Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Using all 3 types of writing time Writing is a core activity for academics. Writing, as far as I’m concerned, encompasses anything that moves your projects forward. I advocate establishing a writing practice, while making writing a priority when you plan the rest of your schedule. Finding and protecting […]
Read More »Focus
One of the things you struggle with when establishing a writing practice is focus. You might frame this struggle in terms of distraction or procrastination. You might think of it terms of willpower. You may have a story about what you need in order to focus that is at odds with what is possible in your current circumstances.
Everyone struggles with focus at least some of the time. There is nothing wrong with you. You might need to experiment a bit to figure what strategies help you.
Start here: Optimizing Focus: 3 elements to consider
Is tidying your desk procrastination?
As you may know, my definition of writing as “anything that moves your writing project forward”. Typically, this expands your sense of legitimate activities to include reading, taking notes, going for a walk so you can think through the ideas you are working on, or sorting out your project files. A couple of things have […]
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Pressure vs Ease
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Pressure vs Ease Deadline Day? I have noticed in social media posts and in conversations with clients that a lot of people use deadlines as a way to motivate themselves. Or at least the story they tell themselves, is that they need a deadline to ensure that they will […]
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Early morning writing
The benefits of early morning writing can often seem like preachy, unattainable, eye-roll inducing positivity. But I have brought together some real examples of this life-changing process for your writing, just to give that eye-roll some evidence first… Rachael Herron has written eloquently about how crazy the idea of early morning writing sounds and how […]
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A story from… A Meeting With Your Writing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · A Story from A Meeting With Your Writing If you’re a long-time member or someone new researching how you can add some accountability to your writing goals, here is a story from A Meeting With Your Writing – my weekly series of virtual writing groups to help you learn […]
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One thing at a time?
This post is part of a series on Optimizing Focus. Finding it hard to focus is normal. Self-flagellation does not work to improve your focus. Furthermore it takes time and energy that takes you away from your writing; it is another distraction. I firmly believe that you can approach your work compassionately rather than violently. […]
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Distraction: not the usual suspects
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Distraction: not the usual suspects Distraction is the enemy of productivity. There’s all kinds of time management and productivity advice telling you to track what you are doing and get rid of all the meaningless tasks that don’t contribute to moving your project forward. There are apps and strategies […]
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Process vs Product
I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. I know they are important but I find setting specific goals with an output and a deadline stalls my work rather than motivating it. I see that a lot of you struggle with similar issues in your writing. This post uses a long analogy to my own process […]
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When another project is distracting you from this one
This post is part of a series on Optimizing Focus. Finding it hard to focus is normal. Self-flagellation does not work to improve your focus. Furthermore it takes time and energy that takes you away from your writing; it is another distraction. I firmly believe that you can approach your work compassionately rather than violently. […]
Read More »Doing what you want to do
At the beginning of every session of A Meeting With Your Writing I used to ask participants to make a list of all the writing/research projects that they consider active. I then asked them which one of those they most want to work on during the next 90 minutes. It might be the one that would be most […]
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Getting out of Grading Jail*
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Getting out of grading jail *the term “grading jail” is borrowed from a popular Twitter hashtag #gradingjail At this time of year, it is tempting to drop everything else and just grade all the time. After all, you have lots of grading. You might as well get through it […]
Read More »Break time
One of the principles about focus that I really like is the value of breaks. Whether you take them every 25 minutes, every 90 minutes or something in between, taking breaks actually improves your focus. Breaks create containers for your focus. Breaks also shift how you view the inability to focus for long stretches of […]
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