Academic Writing Amplified

If you struggle to find time to write, this is the podcast episode for you. I’m sharing 10 practical ways to find more time to write as an academic woman. One of the biggest complaints I hear from academic women is that they don’t have time to write. In this episode, I’m laying out ten different actions you can take to create time in your schedule for writing.  Don’t fall for the idea that your time is out of your control. You can do this! Click here to get my downloadable PDF version of 10 Ways to Make Time to Write. Hang it in your office, or save it on your computer to remind you of all the ways you have at your disposal to free up time. I challenge you to go through this list of 10 things, and choose 3 you will do this week! This list will help you enhance your practice, and is a reminder to you that you are in control. Be sure to get my free PDF Ten Ways to Make Time to Write so you don’t forget a single one.  “Making time to write is within your control.”   “You can’t write all the time, and you shouldn’t try to.”   We have some exciting opportunities coming up to enhance your writing and career as an academic woman. In the next 5 weeks or so, stay tuned for lots of fantastic content! Make sure you are in our I Should Be Writing Facebook Group, following my Cathy Mazak Writing FB Page, and are on the email list.    The Academic Women’s Writing Roadmap course will be opening for enrollment soon. When you download the Ten Ways to Make Time to Write PDF you’ll be added to my email list so you won’t miss it! In April, I’ll be offering How to Write More Without Big Blocks of Time webinar.  Back by popular demand, I’ll be offering my Summer Planning Webinar. May brings our Summer Writing Challenge, and enrollment for The Academic Women’s Writing Roadmap will open at the conclusion of the challenge.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode27.

Ever wish there was another you to get more done, make things easier, reach more people? On this episode I’m sharing three ways to multiply your effectiveness; no clone needed.  I’ve been sharing the ideas that we use for our Amplify program framework for going up for tenure with confidence as part of a 3 part series of The Academic Woman Amplified. In episode 24 we looked at the Clarify aspect of the program and talked about how clarity is the foundation for a fulfilling and impactful academic career. In episode 25 we dove into the Demystify part of the framework, talking about how to uncover the systems, processes and mindset for a successful work life, inside a 40 hour work week. And on this episode, I’m sharing the last part of the Amplify framework: Multiply. If you’ve ever wished for a way to make a greater impact with the time you have, this episode is for you. It is possible to boost your impact, get more done and create lasting change in your field without adding hours to your work time. Here’s how: Implement Systems Everywhere And I mean everywhere. Leverage the time you have and the work you’ve already put in, don’t let it go to waste! Create workflows and templates for everything. Some examples for things you can create templates for: Article completion. You know the steps you take each time to write a journal article, for example. Create a template for those steps. Emails. If you have similar emails you send frequently, make a template. Working with thesis students. Create a process you move your students through as you work with them. Anything else in your life that you do more than once or twice. Put the time in to make the template, workflow or process, and your time savings will be exponential. (In our Amplify and Elevate programs, we include an Organize Your Academic Life course, as well as lots of pre-made Trello templates and workflows so you can get systematized.) Create Community Surrounding yourself with other people pursuing similar goals and facing similar issues uplevels your effectiveness while giving you support and camaraderie. Benefits of a strong community in academia:  Getting support and ideas from your community gives you a boost of momentum toward reaching goals. Shared learning that happens in community spreads ideas and helps you reach a wider audience. You have someone to vent to that gets it.   (In our programs we create community through group coaching and peer mentoring. And our free I Should Be Writing Facebook group is a great place to connect with other academic women like you.) Mentor for Change One of the more meaningful parts of a career as an academic is mentoring students. Mentoring is a key way to effect change in academic culture, which is so important, especially for us as women. When we do it right, we’re impacting the next generation of academics, and imparting our message. But, mentoring can also be emotionally draining and exhausting. Make a plan (or a template!) for how you approach your mentoring duties, and be sure to pull back the curtain on all the systems and processes you are using in your day-to-day academic life.  Ready to Multiply Your Effectiveness? Apply for Amplify today. Join us in our Amplify program for a ready-made community of academic women who are working toward similar goals and dealing with similar issues. Here’s how our application process works: Click here to fill out a very simple application.  Hop on a 10 minute call with an enrollment specialist to see if Amplify is a good fit for you. If so: Have a strategy call with me, to talk about your personal writing and publishing goals, going up for tenure, and what might be holding you back in your career.   If you join by March 31, 2020 you will lock in the 2019 rates. We’re adding two in-person retreats to our package, and after 3/31/20, our prices will be going up to reflect the addition. So don’t wait! Apply now. Note: Due to travel restrictions related to the Corona Virus pandemic, the April 9th Write More Workshop in Philadelphia has been cancelled. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode26.

The coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, and this is affecting the academic community in significant ways. Universities are going online, travel is being canceled, and the impact is profound.  How can you finish the academic semester and continue your writing practice during this difficult time? In this episode, I’m sharing my recommendations for creating a minimum viable semester. Listen in to find out what this means and how to implement it.  Shift the Way You Think About the Semester In the world of business, there is a term called the “minimal viable product”, which is the simplest version of a product. Often a company starts with the minimal version, makes sure people like it, and then makes improvements.    In this situation we are going to do the opposite of that. We've set the syllabus and our semester in order, but now we have to drastically reduce what we thought we'd be able to do.   Empathy and Grace The two themes that I want you to keep in mind as you are developing your new semester are  empathy for students and grace for yourself. This situation is horrible for you and it's also terrible for your students.    You are under lots of stress,  and will potentially be delivering the rest of the semester with others in your home. It’s going to be stressful and not ideal, but have grace for yourself.   Document Everything I want you to document your efforts for everything you do. Presenting is no longer an option, so you won’t be able to put it on your CV. As we remove things from the CV, there's a lot more work you are doing that is invisible… but I want you to document that.     Start a document that will be titled “Additional Labor During Pandemic” and just make a running, informal list. List all of the stuff you are doing that you weren't doing before that is labor, such as  “online support group”, or “redesigned 3 classes to be presented online.” Minimum Viable Semester Planning I want you to get it out of your head that you can recreate that semester that you had planned. It's just not going to happen. Instead we have to back way down on your goals.    Check out the book “Finish” by John Acuff. He says you need to cut your goals in half or double the time it takes to get there. It is so important for our momentum that we hit our goals, but since sands have shifted, it's time to back way down on your goals.   Instead, look for opportunities to create something different. Look through your areas of teaching, research and service and think about what goals were included in those three areas;  then rewrite your goals. You (or your university) cannot hold yourself to the previous standard.    Rewrite your syllabus  The contract that you made with your students at the beginning of the semester cannot be the same now. A few things to consider:   What is your situation really going to look like if you have to work from home? Change your goals correspondingly. You can’t work 8 hours a day the way you work on campus, but you can be more efficient in less time. Try to get 4 hours of work done to start. Then adjust if you can get more in.   Try to lower the bar on your writing, and get 1-2 hours once or twice a week during your tiger time. I would call maintaining a writing practice for 1-2 hours a week a huge win, considering the amount of brain space this crisis is taking up. You can check out this video for more on this topic.   Teaching One of the things that derails our writing is when teaching takes over... and if this happens, so be it. Document what you are doing, and have grace for yourself. Look at your syllabus, and figure out what considerations are called for. For example, you can’t give the students a ton of online reading if students can't get online. You will have to scale way back.    Ask yourself: What do I need to teach them? What do they need to be able to do and know in order to say they took this course? Eliminate or simplify assignments, or change the way assignments have to be submitted, etc. You need an online course that is empathetic to them.   Simple Tools Zoom: You can use Zoom to create a nice powerpoint presentation video to download, then upload it to a learning management platform. You can use a free Zoom account for up to 45 minutes. If you want to upgrade your zoom account, it's only $15/month.   Loom: A totally free way to do  super easy recorded videos. It will record your screen and record you talking over your powerpoint.  Screenshare gives you a link so you don’t have to do the downloading/uploading.   Slack: Another free tool used for group texting.   Google Docs: You can share documents this way and forego a learning management system.     Make it Easy On Yourself Make it easy for people and do a couple of things:   Make templates for your lessons. It is predictable for students, and it makes it easy on you to have that structure which helps you when creating the lessons   Think about the combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods of teaching online. If you did your lessons asynchronously (record something where students can consume anytime), that can be good for you and your writing. Then your days are more flexible and you can use more of your tiger time to write. If your students have unreliable internet access, this is a good method for them.   There should be some time for  synchronous meetings, so you could have asynchronous content plus 1 hour per week of virtual office hours that lets students connect with you.   “Everything is gloom and doom, but there is also opportunity here.”   Look for those places in your academic career that you can control and take action there. Use situations like this to build empathy, to practice grace for yourself and document it all along the way. Links mentioned: It's time to create the Minimum Viable Semester (FB Live) How to get writing done in times of crisis (FB Live) Zoom Loom Slack Google Suite   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page  

Are your working hours spilling over into nights and weekends as an academic? Do you feel powerless to squeeze everything into a ‘regular’ work week? This is the episode for you. As an academic woman, you undoubtedly have a lot on your plate. You may feel like there is simply no way to fit all the work into a regular work week. And if you enjoy working on the weekend, by all means, do it! But if you want to reclaim your extra hours for yourself, to spend with your family, just not working, there are things you can do to make that happen. This doesn’t mean that there will magically be less work. “There is always going to be more work in your academic career then there are hours in the day.” So how can we reduce the hours we work if we can't reduce the work itself?  By changing the way we approach it, in two ways: through utilizing systems and processes, and by changing our mindset.    Use Systems and Processes Academic culture is not always the best about passing on the kind of information that is helpful in managing our day-to-day lives and workloads, so if you haven’t got this part figured out, don’t blame yourself. But instead of telling yourself, “I have so much work, I need to work more hours”, focus on what you can do to fit the work into the hours you want to be working. Using repeatable, predictable systems and processes is key. 1. Use Writing Systems. Create a system for a regular, predictable writing practice, one that is easy to pick back up if you get off track, and puts you in the chair at your most focused, energetic times. Check out episode 2 to learn how to find your ‘tiger time’ and implement it for a robust practice.    Using a writing system:  Doesn’t have to be every day Creates positive feedback around your writing Helps you regain momentum if you fall out of rhythm Gives you a way to consistently place writing inside the workday   In our programs we teach you how to use a variety of tools (including writing sprints, retreats, tiger time and more) to create a writing system that works for you. To get an in-person taste of how we implement this in our programs, join us on April 9 in Philadelphia for The Write More Workshop.    2. Use Pipeline Management Processes. You need to know exactly where all your work is in the publication process in order to make the best decisions about what is most important to work on, and to make the biggest impact with your work. Having a reliable process for managing your publication pipeline means: Knowing what is in the pipeline and where it is in the process What steps need to be taken to move things along Which projects should be worked on when Making better decisions about where to invest your time for maximum impact   In our Amplify program framework, we work through 3 main areas with you. Last week on the podcast, we talked about Clarity. The steps we’re going through this week are covered under the Demystify part of the framework.  We teach you how to implement systems and change your mindset to write and publish more so you can go up for tenure with confidence. The natural side effect of this work is to corral your work into a 40 hour work week.   Change Your Mindset What you believe about the work that you do is the most important aspect of this whole process. How you view your work, your time, your mission and yourself as an academic woman forms the basis for your entire career. I can’t stress enough how important mindset is! Here are two ways to use mindset to transform how you are using your time.   1. Create Boundaries. You are the person in charge of whether you work weekends. If you want to change this habit, you must create boundaries around your time, and what you are doing. This means you will have to: Say no sometimes Understand what you are not willing to take on Decide which things get your highest levels of excellence and which simply get checked off Draw a line in the sand (ex: I will not check email after 5pm on Fridays. Period.)   I suggest doing a time audit. Disclaimer: they are no fun! Take a week and write down everything you do, and how long it takes you. Where are you putting your best hours? How many hours do you spend grading? Writing? On email? In the lab? What can you tighten to spend less time doing things that are not essential? What system, process or boundary can you implement to reduce unuseful hours?   2. Examine Your Beliefs. Take some time to really examine what you believe about what it means to be a “good academic”. Deep down are you carrying around beliefs that a “good academic: Works nights and weekends Is always busy and stressed Must say yes to demands made on her by others Is powerless over her time Because none of these are true! In order for you to be the best academic you can be, you need to have a rested, revitalized brain, and you need to be a healthy, cared for whole person.  “If you don't rest, you won’t bring your best self to the work; and the world needs your best self doing the work!” If you are interested in working with me and my team to demystify time savings in academia through mindset shifts, and using systems and processes, consider checking out my programs. The Write More Workshop: April 9 in Philadelphia.  Amplify Faculty Writing Accelerator: Enrolling now Academic Woman’s Writing Roadmap course: Enrolling in May And join us in the I Should Be Writing Facebook group! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode25.

What one thing is key to writing and publishing more? The answer is clarity. Without it, you’re inviting overwork, overwhelm, and a strain on your creative output.  In this first episode of a three part series, I’m showing you how getting clarity around your career goals not only turns overwhelm into purposeful work, but it actually kick starts your ability to write and publish more. In order to find this kind of crystal clarity, you need an academic mission statement. In all of my programs, this is where we start, with good reason!  In my Amplify program for pre-tenure women, we use a 9 spoke framework, with 3 main areas of focus. The first of the areas we focus on is clarity. Getting clear on your career purpose helps you define who you are as an academic, and where you’re going. Check out the graphic on my website to get an idea about our framework. We work through 3 steps to achieve true clarity.   Step 1: Academic Mission Statement If you don’t have an academic mission statement, you need one. This is a one sentence statement that encapsulates your mission and vision as an academic. It’s the standard you’ll use to measure every opportunity and request against.  Check out this blog post for a full description and step-by-step process to create your own using my template. Here is the basic template, followed by my own statement from 2 years ago:   I use _____ to study_____ in order to _______.    I use ethnographic methods to study translanguaging in Puerto Rican University classrooms in order to normalize bilingual content learning and inform theories of bilingualism.  If you find it hard to say no to every opportunity or request made of you, your career feels lackluster and unfocused, or you are suffering from “activities creep”, it’s because you don’t have a strong point of focus to measure against and align with. This is what a mission statement can help you with!  If you are having trouble distilling your mission statement, or feel like you need to have TWO mission statements, I want you to dig deeper into this blog post, and remember: you must align all your activities to one focus if you want to experience the fullness of your academic purpose.  Don’t be afraid to really reflect on what you WANT. You will find that you make the biggest impact and experience the most fulfillment if you are working in ways that make you happy! “What do I WANT my academic mission statement to be?” Step 2: Milestones Once you’ve drilled down to the core of what your academic career is all about and come up with your one line mission statement, the next step we use in our programs for achieving clarity is to map out your milestones. In this step, we help you to: Create a unique timeline of milestones that is specific to you and your mission Align your activities to your mission Make a plan for how and when to change or add to your activities   Write More Workshop: To experience this process hands-on and in person with me and my coaches, we have a rare opportunity for you to join us, one day only, in Philadelphia on April 9, 2020 for the Write More Workshop!  You’ll get the rubrics for creating clarity in your career that we normally only include with our Academic Writing Roadmap course and Amplify program, as well as a walk-through to help you use them and put them into practice. There are only 30 spots at this workshop, so don’t wait to sign up. I hope to meet some of you in person! Click here for all the details. Step 3: Strategic Pipeline The last step in our process is to create a strategic pipeline. After your mission statement is in place, and you’ve mapped out milestones for your own unique journey, you’ll need to take a zoomed-out, birds eye look at your goals to help you decide how to get where you’re going. As always, writing is at the center. This helps you suss out things like: Who do I want to be in conversation with through my work? Which publications should I choose to accomplish that? Where do I put my efforts so that my research flows out in a way that accomplishes my goals (to meet tenure requirements, get a grant, etc.)? What strategies will I employ to meet my milestones? When you Have Clarity Just like anything, getting clear on your academic mission statement, creating milestones and strategic pipeline take time. But putting in the time is so worth it! Aligning with your mission means: Culling things from your schedule that don’t line up, and not feeling guilty about it Freeing up time and mind space for those things that will move the needle on your vision You won’t feel pulled in a thousand directions. Even if you end up with more on your plate, it feels better to be doing things that align with your vision and mission. Writing is easier to center. Everything feels like it’s contributing, rather than pulling you away from writing. “You feel busy because you’re doing things that aren’t in line with your mission.”   Check Out Our Programs to Help You Gain Clarity Academic Women’s Writing Roadmap course: Opening for enrollment in the first week of May. This program is for anyone who wants to gain clarity and revitalize their writing and publishing pipelines.  Amplify Faculty Writing Accelerator: Enrolling now. This program is for pre-tenure women who want going up for tenure to feel more like inspiration and less like hazing. Click here to find out all the details about this year-long program. Elevate: Running now. This program is for post-tenure women who want to continue to gain clarity, work toward their goals, and hone in on their “zone of genius”. Learn more here. And don’t forget!... Want to move the needle on your writing? Join us in Philly for our one day Write More Workshop on April 9th! Click here for all the details. Join us in our Facebook group, I Should Be Writing, and share your academic mission statement! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode24.

Have you ever done professional development? So often, it feels like academics get professional development wrong. Usually, it’s done with a one-off training, but the problem is that there’s no follow through or follow up. There’s no relationship with the leader or the participants.  I want to help transform professional development for academic women. I've been in academia since 1998, and in all those years, I don’t remember any content from one-off trainings. Instead, I remember the relationships I developed along the way.  In this episode I’m talking about good professional development and the benefits that come from combining training, coaching and community.  “The way you are going to change your professional life is through the development of relationships, not through training or teachings you receive.” Training One-off trainings sound appealing because we think that if we just know a certain skill, we’ll be able to change the way we integrate writing into our career. In my coaching programs, the content of the training portion is based on a few key takeaways from my past career trajectory:    You have to have clarity. You have to be clear on what you want to do so you can take action. Control and how to step in to power and direct your career. You also need to have clarity on your boundaries. Coaching Coaching is ultimately about relationships, and how it can influence and change your professional direction. You are in a relationship with your coach. Teaching and coaching are different; teaching involves passing info from one person to another.  The job of a coach is to ask the right questions that lead people to figure out what they need to do themselves. It is not about the coach and their experiences, but walking someone through a process of transformation. You want your coach to take your unique situation into account, and develop a plan of action for you.   Community Community is the secret sauce, but unfortunately there is a lack of community in academia. Once you have your tenure track job, it can be very difficult to create community. A community solves a few problems: The onus of implementing what you’ve learned is not solely on you. If you find implementation difficult, you can get feedback from your community. Brings together diverse groups of women who can support each other.  This includes diversity on every level such as diversity of institution and types of positions. Stops you from feeling isolated Provides you with source of information you wouldn't otherwise be able to tap into  Adds accountability from those who understand and support you “If you think back to your career to those pivotal moments, they will be moments in relationship with other people.” Coaching Programs There are several ways we can work together to achieve your goals:  Amplify: Faculty Writing Accelerator program is for pre tenure women on the tenure track. This year-long program offers training and support through coaching and community as you implement what you learn. Our NEW program has launched! Uplevel your post-tenure career with Elevate. This program is for post tenure women, and it is a 6 month coaching program that follows the training- coaching-community model.  Mark your calendars for May, because The Academic Women’s Writing Roadmap course is reopening! This 10-week program teaches you how to make time to write. Topics include writing systems, time management, project management, creating a pipeline for your writing, and creating short and long term plans. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode23.

It’s completely acceptable to get help with your writing, even as a full professor. So what does that look like in academic writing? I’m giving you the lowdown on what’s available for writing help. It’s important to understand that it is absolutely ok to get help with your writing. Savvy academics get help in a variety of ways in order to shape their writing into the best finished product it can be. On this episode of The Academic Woman Amplified I’m giving you an overview of what writing helps are available out there, from the many types of editors to coaches, and giving you the encouragement to find the right one for you.  Authorship  Different academic fields handle authorship differently. Science-based fields may attribute authorship to lab participants or people who contribute graphs, statistics, etc. In the humanities authorship is generally attributed only to those who actually write words for the publication.  However your particular field approaches this, getting writing help doesn’t affect whether or not you are a “real” author of your project. Ghostwriting is a no-no in academia, but getting editing or coaching help is not the same as ghostwriting. It is not only acceptable, it’s advisable! Don’t rely on your publishing house to proofread your work; be sure it’s in impeccable shape before submitting.  Editors and What They Do While the word ‘editor’ is used often, there are several different types of editors and the work they do is very different. Let’s break down the different types so you can get a clear picture of what you may want in an editor.   1. Journal or book editor. This type of editor isn’t someone you can hire to help with writing. They are content curators, choosing which pieces work for their journals and publishing houses. What they do:  Curate content for their publications Decide if a piece needs extra work or whether to send it out for review Facilitate the process of getting work published   2. Proofreaders. This kind of editor performs surface level editing tasks. They work with you on minor tweaks of a finished piece of work. What they do: Check formatting, spelling and grammar Take a last look at your completed piece   3. Copy Editors. This kind of editor goes a bit deeper than a proofreader. What they do: Check formatting, spelling, grammar Give a little more feedback on the writing itself Look for inconsistencies in language, style Check a text against the reference list   4. Substantive Editors. This kind of editor goes more deeply with you into the writing itself. You may use this kind of editor earlier in the writing process, or with a rougher draft. What they do: Address clarity and style Revise sentence structure and structure of the piece itself Help rewrite sections  Check structure, tone, style and organization of the piece   5. Developmental Editors. This kind of editor is involved early in your writing process, helping you develop the piece. They provide the kind of help your PhD advisor may have given you while writing your dissertation. What they do: Help advise you on the direction your content should take Let you know if you need more references, deeper explanations, or a different approach Advise you on the best way to make your argument, or how to structure your information to tell the story you want “Getting editing help is not cheating.” Coaches and What They Do Writing coaching is another kind of help that is available to academics. While some writing coaches also provide editing services, most coaches have a different focus. Rather than reading and providing feedback on your writing like editors do, coaches help with your process and strategy. What coaches typically do: Support development of your writing process and habits Help you find time to write Listen, and coach you through the decision-making process for deciding which projects to work on and how to proceed with them. Help you develop a publication strategy, choose timing, and decide on journals to target Help you get clarity on your career goals and how to pursue them through writing and publishing Connect you with community   There are coaches who specialize in different fields or types of writing. You can find specific support with book coaches, grant-writing coaches, and dissertation coaches. I personally specialize in helping people find the time to write, create robust pipelines through project management and process, and empower themselves by challenging norms in academic culture.   My Coaching Programs My Amplify: Faculty Writing Accelerator program is a year long program designed to help you go up for tenure with confidence. If group coaching, mentorship and support in a community of like-minded academic women appeals to you, click here for more information and to apply.    The Academic Women’s Writing Roadmap course is reopening in May, and is geared toward any academic woman who needs to create a strong writing pipeline, or reinvigorate her practice. Grab my free 10 Ways to Find Time to Write guide and you’ll be put on the waiting list to be notified when sign-ups open.    Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode22.

What makes a writing practice, or any habit, sustainable? How do you create new practices that stick when the old ones aren’t serving you well anymore? Creating sustainable practices can be difficult, in writing and in life. Especially when what used to work for you may not work any more. It’s important to begin change from the right place if you want to create a lasting habit and get the results you’re looking for. In this episode I’m sharing some thoughts on sustainable practices, and how to change your mindset to achieve them. Sustainable Practices Look Different Over Time There is a saying in the business world that “what got you here, won’t get you there”. The same can be said for writing practices. Maybe when you were a PhD student, you had the ability to do binge writing sessions and had fewer constraints on your time and life. The habits that worked then won’t work now, and finding something that is sustainable in the midst of teaching, service work, or the tenure track can feel overwhelming. It’s important to remember that as circumstances change, our practice will change. Being aware and willing to find a new normal is the first step.  “Sustainable practices are a moving target. They change as your career stage changes.” Forcing Actions to Achieve Results Isn’t Sustainable Sometimes we try to change our results by forcing a habit. For example, if we want to write and publish more, we might try to force the habit of writing every day in order to achieve that result. We might try to draw a line in the sand, and force a way to write every day. But, this usually isn’t sustainable. What happens when the semester hits the fan, you or a family member gets sick, or some other problem throws off your plan?   Guilt, overwhelm, and negative feelings: “I broke the chain, didn’t stick to my plan, failed.” You look to others through accountability. This is a buzzword these days, but to me, trying to find outside accountability is like telling yourself that you are weak, broken, unable to make change yourself and need an outside entity to force you. More negative feelings.   Trying to get the result you want by forcing an action just isn’t sustainable.  “To make sustainable change in your writing practice, what you really need to do is change your thoughts.” How to Begin the Process for Sustainable Change In listening to a podcast with life coach Brooke Castillo, I had a lightbulb moment. She explained so well what I am always trying to convey to my clients about how important it is to cultivate our feelings around writing. In order to make lasting, sustainable change in life (including in our writing practices!) Brooke Castillo says we need to approach things like this: Feelings-->Thoughts-->Actions-->Results In other words, if you try to get your desired results by forcing an action, like writing every day, but haven’t changed your feelings and your mindset, it will not be sustainable. So, if you are having trouble finding a new sustainable practice where you are now in your career, I want you to try this exercise.   Sit down, take a moment to reflect, and write down your feelings around writing. What do you think about when you think about writing? About yourself as a writer? As an academic? Be honest with yourself, and write those feelings down. If you see negative thoughts and feelings, write down a replacement thought for each one. For example: If you feel that “I’m a bad writer”, come up with something to counter that, like “I passed my dissertation with flying colors”, or “I love to write.” If you have positive thoughts, reinforce them! Try a few actions that support your positive feelings, and don’t force anything! Check out Episode 12: Combating Writing Guilt for some ideas to keep the positivity flowing, and actions steps to take. Our Programs - Get Support for Creating Sustainable Change Our Amplify program provides trainings, community, group and one-on-one coaching to help you create lasting, sustainable practices to get your desired results. If you are a tenure track woman who wants going up for tenure to feel more like inspiration and less like hazing, click here to learn more.   Our popular Writing Roadmap course is reopening in the Spring. It includes teaching modules, office hours to ask questions, and a facebook group to submit work, get feedback, and make connections with other women in academia. To be notified when sign ups are open, join our mailing list by joining the FB group or emailing support@cathymazak.com.   To get my tips for asking your institution to fund your professional development, check out Episode 7: Securing Professional Development Funding. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode21

Why is it acceptable in our academic cultures to go to conferences, but less so to attend writing retreats? I’m diving in to the (evidence-based) benefits of retreats and how you can find one that works for you. Writing retreats might be viewed by some institutions as a vacation more than an important work activity, but that just isn’t true! Retreats are shown to have measurable positive effects on your writing and your career. That’s a win-win for everyone. In this episode of The Academic Woman Amplified I’m going deep on writing retreats to help you see the very real return on your investment. I’ll walk you through the evidence-based positive outcomes, give you tips on what to look for in a retreat, and share ideas for every level of retreat, from professional to DIY. Research on Benefits of Writing Retreats Writing retreats are good for your writing and provide ongoing benefits, and there is research to back this up.  A 2016 integrative review on academic writing retreats by Kornhaver, Cross, Betihavas, and Bridgman found that increased publication outputs was a measurable outcome of academic writing retreats. Five themes were linked to this outcome: 1.  Protected time and space. Time apart from distractions helps with focus and reflection on writing, and not just at the retreat itself. Participating in a retreat helps participants legitimize the time needed and prioritize it as an important activity on their return to campus.  What we do on our retreats: Make sure that your needs are taken care of so you don’t have to devote time to things like planning meals, housekeeping, or caregiving.   2.  Community of practice. A supportive cohort and social interaction provided by a writing retreat helps participants write more. Discussing ideas and common roadblocks with your peers adds tremendous value. What we do on our retreats: We provide structured times for co-writing, goal-setting and time for community and support.    3.  Development of Academic Writing Competence. Another key aspect of academic writing retreats linked to increased writing output was the development of academic writing competence. Focused time to practice, and learning from other attendees or presentors adds to competence. Everyone learns differently, and exposing ourselves to new avenues of learning is priceless. What we do on our retreats: At our last retreat, we had presentations and feedback from periodicals editors, as well as time provided for peer review and feedback.    4.  Intra-personal benefits. My favorite intra-personal benefit that Kornhaver et al. found was “increased self-awareness.” The studies showed retreat participants learned barriers and enablers to increased writing output during their interactions with other retreat participants. What we do on our retreats: We include relaxed, peer interaction and downtime as part of our retreat structure. We also provide peer mentoring and review.  “When you get academic women together across fields, mentoring happens.”   5.  Organizational Investment. Not surprisingly, the review found that writing retreat participants experienced longer lasting benefits when they had support from their institutions. When your institution supports you by allowing you the time to attend a retreat, or even funding your attendance, it creates a positive cycle of support and mutual benefit. What we do on our retreats: We help with goal-setting to maximize outcomes for you and your institution, and each attendee gets a one-on-one session with one of our coaches. If you need tips for how to approach professional development funding requests with your institution, be sure to listen in to Episode 7: Securing Professional Development Funding. The main outcome of this evidence-based research is this: increased publication outputs are a measurable outcome of academic writing retreats. That sounds good! “The bottom line is that you want to publish more.” For another take on the benefits of retreats, see the research of Dr. Rowena Murray. She researches academic writing retreats using a social processes approach. She discusses the common purposes that writing retreats share in her book: Writing in Social Spaces: A Social Processes Approach to Academic Writing. She lists a number of essential purposes that writing retreats share, including increasing and improving outputs for research assessment or promotion. What to Look for In a Retreat A change of physical space. Make sure you are out of your usual environment, away from the usual distractions. Physical needs like food and housekeeping are met for you, or there is a plan in place to do so.  There is structure, but not too much structure. Three Levels of Retreats 1.  Professionally Run Retreats. The retreat I have coming up in July 2020 is a professionally run retreat. We provide lodging for a week, most meals, group activities, coaching, co-writing, goal setting, and one-on-one sessions. Retreats like this one give you all of the evidence-based positive outcomes discussed in the research linked above.  Cost: $4000-$4500 If you are struggling with the idea of spending this much money, look at it as the very real investment in your career that it is. If a writing retreat moves the needle on a book, or a grant project, or receiving tenure, the payoff received in terms of higher pay over the course of your career offsets the investment pretty darn quickly! Don’t forget to petition your institution to help with the cost of a retreat under professional development umbrellas.  “Making investment into writing will have the biggest payoff in terms of our career.”   2.  Low Cost DIY Retreats. If a professionally run retreat isn’t going to work for you, consider creating a retreat experience for yourself. Be sure it still has all the essential elements to look for in a retreat. Change in physical space: rent an Air BnB or a hotel for a few days. Physical needs met ahead of time: be sure to have a plan for meals ahead of time. Create a little bit of structure for yourself: an example would be to write, then walk, then eat. Repeating this cycle throughout your day gives a little structure, but not too much.   3.  No (or very little) Cost DIY Retreats. If you truly can’t get away, consider a working-hours-only retreat. Even in this pared down version, be sure to still include your 3 essential elements. Change of space: reserve a room in your public library or another department of your institution; go to a hotel lobby or a coffee shop where you are unlikely to know anyone. Be sure to have a plan for meals. Give yourself some structure or a plan for your day. I hope you’ll come away from this episode with a lot to think about, and some good ideas for how to include some kind of writing retreat in your writing goals this year. Read on for more information about our upcoming retreat.   Puerto Rico July 2020 Retreat If you’ve decided that the lasting benefits to your writing practice and the payoff for your career are worth investing in a professionally run retreat, consider joining me in Puerto Rico this summer! The retreat price of $4000 includes 7 days, 6 nights in a boutique hotel in Old San Juan, steps from the beach, in a culturally rich and vibrant neighborhood. Group coaching, peer mentoring, co-writing and a one-on-one coaching session for each participant are part of your program. If this sounds like a good fit for you, be sure to click here to join before 2/15/20, when the price will rise to $4500. We have 6 spaces left as of the recording of this podcast. Keep in mind that this will be our last “stand-alone” retreat… future retreats will be included in the membership for my Amplify program.  Get in on future retreats by joining Amplify, my program that helps academic women go up for tenure with confidence. Click here for more information and to apply.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode20.

Learn six strategies to build writing momentum and overcome guilt and overwhelm. Discover the importance of small, consistent writing sessions and creating cycles of positivity around your writing. Find out how to use 'Tiger Time' for peak productivity and set achievable goals for successful writing practice.