Category Archives: Productivity

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Learn about lines of inquiry by studying individual researchers

One of the most challenges aspects for graduate students is learning various lines of inquiry. Inside every field of study are schools of thought, methodologies, theories, and research approaches for particular topics. How do you quickly and efficiently learn about a new topic? In today’s post, I suggest that you learn about lines of inquiry by studying individual researchers.

Photo credit: youn-sik kim

When I have students that seek to learn about a new area of research, I often recommend that they look up an individual researcher that publishes extensively on the topic.  Often, I’m even able to give the name of someone to help get them started.

I recommend pulling the researcher’s CV and reading all of their publications on a topic. 

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Practitioners need to learn scholarly writing

My entire career has been spent teaching and working with graduate students who are also practitioners. I’ve worked with college presidents and vice presidents far along in their careers as well as new master’s students just starting theirs. During this time, I’ve had many conversations with colleagues and students regarding how to best prepare practitioners in practice not focusing on research . Common questions include the necessity of theory, teaching technical skills, and the value of case studies for offering a glimpse into “real life.” One of the most common questions that come up in these discussions is the role of scholarly writing. Do students need to write a dissertation? What should that look like for practitioners versus future scholars? Should class assignments mirror real life problems or the abstract world of scholarship. In today’s post, I want to explain why I think practitioners need to learn scholarly writing.

Photo credit: A. Birkan Caghan

Scholarly writing is hard. It is easy to say some students can do it and other can’t. This simply isn’t true.

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How to prepare for an on campus faculty interview

The faculty job market today is tougher than it has been in a generation. Fewer positions and more doctoral graduates in nearly every discipline have ratcheted up the difficulty in successfully landing a faculty position. Just securing a campus interview is a often a reason for celebration as it means you’ve made it through rounds of reviews and Skype or phone interviews. But how to prepare for an on campus faculty interview? In today’s post, I will provide tips and suggestions to successfully navigate the grueling on campus interview.

Photo credit: Flickr Matse A

My first on campus interview was taxing. I can’t think of a time where I have been more exhausted. Two days of talking, networking, and selling myself took a toll.

Fortunately, I got good advice from advisers and mentors and was able to land an offer.

Over the years, I’ve seen candidates doom their chances while others hit a home run securing the job.

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Implementing Cal Newport’s Deep Work

Deep work should be the goal of all of us in higher education. As Cal Newport convincingly argues in his book of the same name, deep work is focused work in a distraction-free environment that brings value. The challenge, of course, is how to implement deep work into our daily routines. In addition to discussing the broader concepts, Newport also suggests ways to achieve deep work in our daily lives. In today’s post, I want to share some key takeaways that I believe will help when implementing Cal Newport’s deep work.

Photo credit: Datamerge LLC

As I discussed in my last post, shallow work takes over in the absence of clear feedback and immediate rewards for deep work. Shallow work is easier and the appearance of busyness makes us feel more productive.

Although he offers far more suggestions than I outline below from the simple to the more controversial (quit all social media), I believe these six ideas will get you well on the way to implementing the deep work philosophy.

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A review of Deep Work by Cal Newport

Most of us instinctively understand that work today is different than in the past. Both faculty and staff in higher education are knowledge workers where our value comes from ideas and creativity rather than producing something. While everyone agrees that ideas and creativity are important, our days are instead spent with email, meetings, and paperwork that isn’t adding value to anyone or anything. In today’s post, I want to share a review of Deep Work by Cal Newport, which challenges our current work routines and makes suggestions for how to generate more value.

Photo credit: Dom Crossley

Newport’s book is a provocative read and I suggest anyone in a job where the quality of one’s ideas is important should read it.

The central premise of the book is that knowledge workers should focus on deep work that provides value rather than shallow work which is really a false productivity.