Increasing Your Capacity For Writing And Publishing

What if I told you capacity isn’t fixed, you can build it? 

Today, I’m sharing what capacity building means and how intentionally growing your capacity can help you do more of the work that matters without burning out.

In this episode, I share my own experiences juggling personal and professional responsibilities. I share vivid, real-life examples of how my capacity expanded over time, from parenting multiple children to managing a large farm business alongside my academic coaching career.

I’ll also address common fears about timing big career moves, especially the myth that you have to wait until you have more capacity before committing to growth.

If you’ve been hesitating to push forward with your writing or career goals because you feel maxed out, this episode is for you. Listen in to shift your mindset around capacity, learn practical ways to grow it, and get inspired to take action now because waiting for the “perfect” time only holds you back.

What Is Capacity Building and Why Does It Matter?

Capacity building is the practice of intentionally expanding your ability to handle more, more work, more stress, more responsibility without breaking down or burning out. It’s not about simply piling on more tasks or hours; it’s about developing the mindset, systems, and boundaries that enable you to manage greater demands sustainably.

I explain the idea of capacity as a “container size” for your energy and focus and how it grows through conscious effort and self-coaching. Whether you’re managing family, academic work, or a business, building capacity is key to thriving over the long haul instead of burning out. I share how capacity building gave me new vocabulary and frameworks to approach overwhelming seasons in life and work.

Real-Life Examples of Expanding Capacity

To make the idea of capacity more concrete, I walk through deeply personal examples, starting with parenting. When I had my first child, I felt maxed out, but then, with each additional child, my capacity to care, love, and manage grew significantly. Similarly, managing a 200-acre farm business alongside my academic coaching pushed me to intentionally build capacity, especially when payroll and tech challenges felt overwhelming. 

I detail how reframing difficult tasks, setting boundaries, and mastering systems helped me turn stressful chores into manageable routines. These stories illustrate that capacity is not fixed; it grows through practice, mindset shifts, and problem-solving.

Why Waiting to Have “Capacity” Is a Myth and How to Build It Now

One of the most significant barriers to growth is waiting for a semester or season when you feel less stressed or “more capable” before taking on new projects or programs. I’m here to tell you that capacity is never just handed to you, you create it by stepping into challenge, learning, and adapting. I speak directly to those hesitating about joining programs like Navigate, explaining that these experiences are designed to build your capacity, not require it upfront. Showing up during a “messy” season and committing to growth is precisely how you expand what you can handle. This newly built capacity will serve you far beyond that semester or project.

“Your capacity is your container size, what you can do. In the situation for most of you it is your capacity for your academic work or your capacity for whatever different things you’re trying to accomplish in your life. This idea of expanding capacity is the belief that you have control over how much you can do so you can actively, consciously, and thoughtfully work to expand your capacity for more. More in your life, more in your job, and more in your family.”

“When you first got to your tenure-track job and you had all new preps, a whole new grading system to learn, and you had the whole new culture of the department to learn – all of those things they took up all of your time and your energy and your thoughts. But as you get used to them, and as they become more a part of your life and as you put boundaries around things and make better decisions, all of that then becomes second nature and your capacity for more has increased. Now think about how many more things you do.”

We’re receiving applications for our next cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap®. Check out the program details and start your application process 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. Apply 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. If you would like to hear more from Cathy for free, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter, In the Pipeline, at scholarsvoice.org. It’s a newsletter that she personally writes that goes out once a week with writing and publication tips, strategies, inspiration, book reviews and more.

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