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Thinking Time Is Important Time

Thinking Time Is Important Time

  • September 12, 2017
  • Impostor SyndromeProductivity
  • 0 Comments

Many, many years ago I had a complicated surgery. Thankfully, my surgeon was a badass. He traveled the world giving lectures and worked at one of the most prestigious teaching hospitals in the country. In addition to pioneering surgical procedures, he mentored residents and published prolifically.   Now, I’m not writing you to brag about

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September 12, 2017 0

Effectively Manage Your Course Prep

Effectively Manage Your Course Prep

  • September 5, 2017
  • Uncategorized
  • 0 Comments

I taught at a liberal arts college and prepped many courses. I spent hours on course prep. I’d review the reading, read supplementary material, develop handouts, and more. Sometimes this felt very rewarding, but sometimes it didn’t. Over time, I found that there was a very weak correlation between the amount of time I spent

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September 5, 2017 0

Lessons I’ve Learned From My Clients

Lessons I’ve Learned From My Clients

  • August 22, 2017
  • ProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

Eight months ago I launched my signature coaching service, The Productivity Pipeline. I started the service in response to a problem many of my clients faced. Now, I’m relaunching the service, to so speak. Although anyone can sign up at any time of the year, the beginning of the semester is a great time to

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August 22, 2017 0

Saying No: A Case Study

Saying No: A Case Study

  • August 8, 2017
  • ProductivitySaying No
  • 0 Comments

Have you ever been in a situation where you fully intend to say no to a request, but your guilt gets the best of you? Then, before you know it, you’ve taken on an additional commitment that is more time consuming and frustrating than you ever would have imagined.   This is a problem that

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August 8, 2017 0

Summer Writing Is Almost Over. You Should Celebrate.

Summer Writing Is Almost Over. You Should Celebrate.

  • August 1, 2017
  • ProductivityStress
  • 0 Comments

When I was on the tenure-track, I spent the month of August frantically uploading articles to Blackboard, maneuvering to get better classroom assignments for the courses I taught, and trying to wrap up my summer writing projects. The writing goals I had set at the beginning of the summer now seemed like a list of

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August 1, 2017 0

Fear and Procrastination: Are You Afraid to Write?

Fear and Procrastination: Are You Afraid to Write?

  • May 18, 2017
  • Overcoming BarriersProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

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.

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May 18, 2017 0

Signposting: How Much Is Too Much?

Signposting: How Much Is Too Much?

  • April 26, 2017
  • Quick TipsWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

Signposting is important – it gives your reader a map of sorts so they know where you intend to take your argument. I’m a strong proponent of the argument that in nonfiction writing, you have little reason to surprise your reader. I’ve made this point before on the blog.   A well-structured manuscript should guide

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April 26, 2017 0

Asking For Feedback: Do You Know What You Need?

Asking For Feedback: Do You Know What You Need?

  • April 12, 2017
  • Asking For HelpRevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

Short story: I had a colleague in a workshop who offered generous feedback on my work. At the end of each workshop, they’d hand me a draft with all sorts of comments, questions, suggestions, and recommendations for future reading. There would also be grammar corrections throughout the document. For some reason, this copyediting infuriated me.

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April 12, 2017 0

Five Ways To Tame Your Email

Five Ways To Tame Your Email

  • April 6, 2017
  • ProductivitySaying No
  • 0 Comments

  It seems like reaching “inbox zero” is the holy grail for busy people. We are in a never-ending battle with our inbox, and no matter how hard we try, we feel powerless to control the flow of messages sent to us. Part of our dilemma concerning email is that when we manage our email

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April 6, 2017 0

How to Start Revising: The Process of Writing

How to Start Revising: The Process of Writing

  • March 23, 2017
  • Journal ArticlesRevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

In the last post, we talked about the emotions you might feel when reading over reviewer’s comments and how to get organized to start revising. In this post, I’ll discuss how to start revising, from developing a plan to beginning to write.  There are several questions you should consider before beginning work on your article revisions.

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March 23, 2017 0

Taking the Stress Out of the Revise and Resubmit

  • March 9, 2017
  • Asking For HelpRevisingServicesWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

A revise and resubmit is no joke. It may be the piece of writing that begets the most procrastination and anxiety. I think this is because you are not writing just for yourself and an imagined audience, but rather for a real audience of readers who just offered you a critique that was at times

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March 9, 2017 0

Conquering Overwhelm in Writing: Start Small

Conquering Overwhelm in Writing: Start Small

  • March 1, 2017
  • Impostor SyndromeOvercoming BarriersUncategorizedWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

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

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March 1, 2017 0

Quick Tip: Avoiding the Research Rabbit Hole

Quick Tip: Avoiding the Research Rabbit Hole

  • February 16, 2017
  • RevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

    Imagine this: you’re diligently working on a draft of a manuscript when you reach a section that would benefit from a bit more research. Perhaps you need to cite a few more authors to support your point, or you just need some background literature to provide additional context. You go to find the

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February 16, 2017 0

What Do You Do? The Nitty-Gritty of Coaching

What Do You Do? The Nitty-Gritty of Coaching

  • January 31, 2017
  • ProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

  I am currently working with multiple clients through my service The Productivity Pipeline. In this post, I am going to give you concrete examples of what that coaching work looks like, what my clients are learning, and the benefits they have received. My work with my clients is confidential. Therefore, this description is not

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January 31, 2017 0

What It’s Like to Work With a Productivity Coach

What It’s Like to Work With a Productivity Coach

  • December 8, 2016
  • ProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

The harsh truth about academia is that once you finish graduate school, there is really no formalized system of professional development. You can seek out support from individual mentors, and you may be lucky enough to land at an institution that offers a pro-seminar of some sorts for incoming faculty. There might even be some

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December 8, 2016 0

One Thing You Should Know About Sticking to a Writing Schedule

One Thing You Should Know About Sticking to a Writing Schedule

  • December 5, 2016
  • Productivity
  • 0 Comments

    People assume a writing schedule should include one or the other –  either a quantifiable measure (such as time spent or words written) or a qualitative goal (introduction complete, reading completed for literature review). You are either going to enter “write 30 minutes” or “finish introduction” in your planner. The problem with using a single

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December 5, 2016 0

What is Productivity Coaching?

  • December 1, 2016
  • ProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

Productivity coaching is a type of one-on-one work with writers to develop systems of accountability in writing. I work with you to set realistic writing goals and give you the tools to achieve those goals. When we work together, your writing will become routine rather than haphazard and inconsistent. Your writing sessions will be more rewarding

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December 1, 2016 0

5 Myths Keeping You From Making a Writing Schedule

5 Myths Keeping You From Making a Writing Schedule

  • November 29, 2016
  • ProductivityServices
  • 2 Comments

When you sit down to make a writing schedule, it’s natural to feel some resistance towards developing a plan and ultimately, a system that will get you started writing and keep you writing. Generally, there are five objections that writers express – none of which are mutually exclusive. These myths about creating a writing schedule

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November 29, 2016 2

Introducing the Productivity Pipeline

Introducing the Productivity Pipeline

  • November 28, 2016
  • ProductivityServices
  • 0 Comments

In my time working as an academic editor, I’ve noticed a pattern. Clients repeatedly submit their work to me well after our mutually agreed upon deadline. Or, they contact me for an initial consultation with only days to spare before they have to submit their writing for publication. As a result, they incur rush fees,

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November 28, 2016 0

Does Being Polite Lead to Less Productive Writing?

Does Being Polite Lead to Less Productive Writing?

  • November 22, 2016
  • ProductivitySaying No
  • 0 Comments

Trying to please everyone may be holding you back from productive writing. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been in the following situation. You are in your office working, with the door closed. Suddenly, someone knocks on your door. You answer it to a student who has dropped by to discuss their grade. You remind

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November 22, 2016 0

Writing When Times Are Tough

Writing When Times Are Tough

  • November 12, 2016
  • Overcoming BarriersStress
  • 0 Comments

  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

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November 12, 2016 0

If You Want to Be Productive, Be Reflective.

If You Want to Be Productive, Be Reflective.

  • October 28, 2016
  • Productivity
  • 0 Comments

  Fridays have a way of sneaking up on us. As much as we all look forward to the end of the work week and the weekend, we’ve also all had that moment where we look up from our desk, realize it’s late afternoon on a Friday, and ask ourselves “what the hell did I

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October 28, 2016 0

“One Size Fits All” Goals Do Not Exist

“One Size Fits All” Goals Do Not Exist

  • October 20, 2016
  • Productivity
  • 0 Comments

  During my conversation with Grace Yukich that I posted a few weeks ago, we discussed the different type of goals she sets for her writing, and how those goals might vary based on the other commitments she is juggling. Our conversation resonated with me, because I know from my work with clients – and

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October 20, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • October 10, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 1 Comment

 

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October 10, 2016 1

Behind the Words: A New Interview Series

Behind the Words: A New Interview Series

  • October 5, 2016
  • Asking For HelpWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

  I’m so excited to begin a new series on the blog! Behind the Words is an interview series with academic writers. One of my frustrations with academic writing as a practice has always been that as much as we give advice to writers, and lament about the writing process (then complain about the poor

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October 5, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • October 3, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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October 3, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • September 26, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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September 26, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • September 19, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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September 19, 2016 0

Confronting Your Revisions

Confronting Your Revisions

  • September 14, 2016
  • Impostor SyndromeRevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

  In an earlier post, I discussed how academic writers often end up giving short thrift to the revision process – at their own peril, I might add. Today I’m going to focus on why academic writers are hesitant to revise. Our frustration with the revision process doesn’t only happen after the first draft. It

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September 14, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • September 12, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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September 12, 2016 0

Is Revising an Afterthought? 

Is Revising an Afterthought? 

  • August 31, 2016
  • Revising
  • 0 Comments

  There is a lot of advice in the blogosphere about how to overcome resistance to writing. Much of that advice comes in the form of “get something down on paper, and the revising will come later” or “editing is easier than writing.”  Revising is treated as an afterthought or, alternatively, as a process that

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August 31, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • August 29, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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August 29, 2016 0

Can a Checklist Make You a Better Writer? 

Can a Checklist Make You a Better Writer? 

  • August 17, 2016
  • ProductivityWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

  I picked up The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande planning to read it for insights into working with my time management clients. What I found upon reading, however, is much to think about for academic writing and editing.  In a nutshell, Gawande argues in this book that checklists are one way we make sense

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August 17, 2016 0

What Can You Write in 20 Minutes? 

What Can You Write in 20 Minutes? 

  • August 5, 2016
  • ProductivityWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I conducted an informal Twitter poll asking if writers wrote every day. While most said no, a significant number of respondents said they wished that they did. When I speak to clients about writing, they express the same desire but declare that they don’t write daily because they don’t have enough time. Maintaining a

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August 5, 2016 0

Stress Is Not an Accomplishment 

Stress Is Not an Accomplishment 

  • July 27, 2016
  • Saying NoStress
  • 0 Comments

  It seems that on many occasions, people use their stress as a bragging right. Rather than simply acknowledging their stress, they display it as something to be admired or even emulated. Stress seems to afford a certain type of status. Colleagues, mentors, and friends expect that we “ought” to be stressed. And I use

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July 27, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • July 25, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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July 25, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • July 18, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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July 18, 2016 0

Knowing When You’re Done

Knowing When You’re Done

  • July 13, 2016
  • RevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

  It’s hard to convince yourself that it’s time to send your manuscript out. Beyond the checklist of making sure you’ve done all the tasks associated with your writing, there is the matter of “feeling” as if you’re done. This feeling can be elusive. You’ll always think there is one more sentence you can rewrite,

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July 13, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • July 11, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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July 11, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • July 4, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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July 4, 2016 0

The Summer Check-In

The Summer Check-In

  • June 28, 2016
  • Impostor SyndromeOvercoming BarriersProductivity
  • 0 Comments

  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

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June 28, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • June 27, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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June 27, 2016 0

The Emotions Driving Your Procrastination

The Emotions Driving Your Procrastination

  • June 22, 2016
  • Impostor SyndromeOvercoming BarriersProductivity
  • 0 Comments

  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

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June 22, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • June 20, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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June 20, 2016 0

Is Productivity a Waste of Time? 

Is Productivity a Waste of Time? 

  • June 15, 2016
  • Productivity
  • 0 Comments

  I recently read a blog post on paper versus digital to-do lists. There were quite a few useful suggestions in the article itself and in the comments concerning the benefits of different paper planners, apps, and so forth. I for one love a good to-do list. There is one by my computer every day

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June 15, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • June 13, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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June 13, 2016 0

Five Mistakes You’re Making in Your Intro – and How to Fix Them

Five Mistakes You’re Making in Your Intro – and How to Fix Them

  • June 8, 2016
  • RevisingWriting Tips
  • 0 Comments

Writing an introduction well is one of the most important skills an academic writer can have. Most academic readers have a limited amount of time to consume a wealth of information. In order to make it through vast amounts of literature, they skim. This matters to you as an academic writer because you must write

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June 8, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • June 6, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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June 6, 2016 0

Is Writing Stressing You Out?  

  • June 1, 2016
  • Stress
  • 0 Comments

Do you feel excited about having time to write this summer, yet nervous that you won’t reach your goals?  In my almost 2 years of working with clients as an editor, I’ve noticed one thing time and time again. Academic writers have great ideas; and when they have the opportunity to put those ideas to paper,

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June 1, 2016 0

Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

  • May 30, 2016
  • Monday Motivation
  • 0 Comments

 

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May 30, 2016 0

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