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Calm productivity for academics
Category: Writing
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[Note] When a draft is completed, the job of writing can begin
“When students complete a first draft, they consider the job of writing done – and their teachers too often agree. When professional writers complete a first draft, they usually feel that they are at the start of the writing process. When a draft is completed, the job of writing can begin.” – Donald Murray
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[Note] Turn your attention from inputs to outputs
“turn your attention from inputs to outputs. Identify the most valuable thing you do in your job, and then figure out what actually helps you do it better. This is what you should focus on.” – Cal Newport
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[Note] Good writing is essentially rewriting
“Most readers underestimate the amount of rewriting it usually takes to produce spontaneous reading. Roald Dahl, the popular children’s writer, states, “By the time I’m nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least 150 times…Good writing is essentially rewriting.” – Donald Murray
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[Note] Specify concrete actions
“Your goal, for example, shouldn’t be to get your next academic paper accepted into a better journal, as it doesn’t specify a concrete action you can schedule and execute. A better approach might be to focus on banking 15 hours of deep work on your paper per week: this you can control, and it’s likely…
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[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
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Avoid information overload with an effective knowledge cycle
A systematic knowledge cycle helps academics transform information overload into meaningful scholarly output. The process involves purposeful capture, regular processing, deliberate connection-making, and consistent creation. Rather than processing everything perfectly, this approach converts selected information into valuable insights through intentional research, note-taking, and writing practices that compound over time.
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[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
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[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
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Improve academic writing with classic style
Good writing prioritises clear presentation of ideas with a focus on structure, logic, and function, akin to architecture rather than decoration. Classic style, which advocates simplicity, truth, and conversation-like diction, is recommended for its clarity and authority. Overly complex academic writing should be avoided in favor of minimalism and functionality to effectively convey research and…
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Goal-driven motivation: Writing when you don’t feel like it
Goal-driven motivation is the incentive to do something I know is valuable when I don’t feel like doing it at all.
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[Note] Write what the reader wants
“Great writing requires you to position your idea in a way that will resonate with the reader. Average writers start with what they want to say without considering how it will land with the reader. Great writers understand the journey starts with what the reader desires.” – Farnam Street