For those of us who thrive on doing all the things, it is incredibly easy to put off rest and self-care—at least until we hit burnout. Scholars, artists, activists, and other creatives are particularly prone to burnout under even normal circumstances but the pandemic has made this even more acute as we juggle new tasks and emotions.
As today’s guest emphasizes, building rest and recovery into our schedules is more important than ever and it requires realistically managing projects with balance in mind.
In episode 118 of Imagine Otherwise, I interview Christopher Persaud, the brilliant digital media associate who helps produce this very podcast. Chris’s love of working on diverse collaborative projects has led him to develop a sustainable approach to project management that prioritizes self-care.
In our interview, Chris and I chat about juggling diverse projects without getting overwhelmed, why its so important to build rest into your schedule, COVID-19 lessons to carry into the post-pandemic future, and why building a world where we are free to experiment and ask more questions is how Chris imagines otherwise.
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You can also read the transcript and show notes on the Ideas on Fire website, which have links to Chris’s work and all the concepts, people, and events we discuss on the show (great for teaching!).
Guest: Christopher Persaud
Christopher J. Persaud is a PhD student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism whose research explores how media and communication technologies are entangled with identity and popular culture. His research has three (often overlapping) streams: queer media and cultural production, video games and gaming cultures, and online communities and subcultures.
Christopher’s research has been presented at the annual meetings of the Association of Internet Researchers, International Communication Association, and Queerness and Games Conference, among others. His writing has been published in the International Journal of Communication, Social Media + Society, New Media & Society, and First Monday.
Prior to graduate school, Christopher worked as a research assistant for the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England, held undergraduate summer research fellowships at Harvard University in the sociology and history of science departments, and worked on the LGBTQ Video Game Archive project.
Christopher is also a digital media associate at Ideas on Fire where he helps produce the Imagine Otherwise podcast.
