Have you ever struggled with time management?

The combination of multiple responsibilities, sporadic deadlines, and last minute email reminders make it nearly impossible to feel like your schedule is under control as an academic.

And it can be so difficult to keep everything organized and stay motivated with all of the “free time” we have. So…

Which of the following resonates with you?

You have spent an entire day feeling non-stop busy, without actually getting anything done (more times than you would like to admit).
You have an item (or three) that never gets checked off of your to-do list.
You frequently work at night and on weekends but go to bed feeling guilty that you didn’t get any writing done.
You have a constant sense of overwhelm and imposter syndrome is all too real.
You never have time to enjoy the so-called perks of a career in academia. (You know, a late start, a midday walk, an entire day off.)

And you’ve likely said to yourself, “Why do I feel like I’m doing so much but I’m never sure if I’m spending enough time on the right things?”

…you know, the things that will help with promotion or graduation!

Time management for academics and grad students

Agree or Disagree: Time Management is Hard!

And it’s also only a small piece of the academic puzzle. When we struggle with time management, it’s likely that we also struggle with planning, organization, or communication.

These are the four components of a system called project management, which is something I never learned in grad school. But I do believe that project management is essential for combining success in academia and living a fulfilled life at AT THE SAME TIME.

But, before we discuss project management and how we can apply it to our academic lifestyles, let’s define what projects are and how they look in academia.

What is a project?

According to the Association for Project Management (APM), a project is

a unique, transient endeavor, undertaken to achieve planned objectives…a project is determined to be successful if it achieves the objectives according to their acceptance criteria within an agreed timescale and budget.

What stood out most to me in that definition is that a project must have a planned objective and it must be time bound. And yes, there is mention of cost as well. I think that in academia, everything we do has a time or energy cost that we should consider as we plan our projects.

So what does a project look like in academia?

Publishing a paper
Completing a successful job search as a search committee member
Writing a letter of recommendation
Applying for a grant
Collecting data
Prepping to teach a class
Writing a test
Advising students
Grading an assignment
committee projects
Writing a paper

And the list goes on…

This is a long list and it doesn’t even include your personal/life responsibilities…or hobbies!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a system/framework to manage is all?

It’s called project management and I’ve created a project management framework designed specifically for academics.

Project Management for Academics (renamed FOCUS)

Project Management for Academics is the name of the program I created to help you implement my project management framework. In Project Management for Academics, I’ll help you break down your goals into projects, workflows, and tasks through my project management framework. Then I will show you how to IMPLEMENT it in a paper planner as well as online project management tools, Trello and Asana. Project Management for Academics is 1/3 of my FOCUS program for grad students and academics.

enroll in focus

5 Core Components of Project Management

Defining the reason why a project is necessary

In The Academic Society, we talk a lot about setting goals early and re-evaluating those goals often. When you take on a project, it should align with the goals you have set for yourself. And when you are a new faculty member, it’s helpful to look at every goal you set through a promotion filter. Will this project work with my promotion game plan?

When you are a graduate student, it’s helpful to look at every goal you set through a graduation/job search filter. Will this project help me graduate on time or boost my CV?

If a project doesn’t align with your goals and doesn’t fit in your Promotion Game Plan, it’s important to assess why you are taking on the project.

Capturing project requirements

Before starting a project, I like to think about all of the components and requirements necessary to complete the project. I ask myself the following. What are the steps/resources needed to complete the project? How long will it take? How much energy should be expended compared to my other projects?

Developing and implementing a management plan for the project

Are there milestones to be defined in your project? Should you work on your project daily, weekly, monthly, semesterly? What is your personal deadline for the project? Where and when will you work on it? Are others involved? How will you communicate? How often will you communicate or meet about the project?

There are so many things to manage when taking on a project that we often don’t consider until we start working.

Monitoring progress against your plan

Creating a plan is typically the fun part. The component of project/time management that we do first when a project is still exciting. Actually implementing the plan and making progress toward your goals can be difficult and less fun.

Before starting your project, I think it’s important to consider what progress looks like. When you re-evaluate your goals, are they realistic based on the evidence of your progress? Do you need to set new goals or create a new management plan?

Closing a project in a controlled fashion

Have you ever thought that you had finished working on a project but realized that there were still multiple administrative tasks that needed to get done as well. We often don’t think about what it means to finish a project because we are so focused on doing the work in the project.

What does finishing a project look like? Will you need to submit documents or email anyone? How long with the closeout process take?

So what do you think? Does project management seem overwhelming? It should. There are people whose entire job is dedicated to project management. However, I’ve parsed out the elements of project management that are useful to academics and broken it down into a quick and simple system through my project management framework for academics.

Project Management for Academics

In my framework, Project Management for Academics, I walk you through how to manage all components of your life by getting a bird’s eye view of the major aspects of your life (spaces) and slowly zooming in to the day to day tasks to help you intentionally make progress toward your goals.

In Project Management for Academics, I’ll help you break down your goals into projects, workflows, and tasks through my project management framework. Then I will show you how to IMPLEMENT it in a paper planner as well as online project management tools, Trello and Asana.

Because everyone is different. Some people like to plan on paper while others prefer to organize digitally. I actually do both so I’m giving you both options in my program.

Project Management for Academics has been bundled inside of my accountability and productivity program for grad students and academics. It’s called FOCUS.