Head Space

Calm productivity for academics

Tag: sustainable productivity

  • Avoid information overload with an effective knowledge cycle

    Learn how to combat information overload in academia with a systematic knowledge cycle. This five-step approach helps busy academics convert overwhelming information into valuable insights through purposeful capture, regular processing, deliberate connection, consistent creation, and continuous improvement—all without simply working longer hours.

  • Academic stand-up meetings

    Discover how academic stand-up meetings can transform endless faculty updates into focused, efficient check-ins. Learn practical tips for implementing this time-saving format in your department, handling common resistance, and protecting more time for meaningful academic work. A practical guide for academics tired of meetings that could have been emails.

  • Build an academic prompt library for AI using templates for common tasks

    Learn how to create and maintain an academic prompt library to streamline your administrative tasks. This practical guide shows you how to start a personal collection of pre-written, tested prompts that reduce cognitive overhead and create space for meaningful work, helping you develop sustainable systems for academic productivity.

  • Quality over quantity in academia: Balancing institutional demands with sustainable practice

    Discover how embracing academic productivity through quality over quantity can transform your work life. Instead of constantly expanding workloads, learn to focus on meaningful impact, sustainable practices, and deeper connections. Doing less, but doing it better, can lead to more valuable academic outcomes.

  • Schedule personal time first, work second

    Most academics make the mistake of scheduling work first and trying to fit life around it. Discover why reversing this approach is key to achieving better academic work life balance. Learn how prioritising personal commitments in your schedule can lead to more focused and productive work hours.

  • 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.

  • Building academic momentum: Why rhythm beats volume

    Building academic momentum isn’t about working longer hours or multitasking. It’s about finding your natural rhythm and maintaining steady progress. Learn how to move beyond busy-ness to create sustainable patterns of meaningful academic work through practical steps like protecting creative space and leaving intentional re-entry points.

  • [Note] Treat perfection like a process

    “Treat perfection like a process, not an achievable state. Perfectionism is crippling to productivity. I’ve known academics that can’t even start projects because of perfectionism.” – Matt Might

  • Rethinking your week: The case for a scholarship day

    Dedicating one day a week to scholarship can transform your academic productivity. Drawing inspiration from Iceland’s successful shorter work week experiment and Google’s 20% time policy, explore how protected time for deep scholarly work can help you produce better outputs without working longer hours.

  • [Note] Rebuild knowledge work into something sustainable

    “I want to rescue knowledge work from its increasingly untenable freneticism and rebuild it into something more sustainable and humane, enabling you to create things you’re proud of without requiring you to grind yourself down along the way.” – Cal Newport

  • Strategic scholarly retreats

    Strategic scholarly retreats offer academics a chance to step back from daily pressures and focus on career planning. These retreats, whether a full day or a few hours, provide time for reflection on research goals, teaching methods, and professional development. Regular retreats can lead to more impactful research, effective teaching, and a fulfilling academic career.

  • Beyond productivity: Why academic mental health support matters

    This post explores the challenges of balancing academic success with personal well-being. Redefining productivity, embracing vulnerability, and prioritising mental health can lead to a more fulfilling academic career. Explore strategies for speaking up and seeking support in the high-pressure world of academia.