Whether it’s the New Academic Year or the New (Calendar) Year, you probably have some New Year’s Resolutions! It is tempting to set big goals. However, every big goal is achieved by a set of very small steps. Small steps are much less overwhelming than big changes. A post from Peter Shankman on Why Inspirational Quotes […]
Read More »As little as 15 minutes a day for research & writing is worthwhile
Many academics struggle with finding time to do research and writing. And yet it is research and writing that will make the difference when you are applying for jobs, going up for promotion, being evaluated for grants, and so much more. You don't need to find much time at all. 15 minutes a day could make a big difference.
Older posts in this category were edited and recategorized in June 2015. Re-edited and retitled July 2025.
Are deadlines helping or hurting?
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt In a coaching session, a client mentioned how she’d missed a bunch of deadlines for a co-authored paper and needed to set new ones. I sensed that the whooshing noise was not comforting for her so […]
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What is “research”?
In early 2012, Rohan Maitzen published a few very thoughtful posts about: what counts as research the apparent conflict between research and teaching and related issues. One of these, “When is Reading Research?“, really highlights some of the underlying issues. “When we talk about “doing research,” I think we conventionally mean reading in service of a […]
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Permission to think big thoughts
If you don’t make and protect time for thinking big thoughts, writing, and other research tasks no one else will.
Research doesn’t always look like real work, especially to outsiders, but it is. In this post, I give you some tips on valuing that work for yourself and on finding time to do it regularly.
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I hate goals
I don’t find them motivating at all. If setting goals works for you, go ahead. You are in good company at this time of year. But if goals just make you panic about not achieving them and being a failure, I give you permission not to set any. I don’t care if you write an […]
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Embrace the research process
“The usual result of worrying about excellence or perfection before you start creating is that you’ll never start creating. Let go of how good the end product will be and embrace the act of creating. Excellence comes as a byproduct of continual creation and learning.” — Charlie Gilkey, Productive Flourishing, July 30, 2009 When you […]
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What should you do next?
Look at your desk. Really look at it. I’m thinking of both your physical desk, with physical papers strewn about, and your virtual desk, with folders and documents. I bet you have a stack of conference papers that need to be turned into journal articles. And some notes on other things you want to write. […]
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If you had one more week…
A while ago on Twitter, one of the people I followed said: “Just realized Fall term lectures start a week later than I thought they did. A week more of prep time, here we come!” You might be able to guess what I replied: “Or a week free for writing!” What would you do with […]
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15 minutes a day
Where do you start in your quest to keep your research active during the fall and winter? Start small. Could you find 15-30 minutes every weekday to devote to research? I bet you could. That’s not a lot of time. Research has shown that even that small amount of time, used well, can make a […]
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