Head Space

Calm productivity for academics

Category: Time management

  • 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.

  • Cal Newport: 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.

  • Use constraints to boost creativity

    Limited time, resources, and information can sometimes represent opportunities to use constraints to boost creativity

  • Task-batching to reduce mental fatigue

    Task-batching helps academics overcome the mental fatigue of constant context-switching. Instead of multitasking between emails, meetings, and lesson planning, group similar tasks together and tackle them in dedicated time blocks. This simple approach creates the mental space needed for meaningful academic work.

  • Oliver Burkeman: Four thousand weeks

    In Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman reframes time management, focusing on our 4,000-week lifespan to challenge the relentless pursuit of productivity. Burkeman’s insights encourage readers to embrace limits, focus on meaningful work, and find satisfaction in life’s finite nature, offering a refreshing perspective for today’s overwhelmed professionals.

  • Start your week with admin to avoid feeling overwhelmed

    Deliberately dedicating Mondays to admin tasks in academia can lead to a more productive week. By containing administrative work to one day, you create mental space and uninterrupted time blocks for meaningful academic work while reducing the anxiety of scattered administrative responsibilities throughout the week.

  • Paul Silvia: How to write a lot

    How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silvia is a practical guide for academics struggling to boost their writing productivity. Silvia emphasizes disciplined scheduling, self-monitoring, and overcoming perfectionism to make writing a consistent part of one’s routine. His strategies empower scholars to publish more without compromising personal time.

  • Planning to take a real break

    I’m about to go on annual leave over the summer break and usually, this period sees me making lists of All The Things I’m going to finish over the holidays. The thinking is that I’ll start the new academic year afresh, and feeling invigorated because I’ve finally (FINALLY) cleared the ‘to do’ list. What it…

  • Quitting social media

    I’m going to prioritise content creation over social media, after realising life and work proceed without Twitter. The liberation from feeling obligated to keep up with everything has led to decreased anxiety. I’ve experienced a deeper, less performative connection through newsletters, deciding to focus efforts there instead.

  • Ideal habits and routines

    Just because you know what works, doesn’t mean that nothing else will work. Remember that the ideal routine is not the only routine.

  • Sustainable academic productivity

    Sustainable academic productivity isn’t about working harder, but creating effortless systems. Rather than pushing yourself to exhaustion, learn how to build low-effort habits and routines that maintain productivity even on low-energy days. Transform your workflow by focusing on small, incremental steps that lead to lasting success.