[Emotions And Writing Series] Working Through Overwhelm [RE-RELEASE EP 13]

In today’s episode of the ‘Emotions and Writing’ series, I dive into dealing with overwhelm and its impact on academic writing. I review the characteristic signs of overwhelm in academia and offer techniques to combat and overcome overwhelm so you can get your writing practice back on track. 

Professors, especially female and non-binary scholars, hold themselves to incredibly high standards. This internal pressure, combined with institutional pressure to publish, creates unrealistic expectations. Combatting overwhelm means lowering the bar to realistic standards, planning in advance, and giving yourself grace.

If overwhelm is holding back your writing and publications, tune in for practical techniques and strategies to break free from the cycle of overwhelm and start building a positive, sustainable relationship with writing. 

Characteristics of Overwhelm

Overwhelm shows up in academia in numerous ways. However, the most common characteristic is the inability to differentiate important from urgent. When you have so much to do, it becomes impossible to prioritize appropriately. As a result, you (and your writing practice) become paralyzed because you can’t pick what writing project or task to start. 

Combatting Overwhelm

Start by writing down a brain dump of everything on your to-do list. It’s okay that it is unorganized or unprioritized. The point is to get all of your pending tasks down on paper.

Then implement the ‘Just 3 Things Method’. Off of your main or brain dump list, pick three tasks you want to accomplish the next day. When you complete those three things, you feel accomplished and can celebrate making progress on your writing projects. Some tips to optimize the ‘Just 3 Things Method’:

• Plan your tasks a day in advance.
• Choose tasks, not projects. Ensure each of the three items can realistically be completed during your working hours.
• The goal isn’t to complete everything on your list. It is to help you break your decision paralysis and prioritize work.

For more information about breaking projects into tasks, listen to episode 3 of the podcast.

Writing and Overwhelm

When you feel overwhelmed, go back to your Soaring State™ (previously called Tiger Time). Your Soaring State™ is the part of your day when you feel most energized, focused and productive. Dedicate one hour of your Soaring State™, one day per week, to writing. This technique helps you return to writing in a positive and productive way. 

One of the most important things to do to combat overwhelm in general is to back up to a minimal state. So, if you haven’t been able to write because of overwhelm, forcing yourself to write 8 hours a day suddenly isn’t going to work. Instead, start the process of recentering writing in your career with the Soaring State™ strategy. 

Listen to episode 2 of the podcast for more information on the Soaring State™.

“Ever since it became popular to use overwhelm as a noun, it really seems like the perfect way to describe the state that we are in in academia for most of the time. If you’ve been listening to my podcast or if you’ve been following my blog you know that I talk a lot about the fact that our jobs as professors are built to pull us in different directions.”

“At the end of the day, writing is creative. So feelings like guilt and overwhelm can really stamp down creativity and that urge to create. Instead when we are talking about overwhelm specially, all you have is an urge to put out fires and this is not conducive to your writing practice.”

We’ve opened the waitlist for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and get on the waitlist here.

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION:

1. Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Get on the waitlist here!
2. Cathy’s book, Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing is available in print! Learn how to build your career around your writing practice while shattering the myths of writing every day, accountability, and motivation, doing mindset work that’s going to reshape your writing,and changing academic culture one womxn and nonbinary professor at a time. Get your print copy today or order it for a friend here!
3. Want to train with us for free on your campus? Now you can when you recommend our Scholar’s Voice™ Faculty Retreats to a decision-maker on your campus! Download the brochure with the retreat curriculum and both in-person and online retreat options here.
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