I’ve started a new daily practice of writing 750 words, and I didn’t do it yesterday because I was so burned out from attending the Academy of Management conference. I had been attending sessions for the last five days, drinking from fire hose after fire hose, and on Sunday it caught up with me. Today as well, I think. So, let’s focus today’s writing on organization.
Organization is going to be a critical component of my success as a PhD student AND as a professional moving forward. I’ve been spending so much time watching shows on Netflix to decompress, and I’ve been jumping straight into my days when I get up, it’s time to establish the habits and practices I’ll need for managing and ENJOYING my experiences as a practitioner-scholar.
So. Practices that could provide me with just enough structure:
- Restoration Hardware: 20 minutes each day to get my brain and being ready for the day. This could be a walk, meditation, moving to music, contemplating art, legitimately writing to-get-done lists, what have you. The idea is to take care of the hardware (my brain and body) so I have the continuing ability to do what needs to be done.
- Writing Time: 30 minutes each day to get myself in the habit of producing. I’m currently using 750words.com as a way to track this practice and make it simply part of my daily routine. It is so easy to say “it’s not time for me to start writing this paper” and then start on it three days before it’s due. Why do that to myself? I know what’s coming up, writing wise. I know the papers I want to write for publication as well. Chipping away at these projects a wee bit each day will help my writing improve and become more prolific.
- Orderly Progression: 15 minutes each day to keep my space and time organized. The easiest way to get – and keep – myself in an overwhelmed state is to live in clutter. Not only does clutter bury my physical space, but it saps my mental and emotional energy as well. In clutter, my momentum slows and atrophy seeks to sneak in. Taking just a few minutes each day to chip away at establishing environmental order will help my ability to focus, create, and produce. This one is especially challenging, because my partner is just fine living in a cluttered environment. Well, “cluttered” environment: his home office and the other areas under his domain look to me like scenes from the TV show “Hoarders.” While I may not be able to influence his spaces, I can work to maintain order in the spaces I hold influence over.
What else do I need as my work and dissertation journey begin to ramp up?
- R&R Time: 45 minutes each day to make headway on my R&R. In this case, R&R stands for “reading and reflection”. There are SO. MANY. Articles that I want/need to read! I throw interesting articles in my RefWorks, but how many of them have I actually gotten around to reading? Not that many, at this point. I have my Zettelkasten for taking notes on things I want or need to remember for my future research, and yet even making time to feed my ZK has become scarce. I fear that so many insights will be lost because I have not captured them in a way I might easily find them again. Time to fix that.
- Social Hour: 15 minutes each day to reconnect with people. For me, 15 minutes of socializing can oftentimes feel like an hour, so this counts. The pandemic and 15 months of lockdown have shown me that this introvert does need human connection. Friendship. Laughter. Sharing. I can send a note to someone letting them know I’m thinking about them. I can go on LinkedIn and celebrate someone’s success with them. I can reach out to a friend or family member and just say hello. Wee doses of social connection can go a long way, I think.
It is tempting to make this list grow longer and longer, but at a certain point, a list of things I want to do becomes a list of things I should do, then a list of things I meant to do but never really did. So let’s keep just enough structure and keep my expectations of myself reasonable. After all, I’m building a new practice to support my long-term sustainability and success. Doing all the things at once is a surefire way to set myself up for failure, and I ain’t got time for that!
