A collection of resources to help busy academics build productive habits and create space for meaningful work.
A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.
Shelby Foote
Start here
First time here? Not sure where to start? Try these posts to help set you on a path to calm productivity.
Start your week with admin to avoid feeling overwhelmed
Dedicating Mondays to admin can boost your productivity by creating protected time blocks and reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Take fewer notes: Why less is more for academic note-taking
Move your note-taking system from collection to comprehension, with this practical approach to deepening understanding.
Excellence in academia emerges from deliberate practice
Transform your practice through deliberate skill development techniques that help you systematically improve your scholarship.
Read more from the Essential series
Experience level
Building momentum. Operational advice for beginners who are looking for an introduction to the basics of doing academic work differently.
Refining practice. Tactical advice for more established academics who are looking to improve their existing practice.
Establishing systems. Strategic advice for experienced academics who are working at a high level but who don’t yet have complete systems in place.
Latest posts
- How to share what you’ve learned
- How to test your assumptions (before they waste more of your time)
- AI for academics: From prompting to professional practice
- You’re saving everything and finding nothing—here’s why
- Show your working, not your credentials
- Stuck on a big question? Here’s how to break it down
- Academic communication systems: Why they fail and what you can do about it
- Work that shouldn’t exist: What to do when your role is a workaround
- Why reading more won’t help you learn faster
- A small change to how you receive content from Head Space
- A three-stage strategy for navigating conflicting advice
- Four questions for making sense of contradictory information
Main Content
Productivity
- Work that shouldn’t exist: What to do when your role is a workaround
- Clearing email backlog: A systematic strategy when returning from leave
- How to break down academic tasks: Stop setting yourself impossible goals
- Storing task information together is a simple fix for workflow friction
Read more about Academic Productivity
Content Types
Book Recommendations
- Annie Duke (2023) Quit
- Steven Johnson (2011) Where good ideas come from
- Mustafa Suleyman (2023) The Coming Wave
- Ernest Boyer: Scholarship reconsidered
- Steven Pinker: The sense of style
See all Book Recommendations
Notes
Short posts containing quotes from a range of sources, aimed at stimulating reflection on practice.
See all Notes