Navigating the Academy from Grad School Through the Tenure Track

Like any good academic, I am constantly looking for the best book to answer my question[s]. But when it comes to navigating graduate school, the tenure track, and the academy writ large, there are more choices than it is possible for one person to reasonably navigate. Lucky for you, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time reading many of them in an effort to figure out how to explain the academy to myself and those coming after me. As a result, here are the two best pieces of advice that can help most scholars, regardless of where they currently are within the academy.

You Do Not Need Large Blocks of Time in Order to Get Your Writing Done

One of the most consistent myths that I hear repeated by graduate students/professors is that the only way they can hope to get any writing done is via large, consistent, 5-6hr blocks of time. Hear me when I say this: it is not true. You can write in small increments. It is absolutely possible, but you have to be willing to give it a try. The reality is that once you enter the tenure track your time will quickly get sucked up by service, administrative work, teaching, family, and adult life in general. As such, if the only way you will allow yourself to write is if you have multiple hours of time, your opportunities to write will become fewer and fewer in between.

What I discovered during my last year in graduate school is that the only way that I could overcome my anxiety and get my dissertation finished is if I started negotiating with myself. I’d read plenty of books that recommended 15 minutes of writing a day, but to say I was skeptical was a understatement. But fortunately, desperation makes you more open to new ideas. So I began writing 15 minutes a day. I told my anxiety: “hey brain, all you have to do is sit in front of your computer for 15 minutes, if you still feel like you are going to die after 16 minutes, I promise that you can get up and do that sweeping you are so desperate to do right now.” It turns out, that I almost never wanted to get up at minute 16. It also turned out that once I sat down to write, my imposter syndrome began to recede.

Prior to this experiment, every time I would manage to find a 5-6hr block of time to write, I’d need to spend the first hour of my writing time trying to remind myself what I was working on previously. But once I started working for a minimum of 15 minutes a day, and always having a hard stop at one hour, it was easy to remember what I’d been working on the day before. Give it a try, you might find that small daily increments of writing will allow you to be more productive than you think.

Isolation Does Not Facilitate Productivity

Do not allow the ivy tower to convince you that you should not have a life outside of your research. As I’ve written before, mental health problems during graduate school is becoming a increasingly pervasive problem. Like every other human, work/life balance is critical to socio-emotional well being. So get out there, make friends, find a hobby, and live your best life.

More Advice

Looking for more wisdom on navigating the academy? These are (in my opinion), the best books on getting through graduate school, writing the dissertation, successfully navigating the job market and completing the tenure track. Good luck!

Getting What You Came For by Robert L. Peters

The Professor Is In by Karen Kelsky

From Dissertation to Book by William Germano

The Black Academics Guide to Winning Tenure by Kerry Ann Rockquemore

peace.

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