By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: As a tenure-track professor, I’m looking up, and the year is ending. I sign up for the TAA programs and schedule writing into my calendar. But during my reflection, I allow other “things” to take precedence, and I don’t attend the programs I sign up for, and the writing time I’ve planned slips away. Can you offer words of encouragement that my time management skills will continue to improve and that protecting writing time is possible?

— Passionate About Academic Growth

A: Dear Professor Passionate—

We all fight time. especially as we continue to accomplish in our chosen specialties.
Maybe you’re self-judging too harshly and expecting too much of yourself.

So, here are some thoughts and suggestions for handling (I don’t want to say fighting) our time.

First, you are not at the mercy of time:
Time is a perception. We’ve all experienced time dragging at a particularly stultifying faculty cocktail party or time flying at a carved-out date with our Significant Other.

Second, for the programs you sign up for:
I often miss them too, and the links languish in my “unread” email folder for weeks. One remedy: when you sign up, make sure a replay is offered, and note for how long. Then you can leave it alone until you feel you want to invest the time to playing it. And you don’t have to play a program completely at one sitting. You might even find your interest has waned and then can righteously delete it. For the replays I do want to access, I keep a list of several and remind myself where to resume for when I am in the mood. Alternatively, don’t sign up for so many. Often, blogs at TAA or at the presenter’s site will address or summarize the program (no, it’s not cheating).

Third, on scheduling your writing:
Choose a project you’re excited about. Excitement breeds increased motivation and flow. Author Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant has a “red dress theory” based on the premise that at a party the woman wearing a red dress rather than the usual little black dress gets the attention (https://www.writersdigest.com/at-work-on-first-draft/too-many-ideas-syndrome). Relating this theory to choosing what to tackle, she says, “For me, bold, brash ideas are almost always the ones that inspire and motivate me.” Test your own ideas and follow your intuition (and put on a red dress, if it helps).

Write out your writing promise to yourself (this is writing–it counts, and sorry for the repetition). “I will write for 15 minutes a week.” Or 15 minutes two/three times a week. Or 1 hour on Saturday.

Choose a time stint you feel you can reasonably meet.
Wouldn’t it be better to give 15 minutes of work to your writing rather than 3 days of guilt?

Put the time(s) on your calendar. Consider them sacrosanct, like getting an oil change or teeth cleaning.

Alert your family or put a threatening sign on your closed study door. Turn off your devices.

Set a timer. Some people use the Pomodoro Technique: 25 minutes writing, then a break (https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/pomodoro-technique). In a modified Pomodoro, I once advised a stuck novelist to set her timer and write for 15 minutes a day. With difficulty at first, she managed to. Six months later, she ecstatically told me she had finished her novel. So, set times you feel you can fulfill. There’s nothing worse than feeling you’ve broken your promise to yourself (except maybe scarfing that third piece of chocolate fudge cake).

Keep a time log. I know, I know, another record to keep. But a simple time log of the project will help you keep going consistently. The log can be very simple, like three columns: (a) date, (b) time from-to, (c) activity (e.g., first draft, edit). When you keep a time log, you’re giving yourself credit for actually doing it. And you’ll feel pride in seeing the entries mount up. Note: If you feel better keeping a word-count log, do so. But, as with time, don’t set overly high standards. Hemingway wrote 500 words a day—that’s only two double-spaced pages.

Set your intention: At the beginning of your session, write out how you want to feel afterwards (this too counts as writing). Setting your intention also works for writing you must do, like that report for the department chair. For example, “After this writing session, I will feel satisfied, like I’ve progressed, glad to have fulfilled my promise to myself (or others), deserving a Netflix binge.”

As the decider and controller of your time, you can make it work for you.
As the decider and controller of your time, you can use it as you truly desire to.

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If you have a burning academic question you’d like Dr. Noelle Sterne to answer, go here to send it to us. This column relies on question submissions, and we would love to hear yours. Dr. Noelle will answer one question on the 15th of each month. You can read this article for more information.

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Dissertation coach, nurturer, bolsterer, handholder, and editor; scholarly and mainstream writing consultant; author of writing craft, spiritual, and academic articles; and spiritual and motivational counselor, Noelle Sterne has published many pieces in print and online venues, including Author Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Children’s Book Insider, Graduate Schools Magazine, GradShare, InnerSelf, Inspire Me Today, Transformation Magazine, Unity Magazine, Women in Higher Education, Women on Writing, Writer’s Digest, and The Writer. With a Ph.D. from Columbia University, Noelle has for 30 years helped doctoral candidates wrestle their dissertations to completion (finally). Based on her practice, her Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2015) addresses students’ often overlooked or ignored but crucial nonacademic difficulties that can seriously prolong their agony. See the PowerPoint teaser here. In Noelle`s Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011), she draws examples from her academic consulting and other aspects of life to help readers release regrets and reach lifelong yearnings. Following one of her own, she is currently working on her third novel. Visit Noelle at www.trustyourlifenow.com