271: [Project Management Series] Deciding Time to Task (Re-Release EP 210)
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May 27, 2025
Are you struggling to estimate how long your writing tasks will take? Dive into the challenges of academic writing and learn why time estimation is a hidden obstacle to success. Discover effective project management techniques that enhance your writing practice. Gain insights on creating productive task lists and adopting a proactive mindset. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start making progress on your publications without burning out!
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Task Lists and Time Blocking
Use a detailed task list when tackling academic writing projects.
Block dedicated time on your calendar to work on these tasks to avoid inefficiency.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Collect Data to Predict Time
Collect data on how long writing tasks actually take by recording estimates and actual times.
Use this data to make accurate future predictions and build self-trust.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Cathy's Book Writing Time Tracking
Cathy measured her word count per hour while writing her book to predict deadlines accurately.
This helped her turn in her manuscript on time by planning work realistically.
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Have you ever looked at your calendar, blocked out a few hours to write, and then… nothing? The blank screen stares back, your cursor blinks mockingly, and you start wondering—how long should this take? Why is this so hard to estimate?
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.
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!
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!
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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