Elizabeth Wells is a professor of music history and musicology at Mount Allison University as well as author of the book The Organized Academic.
Elizabeth Wells is a professor of music history and musicology at Mount Allison University as well as author of the book The Organized Academic.
While you may say that your messy office isn’t a distraction, research has shown that it is.
Instead of trying to cram all of your research prep into the summer months, why not set aside some time each week to read about what’s new in your field of scholarship?
A few suggestions to help reduce the amount of time you are spending on reading, writing and sorting emails.
Despite having ‘made it’, mid-career academics still need support, either from peers or coaches.
By giving librarians some teaching agency in your courses, students learn the importance of research skills as well as how to do them the right way.
Each commitment helps me use my editing, research and writing skills in complementary ways.
You do not have to completely overhaul the way you teach or grade your courses.
Instead of setting a bunch of unrealistic goals to accomplish, you should be stepping back from work and giving yourself a proper break.
The best time to prep courses is when you are still operating in ‘teaching mode’ and haven’t turned into ‘research mode’ yet.
If you find you are spending the bulk of your time putting out fires, you need to consider reasons behind them.
This system allows you to compartmentalize in a way that most academics are not used to doing.
