What Makes a Journal Article 4: Framing Your Originality for Success*

In the UK, academia is shaped by the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which evaluates research outputs, including journal articles, to determine funding. One of the highest marks you can achieve is a 4-star rating, which is awarded to work deemed world-leading in originality, significance, and rigor. But what truly makes a journal article 4-star worthy?

Originality is Key

A 4-star article doesn’t have to be paradigm-shifting or revolutionary. You don’t need to invent new theories or create groundbreaking methods. Originality is about contribution, not invention. You must present something new and useful, even if it’s applying an existing theory in a new context, synthesising debates in an innovative way, or proposing a conceptual model that moves the conversation forward.

Originality is not about being above everyone else but shifting the conversation meaningfully. Your article needs to demonstrate that it understands and engages with the existing discourse, while also pushing it forward. To get into 4-star territory, ask yourself, what can no one say again after reading my work?

Clarity and Confidence in Your Contribution

One of the biggest mistakes academics make is failing to own their originality. If you’re doing original work, you need to claim it. It’s not about arrogance, but about being clear and confident in your contribution. If you bury the lead or are too modest about your work, readers, including REF panels- won’t recognise it as original.

Start your article by clearly stating what makes it original and significant. Don’t hide this information in the middle or end of the paper—claim it upfront. This clarity helps ensure that even those outside your field can recognise the value of your work.

Don’t Assume Readers Will ‘Get It’

Remember that readers, including members of the REF panel, may not have expertise in your specific niche. Make it explicit. If your work is highly specialised, you need to explain clearly why it’s important and how it contributes to the broader academic conversation. Don’t assume the panel will find your originality on their own. You need to highlight it and be specific about how your work advances the field.

The 'So What' Factor

Regardless of your discipline, your work must answer the “so what” question. Why does your work matter? If you’re introducing a new data set, technique, or conceptual lens, explain why it’s valuable. For example, in fields that focus on data or lab techniques, it’s not enough to present new findings—you must frame them within a broader academic context. What makes your findings significant? Why should they matter to your academic peers?

In theoretical disciplines, originality might come from offering a new lens through which to view longstanding problems. This reframing of a familiar issue is often what leads to paradigm-shifting work in those fields.

Presentation Matters

While originality is critical, how you present your work is what ultimately determines if it gets recognised as 4-star. Writing with clarity, structure, and rigour is essential. You need to be clear about your contribution and present it in a way that is both convincing and accessible. It’s not just about the quality of your ideas but about how effectively you communicate them.

Many scholars do the hard work but fail to present it in a way that convinces others of its originality. Don’t bury your lead, highlight your contribution clearly and early in the article and make sure the rest of the paper builds on that argument coherently.

Choosing Which Paper to Focus On

If you’re producing a limited number of papers, you’ll need to be strategic about which one to push for a 4-star rating. Not every paper needs to be world-changing, but if you want your best work to be recognised, it must be framed as original and significant. Focus on quality over quantity and treat each piece of work as an opportunity to make a real contribution.

Conclusion: Framing Your Work for Success

Achieving a 4-star rating for your journal article isn’t about having better ideas, it’s about writing those ideas better. Whether it’s through clarity of expression, confident framing, or making the significance of your contribution explicit, the way you present your work is crucial.

Remember, originality is about contribution, not invention. By framing your work correctly and clearly articulating its value, you can ensure it has the potential to be recognised as world-leading and achieve a 4-star rating.

Start framing your research with confidence. Own your originality and communicate your contribution clearly to make your work stand out.

Have You Got Writing Planning All Wrong?

Crumpled paper and old typewriter

Planning is essential to academic success, but it’s often misunderstood. Many scholars associate planning with rigid schedules or unnecessary complexity, but when done right, planning can be the key to writing more, writing better, and advancing your career. In this post, I’ll break down the types of planning that will truly help you succeed and why you might have been approaching it all wrong.

The Myth of the Perfect Plan

Planning is often viewed with a sense of reluctance, especially in academia. There’s a belief that planning stifles creativity or adds to an already overwhelming workload. But this mindset is limiting. Planning is not about creating the "perfect" schedule or avoiding spontaneity, it’s about taking control of your time, energy, and focus to make meaningful progress in your writing.

Strategic Planning: The Big Picture

The first type of planning is strategic planning, which focuses on long-term goals. This involves asking yourself questions like: What do I want to achieve in the next year, two years, or five years? Strategic planning helps you avoid being a reactive academic, constantly responding to whatever comes your way without a clear direction. It’s about proactively shaping your academic career, ensuring that everything you do aligns with your long-term goals.

Without strategic planning, you’ll find yourself distracted by opportunities or tasks that seem urgent but don’t serve your broader ambitions. Instead of being reactive, you can decide whether an opportunity moves you closer to your goals or takes you off track.

Time-to-Task Planning: Focusing on Daily Progress

While strategic planning focuses on the long term, time-to-task planning is about the day-to-day. This means blocking out dedicated writing time in your calendar and having a clear understanding of what you’ll accomplish during those sessions. The key is not just to reserve the time, but to also decide on the specific task you will complete, whether it’s writing a section of your article, revising a chapter, or reviewing literature.

Many people block out writing time but waste it by not knowing exactly what to do. Without a clear plan for that time, you end up wasting precious hours. Successful writers don’t just schedule writing; they make sure they have a defined task for every session.

Goal-Oriented Planning: Measuring Success

Goal-oriented planning is about setting clear, measurable milestones for your writing and career. Whether your goal is finishing a draft or getting a paper published, you need to track your progress. This is especially important if you're experimenting with new writing techniques or processes. How do you know if you’re on track? Without goals, you can’t measure success.

Incorporating milestones allows you to track your achievements. It’s not about working endlessly without seeing progress; it’s about recognising your growth as you meet each milestone.

Auditing: Reflecting and Adjusting

The final type of planning is auditing, or reflecting on your progress. At the end of each week, month, or semester, take a moment to review how things went. Did you achieve your goals? What got in the way? By doing this, you’ll learn from your mistakes and be able to adjust your approach moving forward.

This reflective practice is crucial for avoiding repetitive mistakes and refining your writing process. It only takes a few minutes to evaluate your progress, but this small step can significantly improve your productivity and help you stay on track.

Conclusion: Planning as a Tool for Success

Planning isn’t about creating a rigid schedule or trying to control every aspect of your work. Instead, it’s about giving yourself the structure to succeed. By incorporating strategic planning, time-to-task planning, goal setting, and auditing into your routine, you’ll be able to focus on what matters, writing that moves you forward in your academic career.

Start planning today by breaking down your long-term goals and scheduling specific tasks. The better you plan, the more progress you’ll make in your writing and career.

Academic Meetings: A Productivity Drain

Academic meetings are often seen as a necessary part of the job, but in reality, many of them are a waste of time. They don’t lead to decisions, nor do they move your work forward. Instead, they consume hours that could be better spent on research, writing, or personal development. In this blog, we’ll explore why academic meetings are often counterproductive and how you can make better use of your time.

The Myth of Collegial Meetings

Academia is built on the idea of collaboration and collegiality, but too often, this leads to meetings that feel like a performance rather than a productive exchange of ideas. As I was preparing for another project, I came across a quote from Thomas Sowell that made me laugh, but it hit a nerve: "The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favour of holding meetings."

This rings true for academia, where meetings are often called not to make decisions but to discuss what’s already been decided. Decisions are often made elsewhere—whether at a departmental level or higher up in the university’s hierarchy—and meetings are just a formality to make it appear as though opinions are being canvassed.

The ‘Regulatory Meetings’ Trap

In many universities, particularly in the UK, academic meetings such as exam boards and boards of studies serve as an example of what I call regulatory meetings. These meetings are a relic from the past, where staff were actively involved in decision-making. Now, in most cases, the decisions have already been made by a computer or an administrator, and the meeting serves only to read out numbers or confirm predetermined outcomes.

In my own experience, I’ve spent hours in exam boards that didn’t make any decisions, because everything was already automated. Yet, we were still required to sit in these meetings, often for hours on end, and review student grades that had already been decided. This waste of time—where no meaningful decisions were made—was a huge source of frustration.

Why Meetings Are Not Productive

The core issue with academic meetings is that no work gets done during them. They often involve listening to updates, reviewing numbers, or having discussions that don’t lead anywhere. In reality, meetings are not where work happens. True productivity happens in solo work—in quiet moments of research, writing, and planning.

Meetings in academia can feel like an endless cycle of busy work, with little to no tangible output. They give the illusion of productivity but rarely result in anything substantial.

Time Wasted in Meetings

Here’s the real issue: time in meetings is time you’re not writing or researching. Every hour spent in a meeting could have been used to write a section of your paper, analyse your research, or prepare a grant proposal. If you’re spending your week in endless meetings, ask yourself—what could you have done with that time instead?

Let’s say you spend five hours in meetings each week. That’s five hours of writing, five hours of thinking, five hours of deep work lost. This is time you’ll never get back, and when you tally up the hours across a semester or year, it becomes a huge drain on productivity.

The ‘Busy Work’ Fallacy

Why do so many people love meetings? The truth is, meetings feel like work, even though they’re often just busy work. When people can’t manage their time effectively or don’t know how to prioritise, they opt for meetings because it feels like they’re doing something.

But meetings are not real work. They take up time and energy, yet nothing is produced from them. People who spend all their time in meetings aren’t the ones who are making meaningful progress in their careers—they’re caught in a cycle of pseudo-productivity.

Minimising Meetings: A Solution for Productivity

If you want to avoid burnout and increase your academic productivity, it’s time to reassess your approach to meetings. Here are some steps you can take:

1. Audit your meetings: Track how much time you spend in meetings and evaluate whether they’re necessary. Could you have achieved the same result via email or a short memo?

2. Set boundaries: As an academic, you don’t have to attend every meeting. Learn to say no to meetings that don’t directly contribute to your goals or research.

3. Keep meetings focused: If you must attend a meeting, ensure it’s well-planned and time-bound. Have a clear agenda and stay on task. Avoid meetings that don’t have a clear purpose or outcome.

4. Delegate where possible: If you’re in a position where you need to attend meetings regularly, consider delegating tasks or responsibilities that don’t require your direct involvement.

5. Use meetings for collaboration, not discussion: Research-related meetings can be beneficial if they have a clear focus. Set agendas in advance and keep them short and purposeful. Collaborating on projects or discussing specific research aspects can move your work forward if managed properly.

Conclusion: Say Goodbye to Meeting Overload

Meetings in academia, while often unavoidable, don’t have to be the productivity killers they have become. By shifting your focus from unnecessary meetings to quality writing and research time, you can reclaim hours in your day and significantly increase your output.

Take control of your schedule and remember—your time is precious, and meetings should only be held when absolutely necessary. Start auditing your time today and make conscious decisions about where to spend your energy for maximum academic success.

Reflect on your own meetings: Are they contributing to your success, or are they draining your valuable time? It's time to prioritise what truly matters.

A Common (and Costly) REF Mistake Universities Keep Making

One of the hardest conversations I have with universities goes something like this:

“This is clearly a 4* paper — the idea is excellent.”

Intellectually, they are often right. But REF does not award stars for great ideas that live only in scholars’ heads, or that only a sub-sub-field specialist can recognise. REF awards stars for what is visible on the page.

What I see repeatedly is subfield specialists doing exactly what they are trained to do: recognising high-quality thinking in their exact niche. The problem is that they often overestimate how legible that quality is to REF assessors.

This is particularly common when institutions chose papers to have REF conversations around when:

• the author is not UK-based

• the paper was not written with REF in mind

• the work relies on disciplinary recognition rather than explicit framing

The idea may be 4*. The signalling is not. And REF assessors are not obliged to infer what is not clearly claimed. This is how submissions quietly bleed quality. It’s not bad scholarship, but through misrecognition.

The most effective REF training does one crucial thing: it separates scholarly excellence from REF signalling discipline. Without that separation, institutions rely on potential recognition. And potential recognition is not a strategy.

For universities, this is a hidden but enormous cost. Time, energy, and research capital are invested, but returns are diminished. For academics, it is deeply frustrating: strong work that fails to land as it should, and is dismissed as 2*.

Targeted REF expertise exists precisely to address this gap by ensuring that excellence is visible, defensible, and recognisable within the REF framework.

REF outcomes improve when assessment stops being intuitive and starts being legible.

You can contact me via my email or message me here.

The Academic Success Pyramid: Focusing Your Energy for Career Progression

In academia, there’s a common misconception that research and teaching are opposing forces, leading to confusion and burnout. The truth is, you can excel in both teaching and research, but career success depends on where you focus your energy. Today, we’ll break down the academic success pyramid and explore how you can maximise your potential by concentrating on what truly matters.

The Foundation: Quality Writing

At the base of the academic success pyramid is quality writing. Regardless of your field, writing is the cornerstone of academic success. Whether you're working on articles, papers, or grant proposals, quality writing is the foundation that supports everything else in your career. Without a strong writing habit, advancing in research or gaining funding becomes incredibly difficult.

Quality writing doesn’t just happen; it requires energy, discipline, and focus. These three factors are essential to producing work that’s not only publishable but also impactful in your field. Without solid writing, even the best ideas won’t reach the audience they deserve.

Moving Up: Publications and Grants

Once you’ve built a solid foundation with your writing, the next step is to focus on publications and grants. Whether it’s securing grants or getting your work published, both are critical for academic progression. A strong publication record, in particular, opens the door to grants and helps establish your reputation as an expert in your field.

Remember, publications and grants are interdependent. You can’t get funding without demonstrating that you have a track record of research through publications. In the academic world, your publication history is often seen as a sign of credibility and expertise.

Career Capital: Building Your Reputation

As your publications and grants accumulate, you begin to build what’s known as career capital. This term, borrowed from Cal Newport’s book So Good They Can’t Ignore You, refers to the valuable skills and experiences you accumulate that increase your professional worth. Career capital includes things like your reputation, academic leadership, and the respect you earn within your niche.

This is where you establish your professional identity. As you climb the pyramid, you gain more influence in your field, allowing you to make decisions about your career trajectory. Career capital also involves building a network and gaining leadership roles within your institution or field.

The Pinnacle: Choices and Control

At the top of the pyramid is choice. Once you’ve built significant career capital through your publications and grants, you gain the freedom to make decisions about your academic career. You can curate your role to focus on the areas you care about most, whether that’s teaching, research, or leadership.

Having career capital also gives you the ability to say no to things that don’t align with your goals, such as unnecessary meetings, additional administrative tasks, or responsibilities that don’t support your long-term success. Choice allows you to work smarter, not harder, and design your academic career around what you value most.

Avoiding the Pitfalls: Energy Drainers

To reach the top of the academic success pyramid, you need to be mindful of where you spend your energy. Many academics get stuck in what I call the maelstrom of busy work—constantly answering emails, attending meetings, or fighting bureaucracy. This energy is misdirected and doesn’t help you climb the pyramid.

Instead of engaging in pseudo-productivity, focus on what matters: writing, publishing, and securing grants. Establish strong boundaries and stop wasting time on tasks that don’t align with your career goals. Remember, your energy, discipline, and focus are finite, so you need to protect them and spend them wisely.

The Choice: What’s Your Focus?

Ultimately, the success pyramid is about how you spend your limited energy. Are you prioritising quality writing? Are you focusing on publications and grants to build your career capital? Or are you getting bogged down by tasks that don’t contribute to your goals? You need to ask yourself where your focus lies.

If you’re in a teaching and research role, research is your path to success. Teaching is important, but it is your research and publications that will define your academic career. Make peace with this reality, and recognise that boundaries are essential for maintaining focus.

Conclusion: Align Your Focus for Academic Success

The academic success pyramid is not a moral judgement; it’s a framework that helps you prioritise and make smart choices about where to focus your energy. Quality writing leads to publications, which build career capital and provide you with choices in your career.

By protecting your time, setting boundaries, and focusing on what truly matters, you can climb the academic success pyramid and design the career you want.

Take a moment to reflect: Where are you currently focusing your energy? Is it aligned with your long-term academic goals?

REF Literacy Is Career Development

REF is often framed as an institutional burden. Something universities must manage, submit, and survive. But for individual academics, REF literacy is something else entirely: career capital.

Academics who understand how REF works, that is, how contribution is recognised, how significance is scaled, how rigour is read across subfields, do not simply write better papers. They think differently about their careers and about research ideation.

They make more strategic publication decisions. They waste less time revising work that cannot realistically perform well in REF terms. They develop clearer intellectual trajectories. And, over time, they tend to progress faster. Crucially, this is not because they work harder or spend more time on their writing.

REF-literate academics understand that REF-fundable work does not take more time to produce: it requires different thinking. Without that understanding, many scholars fall into a trap of producing more and more outputs in the hope that quantity will compensate for uncertainty. It rarely does.

In a system where promotion, workload, research time, and institutional value are all REF-adjacent, not understanding REF creates a structural disadvantage. Talent alone does not protect against misrecognition.

REF training, at its best, is not about chasing stars. It is about learning how your work is judged in the system you already inhabit  and using that knowledge to work in your best interest.

For institutions, supporting REF literacy is not just about improving submissions. It is about developing staff in ways that align effort, ambition, and evaluation.

You can contact me via my email or message me here.

Teaching vs Research: Breaking the Dichotomy

In academia, the teaching versus research mindset is common, yet it’s also deeply flawed. The belief that you have to choose between being a “good teacher” and a “serious researcher” creates unnecessary division. But the truth is, you can excel in both areas by developing effective strategies that balance your career and personal well-being.

The Myth of the Dichotomy

In many departments, there’s a division between those focused on teaching and those focused on research. This is especially true in departments with a lot of precarity—where short-term contracts for teaching staff dominate. These teaching-focused academics often feel they have to prove their worth by dedicating themselves exclusively to teaching, fearing that research will not lead to career advancement. This creates a toxic environment, where teaching and research are seen as opposing forces.

At the same time, there’s a growing narrative that those who prioritise research are somehow morally inferior. The idea is that “good” academics care about students and teaching, while “bad” ones focus on research and are seen as out of touch with student needs. This idea not only creates division within departments, but it also fosters guilt for those who enjoy research but care deeply about teaching.

Teaching and Research: Different But Not Opposing

In reality, the ability to be an effective teacher and an accomplished researcher is not only possible, it’s essential for academic success. The misconception that these two roles are mutually exclusive needs to be dismantled. Teaching is vital to the academic experience, but research is equally important to career progression, particularly for those on teaching and research contracts.

As an academic, you can be committed to both teaching and research without compromising one for the other. In fact, when managed properly, these roles can complement each other, and research-informed teaching can benefit both the students and the academic’s career.

The Real Challenge: Efficiency, Not Morality

The key to succeeding in both areas is efficiency. It’s not about spending endless hours in preparation or research but learning how to optimise your time. Over-preparing for classes or constantly revising content is a sign of imposter syndrome, not good teaching practice. Teaching the same course for years should not involve reinventing the wheel every time. Once you've prepared your materials, there's no need to go back and read everything again before each class.

Efficient teaching means focusing on student outcomes and their intellectual growth rather than obsessing over the amount of time spent preparing. The same applies to research. Effective research doesn’t require working endlessly without breaks; it requires structured and focused effort.

Setting Boundaries: Time Management for Both

To balance teaching and research, setting clear boundaries is essential. As an academic, you must protect your time and energy to ensure that both teaching and research get the attention they deserve. Establish non-negotiable writing and research time, and be strict about not letting teaching-related tasks spill over into that time.

Likewise, when it comes to teaching, manage your workload so it doesn’t overwhelm you. Be strategic about how you allocate your teaching hours and find ways to streamline administrative tasks. The more you manage your time effectively, the more you can focus on producing quality work in both areas.

Aligning Teaching and Research

When possible, try to align your research with your teaching. This creates a seamless experience where your research feeds into your teaching, and vice versa. Not only does this make your workload more manageable, but it also enhances the quality of both. If you can teach your research area, you’ll remain engaged with the field and stay motivated to keep up with the latest developments. This alignment allows you to stay productive in both areas without overextending yourself.

Conclusion: Efficiency, Not Perfection

The myth of the teaching versus research dichotomy needs to be broken down. You can be a committed teacher and a dedicated researcher without compromising either role. The secret to balancing both is efficiency, strategic time management, and a mindset that values both aspects equally.

By learning to manage your time and energy, setting boundaries, and aligning your research with your teaching, you can excel in both areas and build a fulfilling academic career.

It’s not about choosing between teaching and research. With the right strategies, you can succeed in both and achieve balance in your academic career.

The Problem with In-House REF Training

Most in-house REF training is delivered by excellent scholars. That is not the problem. The problem is that they are often too close to the system and to the institutional politics surrounding it to teach REF well. They don’t spend their days thinking about writing training or how to teach it, because that is not their job, or their expertise.

What I see repeatedly in universities is a familiar pattern. REF sessions led by senior colleagues with impressive CVs but no explicit model of quality they can articulate. Advice that collapses into folklore (“REF panels like these journals”, “this just feels 4*”). Workshops that either reassure or demoralise, but rarely sharpen.

The result is predictable.

Staff leave sessions motivated but unequipped or worse, quietly despondent. Internal reviewers disagree wildly, depending on whose work and whose sub discipline is ‘rated’ within the professorial hierarchy. “Quality” remains subjective, political, and opaque. REF readiness becomes something people feel rather than something they can diagnose.

This is not a failure of goodwill or expertise. It is a structural problem.

REF requires diagnostic precision. It requires the ability to separate scholarly excellence from REF signalling. And that is exceptionally hard to do from inside the room particularly when hierarchies, relationships, and institutional histories are in play.

External REF training works not because it is magically better, but because it does three things internal provision often cannot:

• it disrupts assumptions about where scholars and subfields “should” sit

• it separates intellectual quality from REF legibility

• it operationalises assessment criteria instead of mystifying them

• it’s led by people who train academics to write, and are dedicated to this only

REF readiness is not about confidence or seniority. It is about clarity.

And clarity is difficult to generate when everyone involved is embedded in the same institutional narratives and pressures.

For budget holders and research leaders, this is might not be welcome knowledge.

Without targeted, external REF expertise, institutions risk mistaking reassurance for readiness.

Whether you’re responsible for REF training at an institutional level, or navigating REF expectations as an individual academic, this is the work I do. 

You can contact me via my email or message me here.

Managing Chronic Illness in Academia: How to Thrive Despite the Challenges

Navigating academia with a chronic illness is no easy feat. The pressure to perform, the competition with peers, and the constant expectations can leave you feeling drained. However, there are ways to manage and thrive, even with the added challenge of chronic illness. In this post, I’ll share insights based on both my personal experiences and the strategies that can help you manage your academic career while dealing with health challenges.

1. The Fears of Managing Chronic Illness in Academia

When you have a chronic illness, the fears are real. The first fear is falling behind. Academia is competitive, and the constant comparison to peers—whether in promotions, publications, or job applications—can make you feel like you're always lagging behind. Even though institutions are meant to support diversity, the system doesn’t always accommodate chronic illness, leading to feelings of inadequacy.

The second fear is the inability to fulfil your potential. Unlike temporary barriers, chronic illness presents permanent challenges. This can create a sense of frustration when you see your peers achieving more, often without the same physical limitations. The fear of not living up to your own ambitions can be incredibly demotivating.

The third challenge is the unpredictability of chronic illness. Unlike the typical ups and downs of work, chronic conditions mean that some days you feel fine, and other days you don’t. This inconsistency makes it hard to set a reliable writing schedule or career goals, especially when your physical capacity fluctuates.

2. Reframing Productivity

A major shift is needed in how we view productivity. Many people equate productivity with long hours and constant output. This isn’t sustainable when you have a chronic illness. Instead, productivity should be defined by the value of your work, not the volume. Focus on the quality and impact of your contributions, rather than trying to compete with able-bodied colleagues who are working long hours.

You can still achieve your goals, but you must do so strategically. Plan your career around your energy reserves and create realistic expectations. For example, consider the next five years of your career, not just the immediate future. This approach allows for a sustainable pace that accommodates your health, while still achieving your ambitions.

3. Adapting Your Work Routine

Adapting to chronic illness in academia requires strong boundaries and time management. Without these, you’ll quickly burn out. Start by tracking your time—how long do tasks actually take? Use time blocking to structure your day, ensuring that you protect your writing and research time. Prioritise tasks based on urgency and importance, and be honest about your limitations.

A regular writing routine is vital, but it doesn’t have to be rigid. Some days, you’ll have more energy to write, while on other days, it might be a reading or note-taking day. The key is consistency—not in hours worked, but in showing up daily, even if it’s just for short bursts of focused work.

4. The Importance of Support Networks

Building a support network is crucial when you’re managing a chronic illness in academia. This includes colleagues, mentors, or friends who understand your challenges. If you’re on sick leave due to your illness, it can feel isolating when colleagues can’t contact you due to confidentiality rules. This sense of isolation can compound the difficulties of balancing work and health.

Reach out to people who support you and can offer encouragement, advice, or just a listening ear. It’s also important to seek professional support, whether that’s a coach or therapist, to help you manage your mental and emotional health while dealing with chronic illness.

5. Changing the Narrative Around Chronic Illness

Finally, it’s important to change the narrative around chronic illness. Many academics feel shame about their condition, but it’s important to understand that chronic illness doesn’t define your potential. It’s not about working harder or longer hours—it’s about refining your technique and making smarter choices with your time.

You may not have the same energy levels as others, but with the right strategies in place, you can still excel in your career. Work smarter, not longer, and be strategic with your energy to avoid burnout.

Conclusion: Thriving with Chronic Illness in Academia

While managing chronic illness in academia is undoubtedly challenging, it’s not impossible. With the right mindset, boundaries, and time management strategies, you can still fulfil your career ambitions while taking care of your health. Remember, it’s not about matching the pace of others; it’s about creating a sustainable approach to your academic work that aligns with your energy levels and long-term goals.

By being strategic, setting boundaries, and focusing on the quality of your work, you can navigate academia successfully, regardless of your health challenges.

If you’re managing a chronic illness, start today by implementing these strategies. Take it one step at a time and remember, you can thrive in academia while prioritising your health.

Why REF Training Is No Longer Optional

Over the last six months, I’ve worked with 4 universities delivering REF-focused writing and research training. What these institutions have in common is simple: they recognise that REF literacy is no longer optional.

Whatever our personal views on the REF - and many academics have strong ones, including me - it remains a defining feature of the UK higher education landscape. It influences funding, reputation, workload allocation, promotion, and strategic planning. Pretending otherwise doesn’t protect institutions or staff; it leaves them exposed.

And yet, many universities still underinvest in REF training despite having REF ringfenced budgets.

In-house provision is often informal, ad hoc, or based on the individual assumption that academics should “just know” how REF quality works. They don’t, and not because they lack intellectual capacity, but because REF quality is not the same thing as scholarly quality alas.

REF is a specific evaluative regime. It has its own logics, signals, and failure modes. It asks assessors, who are often non-experts in a given small niche, to make judgements based on what is visible, legible, and defensible on the page. When interdisciplinary work is at stake, forget it.

REF assessors do not ask:

• “Is this competent scholarship?”

• “Is this a world-leading idea in the sub, sub sub field?”

They ask:

• “Is the originality, significance, and rigour identifiable on the page?”

• “Is the contribution clear to someone outside the immediate subfield?”

That distinction matters enormously.

When universities fail to train staff explicitly in REF literacy, several predictable things happen. Outputs hover on the borderline. Internal review discussions become subjective and political (and often completely wrong). Staff feel uncertain about expectations. And, inevitably, the institution experiences last-minute panic as submission deadlines approach.

By contrast, institutions that invest in explicit REF literacy tend to see:

• fewer borderline outputs

• clearer, more productive internal review conversations

• less last-minute pressure

• and a higher proportion of genuinely strong submissions

This is about understanding how quality is read within a particular system, not a moral judgment.

At an institutional level, REF training should be treated as core infrastructure and not a discretionary extra or a favour delivered by over-stretched senior staff at research away days. Without it, universities rely on assumption, folklore, and hope. And hope is not a REF strategy.

If your university is thinking seriously about REF readiness, the question is no longer whether to invest in REF literacy, but how well that investment is designed.

I offer REF-focused writing training for universities. If you’d like to discuss options, you’re welcome to book a call. You can contact me via my email or message me here.

Recovering from Academic Burnout: How to Reclaim Your Energy and Focus

Burnout in academia is a reality that affects scholars at all career stages. Whether you’re a junior academic adjusting to the pressure or a senior scholar drained by the constant demands of teaching, research, and managing others, burnout can manifest in physical, emotional, and cognitive ways. If you're feeling disengaged, exhausted, or overwhelmed, you're not alone. The good news is that burnout is recoverable. In this blog, we’ll explore how to overcome burnout and return to a sustainable, enjoyable academic career.

Recognising the Signs of Burnout

Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It creeps in gradually, often masked by the daily pressures of academic life. Some common signs include:

• Physical fatigue: Constant tiredness, sleep disturbances, and frequent illness.

• Emotional detachment: Loss of motivation, irritability, and cynicism.

• Mental exhaustion: Difficulty making decisions, lack of focus, and feelings of being overwhelmed.

If you’re experiencing these symptoms, it’s crucial to acknowledge them and take steps to recover. Ignoring the warning signs only prolongs the process and leads to deeper burnout.

Taking Time Off: The First Step to Recovery

The first step in overcoming burnout is to take time off. This isn’t just about physical rest but also about giving yourself the mental and emotional space to recover. Aim for a minimum of six months off, if possible. During this time, focus on recharging and disconnecting from the pressures of academia. It’s important to recognise that returning to work too quickly can result in another burnout episode. When you’re ready to come back, ensure you return phased, avoid jumping back in full throttle.

Reconnecting with Your Purpose

Once you’ve had time to rest, it’s essential to reconnect with the reasons you became an academic. What motivated you to pursue a career in research and teaching? It’s often the joy of learning, discovery, or helping students. Reflect on what excites you about your work, but also think about how to pursue that purpose within a manageable, 40-hour week. Reassess how you work to ensure your job aligns with your core motivations without overextending yourself.

Prioritising and Protecting Your Time

A major contributor to burnout is failing to prioritise and protect your time. If you're constantly saying yes to demands, you’re likely overworking. The key is learning to say no to tasks that don’t align with your priorities. Tracking your time and blocking out your schedule is crucial. If you’re unsure how long tasks like grading or preparing lectures take, start keeping track of how much time each task consumes. By having a clear picture of your time, you can protect it and ensure you don’t overcommit.

Setting Boundaries

Setting strong boundaries around your work is essential to prevent burnout. This means protecting your work hours and learning to switch off outside of those times. If you’re in a job where you’re expected to be constantly available, it’s crucial to establish limits. Don’t let work spill over into your personal time. For example, avoid checking work emails on your phone outside of office hours. Boundaries help maintain a healthy work-life balance and prevent the emotional drain that leads to burnout.

Delegation: Letting Go of Control

Academic burnout often occurs because scholars take on too much. Delegation can help manage this. If you're in a position to do so, delegate tasks where possible. For instance, a PhD student or research assistant can help with some of the research work, or colleagues can share administrative responsibilities. If you’re leading a course, ensure responsibilities are shared among your team.

Learning to delegate is not about being lazy; it’s about recognising that you can’t do everything. The more you delegate, the more time you’ll have for what truly matters.

Redefining Productivity

In academia, productivity is often measured by how many tasks you complete. However, real productivity is about the value of your work, not the volume. Shift your mindset from simply ticking off tasks to focusing on producing quality, impactful work. Rather than obsessing over deadlines and KPIs, focus on your long-term goals and the value of the work you're doing.

By redefining productivity, you’ll feel less pressure to constantly be "busy" and more fulfilled in the work that truly matters to you.

Building a Support Network

Burnout can lead to isolation, but having a strong support network is vital for recovery. Whether it’s colleagues, mentors, or friends, having people you can rely on helps combat the feelings of loneliness that often accompany burnout. If you’ve been away from work, don’t hesitate to reach out to others and share your challenges. Opening up is an important step towards healing.

Conclusion: Preventing Future Burnout

Burnout is a signal that your work-life balance is out of sync. Recognising the signs early and taking proactive steps like setting boundaries, prioritising your time, and redefining productivity will help you not only recover but also prevent burnout from happening again.

By shifting your mindset and adopting practical strategies, you can return to academia with renewed energy and focus, ready to thrive in a sustainable, healthy way.

Take the time to reflect on your work habits. What steps can you take today to prevent burnout and regain your passion for academic work?

Coachable vs Uncoachable: What Makes a Successful Coaching Relationship?

Coaching is an essential tool in academia, helping individuals achieve professional growth and overcome challenges. But what makes a client coachable, and are there problems that are simply uncoachable? In this blog, we’ll explore the dynamics of a successful coaching relationship and discuss the conditions under which coaching can thrive.

The Key to a Successful Coaching Relationship

When asked about the success of coaching, I looked back at my work with over 700 clients. The results are clear: coaching is incredibly successful when the conditions are right. Most clients who are self-funded- those who pay for coaching out of their own pocket- see great results. This is largely due to their motivation: they are committed to making the changes required and are ready to do the work. Self-funded clients are typically proactive, attend sessions regularly, and implement the strategies discussed.

Coaching Motivation and Responsibility

Coaching is a collaborative process, where both the coach and the client must contribute. If the client is unwilling to do the necessary work, the coaching will fail, no matter how skilled the coach is. Much like an academic setting where a student refuses to engage, a coaching client who doesn't put in the effort won't see results. Successful clients are those who are willing to be vulnerable, admit their challenges, and follow through on actions.

While clients who are self-funded tend to be more motivated, those who are funded by universities or departments can also be highly successful. Motivation remains the key factor, regardless of who pays for the coaching. Those who have chosen coaching themselves, either personally or via their department, tend to be more driven to improve.

Coachable Problems and Uncoachable Problems

Most writing problems in academia are coachable. Whether it’s improving writing skills or refining an academic argument, these issues can be addressed through coaching. However, some problems are not about writing per se but are deeper personal issues. These problems, often related to personal struggles or emotional barriers, require therapeutic intervention rather than coaching.

For example, trauma or deep-seated psychological issues may manifest in writing difficulties. While a coach can provide writing strategies and accountability, a therapist would be needed to address the underlying emotional or psychological concerns.

The Role of the Coach: What to Expect

The role of the coach is to provide tools, feedback, and strategies to improve writing, mindset, and productivity. But it’s important to set realistic expectations at the outset. Coaching doesn’t promise overnight transformations, and it’s essential for clients to recognise that results require time and consistent effort. A coach helps by giving structure, guidance, and accountability, but it’s the client who must take the action.

Choosing the Right Coach

Not all coaches are created equal. When choosing a coach, it’s important to ensure they understand the unique challenges of academia. Academic coaches, like myself, have experience in the field and are well-versed in the specific demands of academic work. Coaches without this experience, particularly those from corporate backgrounds, might struggle to provide relevant advice or guidance.

The Importance of a Strong Client-Coach Relationship

The success of coaching largely depends on the relationship between the coach and client. A good coaching relationship is built on trust, open communication, and a mutual commitment to success. Clients need to be honest and open, sharing their struggles so that the coach can offer the best possible solutions.

Conclusion: Coaching as a Tool for Growth

Coaching is a powerful tool for growth and development in academia. It allows you to address the challenges that hold you back and equips you with the tools needed to improve your writing and academic performance. While most writing problems are coachable, deeper personal issues may require additional support.

By understanding the dynamics of a coaching relationship, setting clear expectations, and choosing the right coach, you can make the most of this valuable resource. Coaching is about collaboration, vulnerability, and taking actionable steps towards success. If you’re willing to put in the work, coaching can be a transformative experience that accelerates your academic career.

Reflect on your academic journey. Are you ready to take the next step with coaching? Be prepared to invest the time and energy needed to see lasting results.

When REF Training Fails: A Personal Story from the Room

When I was a junior academic, I attended my very first REF training session. It was run internally at my university and led by a senior professor who had served on a REF assessment panel. I remember feeling quietly relieved: finally, I thought, someone who could explain how the REF actually works, and more importantly, what I was supposed to do in terms of my writing so I could serve the department.

I expected insight into how papers were being scored that could translate into actionable steps I could take when drafting my own papers. Insight that would allow me, as an early-career scholar, to develop, recognise and then hone those skillsets.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, I remember sitting in that room, genuinely baffled alongside everyone else, as we were told that a particular paper was 4* because it was “magisterial in every way.”

That was it.

No explanation of what made it magisterial. No discussion of how originality, significance, or rigour were being identified on the page. No sense of how one might learn to produce work that read that way to an assessor.

I left the room, alongside all my peers, feeling none the wiser. Nothing actionable. Nothing clarifying. Just a lingering sense of confusion and, if I’m honest, inadequacy.

That experience stayed with me, because it captured something that remains endemic in REF training today, if your department or University even provides it.

REF is unavoidable in UK academia. It shapes careers, workloads, promotion pathways, institutional funding, and reputations, whether we agree with it, whether it is meant to or not. And yet, despite the stakes, many academics receive training (if they receive it) that leaves them unclear about how quality is actually assessed and generally feeling worse than when they started.

Poor REF training – and a poor REF culture in the department - doesn’t just fail to help, it actively harms. It creates uncertainty, undermines confidence, and encourages academics to second-guess their own judgement, or simply ‘step away’ from any notion that REF concerns them, ultimately hurting the University and Department finances. It can push some people towards overproduction (“maybe if I publish more, something will stick”) at a lower quality, or towards paralysis (“I clearly don’t understand what they want”).

For institutions, the consequences are serious. When REF literacy is assumed rather than taught, internal review processes become inconsistent, last-minute panic becomes routine, and genuinely strong work fails to reach its full potential in submission.

The problem is not a lack of scholarly excellence. It is a lack of clarity about how excellence is read.

REF is not an intuitive system. It has its own evaluative logic, and learning how that logic operates requires explicit training. When that training collapses into vague descriptors or prestige language, academics are left guessing and guessing is not a strategy.

If you have ever left a REF session feeling more confused than confident, you are not alone. That experience is far more common than universities like to admit.

And it is precisely why REF literacy deserves to be taken seriously. Not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a core part of academic development and institutional infrastructure.

Have you ever had a REF training experience like this? Do you even get REF training at all? I’d genuinely like to hear what it was like for you.

5 Reasons Your Journal Article Gets Rejected

Submitting a journal article can feel daunting, especially when faced with rejection. So, why do some articles get rejected even when the writer is confident in their work? In this post, we’ll explore the five main reasons articles are rejected and how to avoid them.

1. Journal Fit

One of the primary reasons articles are rejected is because they don’t align with the journal’s focus. Many writers make the mistake of choosing a journal after completing the article, but this approach can lead to rejection. Journal fit should be decided before you start writing. Understand the journal’s scope and audience to ensure your article is a good match from the beginning.

2. Insecure Writing

Defensive writing—where the writer tries to anticipate every objection or over-apologises for their argument, can weaken the clarity of your work. Writing in a way that constantly hedges or adds disclaimers can make your argument unclear. Instead, write with confidence. State your position clearly without overcomplicating it.

3. Lack of a Clear Argument

A strong, clear argument is the foundation of any successful article. If your paper lacks a clear thesis or the argument is buried in unnecessary details, it will fail to engage the reader. Ensure your paper has a focused argument that is clearly presented and supported throughout.

4. Unclear Approach

If your article doesn’t define the problem or your contribution clearly, it will leave the reader wondering why they should care. Be explicit about your research question, methodology, and the significance of your findings. Clarity in your approach is essential to guiding the reader through your work.

5. Failure to Demonstrate Significance

Lastly, showing the significance of your work is crucial. Don’t assume the importance of your research is obvious to the reader. Clearly explain why your work matters and how it contributes to the field. Failure to do this can lead to rejection, as readers may not see the value of your work.

Conclusion

To improve your chances of acceptance, focus on these five areas: journal fit, confidence in your writing, clarity of argument, clear approach, and demonstrating significance. Addressing these factors will help you present a stronger, more compelling article.

Take the time to review these areas before submitting your paper and increase your likelihood of success.

How to Get Unstuck If Your Writing Has Stalled

Many academics experience moments when their writing stalls, whether it's due to inconsistent habits, unclear ideas, or an overwhelming process. In this post, we'll explore the four main areas of stuckness and practical strategies to overcome them.

1. Habit-Related Stuckness

Do you have a consistent writing routine? A solid habit is the foundation of successful writing. Without a routine, writing becomes sporadic, and momentum is lost. Create a non-negotiable writing time each day, even if it's just for 30 minutes. Consistency is key to moving forward.

2. Process-Related Stuckness

Poor writing processes can lead to frustration. Are you managing your time and priorities well? If writing is continually interrupted by other tasks, it’s time to set clear boundaries and structure your day. Develop a system that protects your writing time and allows you to work efficiently.

3. Ideation Stuckness

If you’re stuck on the idea, the problem may be in the planning phase. Writing before properly developing your ideas can lead to confusion and stagnation. Take time to clarify what you want to say and how you want to say it. Once your ideas are clear, the writing will flow more smoothly.

4. Craft Stuckness

Obsessing over perfecting individual paragraphs before completing the draft is a sign of craft stuckness. Instead, focus on writing the full draft first, then return to revise and edit. This ensures you keep progressing rather than getting stuck in perfectionism.

Overcoming Stuckness: Action Steps

1. Create a Daily Routine: Set aside dedicated time to write each day, even if it's only for 30 minutes.

2. Streamline Your Processes: Set boundaries and focus on writing, not distractions.

3. Clarify Your Ideas: Spend time developing your thoughts before drafting.

4. Draft First, Edit Later: Focus on writing the full piece before revising.

Conclusion

Stuckness is a natural part of the writing process, but it can be overcome with small, focused adjustments. By building a consistent writing habit, managing your processes, refining your ideas, and embracing the drafting process, you can break free from stuckness and keep progressing with your work.

If you want to get help getting unstuck, take this very short training here.

What Leads to Academic Burnout: Understanding the Key Triggers

Burnout is a pervasive issue in academia, affecting early, mid, and senior career scholars alike. Whether it’s the pressure of balancing teaching and research or the emotional drain of managing colleagues, burnout is everywhere in the academic career space. Understanding the underlying causes of burnout can help you avoid it before it takes hold.

The Culture of Overwork and Metrics

One common reason for academic burnout is the culture of overwork. Academia may seem to reward long hours and the (wrongly) associated productivity, with metrics like publications and grants determining career success. While this system is widely recognised, it’s crucial to realise that overwork itself doesn’t guarantee success.

Metrics are important, but no amount of hours will help you meet unrealistic expectations, address bad prioritization, or compensate for people pleasing. The key is not to fall into the trap of thinking you must be good at everything. Trying to excel at every metric will only lead to exhaustion and burnout. Instead, focus on choosing which metrics matter most to your career and avoid spreading yourself too thin.

Misaligned Expectations: The Core Driver of Burnout

A major contributor to burnout is misaligned expectations- working in a system that doesn’t match your values. Academia often forces us to conform to an environment that doesn’t reflect our personal ideals. We’re asked to take on tasks, responsibilities, and roles that don’t align with our strengths or career goals.

This mismatch between personal values and institutional expectations leads to frustration. If you continuously strive to change the system or make it conform to your expectations, you will exhaust yourself. Instead, accept the reality of academia. Work within the system as it is, recognising its limitations, and focus on areas you can control. This mindset shift is crucial to avoiding burnout.

Perfectionism and Imposter Syndrome

Perfectionism is another major driver of burnout. Many academics feel compelled to meet impossibly high standards, not just in their writing but across every aspect of their work. This often leads to imposter syndrome, where you feel like you're never good enough, no matter how much you accomplish.

The fear of not being perfect can lead to endless revisions, anxiety, and self-doubt, making it harder to complete projects. Accepting that no one is perfect is essential. It's important to learn when good enough is enough and stop striving for an unattainable ideal that only leads to stress.

The Importance of Boundaries

Lack of boundaries is a common theme in burnout. Without clear boundaries around your time, it’s easy to fall into the trap of work overload. Whether it's answering emails at all hours, attending unnecessary meetings, or constantly responding to colleagues’ demands, a lack of boundaries can quickly lead to exhaustion.

To avoid burnout, set strong personal and professional boundaries. Protect your time, and remember, not everything is an emergency. Taking breaks and ensuring you have time to rest and recharge is crucial for long-term productivity.

Conclusion: Preventing Burnout Through Realistic Expectations

Burnout isn’t just about the workload; it’s about how you respond to the system. The key to avoiding burnout lies in aligning your expectations with the reality of academia. Recognise the stressors, set boundaries, and learn to manage your time and energy effectively.

Remember, academia is demanding, but with the right mindset and strategies, you can thrive without burning out. Focusing on what’s truly important, accepting what can’t be changed, and maintaining boundaries will ensure you stay balanced and productive throughout your academic career.

If you would like help managing your writing and other workload so you can work sustainability, you might like to check out my Collective, where we do exactly this!

Academic Writing and Shame: Breaking the Silence

In academia, writing is essential, yet many academics feel a sense of shame when it comes to their work. This shame often stops them from seeking help and prevents them from enjoying the writing process. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Today, we’ll explore why shame is so prevalent in academia and how you can break free from it to improve your writing.

The Fear of Seeking Help

Many scholars, especially senior ones, feel uncomfortable admitting they need help with their writing. This is deeply rooted in the culture of academia, where there’s a constant pressure to appear as an expert. Admitting that you need help can feel like a failure. But the truth is, every great writer has sought help at some point, and doing so should be seen as a strength, not a weakness.

One senior scholar I worked with went on Twitter to openly share that she had received writing coaching. She did this to de-stigmatise the idea that even the most accomplished academics need support. It was a powerful act of breaking down the walls of shame, and it led to others feeling more comfortable seeking help for their writing as well.

The Culture of Shame in Academia

Academia is built on a shame-based culture. As scholars, we are expected to know it all, particularly when it comes to writing. But no one is ever taught how to write. You might have learned how to conduct research, but the writing process itself is often left to trial and error. This gap between expectation and reality creates shame and can lead to unnecessary stress.

The shame is especially prominent when early drafts are shared. The fear of being judged for a rough draft stop many from seeking early feedback, the very feedback that could improve their work. Embracing early, constructive feedback is crucial to improving your writing. The sooner you receive feedback, the more time you’ll have to refine your ideas.

Overcoming the Shame

To overcome shame, acknowledge it. Writing is a skill that requires practice, just like any other. Accepting that you weren’t taught how to write will help you see that seeking help or improving your writing isn’t something to be ashamed of. Start small—share your drafts with trusted peers and ask for feedback. This will help you build confidence in your work and open the door to growth.

Writing Is a Gift

Writing is one of the best parts of being an academic. It’s a privilege to be paid for putting your thoughts down and contributing to your field. So why not enjoy it? If you’re struggling with writing, it’s likely because shame is holding you back. But by acknowledging and addressing this shame, you can break free and embrace the writing process.

Conclusion: No Shame in Seeking Help

In academia, the pressure to appear perfect is high, but seeking help is a powerful act of growth. Writing is a lifelong skill, and it’s okay to ask for help along the way. The more you embrace feedback and see writing as a continuous process of learning, the more you’ll enjoy it and produce high-quality work.

Stress Versus Time Management

In academia, time management is often touted as the key to productivity, but what happens when time isn't the real issue? What if you’re organised, have planned your day, and still feel overwhelmed? The problem might not be your time; it could be your exposure to stress.

In today’s post, we’ll explore how stress and workload management intersect and why expanding your mental capacity can actually do more for your productivity than simply managing your time. Let’s look at the key factors affecting your ability to focus and write, and how to maximise your mental bandwidth for deep work.

Time Management AS THE SOLE SOLUTION

When we discuss academic workload management, we often think about the systems universities put in place to allocate time for tasks. Most universities, particularly in the UK, have workload allocation systems that attempt to compute how much time should be spent on specific tasks. However, these systems rarely reflect the reality of academic work, for example, you might be allocated just one hour to prepare a lecture. We all know that preparing a lecture properly takes much longer and longer still if you never studied or taught that topic before. These systems are (on purpose) unrealistic, and while they may serve as management tools, they don’t reflect how much time is genuinely required to perform tasks effectively.

Time Versus Capacity: Why Stress Affects Your Writing

Even if you have all your time organised and planned, you might still struggle to make progress with your writing. If that’s the case, time isn’t your problem, it’s your capacity. I often discuss capacity in my coaching because it’s critical for deep work. Capacity is your ability to bring your physical, emotional, and intellectual self to the task at hand. When stress levels rise, capacity shrinks.

If you’re stressed, you simply won’t be able to focus deeply on your work. Whether it’s anxiety about deadlines, uncertainty in your role, or conflict with colleagues, these stressors can prevent you from engaging fully with the task. No amount of time management will solve this problem unless you address the stress that’s diminishing your mental real estate.

Identifying Your Stress Triggers

Not all stress is the same, and each person reacts differently to work pressures. To understand what’s draining your capacity, you need to perform a stress audit. Take some time to reflect on what causes you the most stress at work.

Cal Newport, in his podcast, categorises four main types of stress at work:

1. Time Stress: Having more tasks than time to complete them.

2. Expectation Stress: Feeling the pressure to deliver high-quality outcomes, whether real or perceived.

3. Uncertainty and Risk: Stress from not knowing the next steps or worrying about potential negative outcomes.

4. Conflict: Stress arising from toxic work environments, toxic colleagues, or conflicting expectations.

In addition, I’d add a fifth stress factor:

1. Control: Stress caused by a lack of agency in how you execute your tasks. Not having control over how things are done can cause significant stress, particularly in a highly structured environment like academia.

The Myth of "Task Overload"

One common misconception is that if you simply had fewer tasks to do, your stress would subside, and writing would become easier. But in my experience, this is rarely the case. Often, when someone claims they’re overwhelmed with tasks, it’s not the number of tasks that’s the problem, but rather how those tasks are structured or perceived. For example, I’ve worked with academics who were given a heavy workload, but they were only truly stressed because they lacked control over their work or had conflicting expectations placed on them. Reducing the number of tasks didn’t address the root causes of their stress.

If you’re experiencing burnout or stress, it’s not always about how many tasks you’re doing—it’s about what is stressing you out and how those stressors impact your capacity to work.

Understanding Your Stressors: A Personal Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on what truly stresses you out in the workplace. Is it the sheer volume of tasks, or is it the lack of control over your work, or what you think of as unfair or insensible decisions being taken around you? Is it uncertainty about your role, or is it the expectation stress of needing to deliver outputs to a very high standard? Identifying your specific stress triggers is the first step in managing them.

I know that my stressor isn’t conflict. I don’t mind difficult conversations. What really reduces my capacity is lack of control over my work. If I’m working with someone who is chaotic and disorganised, like a colleague who frequently changes plans last minute, I find it incredibly draining. It’s not the workload itself but the chaos that I have to deal with, which undermines my ability to focus on writing.

Managing Stress, Not Just Tasks

In the case of chaotic colleagues or unclear roles, consider how you can bargain or set boundaries to avoid these stressors. Take control where you can, and protect your mental space to allow for deep work. If you’re overwhelmed with an ill-defined role or unclear tasks, it’s crucial to seek clarity or get out of these kinds of roles. Addressing these uncertainties can significantly reduce the mental load, freeing up your capacity for more focused writing and academic work.

High Capacity, High Productivity

The goal here is to increase your mental capacity. Once you’ve removed the capacity-draining elements from your life, whether it’s chaotic work environments, unrealistic expectations, or lack of control, you’ll find that you can accomplish more in less time. Writing becomes easier when your mind is clear, your focus is sharp, and your stress is managed.

Conclusion: Manage Stress, Not Just Time

Time awareness is essential, but it’s not the only factor that determines your productivity. Managing your personal stress triggers and protecting your capacity to work deeply are equally important.

Take some time to reflect on your stressors today. What’s draining your capacity, and how can you create space to focus on your writing without distractions?

How To Improve Writing Through Deliberate Practice

Improving your academic writing is not about simply waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s about engaging in deliberate practice—a focused, structured approach to honing your skills over time. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how you can apply the principles of deliberate practice to your writing, drawing inspiration from Dr. Angela Duckworth’s book Grit. The key to improving your writing isn’t talent; it’s about putting in the effort, consistently and purposefully, day after day.

What Is Deliberate Practice?

Deliberate practice is a concept that comes from the field of psychology, and it revolves around improving skills through focused, targeted effort. Dr. Duckworth, in Grit, outlines several core elements of deliberate practice that can be directly applied to writing. These include setting clear goals, concentrating fully on the task, seeking feedback, engaging in repetitive practice, and putting in sustained effort over time.

1. Set Clear Goals for Each Writing Session

One of the first steps in deliberate practice is to ensure that you have a specific, defined goal for each writing session. This is more than just sitting down to "work on your article"—it’s about defining exactly what you aim to achieve during that time.

For example, are you refining your argument? What does this mean in concrete terms? Is it time to edit a specific section of your paper? Then define exactly what editing technique you will be applying to what section of the paper. Or maybe you need to work on your data analysis? Exactly what does this entail? Without a clear target, you risk wasting time on vague, unfocused tasks that don’t contribute to progress.

When you set a clear goal for each session, you’ll have a sense of accomplishment when you finish, making it easier to track your progress and build momentum, adn invite the dopamine feedback loop that makes doing difficult things easier to tolerate.

2. Bring Your Full Focus to the Task

Deliberate practice demands focus. That means no multitasking, no email checking, and no distractions. If you’re serious about improving your writing, you need to give it your full attention. This is especially important for academic writing, where deep thinking and concentration are required. Aim for shorter, focused bursts of work—perhaps 40 to 45 minutes of concentration, followed by a short break. This will help you sustain your mental energy while avoiding burnout. It’s far more effective than trying to write for hours on end while distracted and then feeling exhausted, without progress, because this then becomes what you think writing is and how it feels.

3. Seek Feedback on Your Work

Feedback is one of the most important elements of deliberate practice. But it’s not just about receiving feedback from others—it’s also about evaluating your own work. At the end of each writing session, take a few minutes to assess what you accomplished. Did you meet your goal? Was the quality of your work up to standard? This helps you refine your process and set more realistic goals for the future.

Of course, you also need external feedback from colleagues, mentors, or writing coaches. Getting feedback on your work as you go along allows you to catch issues early, refine your ideas, and improve the clarity of your idea, argument and exposition.

4. Engage in Repetitive Practice

Just like learning a musical instrument, writing requires repetition. You can’t expect to become a great writer after just one or two sessions. Successful academic writers know that practice is key, and they engage in repetitive practice every day. This doesn’t mean writing aimlessly for hours on end. Quality, purposeful writing sessions, combined with regular reviews and feedback, will lead to improvement over time. Aim for consistency over quantity. Writing a little bit every day, rather than a huge amount in a single session, ensures that you develop a sustainable writing habit.

5. Sustained Effort Over Time

Improving your writing is a long-term commitment. It’s about gradual progress, not overnight success. As with any skill, you get better with time. The key is to stay consistent, even when progress feels slow. With deliberate practice, your writing will improve steadily, and you’ll begin to see the results of your hard work.

Conclusion: The Power of Deliberate Practice

Improving your writing through deliberate practice is not a quick fix—it’s a long-term strategy. By setting clear goals, focusing fully on the task at hand, seeking feedback, engaging in repetitive practice, and committing to sustained effort, you’ll see continuous improvement in your writing.

Remember, writing is a skill, not a gift. With enough practice and training, you can become a great writer. So next time you sit down to write, set a clear goal, focus entirely on your task, and commit to improving one small step at a time. Your future self will thank you.

The key to better writing is deliberate practice. Focus, feedback, and consistency will help you reach your writing goals, one step at a time.

What Academic Success Means To You

When we think about academic success, the first thing that often comes to mind is titles—becoming a professor, a dean, or climbing the academic administrative ladder. But is that the only way to define success? In reality, most academics do not want these positions. In fact, many of us are seeking a career that allows us to thrive intellectually in our research disciplines, to bring ideas into the world, without burnout, stress, or anxiety.

In this blog, I want to explore what academic success really means. It’s not just about titles or promotions—it’s about creating a career that supports your values, priorities, and well-being. And this all starts with defining success for yourself.

The Toxic Idea of "Working All the Time"

For many, academic success is often tied to the idea of working non-stop. When I entered academia, I was bombarded with messages that suggested I should be working 24/7. Senior academics told me that I had to work weekends, forego holidays, and always be on the clock to truly succeed. This toxic messaging was not only unrealistic, but it also made me feel as if I was failing unless I adhered to that relentless work schedule.

I quickly rejected that idea. Work is sort of important - in that it gives you money to have a life - but it is just one aspect of a much bigger picture of what brings me happiness. For me, a successful academic career is about having balance—being able to perform well in my career without it consuming my entire life. I refused to believe that academic success had to come at the expense of my personal well-being.

To achieve this, I knew I had to be efficient because higher education is a maelstrom of busyness and pseudo productivity. I needed systems and processes that allowed me to get my work done during office hours so that I could protect my evenings and weekends for rest and personal time. That was my version of success: achieving great things in my academic career while still having time to live my life.

What about money?

For many, career success in academia often comes with financial incentives. For me, this was no different. I didn’t need to reach the top academic salary level or become a professor to feel successful. What I needed was enough money to live comfortably—to pay my bills, and enjoy life outside of work. The drive for financial security was important, but the pursuit of titles didn’t hold the same weight. In academia, especially today, the financial gap between positions like senior lecturer and professor has shrunk considerably. This change means that focusing on climbing the career ladder purely for financial gain is no longer as motivating as it once was.

The Importance of Control

Another critical aspect of success is having control over your schedule. Academic work can often feel like a never-ending list of tasks—emails, meetings, grading, writing, research. One of the keys to my success was recognising that I could never do everything that was asked of me. I could though manage my workload in a way that felt reasonable. Having control over my calendar allowed me to decide what I would focus on and what I would ignore or say "no" to. This ability to create boundaries and prioritise my tasks ensured that I didn’t get overwhelmed or stressed out. Success, for me, meant having the power to choose how I spent my time, even within a demanding academic environment.

Defining Your Own Success

So, how do you define success in your academic career? It’s important to ask yourself: What does success look like for me? Is it about becoming a professor, or is it about finding a balance between work and life? Is it about producing meaningful research, or about having time for personal growth and well-being?

Once you’ve defined your own version of success, it’s important to situate that ambition within the reality of your academic environment. You need to have a clear understanding of academia as it is—not as you wish it to be. It’s crucial to accept the challenges and constraints of the system, and work within those limits to create a career that meets your goals.

Three Key Characteristics of Successful Academics

Successful academics exhibit three key behaviours:

1. They write first. Successful academics prioritise writing, especially in the mornings. Writing is the most important task of their day, and they ensure it’s done before opening emails or attending meetings.

2. They have strong boundaries. Academics who succeed on their own terms know when to say no. They set clear boundaries around their time and workload, protecting their focus and energy for their most important tasks.

3. They manage their workload effectively. Successful academics don’t feel overwhelmed because they’ve developed systems that allow them to handle the demands of academia. They know how to navigate the workload without burning out, because they understand that they can’t do everything.

The Reality of Success Without a Prestigious Mentor

Some academics benefit from having prestigious mentors or networks that help grease the wheels of their career progression. While these connections can certainly make things easier, they are not a prerequisite for success. You can still build a successful academic career on your own terms, even without those connections.

In fact, many of the most successful academics I know didn’t have those advantages. They didn’t come from families with academic backgrounds, and they didn’t have high-profile mentors. But they were committed, resourceful, and strategic in how they navigated their careers. They created success based on their own values and goals, not on the expectations of others.

Conclusion: Academic Success on Your Terms

Ultimately, academic success is about defining what success means to you, and then making conscious decisions to build a career that aligns with your values. It’s about understanding that success doesn’t always look like climbing to the top of the academic ladder. Instead, it’s about thriving in your career without burnout, managing your workload, and creating space for the things that matter to you outside of academia. Remember, success is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It’s a personal journey, and it’s up to you to decide what it looks like. Once you have that clarity, you can take the necessary steps to make your version of success a reality. And don’t forget—situating your ambitions within the reality of the academic system is crucial for achieving long-term success.

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