In this lecture, Professor Inger Mewburn, better known as @thesiswhisperer on the internet, discusses developing research projects on top of a very full academic life, all the while building a huge following on social media. She drops the knowledge on getting money for research, commercialisation, collaboration and managing to write books on top of teaching a 50% load. This lecture questions the mental and physical challenges of being a 21st century academic and asks: what does a ‘sustainable academic practice’ look like?