Head Space

Calm productivity for academics

Category: Writing

  • Writing regularly changes what you pay attention to

    I often find my attention being hijacked by whatever happens to show up in my feed. And in the moment, that content may very well be interesting. The problem is that so much information can be interesting while still having relatively little value. When I’ve set aside 1-2 hours of writing time every day, my attention…

  • Intentional note-taking: Moving from capture to curation

    Discover why intentional note-taking is crucial for meaningful academic work. Learn how being selective about what you record can create space for deeper engagement with ideas that truly matter, and explore practical steps for moving beyond comprehensive capture to more purposeful documentation practices.

  • Write so that you can’t be misunderstood

    If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of your writing time trying to persuade; trying to convince the reader of some point or another. You’re intent on making sure the reader understands you. And this is fine. However, when you’re done writing to be understood, you could try editing your work with the…

  • Boost your academic writing productivity with this simple approach

    Discover how reading and writing habits can boost your academic writing productivity. While many academics struggle to find time for writing amidst their responsibilities, the solution may be straightforward: read more, and write more. Learn practical strategies for embedding these essential practices into your academic workflow.

  • The first draft isn’t the final product

    It’s worth noting that the first draft isn’t the final product. It’s the raw material you’ll shape into something better.

  • Reduce the friction of writing

    The lower your barrier to getting started, the more writing you can fit into your day. We’ve all experienced that resistance to sitting down and putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Even when you know you need to write, it can feel mentally draining to summon the willpower and concentration you need to…

  • Publish or perish is the wrong choice

    Academics face a misleading “publish or perish” dichotomy, risking lower quality work and unfair demands on those unable to publish frequently. Hard work can coincide with joy, challenging the necessity of this binary. Alternative career goals encourage a balanced approach, promoting both productivity and well-being in academia.

  • Writing is the work: Rethinking the academic writing process

    Many academics view writing as the final step of research – something to do after the ‘real work’ is done. But the academic writing process is not just about documenting completed work. Writing is thinking, and engaging with writing throughout your project helps clarify ideas and strengthen your research outcomes.

  • Writing generates writing

    Writing generates writing. Even if most of the early drafts end up getting deleted, you probably needed to write them to stimulate the thinking that was necessary to get to the final version.

  • Writing related activities also count as writing

    Discover why writing related activities like reading, annotating, editing, and organising are crucial parts of the writing process. Embracing these tasks can help you maintain steady progress on your academic projects, even when you’re not in the right frame of mind for generating new content.

  • The first draft is the hardest

    Understanding why the first draft is so hard to write can transform your academic productivity. Rather than fighting against the difficulty of starting, learn how embracing the challenge of first drafts can lead to more productive writing sessions and better scholarly outcomes.

  • [Note] The clarification of meaning

    Each sentence, each line, each clause, each phrase, each word, each mark of punctuation, each section of white space between the type has to contribute to the clarification of meaning. Donald Murray