There’s a lot of productivity advice out there, even on this blog. Much of it focuses on thinking about different ways to “manage” or “maximize” your time – to do as much as you can with limited resources. Productivity is, of course, a type of production, and as such being productive means having greater output.
Beginning a new writing project can be simultaneously exciting and disheartening. There is plenty to look forward to – sinking your teeth into a new body of literature, making new discoveries, and entering a different intellectual conversation. There are also so many things you must plan, so much research to conduct, so many outlines and
Today’s blog post is taken from my newsletter. I rarely duplicate content, but I think this message bears repeating! Most if not all of the readers of this blog are probably feeling despair, fear, anger, anguish, vulnerability, and who knows what else in the aftermath of a bitter election that exposed a deeply divided
We are about 5 weeks into the academic summer (apologies if you’re on the quarter/trimester system – you’re summer is just starting). I’m sure many of you started the summer relieved to be done, and excited to start on your writing projects. I’m a big fan of constantly revisiting the goals you set for
You are most certainly under pressure to send things out. You’re aware of your deadlines, you know the consequences of not completing your manuscript, yet you still find reasons to avoid the work. Why? Procrastination is rarely a simple case of laziness. Instead, there is most likely a range of emotions you are feeling
As of late, I have been working with a few clients who desire time management consulting or accountability coaching. It makes perfect sense – one of the most difficult aspects of writing is finding the time to do it. Over the course of doing such work, on more than one occasion I have heard
Have you ever dreaded doing something that you thought would be hard, only to realize it wasn’t nearly as hard as you thought it would be? There are many reasons we claim that something is hard to do. For academics (and mostly everyone) thinking something is hard means believing it to be complicated, or
For academics, writing is the public face you show to the world. It’s the basis on which you are judged by your peers, for both jobs and promotions. There is a lot riding on the written word, so its no wonder that writing can be a source of anxiety and fear.The apprehension that writers
A few days ago I had the pleasure of co-hosting a #withaPhD Twitter chat with Jennifer Polk of From PhD to Life. The topic I chose was “working nine to five” (you can see the chat archived on Storify here) and my intention was to talk about maintaining a balance between working and having a