Parenting and Academia: Managing the Mental Load

Graduate Studies Support Program

This workshop is part of the Graduate Studies Support Program of Berlin University Alliance. For an overview of all Graduate Studies Support Program events, click here.

Objectives
How do we juggle work life balance when “life” comes with such a huge mental load? When the family to-do list is three mes as long as the work to-do list and it is you feel like you are always the one that has to remember. The thinking part of having children is permanent and it’s exhausting. It’s invisible, unmeasurable and often inescapable. How do we thrive at work whilst navigating the worry and guilt of managing a family at home? How do we learn to share the planning and management of our homes and not just the delegation of a never-ending task list in our minds? It is possible.
 
Content

• Explore what mental load is, how it manifests in our daily lives, and why it’s harmful.
• Learn to check in with our expectations.
• Learn to decontaminate our time so that we can be effective in our work and present at home.
• Identify worry and self-doubt loops and how to stop them.
• Learn to zoom out to fit everything in.
• Explore mindfulness and self-compassion as tools to help you be present with our kids when we are at home and present with our works when we need to be working.