Tips and Tricks: Trying not to get bogged down, literally and figuratively

Posted by Taylor Roberge

As a biologist, this past field season for me has been quite successful, sometimes through no fault of my own. In addition to the ongoing diamondback terrapin recovery program, several of our deadline projects were completed successfully, thanks to the gracious help of several friends and colleagues. These victories included evaluating the effects of nest microhabitat on hatchling turtle phenotype, as well as an intensive trapping effort along coastal Alabama. Our goal with the trapping was to recapture reared turtles and assess whether raising and releasing post hatchlings is a cost effective conservation strategy. As my field work draws to a close, one thought comes to mind: Writing season has begun! Looking at the backlog of research writing coming due makes me feel like I’m back in the marsh, and stuck up to my waist in pluff mud (especially now that I can see the holidays approaching).

Removing a fyke net during a very low tide

Luckily, I have found some time managing and writing strategies, which in my opinion, make things a bit more manageable and less overwhelming.

 

• Make a list or a plan (if you haven’t already). Include any deadlines or associated time lines. If a project is more open-ended, set some realistic timelines so that you have a goal to shoot for. If left too open-ended, it'll never happen. See these tools to create a Writing Project Plan and a Publication Plan (from writing coach Dr. Jennifer L. Greer in the Professional Development Program at the UAB Graduate School) if you really want to get organized, or if you are working on high-stakes projects, like a grant or a thesis or dissertation.

 

• Prioritize writing projects. There is no one good way to do this other than to make sure you are sticking to hard deadlines. I like to group complementary projects together so I can kill two birds with one stone, as they say, when researching literature. I also like to make sure I disperse some of the projects that I’m not so excited about writing with those that I am excited about to help break things up. If I get bored, I move to another project. 

 

• Set a writing schedule (and stick to it). This strategy seems like a no brainier but can be one of the hardest parts to stick to. For me, writing for a short (2 hours) a day is more productive than trying to binge write and get burnt out on a project.

• Check off specific tasks for quick gratification. I find it much more satisfying to be able to physically mark through projects as I finish. So I make paper lists of my writing tasks I can hang near my desk as a reminder of what is coming up as well as what I have completed.

 

Let me know how these tips work for you to make your writing more productive If you have any other tips that help to prevent you from having a panic attack when you look at your writing to-do list, let us know in the comments. Writers rule. Especially when it's too cold for a biologist to truck through the muck.