Ep. 58: Habit Tune-Up: Clarifying Task Organization, Graduate Student Advice, and My Research Workflow
Dec 31, 2020
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In this engaging discussion, listeners learn how to improve productivity habits amid distractions. Key tips on organizing tasks effectively are shared, along with invaluable advice for graduate students to excel in their studies. The host reveals his own research workflow, highlighting the importance of collaboration and iteration. Additionally, foundational principles for writing nonfiction books are explored, offering aspiring authors essential insights into navigating the publishing landscape and enhancing their writing skills.
Effective task management involves distinguishing tasks from projects and prioritizing them in quarterly and weekly plans for productivity.
Graduate students should treat their academic pursuits as professional jobs, focusing on developing disciplined work habits and balancing academic growth with personal development.
Academic research workflows require collaborative interactions, continuous ideation, and efforts to identify new problem areas for long-term scholarly contributions.
Successful non-fiction book projects entail securing a literary agent, refining writing skills, and selecting compelling topics that resonate with the audience and demonstrate author credibility.
Deep dives
Exploring Book Summaries on Blinkist
Blinkist offers over 4,000 non-fiction book summaries for subscribers, allowing quick access to main book ideas in just fifteen minutes. The episode showcases popular book summaries from authors like Stephen Pinker, Robin DiAngelo, and Jaron Lanier in the society and culture category, highlighting the diverse perspectives available in a short reading time. Listeners are encouraged to leverage Blinkist for gaining knowledge, identifying essential reads, and making informed choices on further reading materials.
Navigating Productivity Challenges in the New Year
The episode marks the end of Deep Questions podcast for the year, expressing a positive outlook towards transitioning into a new year after a challenging 2020. The host emphasizes the importance of focusing on controllable aspects amidst global uncertainties to enhance productivity and personal development. Encouragement is given to address work disruptions, reassess life configurations, and pursue new ventures or improvements to navigate hardship effectively and prepare for better times ahead.
Deciphering Task Organization for Productivity
A listener's query about task organization reveals common struggles with task categorization, particularly distinguishing between concrete and aspirational tasks. The host discusses the difference between tasks and projects, emphasizing the importance of managing projects in quarterly and weekly plans to ensure progress and engagement with ongoing work. Practical insights into task prioritization, balancing urgent and non-urgent tasks, and integrating projects into long-term planning highlight effective task management strategies for enhanced productivity.
Crafting Success as a Graduate Student
Advice for graduate students emphasizes treating academic endeavors as professional jobs with set working hours and structured systems for studying, researching, and learning. The host encourages adopting an apprentice mindset to learn from experienced advisors and peers, focusing on consistent efforts and incremental progress. Recommendations include developing disciplined work habits, effective shut-down rituals, and balancing academic pursuits with personal growth to build a foundation for a fulfilling and successful academic journey.
Nurturing Research Workflows in Academia
Insights into academic research workflows shed light on the complexity of ideation processes, emphasizing the challenges of generating novel research directions and solving problems in theoretical computer science. Collaborative interactions with peers, attending conferences, and engaging in deep discussions facilitate idea generation and refinement. The importance of continuity in research directions and efforts towards identifying new problem areas to explore underscores the meticulous and iterative nature of academic research endeavors for long-term scholarly contributions.
Navigating the Book Writing Process
Addressing the intricacies of non-fiction book writing, advice is shared on the significance of landing a literary agent before commencing book writing to navigate the professional publishing landscape effectively. Differentiating between general and practical non-fiction topics, the discussion highlights audience appeal, author credibility, and writing proficiency as crucial factors for successful book projects. Practical strategies for pitching agents, refining writing skills, and selecting suitable literary topics are key considerations for aspiring authors seeking publication opportunities.
Embracing Mindful Practices with Headspace
The episode introduces Headspace as a guided meditation tool for fostering mindfulness, stress reduction, and mental wellness. A recommendation is made for integrating guided walking meditations into daily routines to enhance cognitive training and emotional well-being. The user-friendly interface, variety of meditation resources, including walking meditations, and the potential benefits of mindfulness practices for deep work and relaxation underscore the importance of mental health and self-care in achieving a balanced and focused lifestyle.
In this mini-episode, I answer audio questions from listeners asking for advice about how best to tune-up their productivity habits in a moment of increased distraction and disruption.
You can submit your own audio questions at speakpipe.com/calnewport.
Here are the topics we cover:
- Struggling with organizing tasks. [7:41] - Advice for becoming a fantastic graduate student. [14:18] - My research workflow. [19:43] - Book writing basics. [31:14]
Thanks to listener Jay Kerstens for the intro music.
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