Episode #282

Matching Energy To Tasks with Dr. Abby Hogan

If you’ve ever thought “it’s not just about time—I don’t have the energy” when it comes to your writing, you are not alone.

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In this episode, Dr. Abigail Hogan joins me to talk about how she’s learned to align her writing practice with her energy patterns, and why doing so has been transformational for both her scholarship and her well-being.

Dr. Hogan shares what drew her to the Navigate program after participating in Amplify, and how she used the tools and coaching support to break through perfectionism, release the emotional weight of a long-stalled paper, and publish with confidence.

Whether you’re mid-project, mid-semester, or just feeling a bit stuck, Abby’s story will leave you reflecting on how to approach your writing with more intention, clarity, and self-compassion.

Aligning Energy, Emotions, and Academic Writing

Building an effective writing practice is about so much more than productivity. It’s about giving yourself permission to show up honestly and sustainably in your writing life—and what can happen when you do.

During our conversation Dr. Hogan shares:

Why she sought out Navigate after going through a season of reflection and realignment
How she learned to structure her week around her real energy patterns
The emotional weight of stalled projects and how she overcame it to submit a long-delayed revise & resubmit
Tools she learned in Navigate and still uses today
How perfectionism held her back
Why investing in her own development has had ripple effects across her lab and research program
The power of writing alongside others and breaking the isolation so many academics feel

Meet Dr. Abigail Hogan

Dr. Abigail Hogan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Hogan’s research focuses on characterizing the developmental emergence, trajectories, and predictors of anxiety in young autistic children and children with FMR1-associated conditions such as fragile X syndrome and the FMR1 premutation. Dr. Hogan’s research utilizes multiple biobehavioral methods (e.g., observational assessment, diagnostic interviewing, eye tracking, heart activity) within a developmental framework to investigate how, when, and why anxiety develops in autism and FMR1-related conditions and to clarify how anxiety impacts broader functioning.

Dr. Hogan is also interested in understanding the relationship between anxiety symptoms and social communication difficulties across early development. The ultimate goal of Dr. Hogan’s work is to inform targeted treatments that will reduce the negative impacts of anxiety and improve quality of life in children and their families.

“I joined Navigate because I felt like I needed the explicit tools and the structure of Navigate to help me move from this point of where I reconceptualized my career and what I want for my life and then actually put it into action. The Navigate Program was the way I could move forward and make the changes I wanted to make to align with what I had learned about myself during the Amplify Program.”

“Doing the work alongside people was very enriching and very gratifying. Writing can feel isolating to me at times and I do best in community with others. The community in Navigate was a big draw for me and always has been.”

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:

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!
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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