The past months have been a whirlwind 🌪️ Two papers just submitted ✅, grant applications in progress 📝, completing my BKO teaching qualification 🎓, supervising master’s theses, teaching classes, unlocking datasets and still doing the fundamental core, your research.

The honest truth? I’m exhausted 😓

There’s this drive to do everything, to be excellent at teaching, to secure funding, to publish high-impact work, to be a good mentor, to contribute to every opportunity that comes my way. The perfectionism is real. And some days, I’m not sure if I’m building a career or just burning out slowly 🔥

The workload is relentless. Writing grants while knowing most will be rejected. Revising papers through multiple rounds. Preparing lectures while questioning if I’m doing it right. Supporting students while wondering if I have enough left to give.

What makes the difference? Good mentorship 🤝

I’ve been fortunate in this regard, and it’s made me realize how much early-career researchers depend on it and how broken the system is when they don’t have it. Having someone who creates space to breathe, who normalizes struggle, who reminds you that you don’t have to be perfect at everything, that’s what keeps you going.

To anyone in academia feeling overwhelmed: you’re not alone 💪 The system demands too much. That’s not a personal failing—it’s a structural problem. Find your people. Set boundaries (even when it feels impossible). Ask for help. And to established researchers: your investment in supporting early-career colleagues matters more than you realize. Sometimes it’s literally what keeps someone in academia 💡

hashtag#PostdocLife hashtag#AcademicBurnout hashtag#Mentorship