Our last newsletter received strong responses from readers, with many sharing that its message was something they needed to hear. We explained why PIs must keep moving in today’s discouraging funding environment in spite of being tired, concerned and often having incomplete information.

This moment feels different from when the bad news first began. Eighteen months ago, people were worried but many still had energy. Now, many have reached a lower point. One might be mentally and physically drained from uncertainty, scary headlines, proposed changes or questions about where the funding ecosystem is headed.

This is why I have not moved to a more tactical topic today. I want to dedicate another week to this issue -- with an important nuance: Keep moving does not mean never resting.

If you are working, your efforts to pursue funding must remain part of that work. More inquiries, conversations and searching for real fits will lead to better results than stopping altogether. However, if you are spending time away from work, then do that.

Rest is not the opposite of momentum. Momentum is not only preserved through ongoing activity; it is preserved through focused attention on the right priorities.  

There is a difference between abandoning a path and taking time off so you can return stronger. Giving up means stopping work with no plan to return. Resting means acknowledging that you have human limitations. A break can be part of a strategy for continuing. If you wait until you are fully spent, the recovery you need may be longer and harder than what you would need after a break you have consciously chosen.

When you take time off, try to make it count.

As a small business owner, I understand the pressures that come from being a responsible party. You may feel that if you step away something important could be missed. That might be true, and there can be some responsibilities one cannot fully pause -- especially when you are supervising experiments, advising students or managing deadlines.

But if you are taking time off while monitoring emails, reviewing proposal materials or just feeling guilty, you may not be getting the kind of rest that will actually help you.

A break is most useful when your mind and body understand that you are permitted to occasionally be “off duty.”

This does not mean you have to disappear completely. Before going into a break, decide what you are disconnecting from. Will you check emails once a day? Will you avoid headlines for a few days? Will you take a break from writing? Will you respond to student needs?

There is no single answer that will work for everyone. The point is to think about these decisions ahead of time so you are not making a series of small, stressful choices during the break itself.

Rest helps protect your judgment. In this environment you need to make decisions about where to invest your time. New programs are coming online. There are solicitations to read, agency priorities to assess, program fit questions to consider, and conversations with funders to pursue. This is a lot to process.

You want to be thinking clearly as you make those decisions. It is harder to do that when you are cognitively spent. When depleted, it is easier to misjudge fit, overreact to new opportunities or invest work in a direction that you later find was not the right one.

You should know what kind of rest is realistic for you. Maybe it is taking one afternoon a week to be fully offline. Maybe it is protecting one weekend day for something unrelated to work. Maybe it is taking a few days away from proposal writing, or deciding not to check funding-related news for a period.

Do not treat rest as something you must earn only after reaching total exhaustion. Rest is part of what allows you to continue.

Comments on last week’s newsletter also showed that many of you are struggling to remain steady while worn down by the ongoing uncertainty. This means it is important not to become even more burned out than you may already be.

And it is worth remembering that time away can also be when good ideas appear. Many of us have had the experience of stepping away from work only to suddenly see something more clearly -- a technical concept, a possible collaboration, a better framing for a proposal or a previously unnoticed opportunity.

Keep moving, but never confuse well-earned intentional respite with quitting.

Take care of you and yours!

If you have wondered what makes Wise Investigator different from other kinds of funding support, I recorded this video to explain that more directly. The short version is that we focus on early-career faculty, front-end funding strategy, and the support needed to move toward your first major grant.

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 12-week program to get you there.

Check out our storefront where you can access our free Unlocking DOD Funding for University Researchers course and other resources, including for faculty applicants.

Ready to book a call to discuss how our program can support faculty at your institution? Let’s chat!