Academic Woman Amplified

As an academic woman, your writing needs to be at the center of everything. On this episode of the podcast, I’m making the case for why it’s so important to prioritize your writing, and giving you the steps to take to make it happen. You know your writing and publishing is important but it doesn’t feel urgent; writing always falls to the bottom of your list; you put writing off until you have “enough” time, and end up doing frantic writing binges instead of making steady progress; thinking about your writing gives you a pit in your stomach; you have a pipeline full of unfinished projects.  Sound familiar? Maybe you haven’t put writing at the center of your career.  In this episode, I’m showing you what having your writing at the center can be like: you always know when your next writing session is and what project you’re working on; you feel happy and invigorated when you think about writing; projects flow smoothly through your pipeline (and out of it); you feel empowered and in control.  That sounds better,

How do you feel when you think about writing? You are never going to write and publish as much as you want if you feel yucky about your writing. But feeling good about your writing doesn’t just happen randomly or by accident. You have to create that positive relationship with your writing.   In this episode I’m talking all about creating a positive relationship with your writing in order to get more writing done and feel better doing it. I call this creating “positive feedback loops.” It means that when you write, you feel positive feelings, which make you want to write again, in a super-happy loop of unicorns and rainbows.I exaggerate, but you get what I mean. These positive feelings are created by you by implementing certain writing behaviors.  Actions to Take to Cultivate a Positive Relationship with Writing It doesn’t happen on it’s own, and it doesn’t happen by wishing for it, but you can take actionable steps to make yourself feel better about writing, with reinforces your desire to do it.      Start w

Do you have too much going on? In all seriousness, can you fit everything that needs to be done on your calendar? If you feel like there are simply not enough hours in the day, this episode is for you.   More and more of what we are expected to do in academia is “shallow work”: paper pushing, email, useless meetings. This means that we are finding less and less time for “deep work” (terms explained by Cal Newport in his book Deep Work): the thinking and creating that we were trained to do, the reasons many of us got into this profession in the first place. The market is flooded and if you don’t have time to write and publish or to bring in the big grant money,someone else is: someone who is willing to work nights and weekends, or who has home-care built in, or is turning themselves inside out to try and do it all.  I want you to see that the fact that you feel overworked and overwhelmed is not a reflection on your personal character. It’s not your fault. You are part of a system that is set up this way. But w

For successful execution of the day-to-day tasks of academia, especially writing, we need to be good project managers.      As academic women, we are required to balance multiple projects at the same time, from writing and publishing to course prep to service work. The day-to-day project management tasks of the academic life are not part of our training. In some cases, these tasks are modeled by excellent mentors,but most of the time we’re making it up as we go along.   If you’ve been following along, you know that I’m on a one-woman mission to reveal all the “secrets” of how to do academia successfully so that we can all be happier, healthier, and more fulfilled in our careers. In this episode, we’re looking at how project management can help accomplish these goals.   “Without a system for project management, you’re going to feel overwhelmed and exhausted all the time, no matter how much progress you’re actually making.” -Cathy Mazak   Understanding the Basics of Academic Project Management Before we jump in

This might shock you, but I’m a writing coach that doesn’t believe you should try to write every day. In fact, writing every day could be counterproductive to your writing goals.    Everyone wants to write and publish more. Academia demands it; it’s how we get jobs, keep jobs, and get promoted. More importantly, it’s how we influence our field, get our message out to the world, and spread knowledge that can help change lives. But how do we do it?    Many sources push a system of writing every day, no matter what. In this episode, I’m going to share why trying to write every day can be a bad idea, and what you can do instead.    Writing Every Day isn’t for Everyone When you research how to be more productive in your writing, you might find answers like: “Do it every day. Don’t miss a day. Hit a word count. Get accountability systems so that you continue to write every day.”    If the “write every day” method appeals to you, then please, do it!   But as an academic mom of three, this has never worked for me. An

Are you an academic woman ready to amplify your voice in your field, say goodbye to burnout and overwhelm, and harness focused energy to reach your writing goals? You’re in the right place.    In this introductory episode of the Academic Woman Amplified podcast, I’m sharing my story with you from my first love of writing to becoming a fully tenured professor while raising a growing family. I share lessons I’ve learned as an academic and a woman and how those experiences have shaped my life and career.    On this podcast, we’ll talk about writing as the currency of your academic career, and I’ll share advice on how to manage all the moving parts each semester.    My Beginnings as a Writer I have always loved writing and reading. From the time I was a little girl I’ve wanted to make my living writing, but didn’t know how I would do that. In college I followed my love of writing and teaching from being an ESL teacher to earning my PhD in English language learning. After that, I went on to become a tenured profes

Are you an academic woman who knows she needs to write more, but writing keeps falling to the bottom of the list? Do you feel overworked and overwhelmed and not sure if you can sustain this pace anymore? Academia was not built for women, but I believe it can change. As academic women, we have the power to create the life and career we want. This podcast is about helping you write and publish more, but it's also about much more than that. It's about changing the culture of academia and how women experience their academic career. In this trailer episode of the podcast, find out what Academic Woman Amplified is all about and how you can be a part of this movement. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page