Interlude: Life Tetris, Literature Reviews, and Stolen Identities
Do you use the time-blocking method to manage your time?
For a couple of years now, I've used time blocking to schedule time on my calendar to complete tasks. I've found the method rather helpful for mapping out my days, but not so much for managing my time.
What often happens is that something comes up, like a meeting, and then I need to shift around all the boxes on my calendar. This means that I'm constantly playing a game of "life Tetris"—moving blocks of time around to figure out when I can fit tasks in.
But what if there was a better way?
I recently heard someone suggest a different mindset toward time blocking: once you block time for something on your calendar, that time becomes a non-negotiable commitment to your goals.
I recognize that this negotiation is often with ourselves, which is no easy feat. But I think that if we can protect our time and prioritize our goals, then this mindset of non-negotiable commitments is quite powerful.
What is your approach to managing your time? And how is that approach working for you? Hit reply and let me know.
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
📆 Upcoming
Which Voice is the Better Choice? Writing Intentionally with Active and Passive Voice – June 7, 2024
I was thrilled to be invited to speak at the 2024 AMWA NorCal Pacific Coast Conference. During this education session, I'll discuss a hotly debated topic: passive voice. Attendees will learn why passive voice was the traditional norm and what has led to the new focus on active voice. They'll also learn when to make the intentional choice to use active or passive voice as tools that strengthen writing.
👓 Reading
Hi Crystal,
Do you use the time-blocking method to manage your time?
For a couple of years now, I've used time blocking to schedule time on my calendar to complete tasks. I've found the method rather helpful for mapping out my days, but not so much for managing my time.
What often happens is that something comes up, like a meeting, and then I need to shift around all the boxes on my calendar. This means that I'm constantly playing a game of "life Tetris"—moving blocks of time around to figure out when I can fit tasks in.
But what if there was a better way?
I recently heard someone suggest a different mindset toward time blocking: once you block time for something on your calendar, that time becomes a non-negotiable commitment to your goals.
I recognize that this negotiation is often with ourselves, which is no easy feat. But I think that if we can protect our time and prioritize our goals, then this mindset of non-negotiable commitments is quite powerful.
What is your approach to managing your time? And how is that approach working for you? Hit reply and let me know.
Now onto this week's round-up...
Round-up
Upcoming
Which Voice is the Better Choice? Writing Intentionally with Active and Passive Voice – June 7, 2024
I was thrilled to be invited to speak at the 2024 AMWA NorCal Pacific Coast Conference. During this education session, I'll discuss a hotly debated topic: passive voice. Attendees will learn why passive voice was the traditional norm and what has led to the new focus on active voice. They'll also learn when to make the intentional choice to use active or passive voice as tools that strengthen writing.
Reading
Hijacked journals: a case of stolen identity
"...to create an illusion of authenticity, journal hijackers often use or mimic a legitimate journal’s title, ISSN, and other metadata. They then use a variety of methods to infiltrate indexing databases, known as ‘indexjacking’, including:
compromising a journal’s homepage link to instead link to a cloned website
hacking the website of a legitimate journal
registering an expired domain of a legitimate journal
targeting print-only journals with inactive or unestablished homepage links."
What can institutions do to stop predatory journals?
This article suggests several approaches that institutions could adopt to help prevent authors from falling prey to predatory journals:
"Provide education on scholarly publishing norms and guidance on navigating the complex publishing landscape, especially for researchers in LMICs [low- and middle-income countries].
Offer resources...in local languages and forums for knowledge exchange to empower researchers and reduce their vulnerability to predatory publishers.
Create partnerships between institutions in LMICs and wealthier countries to facilitate access to reputable publications and integration within the global scientific community.
Alleviate the pressure to publish by broadening the criteria for evaluating researchers beyond publications and acknowledging contributions in teaching, outreach, and other knowledge-sharing activities."
🎧 Listening
How to Choose the Right Literature Review Approach for Your Project
In this episode of the Write Medicine podcast, Alex Howson shares her expertise in what literature reviews are and how to choose the right type of review for your project. What I appreciated most was her comment that literature reviews need to do more than just summarize the literature. "A good review usually synthesizes the available research to identify patterns, gaps, and new insights that help us to think critically about that topic."
💬 Quote
"Productivity isn’t about being a workhorse, keeping busy or burning the midnight oil… It’s more about priorities, planning, and fiercely protecting your time." –Gary Keller
✅ Action
Go into your calendar and add blocks of time to prioritize your writing. In the name of the event, add "non-negotiable" to remind yourself to prioritize your writing goals.
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
