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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…
Understanding your audience: Write what the reader needs
Great writing requires you to position your idea in a way that will resonate with the reader. Average writers start with what they want to say without considering how it will land with the reader. Great writers understand the journey starts with what the reader desires. Farnam Street. Why write. I’m not suggesting that I’m…
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.
Meetings should enhance your productivity
Meetings should enhance your productivity, not impede it. Does it ever feel like your days are swallowed by a vortex of meetings? You review agendas, attend discussions, and take copious notes, only to find yourself yearning for the quiet space to think deeply about your research, writing, or teaching. This isn’t just a personal struggle…
Use research projects to build academic skills
Design small research projects to build academic skills. We have a fairly good understanding of how to get better at music, or sport. But when it comes to improving academic performance, it can be difficult to describe exactly what this looks like. Based on our understanding of expert performance in other domains, any programme aimed…
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,…
Using Obsidian for academic writing
In this conversation with David Nicholls, I describe how I use Obsidian to support my academic writing and creative process, in response to Dave’s question: Is the effort you need to put into Obsidian worth it? I explain how I’ve set up different vaults in Obsidian, depending on what it is that I’m trying to…
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…