Five ways to fix your unrealistic to-do list

It’s a few weeks into the semester and you might feel as if you’re already behind. There was a project you wanted to finish, but somehow you didn’t. You feel disappointed and discouraged. If you’re already behind, how will you achieve all the goals you’ve established for the semester?

You may have grand plans to start this year off better than the last. Your intention is to make up for all the work you didn’t complete in December, and then some. For academics, we not only have a new year, but a new semester – a fresh start on multiple counts.

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4 ways to use your academic writing for social good

In their TAA webinar, “Academic Writing for Social Good”, Janet Salmons, Methods Guru for SAGE Methodspace and an independent researcher, writer and consultant with Vision2Lead, Inc., and Lynn Wilson, contributing faculty in the PhD in Walden University Public Policy and Administration Program, shared insight into how academic writing can be used to influence the greater social good.

Salmons and Wilson define social good as “writing that supports change to improve well-being of people in our communities or around the world”, and shared how research and academic writing can be used to inform, organize, advocate, and propose solutions contributing to social good.

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Academic writing: Counting words of meaning?

Our priorities are reflected in our sense of professional identity. Are you an academic or a writer? Are you an instructor/researcher/research supervisor/committee member/conference presentation planner (not to mention parent, community volunteer and…) who is compelled to write in order to get, keep, or advance in a desired career? Do you see yourself as a writer who uses what you learn from your life and work to inspire others? Or are you looking for the right balance?

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Become the master of your writing universe

We are all up against a relentless stream of competing demands when we are trying to write. These demands often seem urgent, and while they can be compelling and tantalizing, they also represent ever-present obstacles to getting our writing done. To combat this problem, and better enable yourself to achieve your writing goals, author, professor, and writing coach Kathleen P. King suggests that you become the master of your writing universe.

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Timesaving tech tip: Customize and create styles for consistent, instant document formatting

I’ve got my own writing style. I’m sure you do too. Regardless, you likely have editors, publishers, and/or teachers who insist on specific style requirements that can be quite tedious and time-consuming to apply on a document by document basis.

Timesaving tip: Customize and create styles for consistent and instant formatting.

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