Head Space

Calm productivity for academics

Tag: habits

  • [Note] Start immediately

    “Once you know you’re going to do something, start on it right away: create a blank document file, create a blank presentation file, start drafting the email (with To: field blank). Then, if at any point in the future, you’re moved to work on it, the transaction cost of doing a little more work is…

  • The power of lowering your standards

    Rigid “every day” habits often fail due to psychological pressure. A more forgiving “daily-ish” approach paradoxically leads to better consistency. By lowering perfectionist standards in academic work—writing, email, reading, and planning—you create mental space for meaningful progress while being kinder to yourself.

  • Online courses for academics: Start the year with calm productivity

    Discover how sustainable academic productivity can emerge from small, intentional changes rather than dramatic overnight transformations. Head Space offers practical guidance for academics seeking to build calmer, more focused workflows through its courses, now available at 25% off for new newsletter subscribers this January.

  • Use research projects to build academic skills

    Design small research projects, structured around the features of deliberate practice, to help build academic skills.

  • 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…

  • 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.

  • Strategy drives outcomes

    If you want your productivity output to change, then your habits, routines, and workflow need to change. Strategy drives outcomes.

  • 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.

  • James Clear: Atomic habits

    Atomic Habits explores how tiny changes can lead to remarkable personal transformations. Using a four-step method—cue, craving, response, and reward—Clear shows how to design productive habits and eliminate negative ones. This book offers academics practical tools for sustaining progress in high-stakes, fast-paced environments.

  • Work-life balance can fuel innovation

    The academic myth promotes an imbalanced life consumed by work. However, discipline in life breeds creativity in work. Structured lives allow academics the mental space for innovation. The key is a work-life balance that cultivates a well-rested mind, ready for meaningful academic contributions.

  • 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.

  • Excellent work is mundane

    What looks like excellent work from the outside is simply a commitment to small, iterative improvements in practice over time.