Preserving Time for Writing Posted on January 14, 2008 Jeannette R. Ickovics (bio) suggests finding and protecting time to do your very best writing.

I think it’s really important to recognize your own rhythms and strengths. In an academic career, writing is so critically important, writing grants, writing papers. For me, those early morning hours are a time when the house is asleep, I’ve been rested, and I can really write. I try to block out, I certainly those early morning hours I do a lot of writing, and I try to block out as much of the morning hours in general for writing that I can. So as I start to make meetings for a day or a week, I actually schedule meetings backwards. I start at 5:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon and work my way up, and I really, actively block out those morning hours where I know that I’ve got the best writing time. For you or for other people, afternoons might be better or evenings, but you need to actively put that time in for writing where you can focus and concentrate and do your very best work.

« Back to Article