Episode #166

How To Plan Your Summer Writing

The summer is almost here! I know we are all looking forward to a break after the close of the semester. But so many of us in academia go into the summer with dreams of clearing our publication pipelines. We imagine full days of uninterrupted writing. But unfortunately, these lofty goals are usually unrealistic.

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In this episode, I go over 5 steps to creating a successful summer writing plan. First, I encourage you to lower your expectations. You are already overloaded dealing with final grades. Don’t push that energy into the summer. Every time you miss the impossibly high bar you set for yourself, it generates negative self-talk that damages your relationship with writing. Instead, my 5 step process builds a manageable writing schedule focused on attainable goals. Let’s get started.

Mark Up Your Calendar

You aren’t going to write for 8 hours a day. Just because you aren’t teaching, it doesn’t mean you have nothing to do. In fact, most of us have even more obligations in the summer. Between juggling family activities, vacations, and mental rest, your calendar is fuller than you think. Be honest and realistic with your time.

The Pipeline Brain Dump

List out every single project you want to work on. Then organize it by priority. Consider which publications will have the most significant impact on your career. Ditch the rest.

Block Writing Times

Build out realistic blocks of time for writing into your calendar. Start small with 1 or 2 hour increments. Lower your expectations for yourself and allow for breaks. Connect your calendar with your high priority project and schedule enough time throughout the summer to get that publication ready to publish.

“Creating a realistic plan is really important to your writing mindset and helps you maintain momentum over the summer. So as you try to write for this summer I have a five step writing and implementation plan.”

“Make this marriage between your curated projects to finish them and the actual time you have on your calendar. Remember that calendar includes all the summer activities and things that are happening. I think it’s a realistic way to plan your summer writing”

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

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Our 12-week Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap® program helps tenure-track womxn and nonbinary professors with a disruptive perspective on their field to publish their backlog of papers so that their voice can have the impact they know is possible. Apply here!
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!
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