Productivity matters because people don’t always understand the value of what we do. Papers and books help people “see” our contributions.
7 tips for increasing your productivity:
1. Find your tiger time. This is your most productive writing time of day. I thought mine was in the afternoon, but it’s 9:30 - 10:30am.
When you find your tiger time, guard it by blocking it out on your calendar.
2. Learn to write in short bursts of time. If you wait until you can block a morning or afternoon, you slow your progress.
I thought this was bogus. But changing this habit upped my pace from 1 paper/year in grad school to my current pace of 6.5 published papers/year.
3. Drafting and editing are separate processes. Don’t judge (i.e., edit) writing until you’ve had a chance to draft. This gives you the freedom to generate new ideas.
A typical day example: Drafted an op-ed in the morning during my tiger time. Edited my book in the afternoon.
4. Expedite. Figure out which writing pieces need more time to “marinate.” Move those pieces first.
Ex: Your mentor may “hold onto” sections for three weeks. If you can get them their sections sooner, you can work on other sections while you wait so you don’t lose time.
5. Create a power house. Collaborators can help you produce better scholarship, faster.
6. Be a good communicator. This is how you get invited to work on more papers.
+Give people a head’s up if you’re late on a deadline.
+Tell people what deadlines are coming and give lead time.
+Draft sections. Don’t just comment on what should change.
7. Don’t let rejection stop you. Placing your work means finding the right home. You’ll get rejections, especially if you’re developing in a new area.
Ex: My first op-ed took five submissions to place.
It can be hard to figure out what works for you. Find what works, and use those strategies to scale up.
We all use different strategies (was reminded of this on a recent panel hosted by @er_weinstein with @DianaAChirinos1, Emily Becker-Haimes, and Carlton Patrick).
Scholars, feel free to drop your tips so we can all learn from you!
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1. Hearing how many months/years it took someone to write a book doesn’t help you.
It took me 1.5 years to write my first book. But was that writing daily? Once a week?
But luckily I tracked HOURS of writing too.
Here’s my writing time breakdown.
2. Total time on the book: 643.5 hours.
That includes:
+Background research (interviews): 145 hours.
+Drafting the manuscript: 315.5 hours.
+Revising draft based on reviews: 149 hours.
+Reviewing copy edits: 34 hours.
But we’re all different. What are the lessons for you?
Awesome! I just submitted a draft of my first book to Princeton U. Press.
Here's what I've learned so far, in case it may help you. Information is power. @OpenAcademics@PhD_Genie
1. Where do you start?
There are many ways to get your book published. If you want to publish with a scholarly press (e.g., Princeton University Press, University of Chicago Press), you need to write a book proposal.
2. What's a book proposal?
A book proposal describes your book's core ideas, outlines the chapters, discusses your background, and identifies potential readers for the book.
My book proposal was 11 pages, plus my CV and a sample chapter.