Getting Your Writing Life in Order: Productivity and Peace of Mind for Pre-Tenure Scholars

Barbara Sarnecka, Professor of Cognitive Science

I wrote a whole book about this, which you can read for free here: https://osf.io/n8pc3/

To boil it down into just a few points, I guess I would say it comes down to two things: PLANNING and HABITS.

First, you need PLANS for your writing at 3 levels: (1) an IDP, which sketches out your broad goals for the next 1-5 years, or until you get tenure. (2) a term plan, which covers this quarter and breaks down your goals for this quarter (from your IDP) into subgoals for each of the 10 weeks, and (3) a plan for this week. This sounds like a lot of planning, but it actually saves time and energy and mental effort. It's like mapping out a long road trip before you go, rather than just making it up as you go along.

Second, you need good HABITS of time management and writing. Schedule time for writing, protect that time from incursions by other demands such as teaching prep, and learn to write little and often rather than in binges. Aim to write for 1 hour/day on the project closest to publication, and you should produce enough to get tenure.