Your basket is currently empty!
Building and sustaining momentum
Sustainable productivity comes from finding your natural rhythm, not from being busy all the time.
Accelerating impact by decelerating output
In academia’s ‘publish or perish’ culture, quality often suffers for quantity. This post advocates for slow scholarship, emphasising how prioritising quality over quantity in academic publishing can lead to more impactful research and greater personal satisfaction. Learn practical strategies to integrate this approach into your daily academic practice for meaningful contributions to your field.
Leverage your peak productivity hours
You only have 3-4 hours of peak cognitive productivity per day. Identify when you feel most focused and protect that time for demanding tasks. Batch easier activities during lower energy periods. Tracking energy levels, prioritising tasks, creating routines, taking breaks, and guarding peak times can help maximise your limited productive hours.
Tony Fadell (2022) Build
Build, by Tony Fadell, combines career insights and product innovation advice from the creator of the iPod and Nest thermostat. His book provides a blueprint for high-impact career choices, iterative development, and leadership, making it valuable for anyone interested in innovative design or who is looking for a radical perspective on academic career development.
Less is more: Doing fewer things, better
Sometimes the key to unlocking your full potential lies in the art of subtraction – doing less, but with a focused intensity. By focusing your energy on the work that truly matters, you’ll find yourself operating with greater clarity, intentionality, and impact. You’ll have the mental space to dive deep into your research, explore complex…
Embracing strategic inaction
For overwhelmed academics, sometimes the wisest action is conscious inaction. Pausing to let emotions settle, gather context, and resist rash reactions can prevent overreacting and open space for innovative solutions. Judicious pauses aren’t unproductive – they allow reconnecting with priorities by doing less thoughtless busyness to ultimately accomplish more of what matters.
Embrace minimalism in data presentation
Overloading data presentations with excessive design elements can overwhelm and confuse the audience. Adopting a minimalist approach by removing unnecessary clutter enhances clarity and focuses attention on the key message. This principle of simplicity could similarly reduce stress and improve efficacy in daily academic work.
Just say ‘No’ to new projects
Avoid the temptation to accept every invitation to work on something interesting. Just say no (or, at least, not yet). Academia thrives on a spirit of collaboration and contribution. We’re constantly invited to participate in presentations, grant proposals, committees, service activities, and so on. While saying yes fosters connection and advancement, the incessant pressure to contribute…
Cal Newport (2016) Deep Work
Deep Work by Cal Newport explores how focused, undistracted work boosts productivity and fulfillment in a world filled with digital distractions. Through strategies and routines, Newport shows how cultivating deep work can lead to higher quality output, helping professionals, especially busy academics, achieve more meaningful results in their work.
Email-free mornings: The simplest productivity tip you’ll ever see
Stop letting your inbox dictate the outcomes of your day by aiming for at least 2 hours of email-free mornings.
Learning something new takes a lot of effort
The next time you’re putting yourself under pressure for not meeting expectations, remember that learning takes effort. Be kind to yourself.
Increase your writing output with distraction free text editors
Regular short bursts of writing with distraction free text editors will add up over time more than more sporadic long sessions.