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Always busy but no progress
In academia, it’s common to feel perpetually busy while at the same time, not making any meaningful progress. True productivity comes from establishing a steady rhythm of shipping important work, not just completing a high volume of tasks. Building and maintaining positive momentum is key to sustained progress.
Cal Newport (2016) – Deep work
This is my book review of Deep Work by Cal Newport. In short, this is probably the book that’s had the biggest influence on my career, with more high-value concepts per page than anything else I’ve ever read. It has in no small part, helped guide a lot of my thinking around calm productivity for…
Email-free mornings: The simplest productivity tip you’ll ever see
Aim for email-free mornings and don’t open email for the first two hours of your day. That’s it. That’s the tip. Academia is an environment steeped in constant, ad hoc, unfiltered communication, accompanied by a deluge of incoming requests for your time and attention. It’s so easy to start your working day by opening your…
Goal-driven motivation: Writing when you don’t feel like it
Reminding yourself of why this project is important to you and how finishing it might help you achieve your goals is another helpful tactic when you’re trying to get started. Jenn McClearen. Writing When You Don’t Want To. Although I love writing, there are times when I find it difficult to get going. I’m aware…
It’s not your job to read everything
To return to information overload: this means treating your “to read” pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items, here and there) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it). After all, you presumably don’t feel overwhelmed by all the unread books…
Lazy productivity
A productivity approach where you tailor your environment so that the easiest, most natural action aligns with your goals. By doing so, even when taking the path of least resistance, it contributes to your overall objectives.
An update on the Head space project
Six months after launching the Head space project, I’ve made a few changes to the website redesign and pricing structure, and wanted to share a few plans for the future. I launched Head space a little over 6 months ago, with five courses that I thought were core to academic work, and the idea that…
Set up your environment to make it harder to work from home
What would you do if you couldn’t work from home? One of the biggest benefits of being an academic is that you can work anywhere, any time. And one of the biggest problems with being an academic, is that you end up working everywhere, all the time. But imagine getting home in the evening and…
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…
Strategy drives outcomes
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. Lao Tzu Your current approach to work is going to keep delivering the same results because strategy drives outcomes. You can’t hope for different outcomes without a change in how you plan your days and weeks. Without a change in workflow,…
Ideal habits and routines
Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good enough’. I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with different habits and routines and have settled into one that works well for me. It’s not perfect, but I know what ideal looks like in my context. However, knowing what works best means that I can feel despondent…
Sustainable productivity
Long-term, sustainable productivity is about establishing habits and routines. This kind of productivity comes when you decouple the feeling of being busy with the long-term, incremental changes to habits and routines (Young, 2023). This feeling of being busy is what most of us associate with productivity, even when the work isn’t leading towards a high-value…