[Project Management Series] Deciding Time to Task (Re-Release EP 210)

In this episode, I’m talking all about one of the biggest hidden obstacles to academic writing success: estimating how long writing tasks actually take. Whether it’s a book chapter, a literature review, or a single figure caption, understanding time-to-task is crucial if you want to make real progress on your publications without burning out.

If you’re tired of missing due dates, underestimating tasks, and wondering why academic writing feels like pushing a boulder uphill, this episode is for you. Listen now, and let’s reframe how you think about your time and writing.

Why Task Lists and Calendar Time Are Non-Negotiable

You need two things to manage your writing like a pro: a clear task list and dedicated, protected time on your calendar. Without both, you’ll either waste your writing blocks floundering, or you won’t schedule them at all. I explain how to create each and why they’re essential for forward momentum in your publication pipeline.

Two Ways to Estimate Time to Task (and Why It Matters)

I share the two core methods I teach in our Navigate program:

1. Observation & Data Collection: Estimate how long a task will take, then track how long it actually takes. This method builds self-trust and predictability, which is more valuable than speed.
2. Deciding Ahead of Time: Inspired by Brooke Castillo, this mindset-based method flips the script—you decide how long something will take and stick to it. It’s all about commitment, structure, and letting go of perfectionism.

Predictability > Speed

You might think writing faster is the goal, but being predictable with your time helps you meet due dates, keep co-authors happy, and build a sustainable writing practice. I explain how accuracy builds a positive feedback loop with your writing and why that’s critical for long-term success.

“One way of deciding time to task is to observe how long it takes you to do things and get a clear picture so that you can predict how long future writing tasks will take. Clear picture is the key. So if you find that every time you estimate, you think it’s going to take an hour and it takes you three, that is just information. It’s better to be accurate with your estimates than to be fast.

“Intellectual problems are not all the same. Sometimes as we’re working through our thoughts in writing, it just takes longer than other times because of the complexity of the problem or because you’re trying to work out a nuance. You’re not a robot, so you won’t always be able to predict based on past results. Getting and collecting that data on yourself and observing and making better, more refined predictions is still worth it because right now you are probably making predictions based on no data and no results at all. You’re making predictions based on hopes and dreams. Hopes and dreams are not the best way to go forward predictably.”

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. 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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