Producing Meaningful Work
Dear Real Academics,
In my line of work quantity and quality are important. As a professor, I am expected to publish a lot and publish with quality. I won't go into what "a lot" or "quality" means here. Regardless, there is an expectation for both categories.
I suspect in most lines of work quantity and quality are important. For example, the neighborhood I currently live in is under major development. Started in 2007, this community is expected to be a 15 year project with up to 15,000 new homes developed, though I suspect they'll go longer given the 2008 economic crash and the current pandemic.
At this moment, some of you know the housing market is insane in terms of demand. In the evenings, when my husband and I walk our dog, we see the quickness of house foundations and pipes being laid, house frames which seem to appear from one day to the next, and finishing touches (roofs, walls, etc.) that seem slapped on overnight. Despite this quickness, the houses must meet some level of quality or the house would collapse and home owners with structural warranties would all be calling in and the house builders would be under hot water (and, yes, I can see some of you shaking your heads skeptically!).
The question is, how do I produce meaningful work while producing quantity?
Here are some thoughts:
(1) Take the time to learn your craft. Whatever your line of work, take the time to learn your craft and do it well. Personally, I find inherent meaning in doing my craft well.
My line of work is writing, so I am very thankful to my English teachers for teaching me phonics, grammar, and how to structure my writing depending on the genre. These were foundational pieces I had to learn to write clearly and speak to my audience.
Now that I'm writing for a living, I'm still needing to remind myself to learn my craft. For example, moving from writing literary criticism to writing empirical research required me to learn new facets of my craft (i.e. the expectations and structures of a different genre of writing).
And now that I'm learning a new genre within empirical research writing (i.e., mixed-methods), I'm having to learn yet another facet of my craft.
Ask yourself: What is my craft? What do I need to learn to do it well?
(2) Use (and/or develop) systems with tools and strategies that work. Systems are important for what I am going to call "meaningful efficiency" as well as personal well-being.
A system will involve different pieces that ideally synchronize into meaningful efficiency, stress reduction, and outcome production.
For example, an academic writing system may look like the following:
I get up every day, make a cup of coffee, set my timer, and do a series of Pomodoros to get my writing goal done for the day. I log my time, and make sure to share my log with an accountability partner. I seek out and make time to go to weekly writing groups for support. Throughout this process, I use my Productivity Planner to help me map out my daily and weekly schedule and reflect on my progress.
Within the system example described above, exist tools and strategies such as:
- Logging - check out link to my blog post on the power of logging
- The Pomodoro Technique - check out this site to learn more about Pomodoro
- The Productivity Planner - I really love this planner + it uses Pomodoro principles
- Accountability/Support - check out these recommended sites if you are looking for writing support:
For academic writers out there, check out this thoughtful piece about academic writing systems: https://blog.taaonline.net/2021/02/writing-and-systems-beyond-strategies-beyond-tools/
(3) Slow down to go fast.
I know this may sound counter-intuitive, but this concept is important if you want to produce meaningful work.
I once heard it said that Napoleon would tell the valet in charge of dressing him,"Slowly, because I am in a hurry". I suspect few of you have experienced having to be dressed in an early 17th century military general's attire (unless, perhaps you are in theater), but the affair was likely tedious. Missing one button would mean having to start over.
In academic writing, I have learned to use something called a literature review matrix. The literature review matrix is basically a Word or Excel table that helps me organize reading for a specific project through writing. (I may write a post describing it more in depth if there is interest).
Here, the point is that the matrix makes me slow down in my reading, capture my thinking in writing, and then see patterns across my notes. Though the process initially feels slow, the benefits of doing it increase both my efficiency and quality ten fold: I am able to write much higher quality literature reviews and overall papers as well as use the matrix to help me frame new projects and ideas.
Ask yourself: In what areas of my work would I benefit from slowing down to go fast? What tools or resources are out there to help me do this?
In closing, I encourage you to also more largely reflect on whether you believe the work you are doing is meaningful. What about your work gets you excited? If nothing, why not, what does get you excited, and what does this mean for the line of work you are currently in? This may need to be a blog post for another time to go deeper. :-)
Until next time,
Maggie
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Comments