2/20 TAA Webinar: “Get Your Stalled Writing Back on Track”

Sometimes writing projects, no matter how worthwhile or necessary, lose momentum. Stalled projects can become albatrosses, draining our energy and keeping us trapped.

Join us Tuesday, February 20 from 2-3 p.m. for the TAA webinar, “Get Your Stalling Writing Project Back on Track,” presented by Joli Jenson, author of Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics. In this one-hour webinar, you’ll learn structured techniques to figure out the best way to deal with your stalled writing project, as well as strategies and support for recommitting to, reframing or appropriately relinquishing your stalled project. This makes it possible for you to move forward with a project you truly want to write.

The Academic Juggle: Managing Your Writing in a World of Commitments – TAA Webinar 11/9

Do you ever feel like you’re working on a million tasks at once, but not making progress on any of them? As an academic, it’s likely that you are juggling multiple commitments and projects. Even the most determined of us can find ourselves overwhelmed at the scope of our responsibilities. If you find yourself struggling to keep track of your writing amidst all your other professional obligations, you’ll want to join us Thursday, November 9 from 3-4 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “The Academic Juggle: Managing Your Writing in a World of Commitments”, presented by Jane Dr. Jane Jones, academic editor and productivity coach at Up In Consulting.

The most useful textbook & academic writing posts of the week: November 3, 2017

This week brought with it the close of our Textbook Awards program nomination period and the start of Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo). It also brought with it articles focused on creative process, tips to improve writing, and cautionary tales for textbook and academic authors alike. Articles include innovative textbook development using augmented reality and creative learning activities, secrets and tips for improving your writing, how to manage commitments, and topics of potential concern related to copyright, predatory journals, and peer review. As you begin this month of academic writing, keep in mind the words of Lailah Gifty Akita, “Wondering leads to writing”, and stay curious, pursue new ideas, and write.

Time management step 4: Dealing with setbacks

So you’ve done everything right. You’ve cleared time in your busy schedule by identifying the activities that didn’t move you forward. You set long-term goals that were SMART – Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-specific. You filled the newly available time slots with productive habits that push you in the direction of your goals. You even found ways to make the most of your time.

But…things don’t always go as planned.

So now what?

Time management step 3: Making the most of the time you have

525,600 minutes. A fixed amount of time each of us is given to accomplish all that we can in a given year. Time is unstoppable. Time is inevitable. But time is yours. So it’s important to make the most of it.

So far in this series, we have explored ways to prioritize activities and to align the things we choose to do with our time with the goals we have for our lives. In this article, we will examine ways to make minor adjustments to get even more out of the scarce amount of time available while maintaining a balance to life that improves efficiency and increases satisfaction with our writing practices.

Time management step 2: Planning for success

In the First Step in Time Management – Having Time to Manage article, we acknowledged the fixed amount of time each of us have to work with in a day, month, or year. We then took inventory of how that time was being used and explored ways to cut costly, less profitable activities from the list to make room for other things that can bring us closer to our goals.

In this article, we will discuss ways to reallocate this newly found time in ways that align with a happier, healthier, and successful life.