned through workshop participation.
Each work unit represents 45 minutes of workshop time, and 8 work units equal 0.5 credit points.
For mini workshops (less than 8 work units), credits are calculated proportionally based on the work units.
Please note: To be eligible for credit transfer, you must accumulate enough work units from short workshops.
For example, attending two 3-hour workshops results in 8 work units (2 workshops x 4 work units each), which equals 0.5 credits.

Updates on available places, events, calls, announcements and more: register to our DRS Newsletter.

Workshops free of charge at the BUA partner institutions: Graduate Studies Support Program.