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Notes
Notes are short quotes that might stimulate a reflection or act as a quick tip to change practice. Sometimes they include a brief comment.
[Note] Write daily with shared goals
“One study suggests that academics who write daily and set goals with someone weekly write nearly ten times as many pages as those without regular writing habits.” – Pat Thomson
[Note] Build a life around mastery and mattering
“…we live in a world full of options for mastery and mattering. Unfortunately, the cultural current is flowing strongly in the opposite direction. Few people—perhaps nobody, unless you live in a monastery—are immune to the vicissitudes of modern life. But most of us have at least some agency to fight back with our actions. The…
[Note] Can parents in academia “Have it all”
“…how can we presume that parenthood detracts from one’s professionalism, when, in reality, it often amplifies it?”
[Note] Why do we all work such long hours?
“So with the sector facing yet another financial crisis, do we all just get on the grindset straight away? Put your snowflake-y demands for a work-life balance on the back burner. Take one for the team. Pull that working weekend, that all-nighter. Let’s face it, you’re not even going to do anything as a result…
[Note] Academics speak only to each other
“Researchers, scientists, academicians marshal their facts to a higher standard, but with their neglect of the emotive power of language they often speak only to each other, their parochial words dropping like sand on a private desert.” – Sol Stein
[Note] In the knowledge sector, systems are left up to each individual
“In the knowledge sector…decisions about organizing and executing work are largely left up to individuals to figure out on their own. Companies might standardize the software that their employees use, but systems for assigning, managing, organizing, collaborating on, and ultimately executing tasks are typically left up to each individual.” – Cal Newport
[Note] Ask your coworkers to push back
“Ask your coworkers’ to push back. The most basic way to understand what people think of you is to ask them. If you’re not soliciting dissent, it’s unlikely you’re hearing the truth about what it’s like to work [with] you.” – Ron Carucci
[Note] Arbitrary and ossified processes
“…how we work in the knowledge sector today is ossified into tradition and conventions, some of which are arbitrary and some of which are borrowed from different, older types of work.” – Cal Newport
[Note] Treat perfection like a process
“Treat perfection like a process, not an achievable state. Perfectionism is crippling to productivity. I’ve known academics that can’t even start projects because of perfectionism.” – Matt Might
[Note] Rebuild knowledge work into something sustainable
“I want to rescue knowledge work from its increasingly untenable freneticism and rebuild it into something more sustainable and humane, enabling you to create things you’re proud of without requiring you to grind yourself down along the way.” – Cal Newport
[Note] When time management was easy
“…in my own work on these topics, I describe more complicated time management strategies with reluctance. My bigger wish is to help reform office work to the point that they’re no longer needed…” – Cal Newport