One of the members of the Academic Writing Studio asked about writing stamina in a recent Office Hours, the regular group-coaching session I host for members there.
You know, I have this ideal self that wakes up every day and writes for two hours. That’s never happened. Even in the Academic Writing Studio Meeting With Your Writing, I’d like to be able to work the 90 minutes but you know, after about 30-45 minutes, I’m done. Should I be striving to increase my writing stamina, or what?
I suspect they are not alone. And it’s not something I hear a lot in the public discussion of finding time to write.
The dominant narrative about finding time for academic writing is that you need long stretches of uninterrupted time and there aren’t enough of them. In this narrative, the suggestion to use shorter periods of time, even 2 hours, is often dismissed as inappropriate for the kind of work involved. I understand this narrative and accept that this is a very real frustration for many people. But it’s not universal nor inherent to academic writing.
What if you run out of steam after 45 minutes?
Or, you blocked a whole day to write and feel like you struggled to focus and wasted a lot of time?
Do you need to change yourself so you can do this thing everyone seems to say is essential to good quality scholarly work? Or, do you work with how you are? You may have noticed that I lean heavily towards the latter option.
Maybe don’t worry about your writing stamina, because you’ve got enough to worry about.
Focus instead on:
- what seems to work for you
- how to organize the time you have to work with that
Notice when you seem to run out of steam. There is probably a point where it’s becoming hard to focus and a point where you just have to stop. Although it’s tempting to try to work with the longer of those 2 times, try planning for the shorter one. This leaves you with some energy and motivation when you stop. If you end a writing session feeling discouraged, it’s not very motivating to do another one.
It’s easier to find shorter chunks of time in your day.
Now that you know what length of time works well for you, you might notice more available time that could be used for writing. Start noticing your options and experiment. Maybe you thought writing every day wouldn’t work, but now notice it will. Or, you’ve always liked the idea of writing first, but couldn’t fit in 2 hours before teaching and meetings started. If you only need 45 minutes, is writing first now possible?
You might also be able to use longer periods of time by sequencing a series of shorter chunks. You may be familiar with the Pomodoro method. I’m suggesting that you base the length of your writing blocks on your own observations of what works for you. You may need to experiment. Maybe you can do 2 or 3 30-minute blocks with 5 minute breaks in between each.
Or maybe your stamina declines as you do more. A former member of the Academic Writing Studio divided the 90-minutes of writing time available during A Meeting With Your Writing into 3 unequal sections with 5 minute breaks between each. The first was 45 minutes; The second, 25 minutes; The final one, only 10 minutes.
Experiment with what you do in those 5 minute breaks, as well. What might energize you? Drinking water? Movement? A snack? Meditation?
What helps you use your writing time well?
One of the reasons many people are reluctant to try shorter sessions is the amount of time needed to get into the project.
You want there to be enough time to actually make progress once you are in it. I’ve often said that Newton’s First Law seems to apply here: the energy required to get the project moving is greater than the energy required to keep it moving. You want to build up some momentum, not feel like you are always trying to overcome inertia.
You’ll need to experiment to see what might work for you.
- Shorter sessions might enable you to write more frequently, so there is less loss of momentum between sessions.
- You could use some of your writing time to break the project down into stages with clear goals, or list a few concrete tasks so you’ve always got something easy to start with.
- You might want to experiment with writing in different places. Or without all your research materials at hand, at least some of the time.
Also think about how your stamina, and the effective use of your writing time, varies depending on the type of writing work you are doing. Noticing the different tasks involved in producing a book or an article, what kinds of cognitive resources they require, and so on, will help you make better plans.
How you are might change over time.
I’ve been practising yoga consistently for over 10 years. In that time I’ve noticed some pretty significant changes in what I can do. I’ve never set a goal to make those changes. My approach to yoga includes a practice of being in the present moment. I have blocks, bolsters, straps, and other supports to modify poses. For most of those 10 years, I could not touch the floor in a forward fold, especially not the first one of the day. I used blocks to raise the floor to the level that worked for my body. I noticed in the past year or so that I can consistently do a forward fold without blocks now. I didn’t have that as a goal.
Working with how I was, helped change how I was.
The same thing will happen with your “writing stamina” or whatever you want to call it. You don’t have to set a goal to be able to write for longer. You just need to pay attention to who you are in the moment and work with that. If you notice changes, you can adapt to those changes. The changes will not conform to a model of linear progress (or regress). That is also not important. The important thing is that you are able to use the time you have well to achieve your goals.
You are not broken!
Approach these issues with curiosity. Experiment. Notice what’s working and build on it. Accept that you aren’t the same every day. Work with what’s going on as much as possible.
You can do this!
Related:
Finding Time For Your Scholarly Writing (A Short Guide)
The value of experiments
You are not broken!
15 minute writing challenge
