Developing and Maintaining Healthy Work-Life Balance for Early Career Researchers

Careers in research come with many challenges that can hinder or foster your professional and personal goals. One of those challenges involves developing and maintaining a work-life balance that allows you to thrive in your work (and in your nonwork life). Early career researchers are often navigating demanding time- lines, unconventional work schedules, and intense pressure to achieve tangible research and career milestones (e.g., publications, funding applications) in a short period of time to stand out in a competitive workforce. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the importance of healthy work-life balance for not only your career success but also your own personal well-being. A brief exercise is presented that allows you to compare how you currently divide your time up between (work, social, personal, family) commitments and how you ideally would distribute your time in valued work/life domains. Actionable strategies and suggestions are dis- cussed to allow you to find what works best for you when developing or maintaining a work-life balance, drawing from social and organizational psychology disciplines as well as personal and anecdotal experiences from other early career researchers.