Productivity and Confidence

By Dave Harris, PhD

The August 2024 TAA Conversation Circle on productivity reminded me of how much productivity depends on confidence. This insight can guide us: confidence can be built through practice. I offer some suggestions on building confidence, and thus productivity, through practice.

Degrees of self-confidence and behavior

Speaking generally, emotions shape our behavior: the optimist behaves as if things will work out, while the pessimist behaves as if things will not. Metaphorically speaking, the optimist will buy a lottery ticket, and the pessimist will not. The optimist submits a draft for publication, where the pessimist does not.

Self-confidence varies for each person, and, generally, the optimal degree of self-confidence lies between the extremes: too little self-confidence leads to paralysis; too much leads to arrogance and an inability to learn.  Ideally, a scholar has enough self-confidence to move forward with their projects and to present their work to others while also remaining open to correction when errors arise.

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5-Minute Guided Meditation Before Writing

By Kimine Mayuzumi

Do you have difficulty in writing lately? What gets in the way? Procrastination, distraction, lack of motivation or imposter feelings? A productive and sustainable writing experience often requires a good state of mind and physical wellness.

As my partner Riyad A. Shahjahan, a professor at Michigan State University and former certified coach for National Center for Faculty and Diversity Development (NCFDD), suggests, we as writers need “a mind that is decluttered so that we can give our full attention to the task at hand.” For that, we need a ritual. Why?

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Cultivate Your Dissertation Flow

By Noelle Sterne

In your dissertation writing, you’ve probably experienced the all-too-common range of emotions from initial elation to paralyzing fear to plunging despair, and between many starts, stops, and freezes. Here I suggest how to at least cut down on those maddening swings and invite, coax, and, toward more consistent and actually enjoyable writing, entice . . . the Flow.

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How Writing Can Make You Feel Good

By Angelica Ribeiro, PhD

Do you want to feel good after a writing session? If so, here’s what you should do.

As writers, we should consider three essential writing practices:

1. Write daily or regularly. In her book Becoming an Academic Writer, Patricia Goodson argues that including writing in our daily routine can be very beneficial because it can help us save emotional energy. She shares that “Having a designated, scheduled time to write, daily, tends to mitigate the emotional energy spent in moving through the day wondering, ‘When will I get to my writing?’”

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