Guide to Writing Academic Articles: Part XXII

Productive academic writing and time management.

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Those who want to publish but have trouble getting any writing done have a real problem.

Publish or perish.

Publishing articles and theses in English is a matter of some concern for students and ajarns, even though in Thai universities, some ajarns never publish anything in English. A few others publish more than the rest of their colleagues combined. In most universities internationally, the expression “publish or perish” is common, and professors who never publish anything in internationally recognized, refereed publications are eventually asked to leave. In the Kingdom, there are many ways to never publish anything in English but manage to keep a job and even be promoted. Still, being a productive scholar with international impact is one reason why people work for higher degrees. The TU Libraries have a number of books on the subject of productive academic writing:

http://koha.library.tu.ac.th/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=440723

http://koha.library.tu.ac.th/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=612046

These books of advice tend to overlook the fact that the person who writes the most is not necessarily the best writer. Sometimes scholars who publish little can make a lasting impact. Academic research on productivity reveals that senior ajarns who have more time for research publish more than starting lecturers, who usually have heavier teaching responsibilities. The better the university where you work or study, the more likely it is that you will convince editors to publish what you write. If you are an ajarn, then you need graduate students and teaching assistants as slaves to do tasks that keep you from spending time on your research and writing. It does not matter so much whether many of your colleagues are also publishing academic articles, or whether or not your faculty chair and university support your writing.

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Personality traits of people who publish a lot.

Never taking no for an answer is one essential trait if you really want to get published. If one editor says no, try another editor, and so on. If you never accept defeat, eventually someone may say yes. While some Thai people may think of this as too aggressive, in the rest of the world other people sending articles in to editors have this attitude. Think of sending in articles for publication as playing the lotto, but with considerably better odds.

When accepting advice, suit yourself.

Some authors on academic writing productivity claim it is better to work at home, while others say that home has far too many distractions, and you are better off writing somewhere else. Naturally, it depends on your home and what other choices are available. Some people write best in a Starbucks. We all have to find the best personal solution rather than to conform to general rules. More advice often heard is to stop watching TV or browsing the internet or doing Facebook or Line and use the time saved on research and writing. This sounds like a good plan in theory, but how many Thai students would ever give up TV or Facebook or Line completely? If they did, they might feel lonely and depressed and still get no academic writing done. Whatever your sanook activities may be, if they take too much of your time, maybe there is some way to slightly reduce the amount of time you spend at them. Play badminton twice a week instead of three times a week, for example. That way you can balance between sanook and new things that you want to start doing, such as writing for academic publications. Try slight compromises, such as making it impossible to be interrupted by IMs. If someone needs to contact you urgently, they can call, write an email, or send a text message. That should be enough, without IMs bothering you when you are trying to concentrate. If you work in a library where you may look up information in printed books rather than on your usual IPad where you are accustomed to play games, surf the web, and enjoy your social life, you may get more work done.

Take the time to learn a system of citing references.

While systems such as Zotero or CiteULike may seem to require a lot of time to understand, the time is well-invested, since they will save you time later on:

https://www.zotero.org/

http://www.citeulike.org/

By making the effort to be comfortable with them, you are investing in your future as a scholar.

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Finding time.

Be creative with the use of your own time. If you find you get the most done early in the morning before too many people bother you, then schedule daily sessions of concentrated work time in the morning. Keeping a record of how many words you write each day can remind you of your project and how gradually it is getting done. It can also make you feel bad if you are not writing as much as you would like. Thai university faculties sometimes go away on retreats but these can tend to be occasions for going to a resort near a river and listen to lectures. See about scheduling a retreat expressly for writing, where you are left alone by family, friends, and colleagues to have more free time to get something done.

Tricking yourself into managing time better.

There are many ways to convince yourself to use time more productively. One approach is the Pomodoro Technique, devised by the author Francesco Cirillo, whose books about it are not currently in the TU Libraries, although they are available from interlibrary loan:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/pomodoro-technique-illustrated-the-easy-way-to-do-more-in-less-time/oclc/489540266

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Tomato_je.jpg/577px-Tomato_je.jpg

This technique is named after a so-called “pomodoro” kitchen timer shaped like a tomato (“pomodoro” is the Italian word for tomato). The approach is to set a timer for 25 minutes, and after the time is up, take a break of around four minutes before returning to your work. After you have been through four such sessions, take a break of around 20 minutes. The theory is that if you train your brain to be accustomed to relatively short sessions of intense thought followed by rest, you will stay fresher and more creative longer. As with all such programs and suggestions, this may not work for you. The sound of a timer ringing may annoy you so much that you want to throw it out the window.

Don’t punish yourself.

Some students, ajarns, and staff work all night because they feel it must show that they are dedicated. It may really just show others that they are unproductive, disorganized, inadequate managers who take too much time to fulfill their responsibilities. Try not to suffer through all-night work sessions, and instead get enough rest, eat healthy foods, get enough exercise, and so on. That will prepare you for a more productive long-term future than exhausting routines of all-night work.

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(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).