Howard GoldsteinAssociate Dean

April 30, 2014

Strategies for Enhancing Scholarly Productivity during the Summer

2

3

How Does It All Fit?

There is no more time in the day to be found but you can learn to

use that time more wisely.

“It is not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do , it is that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have.” 

Write like a Writer

TIME Create a routine time for writing: daily is best. Schedule an optimal daily amount. [Short, regular

sessions (under an hour) are recommended following a non-productive period.]

Protect and defend your writing time against encroachments from the external world.

Maintain a balance between writing and other responsibilities and activities in your life.

Increase planfulness and consistency of output when working with deadlines. [Binge writing at

deadlines maintains patterns of blocking.]

Setting summer goals

Be realistic in planning projects and setting expectations.

Start with smaller, realizable goals.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

SPACE

Have a place to write that is comfortable, convenient, and functional.

Arrange your space to minimize exposure to your highest risk distractions (away from cookie jars, telephone, television, etc.).

Do not begin a writing session by cleaning and organizing your work space. Do this after you have written. [Finish each session with a plan for tomorrow.]

GETTING STARTED

Have your writing place stocked with necessary materials and ready to go.

Recall times in the past when you wrote productively. What were your patterns of writing then? What can you apply from those times to your present situation?

Establish or re-establish a consistent habit and ritual of daily writing. This is hardest in the beginning.

If you are just staring at the monitor, warm up with 5-10 minutes of fluent writing. Write on a topic--anything that comes to mind without concern about the nature or quality of the content.

BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES Make a chart of your daily writing productivity. Analyze each writing project and break it into easily

attainable chunks. Generate specific, concrete daily goals that are

realistic. Make success unavoidable each day by having goals

that would be hard not to attain. Make a list of your most common work avoiding

behaviors (e.g., email, television, non-essential busy work, eating, etc.). Develop strategies for reducing the likelihood of engaging in each of those activities during writing time.

REWARD DESIRED BEHAVIOR

Notice if you are reinforcing the pattern of avoiding writing by rewarding yourself when you do not write, by engaging in pleasure seeking activities instead of writing during writing time.

Make a desired daily activity contingent upon having done some writing. – Examples: exercise, email access, reading the

paper or a novel, talking on the phone, playing piano, watching a favorite show, or taking a shower.

COGNITIVE APPROACHES Notice "self-talk" about writing. Are those thoughts

frightening, critical, demoralizing, overwhelming? Are these accurate thoughts or do they contain distortions?

When you notice negative thoughts invading, think "STOP! Consciously replace distorted messages with positive, hopeful thoughts. Remind yourself of previous successes and the abilities you possess. This process becomes more effective with practice.

Be mindful of perfectionistic, unrealistic demands on your writing process or content. Practice with 'free writing' can help temper an unreasonably harsh internal editor.

PEOPLE ISSUES Develop and utilize relationships with colleagues who

you can share your work with. Work collaboratively with another writer(s) on a

project. Avoid isolation: keep up or rekindle professional and

personal contacts. Where there is a difficulty showing writing to others;

begin with people who you like and trust, and are unlikely to savage your work. Slowly branch out from there to include others.

Make a public commitment pertaining to your ongoing writing productivity.

Successful people create a research pipeline

Projects at each stage of development– Thinking about a study (Study 7) -- Activity– Designing a study protocol (Study 6) -- Activity– Initiating data collection (Study 5) -- Activity– Finishing data collection (Study 4) -- Activity– Analyzing data & presenting (Study 3) – Activity +

Product!– Writing manuscript (Study 2) -- ~Product– Manuscript in review (Study 1) -- ~Product– Manuscript in press – Actual Product!!!– Etc.

Top Ten List

1. Follow a formal productivity regime

2. Set goals and stick to them

3. Minimize interruptions

4. Turn off your email when writing

5. Breakdown the task into chunks

6. Create an outline

7. Use templates (e.g., APA) and a citation manager

8. Don’t obsess

9. Use a goal buddy

10.Reward yourselfPaul Silva How to write a lot.

Timeline for Grant Proposal Preparation

Plan ahead and anticipate 4-8 months to prepare a competitive federal grant application

A typical timeline???

Sponsored Research resources and programs: http://www.research.usf.edu/dsr/internal-awards/

First Month

1. Set up notifications for funding opportunities

2. Solicit successful grant writers willing to review drafts and give frank, competent feedback

3. Acquire previously funded proposals

4. Read mission statements for target agencies, program announcements, RFAs

5. Draft Specific Aims, Revise Specific Aims, Hone Specific Aims

6. Share Specific Aims and get feedback and repeat step 5

7. Contact program administrators at target agencies

Second Month1. Identify due dates for all components of the

application (e.g., budget, IRB, e-COI, narrative pieces, biosketches, appendices)

2. Review application guide and compile forms

3. Revise specific aims

4. Begin elaborating hypotheses, rationale, significance, impact

5. Consider Pasteur’s quadrant (combining practical and theoretical motivation for work)

Third Month

Complete the first draft of proposal Give reviewers 2 or 3 weeks to provide

feedback– Work on other components while out for review

Feedback in person or over the phone is often more efficient

Fourth Month

Rewrite based on comments from reviewers

Try to get more feedback from a person who has served on a relevant study section

Give proposal a break for 2 weeks– Review the literature to ensure you haven’t

missed something

Fifth Month

Work with research administrators to finalize budget

Prepare budget justification Complete other sponsored research

requirements Complete final draft of the proposal Proofread everything!Ludlow, C. L., & Kent, R. D. (2011). Building a research

career. San Diego, CA: Plural.

Research Mentorship Forums

2013-2014

2014-2015

Research Mentorship Forums Facilitating Success among New Faculty:

Approaches to Mentoring Sustaining Grant Funded Research - Reflections

and Tricks of the Trade NSF Faculty Early Career Development

(CAREER) Program K Awards: Figuring out which ones are relevant

and how to compete successfully for one What’s Behind the Curtain? Applying Search

Tools and Strategies to Finding Grants

Research Mentorship Forums

Getting Ready To Publish? Peer Review, Journal Selection, & Available Tools

APA citations and more: The wonders of EndNote!

What Every PI Needs to Know about Managing Grants

Strategies for Facilitating Scholarly Productivity during the Summer

Future Topics International Grants Data Sharing Plans Searching for Foundation Grants Successful grantsmanship (Brent Small, David Eddins) PROMIS grants Making best of small budgets (e.g., FTE allocations) IRB applications and experiences (Paul Stiles) Navigating impact factors in small fields and expanding horizons (as an outsider) Strategies for increasing citations Mass media coverage for research, working with journalists, and affecting policy [invite

science editor from Tampa Bay Times; WUSF] Preparing dissemination plans (What if Wednesdays; podcasts) Service assignments (e.g., advisory boards, blog dissemination, etc.) Collaborative research with VA or other agencies Innovative thinking, lateral thinking, and disruptive change Qualitative research overview Advanced EndNote

For a productive summer

Devote a couple of hours daily to reading and writing

Make a writing plan Commit to writing at least one page daily Record daily data Reinforce yourself and take weekends and

vacations off

Happy Hour

Skipper’s Smokehouse

910 Skipper Rd.

Tampa, FL 33613

http://www.skipperssmokehouse.com/

Take Fletcher Ave (west 1.5 mi) Turn right onto N Nebraska Ave (go 0.8 mi) Turn right onto Skipper Rd Destination will be on the left