How to develop a summer productivity plan
We’re nearing the end of the spring semester, which means that summer is just around the corner! I know that a lot of academics are beginning to develop productivity plans for summer. I also know that sometimes those summer plans can be a little bit too ambitious. I’m definitely guilty of sometimes setting very high (or even near impossible) expectations for what I can accomplish over the summer.
There are a few things that have helped me to set more realistic and practical plans for my summer productivity. If you relate to feeling overly optimistic in setting your summer plans, try following the planning process I’ve outlined below!
Schedule in planned trips and breaks. Yes, schedule in breaks first, before you make a to-do list. The best way to plan in times for rest and breaks is to do it first before you schedule other deadlines and tasks. Spend some time looking at your summer calendar and block off weeks or days where you have planned trips, breaks, holidays, or other commitments. Doing this first, before you reflect on what you’d like to accomplish, will help you be more realistic with what amount of time you have available.
Sketch out some goals. Spend some time listing out your projects and goals. What would you like to achieve by the end of the summer? Maybe you have a manuscript you want to get out the door, a new research project to get underway, and some data that needs to be analyzed. Jot down the top goals you want to achieve by the end of the summer.
Break down your tasks. Sometimes to-do lists can feel overwhelming because we don’t break things down into more manageable tasks. If you have a manuscript to revise and re-submit, putting “revise manuscript” on your to-do list doesn’t give you much of a place to start! Break your projects down into weekly task lists, like “review reviewer comments” and “add more detail on participant demographics.” Do this for each of your projects that you listed above until you have a full task list.
Sketch out a timeline. Once you have your list of tasks, it’s time to schedule them into your summer timeline. I like to schedule things on a week-to-week basis, which allows for some daily flexibility in what you work on. It might be that during some weeks, you focus more on some projects than on others. Other weeks may be taken up by vacations or travel. Sketch things out in a timeline. I’m a big fan of working backward, so start with where you want to be at the end of the summer and work backward from there.
Be realistic. You may be familiar with that famous Chanel quote about always taking off one accessory before leaving the house… I think we can also apply that same idea to productivity plans. Look back at your timeline, is there something that feels overly ambitious? Maybe some of your goals have a lower priority than others? It’s okay to scale back and remove items from your plan, especially now. Be realistic with what you expect yourself to accomplish this summer.
Make space for rest and fun. Believe it or not, but the goal of your summer is not to accomplish 12 months of work in the span of 12 weeks. Shocking! For many academics, summer is one of the very few extended opportunities for rest, travel, and time to recharge. Make space for this in planning your summer. Do you have a goal to spend more time outdoors or to read more fiction books? Do you want to spend more time with quality time family away from screens? Schedule that into your plan.
Be flexible. Make your plan a living document and adjust it throughout the summer as necessary. You may find that you need to re-evaluate your goals mid-summer, and that’s okay. I’ll also say again, take rest where you need it. It may feel like you’ve been running a marathon over the last year - it’s okay if all you need this summer is a break. Taking care of yourself is one of the most valuable things you can do. If all you do this summer is spend time resting and recharging, I’d consider that a very productive summer.
If you want additional planning support with developing a summer productivity plan, I highly recommend downloading a copy of my free PDF workbook “Plan with Purpose: A Quarterly Planning and Goal-Setting Workbook for Academics.” This workbook walks you through my step-by-step planning process and provides structure in purposefully planning to achieve your goals.
