Strategically Matching Tasks to Your Energy and Focus

A strategy and a worksheet!

Photo by Norbert Braun on Unsplash

Most of us are juggling a variety of other time and energy demands in addition to writing. Teaching, research, and service each tap into different skill sets, but the energy required to wrangle fellow faculty members in meetings, theorize new concepts, or explain difficult material can sometimes feel like it's drawn from the same limited well.

One way to manage writing amidst all these other responsibilities is to break down writing tasks by their level of energy and focus they require. This allows us to distribute those tasks according to what else is on our plate during a given week or period of time.

Here's how to do it, complete with a worksheet to help with the process!