Real Academics Blog

Dear Real Academics, Are you feeling as though you have too many things on your "to-do" list? Are you wanting to get things done, but feel directionless about where to start? Try these 3 ideas to help you (1) start, (2) get things done, and (3) get the weight of the "to-do list" off your shoulders. (1) Do the hard things first. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie It might sound counter-intuitive, but doing the hard things first will psychologically take a huge weight off of your shoulders and make everything else you need to do feel easier. Take a look at your to do list, and prioritize 2-3 of the most important things you need to get done. Highlight them in some way and commit to doing getting these tasks done (or started) before doing any of the rest. Note: This is why it's often helpful for academics to get their writing done before anything else, especially when they understand that writing is priority for...

Dear Real Academics, Are you tired or frustrated with not being able to get to your academic writing? Do you schedule your writing times, but find other things get in the way? If so, you are not alone. Brief, personal anecdote on being tired of not getting my academic writing done. If you skip it, just know I empathize with you! Years ago, I learned that to be able to finish my dissertation, I had to schedule my writing time and protect that time as if it was the most important meeting of my day. I would schedule my time during my office hours in the afternoon, sit down to write, and inevitably there was some interruption. Either someone urgently needed to meet with me at that time, or someone would spontaneously knock on my door, even after I had worked so hard to unplug from social media and texting! Almost guaranteed. I decided that my writing schedule was some sort of invisible magnet calling others to come talk to me or need me.  Can you relate?  What I learned was that s...