The Researchers' Writing Podcast

In this episode, I’m talking to Geetika Chauhan who is a PhD student at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw and a member of the Researchers’ Writing Academy. Geetika works in the field of geophysics and joined the Academy because, as she told me, both she and her PI got fed up when she was on the tenth draft of her first journal article with no end in sight. After she joined our academic writing program she started with a fresh draft and after just two rounds of revisions and two months’ work in total, her PI approved and submitted the paper. Geetika talks about how she was concerned that this course would just join the pile of other online courses she had bought and never looked at. But how – once she was a member – she was surprised by the engaged community, which helped her to actually take and implement the course. (01:10) Introducing Geetika Chauhan (03:20) Geetika’s struggles before joining the Researchers’ Writing Academy (RWA) (06:01) Geetika’s concerns before she joined the program (07:45) What helped keep Geetika engaged and committed to the program (10:32) Free training for researchers (go to researcherswritingpodcast.com/free) (12:18) How Geetika’s feelings Geetika around writing have changed (14:22) Geetika’s favourite part of the RWA Podcast host: Anna Clemens, PhD Video and audio editing: Jason Rivera If you’re interested to join the Researchers’ Writing Academy and learn how to develop a structured writing process to get published in top-tier journals time-efficiently, then I highly recommend watching my free writing training as the first step at: researcherswritingpodcast.com/free.

Welcome back! This is part 3 of our 3-part mini-series on making time to take an academic writing course. In part 1 of the series (Episode 7), we talked about looking at deeper reasons (limiting beliefs and unhelpful stories you tell yourself) for why you’re not making time to take a writing course. In part 2 (Episode 8), we looked at actionable strategies you can employ today to carve out time to take a writing course. In this part 3 of the series, we are going to look at practical techniques that will help you supercharge your motivation once you enrolled in a writing course such as the Researchers’ Writing Academy. You’ll get more out of any course that you signed up using these motivation-boosting techniques and also it will also be way more fun!  Thank you to all the Researchers’ Writing Academy members who let me share their examples and experiences in this episode. Good luck with getting your whole brain aligned and making time and freeing up energy to take a writing course!  In this episode, I’ll talk about:  (01:00) Recap of part 1 and part 2 of this series (02:55) Technique #1: Keep your “why” top of mind (06:05) Technique #2: Incorporate learning into existing routine (habit stacking) (11:50) Technique #3: Stack taking lessons with writing (13:23) Free writing training at researcherswritingpodcast.com/free (14:20) Technique #4: Accountability and community (19:58) Technique #5: Dedicate a notebook to the course  (22:46) Technique #6: Turn taking the course into a ritual (29:29) Listener question: Can I use the Journal Publication Formula for writing my dissertation?  Podcast host: Anna Clemens, PhD Video and audio editing: Jason Rivera And if you’re ready to invest your time and energy into acquiring the skill of writing papers for top-tier journals time-efficiently, then I highly recommend checking out my free writing training: researcherswritingpodcast.com/free.

In today’s episode we’ll continue our mini-series on making time to take a writing course with part 2 out of 3 parts in total. Even if you aren’t planning on taking an academic writing course or program such as the Researchers’ Writing Academy right now, the strategies I’m sharing today are so universal, they will help you carve out time for other things too. Maybe you struggle to find time to write? Whatever you want to carve out time for, you’re in the right place. In the last episode, I introduced you to a technique to look a bit deeper into why you may be procrastinating on investing in your writing. Today, I want to share 7 proven and actionable strategies that have helped other researchers just like you to make time to invest in taking an academic writing course. I know, I know, it feels like you really don’t have a minute to spare to do anything else but the work you already have on your plate. If you don’t feel like you have enough time to take a writing program, then you’re not alone. It’s in fact the most common reason researchers give us for why they aren’t enrolling in the Researchers’ Writing Academy, our online academic writing program. BUT without investing time, you won’t learn the skill of writing a compelling paper that stands a chance to get published in a top-tier journal. And without investing time, you won’t learn a new writing process that will make writing a paper so fast that you can submit your paper in 8 weeks or less after analysing your data. Here’s what I’ll be talking about in this episode: (02:45) No time to join a program? (08:50) Strategy #1: Be clear on your priorities (11:21) Strategy #2: Time blocking (14:15) Strategy #3: Decrease frequency of regular meetings (17:01) Strategy #4: Reduce your email load (24:44) Free writing training at researcherswritingpodcast.com/free (25:47) Strategy #5: Stop or strictly limit using social media and set personal boundaries (28:54) Strategy #6: Time and energy tracking (31:54) Strategy #7: Say “no” more! (36:50) Listener question: How do I start tackling a drawer full of half-finished manuscripts? Podcast host: Anna Clemens, PhD Video and audio editing: Jason Rivera Want to dive deeper? We have a free training on how to write clear, concise, and compelling papers from start to finish using a structured and time-efficient writing process. Head over to researcherswritingpodcast.com/free to save your spot now!

I know, I know, you have SO much on your plate as an academic, especially if you are an Assistant Professor, that writing papers is often pushed to the evenings and weekends. Because all those other tasks and projects come with deadlines and have other people waiting or depending on you. Whereas for taking professional development to uplevel your writing skills or for actually writing papers, there often isn’t any external accountability – let alone deadlines. The problem is: When we don’t somehow make time to develop our writing skills, our writing won’t change. We won’t learn how to get published in top-tier journals. And we won’t learn how to make the process of writing take less time. So it’s a matter of investing time now to save time in the future and to get published consistently for the rest of your career. I think the strategy to make time for both learning how to write and the writing itself is three-fold: 1) developing intrinsic motivation, 2) learning actionable strategies to implement in your work week and 3) supercharging your motivation with practical techniques. Today, we’re tackling the first part of the equation: how you can ignite your intrinsic motivation! And in the following two episodes, we will dive deeper into the other two parts. Intrinsic motivationIt’s a topic that I think we don’t talk about enough. Having motivation to do something is incredibly powerful because once you have it, you aren’t relying on external forces like deadlines or other people to make time to (learn how to) write. I would go so far to say that when you are intrinsically motivated to do both, you will become unstoppable! When we really want to do something, we make it happen, we find pockets in our schedule, and we manage to not burn out because it energises us!  In this episode, I’m sharing an amazing reflection technique I learned from leadership advisor and author Victoria Song that will help you become aware of more subconscious blocks that are currently keeping you from investing in your writing. In the listener question segment, I answer the question how to know when to publish in a mid-tier journal and when to aim for a top-tier journal. Happy listening!  In this episode, I’ll talk about: (01:30) Not having enough time to write (03:50) Importance of investing in your writing skills (04:55) Strategies to make time to develop your writing skills (09:42) Free writing training at researcherswritingpodcast.com/free (10:34) Practical 2-step exercise to overcome your writing-related blocks  (18:45) Listener question: Top-tier vs. mid-tier publishing Book mentioned: Bending Reality: How to Make the Impossible Probable” by Victoria Podcast host: Anna Clemens, PhD Video and audio editing: Jason Rivera Ready to invest in your writing skills? We got you! We recommend taking our free video training that gives you the birds-eye view of the Journal Publication Formula at researcherswritingpodcast.com/free.