Podcast appearances and mentions of cathy mazak

Apply for the 7 Figure Wealth Mastermind Today! https://ginaknox.co/mastermind Enrollment for this fall round is open October 7th - 11th 2024 Episode Synopsis: In this engaging conversation, Cathy Mazak shares her transformative journey from academia to entrepreneurship, detailing her experiences in the 7 Figure Wealth Mastermind. She discusses the challenges of stabilizing her business finances, the decision to purchase a dairy farm as a legacy project, and the evolution of her personal and financial goals. Cathy emphasizes the importance of managing business debt without letting it overshadow personal wealth building, and how her experiences have empowered her family and future generations. About Cathy: Cathy Mazak was a tenured, full professor when she founded Scholar's Voice, a professional development company that helps women and nonbinary professors write and publish to the level in line with their expertise. Author of Making Time To Write: How to resist the patriarchy and take control of your academic career through writing, Cathy is dedicated to helping 1000 scholars dramatically change their relationship to academia by 2030. Her popular podcast, Academic Writing Amplified, teaches listeners how to take control of their careers by centering their writing, publishing their backlog of papers, and participating in the culture of academia on their terms. Where to Find Cathy: Website: https://www.scholarsvoice.org Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction to Cathy Mazak's Journey03:35 - Transitioning from Academia to Entrepreneurship08:19 - Stabilizing Finances and Setting Wealth Goals14:12 - The Farm as a Legacy Project17:54 - Dreams Change: The Evolution of Goals25:17 - Making Tough Decisions: Selling the Dream House36:38 -Empowering Future Generations Through Financial Stability Category: Wealth Keywords: Cathy Mazak, entrepreneurship, wealth building, financial stability, farm business, retirement planning, women's empowerment, business coaching, legacy project, personal finance

Join 6 Figure Saver and Save $100k in your Business in 12 months: https://ginaknox.co/6-figure-saver Episode Synopsis: In this episode, we speak with Cathy Mazak, founder of Scholars Voice, shares her journey of building a professional development company for university professors. She discusses the challenges she faced in her business and the decision to downsize and simplify her programs. Cathy also highlights the importance of financial stability and the role of owner's pay in achieving personal and business goals. She credits the cashflow waterfall concept from 6 Figure Saver for helping her manage her finances effectively. Cathy recommends 6 Figure Saver to anyone starting a business or facing business downturns. About Cathy Mazak: Cathy Mazak was a tenured, full professor when she founded Scholar's Voice, a professional development company that helps women and nonbinary professors write and publish to the level in line with their expertise. Author of Making Time To Write: How to resist the patriarchy and take control of your academic career through writing, Cathy is dedicated to helping 1000 scholars dramatically change their relationship to academia by 2030. Her popular podcast, Academic Writing Amplified, teaches listeners how to take control of their careers by centering their writing, publishing their backlog of papers, and participating in the culture of academia on their terms. Where to find Cathy: Website: https://www.scholarsvoice.org

In today's episode, we interview Dr. Cathy Mazak. Cathy was a tenured, full professor when she founded a writing-focused professional development company for women and nonbinary academics. Cathy and her team are dedicated to changing the way that academics leverage writing and publication to create the careers and lives they want through courses and group coaching programs. We learn from her experience in how she pivoted from being a tenured full professor to a business owner, as well as her focus in her business on empower academic womxn and the ways in which academia tends to thwart the progress of those of minorities.She has a PhD from Michigan State University and is the editor of several scholarly collections and the author of numerous textbooks and academic journal articles. In her work as a professor at The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez she attracted external funding for her work in bilingualism and higher education and co-founded a research center. We learn from her experience in how she crafted her PhD research journey towards her position at The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez and how she could get her dream job after her PhD.Her popular podcast, Academic Writing Amplified, teaches how to use writing to resist the racist, ableist, patriarchal culture of academia. She is the author of Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing - part manifesto and part writing advice book, and we get to hear Cathy's advice on how to decide which writing projects to take on.Finally, we learn about Cathy's experience as an academic mother of three and how she balanced academia and motherhood, as well as her best advice for PhD candidates, how she sets boundaries to work, how COVID-19 impacted her work, and what a day in the life looks like for her.ReferencesCathy Mazak's websiteMaking Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of Your Academic Career Through Writing Academic Writing AmplifiedNavigate - course for writingAmplify - pre-tenure programElevate - post-tenure programAcademic mission statement CalendlyAcuity

In episode 115, Dr. Cathy Mazak joins us to talk about being an engaging educator and a productive scholar. What would it feel like if your teaching aligned with your research? What if your service within and beyond the institution advanced your scholarly work and served the people who need it most? For those of you feeling overwhelmed, pulled in a million directions, buried in the responsibilities of the tenure track, or just looking for a way to bring alignment and authenticity to your work, this is the episode for you.  Show notes: https://barbihoneycutt.com/LB115

Episode 15: Charting Your Own Path with Dr. Cathy Mazak In the new economy of work, it's become imperative to expand our idea of career and what it means to step into a "creator economy." While holding a position as a respected tenured faculty, our guest today, Dr. Cathy Mazak, wanted to find another way to bring in extra income. After brainstorming some ideas, Cathy took what she knew and, over time, built a multi-million dollar business. After several years of success, Cathy decided to leave her own academic career to support other academic women advancing their academic careers and chartering their own paths. In this episode of the Midlife Career Rebel Podcast, you'll discover… What prompted Cathy to start her entrepreneurial venture. How she navigated her growing business and day job. The ways Cathy managed her family's doubts and her own limiting beliefs. Why it's critical to trust yourself on the journey. How and why she got support and uses community to continue to elevate your business. Featured On The Show: Learn more about the Career Rebel Academy: https://bit.ly/3mZ7Mwm Cathy Mazak: https://www.cathymazak.com/ Academic Writing Amplified: https://www.cathymazak.com/podcast/ Look for Cathy's Upcoming Book - Making Time to Write: How to Resist the Patriarchy and Take Control of your Academic Career Through Writing
 Dr. Cathy Mazak is a writing coach, tenured, full professor, and a transformation coach who holistically helps academic womxn and non-men change the culture of academia from the inside out. She believes when more womxn and non-binary folx, especially folx of color, are included in the conversation and actually sit at the table in those rooms where decisions happen, only then can we start bringing down the racist patriarchy that keeps trying to shut us out of academia. If you have questions about applying this work, email us at hello@carolparkerwalsh.com or reach out to me on social media (see the links below). 
 Check out my FREE three part video series 10 Minute Career Jumpstart [https://bit.ly/3zWJoz5] and learn what it takes to get the life and career you want. This video series is a game-changer.
Need more support creating the career you want? You can do that in the Career Rebel Academy [https://bit.ly/3mZ7Mwm]. Rate, Review & Follow on Apple Podcasts "I'm loving the Midlife Career Rebel Podcast!" If that sounds like you, help us support more people like you to create a career and life they love. After all, the Midlife Career Rebel Podcast would not be possible without you. Click here for Apple Podcasts and scroll down to rate with five stars, select "write a review," then be sure to let me know what you appreciated about this or any other episode. You can also find us on Spotify. And if you're not following the podcast, don't forget to subscribe.
 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-midlife-career-rebel-podcast/id1592972920 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HxFeNxpf43J4FJRKxEmim And finally, manage your mind, value your brilliance, and courageously take action to step into the driver's seat of your life and career! Want more support to become the CEO of your life? Reach out to me at hello@carolparkerwalsh.com. Thanks for listening,Carol Website: https://www.carolparkerwalsh.com/podcast LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/parkerwalsh Instagram: https://instagram.com/drcarolparkerwalsh Twitter: https://twitter.com/drcpwalsh Facebook: https://facebook.com/DrCarolParkerWalsh

This week, I talk about periodically re-assessing your ideal week as necessary. I have already redone mine twice this semester due to factors outside of my control! But also, does that thing need to take you that long? Longer? Also, remember your Caution Weeks (from Cathy Mazak) where you know that you will be very busy for work or non-work reasons, and give yourself a break those weeks. Also, sometimes when you feel like you cannot stop, you need to take a break and come back later.

#1193 We have another special "Where are they now?" episode today. Our guest was actually one of the very first AskPat 2.0 guests: Cathy Mazak of CathyMazak.com. Cathy is a tenured professor who has a business helping academic womxn find time to write so they can make an impact in their academic field and have a balanced, fulfilled life. (It's spelled that way because, as Cathy says on her website, the business is geared toward helping women as well as non-men and nonbinary folks "change the culture of academia from the inside out.") In just the second episode of the new AskPat 2.0 format, Cathy was in her first year of business. She had a lot of decisions to make, especially around how much money she should be reinvesting in the business. We talk about what Cathy was dealing with back then, and the completely brand new set of problems she's facing. That's what happens when you take action and find success: the problems don't go away. They just change. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/ap1193.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, I talk about controlling what you can and letting go the rest. I talk about my favoritest person, Cathy Mazak and her making the word "overwhelm" into a noun, about Brene Brown's Guideposts to Wholehearted Living from The Gifts of Imperfection, and box breathing and completing the stress cycle. And caring about our students :)

It is our second podcast-iversary! Thank you SO much for listening. To show my appreciation, I'm sharing part of my Career Design Workshop with you-free-on this episode!   It is our second anniversary on the podcast, and I want to say thank you so much for listening and for helping us reach 207,832 episode downloads! That is amazing, and I am truly grateful.    As a thank you, I want to share part of my Career Design Workshop with you. Normally, you need to attend one of the retreats included with our Elevate or Amplify coaching programs, which are a significant investment. But since we are celebrating, I want you to have this sneak peek! I hope you enjoy and find it helpful.  For the full show notes, visit https://cathymazak.com/episode93 How a Designed Career Feels I'm going to illustrate how a designed career feels vs. an undesigned career using bookshelves.    This first picture is of my living room bookshelves at home.                                              These shelves started out organized, clean and set up how I want them. But as you can see, over time they have been stuffed full of many things that don't really belong there, or aren't even mine at all. My husband and children have put their things on there, a bunch of random things no one knew what to do with have been shoved in, and the more stuffed it gets, the more overwhelming it feels to deal with all of it. So it just keeps coming! If these bookshelves were a career, it is definitely undesigned.    This next picture is of my dream bookshelf.    It's curated, calm, everything has a place and feels like it belongs. If this bookshelf were a career, it would be an intentionally designed one!    I hope you can see where I'm going with this illustration. Career design gives you room to breathe, and helps you curate the career that feels right to you, full of the activities that you have chosen.  What Gets in the Way Just like with my personal bookshelves, we might start from an organized place, but life in academia throws so much at us, that if we're not extremely careful and intentional, we end up with something chaotic that feels overwhelming. Here are some things that get in the way:   The snowball effect. The more things that come at us, the more fires we have to put out, the less time we have to reflect on what we're doing, the fuller the “bookshelf” gets.    Our default setting is react. If there's not a solid plan in place, when new things get thrown at us, they often just get shoved in wherever they fit. Instead of responding with intention, we react, and therefore never feel like we have enough time, space, or control. We believe we have no control. There is a long list of things in academia that we can't control, so we give in to the feeling that our whole career is out of our hands.   What is Career Design? Career design is all about intentional planning and intentional action. The key is that your career choices and plans are driven by you, not others. You decide what you want your career to look like and what direction you need to go, and you make choices about how to get there.    The goal is to create a career that is joyful, and then to set boundaries to protect that joy.   “You should get joy out of your career.” -Cathy Mazak   Is my career designed well enough? To get an idea of where you are in terms of a well-designed career, take a minute to complete this assessment.    After each question, give yourself a grade of:  RED: Not designed at all; things just come at me and I react YELLOW: Somewhat designed; I'm able to make some intentional choices, some of the time GREEN: Well Designed; this area is driven by me, intentional and well-defined   1. Is your calendar designed? Is your schedule intentionally created and controlled by you?   2. Is your email management designed? Do you have a system for dealing with email or are you just reacting? Are there boundaries in place around your email?    3. Is your writing system designed? Do you have a regular process, systems, and a way to engage with your projects in an intentional way? Do you know how to get back into it when you fall away?   4. Is your pipeline designed? Do you have a curated pipeline full of strategically chosen projects for specifically targeted journals?   5. Is your path to promotion designed? Whatever point you're at in your career, are your next steps defined? While the process and requirements may feel arbitrary or out of your hands, have you decided how you will approach the goal, and what steps you'll choose to take?    What color came up most for you on this assessment? How did you feel about it? Checking in on what's working and what isn't is a vital first step toward designing a career that feels good to you. Once you get a handle on what's tripping you up, you'll have a better idea of what needs to change and where to start.    The Career Design Process Set Intentions--Take Action--Reflect & Revise Having a well designed career is not something you can do and have it stay done forever. As with my bookshelf example above, you have to revisit it if you want it to stay the way you want it. You have to set clear intentions, take action on them, reflect on what's working, and revise as necessary. You also need to be relentless with your boundaries.   Ready for More? Did you enjoy this sneak peek into our Career Design process? If you're ready to find space to think and plan your next career moves, our Elevate  program could be right for you. Happy academics make more knowledge and create more change. You deserve to be one of them!    Click here to sign up for a free, live info session to get all your questions answered about Elevate, a program for post-tenure academics who are ready to create careers they love, make an impact, and leave a legacy.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode93.

Does spending time and money on your own development feel selfish? What if investing in ourselves actually improved not only our lives, but spilled over to improve the lives around us too? Elevate graduate Despina Stavrinos joins me to share how investing in herself helped her to create time in her schedule, energized her career, and improved her relationships.    Key points discussed: Despina's background, career as a founding lab director and family situation The role of technology as a tool for career and personal development What made Despina apply for the Elevate program How the program changed her definition of “winning” Impacts on her time management and calendar including her first unplugged vacation Creating space in her day and how pulling back contributes to a better view of the big picture Returns on investment and the importance of investing in ourselves The value of a community that is engaged, understanding and willing to share knowledge while cheering her on Key Quotes: “I decided to do something ‘selfish'.” -Despina Stavrinos “I think it's one of the best professional financial decisions I've ever made.” -Despina Stavrinos “I strategically planned for taking that time off and it was amazing.” -Despina Stavrinos “The sum is greater than its parts.” -Despina Stavrinos “Technology can help us set those boundaries and keep those boundaries.” -Cathy Mazak “You need to have networks of people that get [it].” -Cathy Mazak “When you pour into you, then you have that overflow effect.” -Cathy Mazak “You've gotta take care of you.” -Despina Stavrinos “Once you get supported...it really changes the way you think about those moments when you feel overwhelmed…” -Cathy Mazak   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode92.

We get our hopes up for what it might feel like after we finally get tenure, but what is the reality? I'm sharing some of my own story about getting tenure, and what came next.    Are you a mid to late career academic who got tenure (or promotion, depending on your system) and felt a serious let down? You are not alone. I'm sharing a little of my own story on this episode to illustrate what changes, what doesn't, and what to do about it.    My Story I started out with the University of Puerto Rico just before a recession hit, around 2007. Very quickly, things went from sort of cushy and spacious, to very tight and uncertain. When I went up for associate professor, I was put on a waitlist with other colleagues and basically told, ‘when we have the money, we'll promote you'. I sat on that list for at least 2 years. I was going up for full tenure by the time I received the final approval notice for associate professor! All the little perks like cost of living increases, materials allowances, accumulated vacation time payouts and sabbaticals for tenured professors were all gone at this point. There was no support for adding new programs, no encouragement to take risks.    I felt a pretty big sense of letdown after getting my full tenure. Yes, I had stability, but I felt like I was stuck, with no opportunity for continued growth and no support for the dreams I had for my career. No lightbulb moment, shifting of priorities or workload, or sense of freedom accompanied the tenure award. I feel very fortunate that I was able to find my zone of genius outside the ‘container' of my institution. After a 2 year self-funded sabbatical I resigned and am now living out my post-tenure career aspirations in a new way.    Is This You? Do you have a similar experience of dissatisfaction post-tenure? Tenure does have its benefits, of course! Stability, stature, and often a pay raise give tenure it's coveted status. However, these benefits do not necessarily affect how our careers feel after tenure. Many of the academics I've spoken to have shared these kinds of experiences: They feel tired, overwhelmed, overscheduled and overcommitted. Their own projects and priorities often fall to the wayside as they continue to put out fires and address the needs of others. They have so many teaching and advising deadlines and responsibilities that there is no time for other things, like writing. They have big dreams, but it seems like no one else on campus thinks the way they do, or has the same kinds of aspirations. They feel restless, uninspired, and question their validity on the path they are on.   We tend to blame ourselves when we can't get to a place that feels good post-tenure. But let me tell you from experience, that not much changes in the day-to-day unless we make those changes for ourselves.    “If you felt like you were running on a treadmill set too fast pre-tenure, that's how you will feel post-tenure.” -Cathy Mazak    What Now? If you identify with some of the feelings and experiences above, but what you want is a bigger, more satisfying, impactful and legacy building career, then consider learning more about my Elevate program for mid and late career academics.    My team and I have listened to the needs and desires of post-tenure academics just like you, and created Elevate to help you gain clarity on what you want to come next for you and to help you take the actions to make it happen.   Elevate is a 6-month, high level coaching program that utilizes 1:1 coaching, group coaching, and curriculum based learning to set you up for clarity and action. This legacy building program is full of people who see something bigger for their futures, and want a different experience post-tenure.    Elevate starts in February, but we want to give you plenty of time to learn more, secure your funding and decide if it's the right step for you. Click here to sign up for an in-depth info session during the first week of October 2021 to get a behind the scenes look at the program and each step of the framework.    If you are mid to late career and feel frustrated but are ready to step into something bigger, sign up to join us at the info session. See you there! Pulled in a thousand directions and can't seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode90.

Are you a pre-tenure or early career academic? What should you do to maximize this time in your career without fear? I'm walking you through my Amplify framework for going up for tenure with confidence.   If you are listening in real time and applied for our Amplify program but haven't secured your spot, time is almost up! Tomorrow is the last day to secure your spot, so don't miss out on the only time we will be running Amplify in 2021. For those who haven't yet applied, there are still a couple spaces left, so you can still apply and get in by the deadline. Whether you've applied or not, I want to share the framework we use in Amplify, to help you think about what you need to have in place to have the career you want moving forward in your tenure process.  For those who have already applied, you can secure your spot here. Before we jump in, why did I decide to name this program “Amplify”? As a member of a bilingual family and a language academic, the significance is twofold. In English, Amplify means to make louder, or bigger. In Spanish, the cognate ‘Amplio' evokes a sense of comfort and spaciousness. We want to help you expand your impact, and create your career path from a place of comfort and ease. That's what we do in Amplify! Here is our diagram for the structure of Amplify Clarify Getting clear on who you are as an academic, where you want your career to go and how you want to make an impact has to come first. (We'll be presenting on this part of the program at our virtual kick-off retreat on 9/10/21, and we can't wait!)   1. Design Your Career “There's a big difference between surviving in your career and thriving in it, and that difference is design.” -Cathy Mazak   How do you want your career and life to feel? We'll help you create a milestone map of what is important to you as you design your career.    2. Power Up Your Pipeline We'll help you create a pipeline strategy that helps you tell your unique story as a scholar. You'll learn how to take control of your pipeline and use it to maintain boundaries and stick to your priorities. You'll always know what to work on next and where each project is in the process through strategic pipeline management.   3. Set Your Career's Foundation You need a plan for your pre-tenure experience. It's not just about what you want to accomplish, but also about how you want your career to feel. The time to set foundational expectations for your career is now. We'll help you create a pre-tenure action plan and write your career narrative.    Demystify Part of the problem in academia is that there is this mysterious, secretive feeling about how things work and how things get done. It's perpetuated by the (false) lone wolf academic ideal. It does not have to be that way!   1. Resilient Writing We share the processes for dealing with the ebb and flow of a writing practice, how to deal with expected and unexpected disruptions to your writing, the role of rest and how to get back to writing after a break. Create your own resilient writing plan that fits your life.   2. Manage Yourself Uplevel your time management and planning skills to get the most out of your time without overwork or burnout. The critical piece of this part of the curriculum is this: know yourself. We'll help you get to know what works for you, trust your inner voice, and leverage the rest/restore cycle.   3. Manage Others Professional relationships that are positive and empowering are an important part of an impactful career. We'll teach you how to relate to others, from people ‘above' you to colleagues to students, while maintaining boundaries and moving your own career forward.    Multiply Multiply your effectiveness and impact on the world through your career. We'll give you the tools and help you create the practices you need to accomplish it.   1. Develop Self-Trust This just might be the most important principal in the program. Once you get to know yourself as a scholar, you must practice trusting yourself. As womxn, we've been socialized not to trust ourselves, but the good news is: this skill is learnable. We'll help you practice listening to your inner mentor, and give you a safe space to take risks.   2. Lead For Change It's time to let your values lead your career. We help you weigh when to take risks and when to conserve your energy, and navigate the different spaces you might occupy as you balance a drive for change with your personal boundaries. You'll develop your individual values statement to help guide your career.   3. Create Practices Lastly, we'll help you create personalized practices that will maintain your progress and set you up for continued success on your terms. We want to see you launch into the career you've designed, equipped with everything you need to continue to develop and adapt to your changing world.  If you haven't applied for Amplify, there's still time if you act fast. Spots for the 2021 cycle must be secured with a deposit by midnight on 8/25/21. A waiting list for the 2022 program will likely open in October.  Click here to learn secure your spot (if you have already applied) Click here to apply today   Is your writing project languishing, mired in the messy middle, or stuck on revise and resubmit? Grab my Writing Sprint Blueprint, a powerful productivity tool to help stalled out publications get out of your pipeline and into the world. As a bonus, you'll also gain access to my private podcast feed “Stick to the Plan”, a 10 episode series of short, inspirational messages to keep you going. Click here to get the Writing Sprint Blueprint and “Stick to the Plan” podcast series for just $27!   Connect with me: Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak 

Why is investing in ourselves as academic womxn a radical act? And what should you do if your institution doesn't want to invest in you? Making your career what you want it to be is up to you.   There's a lot of talk these days about self-care, but what does this mean for us as academics? How do we make sure we are getting where we want to go in our careers, and valuing our own contributions to the world? In order to grow and develop as scholars, we must invest in ourselves. As womxn, this is a radical act, and one I hope you'll make for yourself.    Self-Care = Self-Preservation The term ‘self-care' has been co-opted a little bit...people often think of things like bubble baths when they think of self-care. But what I'm talking about here is really self-preservation. What do you need to do to be able to live the life you want? As a writer, I know I need to exercise and keep my back strong or I won't be able to physically sit in the chair and get writing done. As a scholar, I know I need to keep growing and developing best practices for getting my message into the world. That means investing in myself.    “What are the actions you have to take...to make sure that you can keep doing what you want to be doing in your life?” -Cathy Mazak   Why is it Radical? We've talked about radical acts in previous episodes, because many things we do as academic womxn operating in a patriarchal system that was not built for us are radical! The patriarchy tells us that womxn should defer to the needs and comfort of others, that our only real contribution to the world is through caring for others. Not true! Investing in yourself, doing what you need to do to preserve yourself and the academic life you want, and growing and developing as a scholar is a radical and much needed act.    You Can't Can Take It With You Your institution (the “container” through which you do your scholarly work) helps you get your work out into the world, but your career is about your work and your contribution. When your institution refuses to pay for professional development, it can be infuriating, frustrating, deflating...especially if you're over-working and give them all of those precious extra hours of your life.    You may have (understandably) developed an attitude of “I just won't do anything they don't pay for”. But don't forget! Your career belongs to you. Your personal and professional development belong to you. And just like with publications, learning, growth and connections you make enrich your career and come with you wherever you go. Professional development programs like my Amplify program can even teach you how to cut down overwork and create a regular workweek, which means you are essentially giving yourself a raise. You and your career are worth it!    Taking the Next Steps 1. Advocate for yourself! Ask your institution to cover expenses for your professional development and tell them why making you a better and happier scholar benefits them.   2. If they refuse, remember that you can take it with you! Consider the pay off of investing in yourself, in terms of happiness, in terms of contribution to your field, in terms of pay. You are worth it!    3. Consider applying for Amplify: Faculty Writing Accelerator, my 6-month long program designed for you, whether you want to build a sustainable, scalable writing system, go up for tenure with confidence and ease, take control of your career direction, or find a supportive community that understands your struggles. Click here to apply, but don't wait, applications close soon and we get started on September 1st, 2021.  Is your writing project languishing, mired in the messy middle, or stuck on revise and resubmit? Grab my Writing Sprint Blueprint, a powerful productivity tool to help stalled out publications get out of your pipeline and into the world. As a bonus, you'll also gain access to my private podcast feed “Stick to the Plan”, a 10 episode series of short, inspirational messages to keep you going. Click here to get the Writing Sprint Blueprint and “Stick to the Plan” podcast series for just $27!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode89.

What does the early career, pre-tenure period usually feel like for academic womxn? What should it feel like? With intention, we can steer ourselves toward a better experience.    The early career period of proving yourself to gain that stamp of approval, whether you call it permanence or tenure, is a pivotal time in our careers. What does this pre-tenure period often feel like? What should it feel like? And perhaps most importantly, what do you believe it can be like for you? What the Pre-Tenure Process Feels Like   1. Scary It can feel like your whole career is on the line, and the pressure is enormous. You might worry that if you don't do enough, or if you aren't fast enough, you'll fail.    2. Insecure It might feel like you're walking on eggshells, afraid to say no, or to say the wrong thing and upset someone on your tenure review team.    3. Exhausting There's so much to learn when you start a tenure-track position! Course preps, service, admin duties, department politics, and unspoken expectations can all be piled on top of your actual tenure requirements. Maybe you've moved to a new town, or had to change family schedules as well.   “A lot of our actions pre-tenure are, understandably, motivated by fear.” -Cathy Mazak What the Pre-Tenure Process Should Feel Like   1. Fulfilling You are in the developmental process of becoming who you want to be as a scholar. This should be a time of figuring out your next steps for your best career and finding out what lights you up as you contribute to your field.   2. Exciting It's a time of huge growth! You are meeting new people in your field, and creating knowledge. You are creating something new and stepping into your potential. That should be exciting!   “I would love for everyone to feel excited pre-tenure...excited about what they are going to create.” -Cathy Mazak   3. Strategic During this period you are working to align your teaching, research and service to your academic mission. It's a time to make connections, meet people in your field, and get strategic about what you are creating and what path you are taking to success.   4. Spacious and Easeful  Let me be clear: pre-tenure is not easy. You are solving scholarly problems that do not have easy solutions. However, I truly believe it can be easeful. You can and should have spaciousness and ease in the process. You should not be obligated to work 60 hour work weeks or nights and weekends to stay afloat. You should have room to think. Your whole job is about thinking, so it's important!    This is the hardest idea for many to wrap their brains around, and I admit, it's revolutionary...the best kind of rebellious. And I believe it can change knowledge-making in the best possible way. It's time for academia to change, and it can start with us!   “I really believe that pre-tenure should and can feel spacious and easeful.”   Getting Intentional With Amplify Giving you the tools to plan your career with intentionality is what we do! It's my jam, and I am always thinking about ways to help you shift your mindset, get strategic, and have the career you want. In our 6 month Amplify program, we use a combination of coaching, training and community to help you make your pre-tenure experience feel more like it should.   Enrollment is open now, so head to cathymazak.com/amplify for more information and to apply. Our 3 cohorts will be running September through February, but once you're approved, you'll get access to our first event, an invite-only training in August to give you a taste of what the program is like. Don't wait, spots are filling fast! Click here to apply.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode84.

Wondering how you can grow your business in a sustainable way?   Growing and solidifying your high ticket offer is the key in upleveling your business, and you can do it by getting everything you need in place, from your program to building your own dream team. And that is how Cathy Mazak, our podcast guest, did exactly. She went from having her 9-to-5 job, offering low ticket offers at the side, and then grew her business and her own high ticket offer.    Cathy Mazak was a tenured, full professor when she founded Cathy Mazak, LLC, a professional development company for womxn professors, researchers, and doctoral students. Cathy and her team are dedicated to changing the way that academic womxn leverage writing and publication to create the careers and lives they want through courses and group coaching programs. Her popular podcast, Academic Womxn Amplified, teaches how to use writing to resist the racist, ableist, patriarchal culture of academia.   In this episode, learn: How to transition from your 9-to-5 to focusing on your own business full time in a sustainable way; Why building your own small but mighty team is important in hitting your revenue goals; When to add additional revenue streams in your business alongside your signature offer, and more!   Whenever you're ready, here are ways my team and I can help you grow your business: I wanna hear from you - If you like this episode, the format, or the topic, send us an email here. Me and my team are checking each and every one of the emails and we'd be happy to receive your feedback. Join our free masterclass - Are you looking for a plan to grow your business before the year is out? Come hang with me in our limited time only, free masterclass: 5 Simple Steps to Organize Your Service Business. Inside I share a bonus gift to help create your business glow-up, get organized, make money moves, and play bigger! Save your seat here. Leave us a review - If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, do us a favor and leave us a rating on iTunes! ⭐⭐⭐⭐         And don't forget to check out Cathy Mazak on Facebook and Instagram!

Did you know writing can serve as a tool to help you organize your whole career? If you need a way to organize your thoughts, your time, and your career, it all starts with writing!   Writing is so much more than “currency” in academia. Writing and publishing does help you get, keep and develop your career, but it has lots of other benefits too. One of the ways writing helps you as an academic is by acting as an “organizer” in three main areas.    Writing Is An Organizer For Your Thoughts I've created a lot of content over the years as an academic writing coach. Before that I wrote and published academic articles as a tenured, full professor. And yet, the long form writing I'm doing for my book has taught me so much about my own best practices, and helped me clarify my thoughts and ideas around this topic I've been working on for years!    A poem by Antonio Machado puts it beautifully: “...wanderer, there is no road. The road is made by walking.” And through the process of writing we discover and develop our thoughts. Writing acts as an organizer for ideas, thoughts, and processes in your scholarly work.    “You write your way to revelations about your work.” -Cathy Mazak   Writing Is An Organizer For Your Time When you prioritize your writing on your calendar, it helps you organize your time. As much as you possibly can, put your writing sessions on your calendar first, then fill everything else in around them. To find the best times to write, remember, here are my 3 recommendations: Use your Soar States. Those are the times of day where you naturally have the most motivation, energy and drive.  Use co-writing times. Join us in our Momentum program,  grab a friend and head to the coffee shop, or hop on Zoom with a small group. Set your separate goals at the beginning, write quietly, then check in at the end... you'll multiply each other's energy and focus. Write first thing. If the other options don't work, put your writing times at the very beginning of your workday. When you get to the office, don't check email, shut the door and write for an hour.    Don't worry about trying to write every day, just make sure you are consistent, and writing gets your priority spots. This isn't always easy to do, I get that! But if you have this idea in mind, you can advocate when it comes time for class assignments, or talk to your department chair about your schedule. It's all part of the process of making your writing (and thus your career) the priority.   “The key to you having the kind of career and the life that you want is thinking of writing as the driver of your time...as the organizer of your time.”   Writing Is An Organizer For Your Career When you put your writing at the center, all your other career “activities” are pulled toward it. Creating an academic mission statement that outlines what your career goals are, what you want your career to do, is key.    Once you've prioritized your writing and created your mission statement, you'll gain the clarity and focus to ask yourself, “does this fit? Is this helping me reach my goals?” Writing as a driving force in your career makes you a more effective scholar!   If you're an early career faculty member (pre-tenure here in the U.S.), I'm inviting you to join me for a behind the scenes look at my Amplify Faculty Accelerator program! I'm hosting an info session called Writing and Publishing Strategically: How to Go Up for Tenure With Confidence on June 23 at 12pm Eastern. Click here to get signed up for the free info session and see if this 6 month coaching program is right for you!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode81. 

After two years unpaid leave from her position as a full tenured professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Dr. Cathy Mazak is about to finally exit the academy. Her once side hustle is now a thriving business where she earns much more money than she ever earned as a professor. In this episode, Cathy argues that academic work is actually more risky than entrepreneurship because at the university, your paycheck depends on the financial health of the university system. She also talks about the unique set of skills each of us has and that it doesn't matter what container we practice those skills in: university, nonprofit, government, own business, etc. Being a professor is not your identity, she explains. It's just the container in which you happen to offer your gifts to the world. Cathy also discusses the importance of self-trust in building a business and how for women, it's a challenge because we have been socialized to mistrust ourselves.

Is your career 90% awesome? Do you spend most of your time doing things that are important for your scholarly work? I can show you how to get there. In my last episode I talked about what radical change in academia looks like. The outcome of that radical change is that we build careers that are 90% awesome. Careers in which we do things we love 90% of the time.  When you first wanted to become an academic, you got into it for the act of creation, the making of knowledge that had the potential to change the world. But what happened to this aspiration when it came in contact with reality?  Our ruthless academic culture--the one that exploits contingent faculty and graduate students, squeezes tenure-track faculty into more and more teaching and service, and more and more unpaid admin, and more and more minutiae--has led you to believe something I’m not ok with.  It led you to believe that you have to suffer to do the scholarly work. I’m here today to tell you the most important message you need to experience radical change in 2021: You don’t have to suffer. You’re allowed to strive for a career that’s 90% awesome. Your career is made up from the activities you do every day. And if you hate most of the things you do every day, your career is going to be 90% awful.   Choosing Yourself It is ingrained in us at every turn that time, energy, and money are scarce in academia. These beliefs are enforced by us being underpaid as graduate students, expected to work nights and weekends out of “passion” or because “that’s what I had to do when I was a graduate student.” Awful.   This works out perfectly for institutions because by the time we get tenure-track jobs, we are “just lucky to have a steady job.” So, we pretty much tolerate the culture of overwork and the glorification of busy, the toxic colleagues and the “we don’t have money for that” messaging because we are so ingrained in scarcity that we feel like we have no choice but to suck it up, buttercup. And still, we spend sleepless nights wondering if our publications and grants are enough to get us tenure or full.    “We cannot collectively change academia if we keep believing in awful, in suffering, and in settling.” -Cathy Mazak   If we’ve learned anything as academics over the last year, it should be that we need to deeply and profoundly make choices that go in the service of ourselves, because our institutions will not have our back.    Academics who choose themselves, and who have put the systems and processes in place to support this deep belief in their own work and worth, are not scared by all the uncertainty around us and the ever-impending crisis in their institutions. That’s because they know that what they are building is not dependent on their institutions. What they are building is bigger than that.    “The message for all academics, loud and clear, is: choose yourself.” -Cathy Mazak   Achieving 90% Awesome Achieving this kind of career is not some dreamy, esoteric thing. It is achieved through two things I’ve talked about in past episodes:  Values Systems   The values part is easy. You just have to believe that academia should be changed, radically, and that you are worthy of the career you want. Done.   The systems part is harder because the systems behind a mission-driven academic career, a career where your scholarly work, not the minutiae of emails and committee meetings, drives your day-to-day routine, are hidden. Most of us know that our advisors got work done, but how they got work done is absolutely still a mystery when we graduate. Or maybe we did see how they got work done, and it was by driving themselves into the ground.   But these systems do exist! I’ve been teaching them (and refining them) for myself for almost 20 years, and for hundreds of other academics for almost five years. You really only need three sets of systems:  Time management systems Writing systems Pipeline & planning systems   So for all you skeptics out there, if you are onboard with the idea that the values we espouse inside of academia need to change, then all you need to start living out those values is a set of systems that are 100% learnable. I teach these systems inside of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap, and if you want to be sure to get all the info when I open the doors for enrollment from Tuesday, April 27 to Monday, May 3, join the waitlist here. If you’re ready for a radical change in academia, you need to be in this cohort! Get on the Waitlist! Be one of the first 10 to sign up  and you’ll get a free spot at our retreat! And, if you’re thinking about joining the #radicalcohort of Navigate, we want you to know that we’re offering a reduced payment plan so that you can get started in the program for $247 (with 8 additional payments of $247 monthly after that). If you’d rather pay in full, Navigate will be at the special lump-payment price of $1997. Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode76.

Does writing keep falling to the bottom of your list? Do you think you need accountability to hold you to your goals? I want to show you why you need community instead.   Accountability, or the idea that you need an external person to “hold you” to your goals, is rooted in patriarchy. Entrenched social structures in the culture of academia have given rise to womxn who are not trusted to hold themselves to their own standards and who perhaps do not trust themselves.    A lot of womxn who come to my writing programs are looking for accountability at first, and I get it. But I challenge you to explore new ways to get writing done that aren’t sending a message to yourself that you are weak, can’t hold time for yourself and are not to be trusted with your own work. So what else can we do? We can feminize the concept of accountability in 3 ways. 1. Practice Self-Trust Self-trust is a muscle you strengthen by using it. Practice listening to and relying on your inner voice to know what is right for you alone. Give your own voice more weight than the voices of those outside of you. Relying on an outside entity to force change is unsustainable. Instead, cultivate the ability to trust yourself to know the best way forward. As Alexandra Frazen says in this wonderful article, go with your “hut” (heart + gut). 2. Build Boundaries I’ve talked about boundaries in many different contexts, and I’m bringing them up again here because they are that important. You must create boundaries around your time in order to have the impact you desire. Remember: the things you spend your time doing in your career are your career. Don’t you want writing to be at the top of that list?   “How are we holding firm to what is important?” -Cathy Mazak   3. Community The fantastic news is that learning and growth and development don’t have to come on your own. When we are in community, we are surrounded by others who have shared experiences and shared values, and that is powerful! A community lifts us up to our goals, rather than holding us accountable.    “When you think you need accountability, what you really need is community.”  -Cathy Mazak   If you’re ready to get radical and open yourself up to creating growth in your life and the lives of your community, join us in Momentum!   Coming soon: pre-enrollment for my Navigate course, helping you to navigate a career of your own design, using 10 systems and powered by writing. All of our Momentum members will get priority sign up and special bonuses, so if you’ve been thinking about trying Momentum, now is the time! Learn more and sign up here: cathymazak.com/momentum  Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode73.

Are you comparing where you are in your scholarly journey to where others are? Do you feel like your career isn’t progressing the way you thought it would? I’m sharing part of my story that I hope will inspire you.   If you’ve ever felt like you just can’t get the hang of this writing and publishing thing, this episode is for you. I’m sharing a little bit about my (very long) qualitative research publishing journey to show you that developing as a scholar and as a writer is an ongoing process. I encourage you to see your own journey as a process of growth, and to think twice before you compare where you are on that journey to someone else.    My Journey Begins I was a very lucky PhD candidate. I had a wonderful experience. I worked with talented and supportive advisors, I loved my research, and I was even awarded a grant to complete my dissertation.    So as I got ready to submit for my first published work after receiving my Phd, I was feeling pretty confident. I pulled a chapter from my dissertation and got to work shaping it into an article.   Submission and Rejection I assumed the article would be perfect for Anthropology and Education Quarterly (a top tier journal). As you can probably deduce at this point, the article was rejected. But, I consider myself incredibly lucky in this rejection, because the reviewers gave me some incredibly valuable feedback. They pointed out a lack of rigor in my qualitative research set up and my ability to articulate it.    I hadn’t realized how different the aims and expression of scholarly articles are to those of a dissertation. I had excellent training in qualitative research methods, but the way I was implementing and articulating those methods needed development.    Choices and Growth I worked on revisions to the article for a year, then resubmitted. I got another rejection, with pretty much the same feedback! I still hadn’t solved the problem of clearly expressing the rigor of the study design. At this point, I was 8 months pregnant, and I made a choice to set the article aside and move on to other things. First on the list: maternity leave! After I returned from maternity leave, I suffered a near breakdown from burnout and overwhelm, as I’ve shared about before.   As the years passed, I followed new lines of research, secured large grants, and completed new studies; all informed by that feedback I had received from my first article submission. I published other articles, and grew as a scholar.    When I did finally go back to that original article, I had a changed perspective. I revised it for a final time and decided that a mid-tier journal called Language Identity and Education was a better fit. It was accepted with very minor revisions, and finally published after it’s long and winding journey!    To round out the “happy ending”, a colleague and I submitted a different article to Anthropology & Education Quarterly several years later which was accepted with minor revisions on the first go. That initial rejection and the invaluable feedback that came with it helped to shape me as a scholar. To give you a visual of my career narrative in terms of that first article, I’ll share a timeline below. Don’t give up, and try to view your rejections as places to learn and grow.   “You’re never done developing as a scholar.” -Cathy Mazak Timeline: 2005: Awarded Spencer Foundation Grant and completed my dissertation 2006: Landed a tenure track job  2007: Submitted to Anthropology and Education Quarterly for the first time; received rejection and feedback 2008: Worked on revisions 2009: Resubmittal rejected; I chose to put the article in a drawer 2010: Maternity leave for 6 months; after return to work I suffered a near breakdown 2011: Revised again and submitted to a lower tier journal 2012: Article accepted with minor revisions In 2107, I submitted a co-authored article to Anthropology and Education Quarterly and it was accepted with minimal revisions.   Friends, that was a very long journey for my dissertation article! But I was growing as a scholar, researcher, and writer the whole time. And the feedback I received from my first rejection was instrumental in my growth. It was all part of the process that brought me to where I am today.    If you’re feeling discouraged about some aspect of your career, I encourage you to step back, reflect on your journey without judgement, and look for places where setback could be contributing to your growth and development.    “The process is the process.” -Cathy Mazak   Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode69.

When writing is at the center of our careers, it’s powerful. Here are 5 clues that you might not be putting the priority on writing that you think you are.   We’ve talked many times about the importance of centering your writing to help build your best career. And you might want to do that… but are you really? Here are 5 clues that point to writing being on the sidelines in your life and career.   Clue #1: You are doing your writing early in the morning, late at night, or on the weekends. There are a couple of caveats to this. If your soar state happens to be early in the morning, and you happen to be one of those lucky people whose children don’t wake up at 4:30am, then by all means, write early! Whenever your most focused and energetic times are, you should be using them for writing.    But, if you’re pushing your writing outside of your working hours because you don’t have time during the day, you’re telling yourself: writing isn’t the work, it’s something extra. But it is the most important work! So it should be inside your work day.   Clue #2: Your work schedule is designed around your teaching schedule. Ideally, your work schedule should be designed around your writing. When are your soar states? Your class schedule should be working around that and not the other way around. What would it take for this to happen? Can you talk with your department chair? Request a new schedule? It might not be possible to pull this off all the time, but think about what could change.   “If teaching is the thing that is anchoring your day, I want you to consider making writing the thing that anchors your day.” -Cathy Mazak   Clue #3: Your course content centers the generic department syllabus and not your own work. I’m not suggesting that you have your students do your writing for you, or that you throw out the syllabus and only talk about your research. But how can you infuse your curriculum with your own work and interests? What readings that you want to do for yourself would make great conversation with your students? How can pull your classes into line with your academic mission statement?   Clue #4: You can’t keep a date with your writing. You’ve got writing times on your calendar, but when it’s time to sit down and make it happen, something else always comes up. Maybe you aren’t putting proper boundaries up around that time, or maybe you haven’t formed a good habit yet. To pull it off the sidelines, you’ve got to keep those dates with your writing.   {For help getting started on a solid writing habit, join us in Momentum, my co-writing program. Lots of times to co-write, and only $27/month. Sign up today and write with us tomorrow!}   Clue #5: You don’t have your pipeline somewhere visible in your office. This is something we do in my Navigate program. Once your pipeline is put together and ready to run smoothly, be sure it is somewhere visible, so you can quickly access it, you know what you’re working on next, and your writing is always top of mind.    If you’ve recognized yourself in any of these 5 clues, don’t panic! Consider this a wake up call, and an opportunity to reflect, and make changes!   “Think about how you can pull your writing off the sidelines and put it in the center.” -Cathy Mazak Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode67.

I’m diving into the idea of “publications as currency” to both debunk the idea and show you how you can make it work for you and your academic mission. If you’re in academia, you’ve probably heard the idea that publications are currency. And that’s true...but what does it really mean for us as womxn academics operating in systems that are not built for us? Publications add value to the world, represent our work, and give us something tangible to take forward with us. But it’s time to reframe the “currency” idea.   I want to show you how you can use your writing as the currency to get you where you want to go in your career, rather than as a proscribed idea of what you have to publish where to “pay” your way forward. Some of the ideas I’m going to put forward might seem scary, but I think they are vital to our individual satisfaction in our careers, and to the collective work we’re doing to change norms in academia. Publications Are Part of Your Creation What is currency? Something that has value no matter where you take it, that gets picked up and passed around and used by others. This is just what our publications do. They add value, and they are mobile. You might not be able to transfer curriculum creation or coursework from one institution to another, but your publications always come with you, and always add value.    “If publications are currency, that means writing needs to take a more central role in our careers.”  -Cathy Mazak   Currently in academia, the “currency” idea is often used to mean certain kinds of publications, in certain kinds of journals, that pay your way to certain opportunities. I want to challenge that.    Our careers as academics are a continuous process of creation. Publications are a kind of “receipt” for that creation; they are a tangible thing to point to. But what else could be a “receipt” of the creation you do? Always bring it back to your academic mission statement. What has helped you move toward that mission? Maybe it’s engaging with your audience through newspaper articles, social media, or community involvement. These can all be used as currency to build the career you want. But you have to be strategic. Getting Strategic With Your Writing Maybe being published in a prestigious journal doesn’t move your career forward like smaller journals that are more targeted to your audience would. Don’t let the norms of a patriarchal, racist, ableist system distract you; always bring things back to your mission statement. Use your writing strategically to help you get the working conditions you want, the things you need to support your mission and the career you are building. Here’s how:   Craft your career narrative to tell the story of your career in a way that highlights all of your writing and work. Always measure goals and opportunities against your mission statement. Reflect on what you want your career and working conditions to look like going forward. Think about what you want your publications to do for you. What doors do you want to open? What audience do you want to reach? Where will you make the most impact?   It might seem scary at first, but reflecting on what you actually want and then going for it is important, and powerful. It isn’t selfish; it’s making your important, creative contribution to the world the best it can be.   “The more you are happy and joyful in your career, the better your contribution to the world is going to be.”  -Cathy Mazak   So, are publications currency in academia? You bet they are. But they don’t have to be in the journals that are most prestigious, or in the order someone else thinks they should be in.. or only in journals at all. They are the currency for getting what you want in your career.   “You are more in charge of your career than you think.” -Cathy Mazak   Get Support and Get Writing! My Momentum co-writing group is only $27/month and is a great way to get motivated, and get support to create the space and time you need to write. Get in the right headspace on our Monday Mindset calls, then get writing. Sign up today, and write with us tomorrow! Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my   10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode66.

I’m in the hot seat on this episode of The Academic Womxn Amplified! I’m sharing an interview of yours truly by Anna Clemens of Scientists Who Write. We cover everything from how (and why) to get writing done inside your work week to changing the patriarchal culture of academia to my coaching philosophy and program offerings.  Key points discussed: Writing as career currency and why academics should put it at the center of their careers Why I work with womxn and non-binary folx and systemic challenges in academia How I started my coaching business and my coaching philosophy What structural changes we should work toward in academia How to move away from fear-based decision making Driving change in a wider arena by focusing on individual career goals How to keep writing time inside your work week and the message you send yourself when you push it to the periphery Why waiting for big blocks of time to write doesn’t work Soaring states, co-writing and how to be more productive in less time The glorification of overwork and drilling down to what’s important My writing coaching and career direction programs for academics at every level   Key Quotes: “In the end, what has currency inside of academia is our published work.” “Change has to happen top down and bottom up simultaneously.” “If you’re waking up early, staying up late, or writing on the weekends, what you’re doing is you’re pushing writing to the periphery of your career.” “Is writing less important than the things you do from let’s say 9 to 5?” “I want people to start organizing their schedules around their writing blocks instead of trying to fit writing in.” “If you want to create, you have to rest.” “You can’t sustain the level of overwork that is currently being glorified inside of your institution.”   Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with Anna Clemens: https://www.annaclemens.com/   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode64.

Don’t let the wide open schedules of a sabbatical or leave go to waste. Find out how to approach this time to get the most out of it!   It’s something we all dream about—a sabbatical or research leave when you can spend all your time writing. Then you’ll really be productive!   But ask anyone who has actually taken a sabbatical and you’ll soon discover that the big blocks of time that you’ve been craving can actually make you feel more guilty and less productive than you feel in a regular semester.    The solution is to get very clear on your priorities, plan and prepare well. Here are 3 things to do to get set up well and stay the course.   1. Clear the Decks You may be tempted to keep outside projects and responsibilities because you will have “so much time”, but this is a mistake! A sabbatical is meant to be a time to step back from regular duties to allow deep thinking on your chosen project. That is very hard to accomplish if one foot is still in the world of your day-to-day duties. Here’s what I recommend:   Get very clear on what your focus will be (what is in your proposal?) Remove yourself from every committee, project and commitment not related to your sabbatical project. Set up boundaries to protect your time, like out-of-office notifications on your email and phone. This won’t make all of those communications go away, but it will help change others’ expectations for your response time and availability. 2. Create Structure If you are thinking you can work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week on your project, let me assure you that is a complete misconception. If you try to do too much at once, it will backfire, and you’ll be sure to lose focus, energy, and productivity. But you do want to have a plan! Here is what I suggest for structure:   Plan to take one extra day off: 4 days of work, 3 days off. Choose whichever day of the week you want, but commit to it. It can be some extra time to rest and connect with family, and it can also be a place to schedule all that “life” stuff like Dr. visits so that it doesn’t derail your work days. It just doesn’t work to create well for 8 hours at a time. So, plan to work during soar sessions that are no more than 4 hours long. (Remember: soar sessions are times that you are in your own highly focused and energized soar state, or are writing in community to get that boost.) Rest. Plan it in and don’t neglect it! You are doing deep, critical thinking during this time to bring something new into the world. The create-restore cycle gets lopsided if you try to create for many more hours than you restore. Find something you find relaxing and restorative, and plan on doing it.   “You need to ramp up restoration if you’re expecting yourself to ramp up creation.” -Cathy Mazak   3. Stay on Course Remember, this sabbatical is for you. It’s a time to work on something important, that matters for you. So, enjoy it! Don’t feel bad about reveling in this time. Don’t let yourself be drawn off course. If something comes up that you have to deal with (a revise and resubmit that gets you to publication, for example), don’t let it derail you.    Consider using a sprint.  A writing spring is a two week period where you go all in on a project, using your soar sessions everyday for only that project. Use that sprint to get that other item off your plate as soon as possible. Whenever you can, approximate working on one thing at a time. This is good advice for any time, but especially during a sabbatical or leave. Most of that time it’s going to be your sabbatical project, but if something unavoidable comes up, turn to that for a short time if possible, then come back with focus.  For those new to the podcast, I’m giving an overview of our suite of programs  for academics at every point in their careers. Elevate: This program is for post tenure womxn who are looking for what’s next in shaping their careers. We are only running this program once this year, and enrollment is open now. Apply now, and if you’re accepted to the program, you’ll be ready to go for our February-July cohort. This program includes 1:1 mentoring, group coaching, trainings, and like-minded community and support. Apply here. (There is a special rate for participants in our Navigate program.)   Amplify: For pre-tenure who want to go up for tenure with confidence, this program offers 1:1 and group coaching, trainings, like-minded community and support. Amplify is full and closed for enrollment at this time, but our next cohort will open in Sept 2021, and you can get on the waiting list now. Apply here. (There is a special rate for participants in our Navigate program.)   Navigate: A writing roadmap for academics who want to use writing to create the careers they want. This program is for academics at any stage of their career who want to push back against overwhelm and make writing a priority. Navigate will open for enrollment in the first week of May 2021.    Momentum: Momentum is always open for enrollment for academics at any stage, from graduate student to post-tenure professor. We’ve expanded the program to include more scheduled co-writing sessions to support you in the new year. We also have a weekly 30 minute “momentum mindset” meeting to start your week off right.   Click here to learn more about our programs.   Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode62.

It’s a fresh, new year and it’s time to leave all the “shoulds” in 2020 and plan to be more you in 2021.   Goodbye 2020! My hopes are high for 2021. I encourage you to make this the year that you stop focusing on what you think you “should” be doing to get your writing done and advance your career and start leaning in to what works for you. I assure you that you will get more done with deeper creativity if you accept the ways that work best for you and structure everything else accordingly.    Your voice, and your influence on your field will have greater impact if you lean in to what makes you and your perspective unique, and then stand by it. Let’s stop struggling to fit into someone else’s mold, and be ourselves in our writing and scholarship this year! Making Your Writing Systems More YOU I encourage you to reflect on what works well for you in terms of writing, and to run with it!   Find and utilize your soar states. What times of the day are you most energized, focused and creative? Use them for your writing! Structure other parts of your day around those times as much as you possibly can. Don’t worry about what times of day “should” be used for writing, find what works for you.   Break projects into tasks that are the right size. I advise my clients to break projects down into smaller tasks to make them more manageable, but when they ask how small to make each task, I don’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. If crossing things off a list is your jam, break those tasks down into lots of steps; if you get overwhelmed by a long list of items, make the tasks a little bigger so there are fewer of them. Try things and reflect on what feels good for you.   Set up rewards. Build rewards for yourself into your system. Decide when in the process is the best time to reward yourself, and be sure to pick rewards that bring you joy. Who cares what feels rewarding for someone else? Create rewards that work for you.   “How can I best manage myself?” -Cathy Mazak Making Your Scholarly Work More YOU Take time to reflect on what makes you, your work, and your perspective on your field unique. Articulate your opinion, make your voice known. Let the world know what you’re about! This makes you more citable, and helps you stay on mission. Full disclosure here...this will make some people mad. Putting your own spin on a topic or diverging from the “traditional” way of looking at things might make the old guard upset. Don’t let that deter you! Shrinking in confrontational situations doesn’t move your mission forward.   “Actually leaning in and making my view of things known [is] going to get me farther than trying to please everyone.” -Cathy Mazak   Friends, I’m so excited for this new year together, and for our new season on the podcast! I’ve got some great guests lined up and can’t wait to share more content with you. Remember to take time to reflect on what makes you unique, and what works best for you. This is your year! Let’s go.   “Figure out who you are, then go be that.” -Cathy Mazak Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode61.

Have you ever considered writing a book? I’m sharing the inside scoop on the process for my own book project, from idea to submission.   I know many of you out there have entertained the idea of writing a book at one time or another. So I’m sharing my own experiences with the book process, from idea to proposal writing to submission. As of this writing, I am still in the process of submitting to different academic presses, so part 2 will come after I get a contract and start the next phase! For now, I’m sharing how I got to this point, including my fears, my process, and a few recommendations.  The Beginnings My project process started about 3 years ago with my idea for a writing guide for academics. I felt that through my business I had honed my message about writing and knew I wanted to put it into a book, but I had a lot of fear. I’ve written plenty of articles, and contributed to many edited volumes, but this would be my first monograph. Was I up to it?   “Can I really write a book? Do I have that many words in me?” -Cathy Mazak   I started to really develop and flesh out an idea during one of our own writing retreats, in 2019. I used the book “Thinking Like Your Editor” by Alfred Fortunato and Susan Rabiner to help me organize my thoughts. I highly recommend this book for helping to nail down your idea. In it, the authors pose these 5 questions:   What is this book about? What is this book’s thesis (or argument) and what’s new about it? Why are you the person to write this book? Why is now the time to publish this book? Who makes up the core audience for this book and why will they find it appealing?   Next, I had my assistant LaToya copy and paste all of my blog posts into Scrivener, and I dragged them into the categories for the table of contents I had come up with during the retreat. While I didn’t end up using the content this way, Scrivener did give me a word count, and some confidence: I had plenty of words to say.    Then, I did nothing on the project for a year.  Starting Again - With a Coach LaToya got me back into the project by finding me a book coach. If you can do it, I highly recommend getting a coach! My coach, Paula Diaco of Write Stories Now was an invaluable resource for helping me sort through what needed to be done.    Paula researched presses to submit to and helped me make the decision between academic, trade and independent publishers (we’re going with academic), sent me individual google docs to work on for each part of the book proposal, and kept me motivated with a weekly standing meeting. I can’t overstate how helpful she has been.   After getting the proposal going, I started writing out some sample chapters. Not only did I have plenty of words for a book, I realized I actually have content for 3 books!  Time to Write Next, I really wanted to familiarize myself with all the chapters of this book; to start getting them written out, or at least outlined, and make some progress on the book itself. I decided to make my own writing retreat. Here’s how I did it: I rented an AirBnB for 5 days. I called on my support systems to help (my husband stayed with my kids and kept things running). I bought enough groceries so I wouldn’t have to leave the condo at all. I used my soar states to write like crazy and get 6000 words down during my first few days! When I started to lose steam and writing started to feel like a slog, I stopped.   Yes, it cost some money and time to make this retreat happen. My book coach was also an investment. But it’s worth it! I know this book will sell. And it might be worth it for you too, maybe as a stepping stone to a new position, or a raise, or for the connections it will forge for you.    Don’t dismiss opportunities out of hand just because they cost money or take time; investing in yourself and your career is worth it.   “It’s worth it to invest in something like a book coach or a writing retreat… because of that currency the book has inside of academia.” -Cathy Mazak   Submission  The next step in the process was to start submitting! I narrowed down the top university presses I wanted to submit to, and Paula looked up the proposal requirements for each.  I’ve heard back from Princeton and the University of Chicago with the nicest rejection letters, saying they already had things in their catalogs that were too similar to accept my project.  I haven’t heard back from Harvard yet, and I’m still working on submitting to a couple of others.    At this point, I’ve paused my writing until I get a contract, so I can get feedback from the specific press I end up going with. I would say I am between 30% and 50% done with the writing.    I want to be transparent in this process, so let me say that I definitely had a freak-out moment, wondering if I should be submitting to academic presses at all. But I am back in my confidence, working through the process and ready to fill you in on Part 2 once the book sells!   If you are ready to start writing a book, I highly recommend Jane Jones at Up In Consulting for academic book coaching, and the book Thinking Like Your Editor to help you get traction with your idea. If you're looking for career development and writing support while you work on a book or other academic writing project, be sure to check out our Elevate and Amplify programs. Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today! Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode60.

Keeping your relationship with writing peaceful and productive means prioritizing it during your most energetic and focused times of day. I’m coining a new term for those times to get us into the right mindset for the work.   Getting writing done is a key component to the academic life, but it doesn’t have to be a slog. Creating a positive relationship with your writing while also doing your best work is so much easier when you tune in to those times of your day when your energy and focus soar, and you’re ready to take on the world.    Encouraging you to use those times and helping you find out when they are for you (everyone is different!) has always been a main tenet of my coaching. Up until now, I’ve been borrowing a term for these times during the day, but it wasn’t quite fitting my vision anymore, so I coined a new one! Here’s the backstory on what “tiger time” is, how I discovered it, and why I wanted to change it to better fit our needs as academic writers. Tiger Time When I was first building my business, I listened to a lot of entrepreneurial podcasts. One of them was “Online Marketing Made Easy” with Amy Porterfield. She had a lot of great information, but something that really resonated with me was her idea of “tiger time”. She talked about using her best times of day, those when she was most focused, energized and driven, to tackle content creation.    This spoke to me, and as I have often done, I took this idea from the entrepreneurial world and molded it to help academics through my coaching business. Using the times during our week when we are freshest, most focused, have the most energy and drive really moves the needle for writing.    “I can move mountains between 7am and 11am.” -Cathy Mazak Time to Make a Change As we’ve moved through 2020, it’s become apparent that it’s time for me to move away from using someone else’s term, and specifically this term, for these focused times. Here’s why: Tiger King. People started asking me if tiger time had something to do with a show that has had a big moment in the pop culture spotlight in 2020. The answer to that question was a big NO. Tiger Mom. People also began asking me if tiger time had something to do with a book called Tiger Mom. Again, no. Academic Branding. I’ve been coaching you all on how to build your academic brands, and this presented an opportunity to do that myself. I want my coaching business to project a certain set of values, a certain image of how we go about writing. And it doesn’t emphasize fierceness, or struggle in any way. Time to create something new!   “We created different ways...for people to create that feeling of drive and energy that we want them to have during their writing times.” -Cathy Mazak   Soar States and Soar Sessions In keeping with our vision, we wanted to give you aspirational words for the experience of finding, creating, and utilizing those feelings of energy, drive and creativity.    If you’re not careful, your writing times can feel like slogging.  You write 10 words and delete 5. You feel like you’re walking through mud. Uphill. All you want to do is stop. But we want your writing time to feel like soaring. You're not desperately flapping your wings to keep going, you’re moving along peacefully, supported. You aren’t struggling, you’re in flow. Your forward motion is fast, and smooth.   So here it is! Our new term for those times when you are in a zone of creativity, energy and drive is: Soar States.   When you are utilizing your own personal Soar State you are experiencing a Soar Session. You’re in the zone! Writing is flowing, and the work you produce is high quality.    Soar Sessions come about in two ways: Tapping into your personal Soar States to take advantage of your most creative, energetic and focused times. Co-writing. Writing in community with others helps create that sense of energy and drive at any time.    I can’t wait to dive into these ideas with you as we continue to learn more about how to advance our careers through writing without burning out or breaking down!    “Think about the time of day that is your ‘soar state’.” -Cathy Mazak Big News for Black Friday! Our Navigate program will have a special enrollment period, from Black Friday to Cyber Monday! Special bonuses and extras for the first sign ups on Black Friday!    My podcast listeners are the first to get the chance to get on the waitlist  to be notified when the doors open for sign ups, so don’t wait!   Are you ready to put 2020 behind you, step into your power and create the career that you want? Take your writing strategy to the next level with Navigate.    Be the Phoenix rising from the ashes of 2020 and take control of your career in 2021! Get on the waitlist here.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode54.

In this episode, I talk about how to set up your ideal week calendar (idea by Cathy Mazak, academic women's writing coach extraordinaire), but with a focus on college students rather than faculty.

Dr. Cathy Mazak is a Full Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and writing coach entrepreneur. On this episode we talked about Dr. Mazak’s work centering around writing scholarship. She coaches women on how to make writing fit within their work and family schedules. Dr. Mazak ascribes to the belief that academia is a white, male patriarchal institution that was not designed with women in mind. She also shares with us how her unique coaching business on writing led her to take a leave from her teaching job—without pay—which in turn is leading to a level of financial independence she never dreamed of. Find her at https://www.cathymazak.com/ https://www.facebook.com/cathymazakcoaching/ https://twitter.com/cathymazak

Nothing feels worse than having a piece of writing you’ve worked hard on rejected or criticized. But, it’s part of the academic life, so I’m teaching you how to deal with it in a healthy and positive way that will improve your writing and help get your message out there.  On this episode we’re going to talk about 3 different types of feedback you might receive, how to spot the differences between them and how to respond. I’ll also tell you about an excellent resource to help with your mindset, and why you should consider disconnecting from both praise and criticism.    3 Types of Writing Criticism and How to Respond   1. Posturing  It should come as no surprise to anyone that there is a lot (I mean A LOT) of posturing in academia. The pressure is always on to sound smart, to respond to other people’s work in a way that shows what you’ve read and where you situate your work in the world. That’s not necessarily bad and it’s certainly part of the job. But sometimes that pressure to posture seeps into everything, including writing criticism.   Here’s how it might look in a written review: The reviewer’s criticism does not actually engage with what you wrote, but rather shows off how much he/she knows about the topic (this is the defining characteristic of posturing). The reviewer suggests you cite a completely different body of literature than the one your work relies on (likely a body of literature that he knows better than the one you cited). The reviewer calls you out for not citing one very particular article and implies that you can’t possibly write scholarship in this field without citing it. How to Respond: I suggest you make a table with two columns, detailing the specific criticism or recommendation on the left side, and how you addressed it on the right when preparing to respond to any feedback. To deal with posturing, you might note on your chart: “while I appreciate the reviewers suggestion to include ____  in my article, for ____ reasons I decided not to cite that here.” What this does is make the posturing of the reviewers apparent, and shows the editor that you’ll have none of it. “Remember: it’s your work, and you can decide who to cite.” -Cathy Mazak   2. Silencing The end goal of this type of criticism is to block or revoke publication. What silencing might look like:   A reviewer nitpicking small details of your work.  A reviewer grasping at straws for reasons why your work shouldn’t be published at all, or should be retracted.  Little to no evidence against your piece given other than disagreement with the main idea   I experienced this recently (from a colleague at my own university!) in response to this article I wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education on what the role of university communities should be in the face of devastating circumstances in our communities.    How to Respond: Like posturing, you need to see through this kind of criticism (good editors help). Silencing can put you on the defensive, but once you recognize it, you’ll see that the critiques have no basis or are not related to your main point. If your piece has an editor, be sure to get in contact with him or her and call out the silencing. Don’t get into an internet fight with the person—be above that!—and let your work speak for itself. “If you let yourself become enraged or beaten down, then the silencer will win.” -Cathy Mazak   3. Constructive Criticism This is the kind of feedback we want! Even though it might hurt, most criticism should be heard and addressed. The review process is there for a reason, and it is not to torture you! We are often so close to our own work that we can’t take a step back and see it from another perspective. The job of the reviewer is to show us our blind spots, see connections we missed, to call us out before publication so that we aren’t called out after.   That said, too many academics give up after receiving reviews. They put the reviews away and give up on the paper. Don’t do this! Remember: your unique, once-only-on-earth perspective on your field needs to be out there changing the world. DON’T let criticism relegate your writing to a drawer.    Here is a step-by-step plan for how to deal with the review process: Make sure you are in a good mental state before opening and reading reviews. After reading the reviews, wait 24 hours before you do anything. Re-read the reviews (after waiting 24 hours) and make a list of all the positive feedback. (We often gloss over this part, draw some attention to it!) Read through again and make a chart with one column detailing each criticism and a second column noting how you will address it. Take a first pass at planning how you will address each item on the chart. Note things that will be quick to fix, and things that will take longer to address. Start picking off the easy-to-fix items on the list. Schedule harder or more time consuming tasks onto your calendar, for example: adding additional literature, re-analyzing data, etc. “Breaking down the revisions into smaller steps helps alleviate feelings of overwhelm and makes sure that you get your revisions done.” -Cathy Mazak Disconnecting From Praise and Criticism  While accepting and dealing with writing criticism is all part of the job in academia, it is certainly not always easy. I want to recommend a great resource for helping you disconnect from both praise and criticism. Playing Big by Tara Moore has a wealth of helpful information on how and why you should do this. A few of the things she discusses:   Feedback often tells you more about the person giving the feedback than it does about your work, or certainly about you as a person.  If you are putting yourself and your work out there in the world as a woman, you are going to get criticized. Criticism hurts more when it mirrors beliefs we already hold about ourselves. Why should we disconnect from praise? Ask yourself: what do I want in life more than I want praise?   “Women who play big get criticized. Period.” -Cathy Mazak, referencing Playing Big by Tara Moore Do you want to be part of a community of academic women who support each other, offer helpful advice and know where you’re coming from because they’ve been there too? Consider applying for Amplify: Faculty Writing Accelerator. To apply, click here.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Add at the bottom "This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode9

Burnout is a real thing for academics. I know you know this, but you might not know exactly what “pre-burnout” looks like, and what to do if you feel like you might be on the edge of a burnout. On this podcast episode, I’m sharing the stories of two times that I got very close to burning out, how I dealt with it, and what I’m doing to keep a comfortable pace right now. I’m sharing some red flags to help you recognize the signs of pre-burnout in yourself, as well as an exercise to help you control the pace of your academic life so academia feels good to you.  My stories My first burnout situation came when my infant son became extremely sick. About two weeks into the semester, after I went back to work from maternity leave, my 10-month-old son stopped breathing while I was nursing him to sleep one night.  This was the beginning of the 10 most horrible days of my life.  By late October I was so exhausted and strained that I could not continue. If I didn’t take action I would end up in the hospital myself. So I took sick leave. Right at the worst time of the semester. I remember sitting in the office of my young, single department head and feeling like he would never understand, or would push back. But he didn’t. I took the leave I needed to recover.  “I thought the world was going to collapse, but it absolutely did not.” -Cathy Mazak My second experience with pre-burnout came the traumatic academic year of Hurricane María. We were a country exhausted from hurricane recovery and a university trying to find our footing after blow after blow by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. We were collectively breaking down. But this time I recognized the signals and took action sooner. I heard the desperate voice in my head that said, “I just need to breathe. I can’t keep this up. If I could only rest …” This time, I intentionally listened to that voice and rested. On the weekends, I made myself lie down, I cleared our schedule, we ate more takeout, and the kids watched more Netflix. I whittled down my to-do list until it only contained the absolutely necessary items to finish the semester: grade the papers. Give the classes. That’s it. The difference between this almost-breakdown and the first one was that I knew that if I cut way back, everything would still be fine. The world would not end. And, I deeply understood that if I didn’t deliberately rest, I would collapse, and that wouldn’t serve anyone. Read about my son’s illness, the year after Hurricane Maria, and all the details in this article I wrote for Inside Higher Ed.  Recognizing Pre-Burnout Recognizing you are about to burnout means tuning in to what your body and mind are trying to tell you. Here are some red flags for me:   I was exhausted from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. I had no energy. I was mentally foggy. I couldn’t bring up the words I wanted to use, and my memory was shaky. I was on the verge of tears constantly.   Recovering from Burnout (and Avoiding it in the Future) Recovering from burnout is not easy. It takes intentional effort to make the right choices for your health. Here are some ideas for recovering and avoiding the issue in the future.   Create room for deliberate rest. Nap when you can, go to bed early, do whatever you can to get more sleep.  Pare down your schedule to include only the absolute necessities.  Move your body. Find a way to incorporate gentle exercise. I joined a gym that provided childcare. Call in reinforcements. Ask for help! Draw on whatever resources you can. I called my mom to come help with the kids for a while. When summer rolls around, don’t try to “get ahead”. Plan it out to include rest and activities that rejuvenate you.  Do whatever is necessary to recover, including taking time off. Controlling the Pace-How do You Want Academia to Feel? If you’ve had an experience that stopped you in your tracks like a death in the family, illness, or other serious issue, you may have been forced to change the pace of your academic life. But you don’t need to wait for something to blow up to decide you need a change.    How do you want to feel in your academic life? Remember that the feeling comes first, not after something you’ve set up as an arbitrary sign post. Here is an exercise you can do to prioritize your own goals for how you want academia to feel for you.   Choose one word for the way you want to feel in your academic life and write it down.. (For example: Calm)   Now list 10 things that a person who that adjective describes might do.  For our example of “calm”, you might write:   Eats breakfast sitting at the table Takes a walk every day  Is content with accomplishing three things Makes a plan and sticks to it Starts work at 9:00 and stops work at 5:00 Gets 7-8 hours of sleep Asks for help before a situation gets out of control Shakes off guilt about undone projects Concentrates on restorative activities on the weekends  Meditates using the Calm app in the middle of the work day   The problem is that you are saying when X happens, THEN I’ll feel Y. But you need to start feeling Y right now. Nothing needs to happen first. “You need to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘from now on, I am a calm person’”. -Cathy Mazak   If you want to join a small cohort of academic women who are learning ways to amplify their impact in academia without the break-neck pace, apply for my Amplify: Writing Accelerator program. In this program, you’ll get permission to do things the way that feels right for you, and learn how to write and publish more while still controlling the pace. Say goodbye to guilt and overwhelm, and hello to a new movement for women in the campus culture. Click here to apply. Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode8.

As an academic woman, your writing needs to be at the center of everything. On this episode of the podcast, I’m making the case for why it’s so important to prioritize your writing, and giving you the steps to take to make it happen. You know your writing and publishing is important but it doesn’t feel urgent; writing always falls to the bottom of your list; you put writing off until you have “enough” time, and end up doing frantic writing binges instead of making steady progress; thinking about your writing gives you a pit in your stomach; you have a pipeline full of unfinished projects.  Sound familiar? Maybe you haven’t put writing at the center of your career.  In this episode, I’m showing you what having your writing at the center can be like: you always know when your next writing session is and what project you’re working on; you feel happy and invigorated when you think about writing; projects flow smoothly through your pipeline (and out of it); you feel empowered and in control.  That sounds better, right? So let’s jump in as I show you why you should prioritize your writing above everything else (yes, I have hard facts for you), and how to go about it.    Why Should You Put Your Writing at the Center of Everything? 1. Writing mindset matters: urgent vs. important. When you prioritize writing, you start to see through the urgency of everyday tasks that try to steal your attention. Your department head may have a fire that needs putting out; that’s urgent. But your writing is important; when you focus on it, you are developing yourself as a scholar, connecting to your bigger purpose in the world, and taking care of your career and yourself.  “Taking care of your writing is taking care of yourself.” -Cathy Mazak 2. Writing has real payoff. You are allowed to dedicate time to something that equates to a payoff, and writing and publishing more is how you get jobs, keep jobs, get promoted, become a full tenured professor.  There is a persistent disparity between overall pay averages between men and women in academia. Why? Some of the reasons given in this article breaking down the annual faculty compensation survey done by the American Association of University Professors are: fewer women are fully tenured and more are contingent, more women are in lower paying fields of study, and fewer women teach at higher ranking PhD granting institutions. Much of the disparity comes down to the numbers of women who are fully tenured professors.  There is a real link between writing and higher pay. The more you write and publish, the higher up the chain of professorship you can move. Writing pays off.  3. Writing drives alignment. If you work to have everything else in your career support your writing, you feel more focused, pulled in fewer directions, less frazzled. Project and services decisions become easier as they are informed by whether they support prioritization of your writing goals.  4. Writing creates a brand. When your writing is at the center of your career, you are able to drill down more clearly to the message you are putting out into the world. Your publication list builds on itself, developing your “academic brand”.  “If you’re writing more, you’re getting more publications out, and your publications are really how the world sees you.” -Cathy Mazak 5. Writing gives you mobility. The more you write and publish, the greater your ability to move between institutions. You may be at a more teaching-centered institution now, but you never know what may come up there, or in your life or career. Putting your writing at the center gives you options.    How Do You Put Your Writing at the Center? 1. Put writing first- literally. Schedule an hour first thing on Monday morning for writing. Get this in before you teach, before you open email, before you start anything else. Start your week off in the writing mindset.  2. Use your mission statement. Create a mission statement for your career, and verbalize how writing is a priority. Treat your academic mission statement like a thesis for your career. Write it down and refer to it when you need a reminder, or to help with decision making. 3. Find support. Don’t go it alone. Join my I Should Be Writing facebook group, sign up for a program, or find other like-minded academic women to support you in putting your writing first.  4. Invest time and energy. Putting your writing at the center of your career and keeping it there will not happen by accident. It will require intentional time, focused energy, and continued development. Choosing to make investments in your writing pays off, but only if you follow through.  “It takes time, energy, and sometimes a little money to make real change in your life. And you have permission from me to invest that time and energy!” -Cathy Mazak If something clicked or shifted for you about prioritizing your writing, come on over to my Facebook group and share it with us.  Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode6

Do you have too much going on? In all seriousness, can you fit everything that needs to be done on your calendar? If you feel like there are simply not enough hours in the day, this episode is for you.   More and more of what we are expected to do in academia is “shallow work”: paper pushing, email, useless meetings. This means that we are finding less and less time for “deep work” (terms explained by Cal Newport in his book Deep Work): the thinking and creating that we were trained to do, the reasons many of us got into this profession in the first place. The market is flooded and if you don’t have time to write and publish or to bring in the big grant money,someone else is: someone who is willing to work nights and weekends, or who has home-care built in, or is turning themselves inside out to try and do it all.  I want you to see that the fact that you feel overworked and overwhelmed is not a reflection on your personal character. It’s not your fault. You are part of a system that is set up this way. But what do we do about it? On this episode we’re talking about how to “find” time with a strategy called “my ideal week.”  (If you’re interested in more ways to make time to write, I’ve got a PDF list for you called 10 Ways to Make Time To Write. Grab it here.)   Guidelines for Creating Your Ideal Week Calendar An ideal week calendar is a visualization of how you can make your work fit into your working hours. Here is how you do it. Come up with basic categories for everything you do. Some examples are: teaching (class meeting times, course prep, grading); research (data collection, lab work, reading, writing); service (meeting times, work on service-related things); etc.     Map them onto your calendar. Assign each category a color, then map each one out onto your work week. Using a color-coded system will help with visualizing, and making adjustments later in the process.     Reminders and suggestions.  Don’t forget what I call “personal maintenance” time. Use this category for things like taking a walk, break times, and always taking time for lunch away from work. Be sure to block similar items together, and don’t forget to include “tiger time” (see episode 2 for more information). Schedule activities that tend to run over against immovable tasks, like scheduled meetings or class time, to prevent using more time than needed. Consider waiting to check email until after lunch.   “One of the things that really derails us in terms of time management is checking email first thing in the morning.” -Cathy Mazak   Reflect on Your Ideal Calendar Once you have your ideal calendar laid out, with activities slotted into blocks, and everything you need to accomplish in place, it’s time to reflect on what you’ve come up with.   Does what you have laid out accurately reflect your “load”, whatever that may be according to your university contract? In other words, if you are supposed to be spending 50% of your time on teaching and 50% on research, does this calendar reflect that?    Does everything you need to do in a week fit into this calendar? If you are having to cram 50, 60, 70 hours into your work week to fit everything, something HAS to go. What will you cut? This is important to maintain a fulfilling career and avoid burnout.   How would it feel to actually live out this schedule?   Try Your Ideal Week Calendar This exercise is designed to help you make time for writing and for yourself. It is meant to help you spot things that are bloating your schedule and wasting time. But you won’t know for sure what works, and how to adjust it unless you actually give it a try.    “The reason that we try new things is because what we’re currently doing is not working.”    If you feel like what you are currently doing is not working in terms of your schedule and your time, then please, try it! Do the ideal week exercise, and value yourself enough to work through it and find a better experience for yourself.    “Let’s make this academic life more centered, less stressed, and less overwhelming.”   If you are in our Facebook Group and you decide to lay out your ideal calendar and give it a try, snap a pic, share it with us, and let us know what you’ve learned! If you’d like to join us, head here.   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page   This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode4

For successful execution of the day-to-day tasks of academia, especially writing, we need to be good project managers.      As academic women, we are required to balance multiple projects at the same time, from writing and publishing to course prep to service work. The day-to-day project management tasks of the academic life are not part of our training. In some cases, these tasks are modeled by excellent mentors,but most of the time we’re making it up as we go along.   If you’ve been following along, you know that I’m on a one-woman mission to reveal all the “secrets” of how to do academia successfully so that we can all be happier, healthier, and more fulfilled in our careers. In this episode, we’re looking at how project management can help accomplish these goals.   “Without a system for project management, you’re going to feel overwhelmed and exhausted all the time, no matter how much progress you’re actually making.” -Cathy Mazak   Understanding the Basics of Academic Project Management Before we jump in to how to build and execute our project management systems, it’s important to understand a few basic skills.    Not all writing tasks involve actual writing. When I say “writing,” I don’t mean only putting words on a page. I mean all the things you must do to complete a writing project. These could include: reading, collecting data, analyzing, creating charts and graphs, proofreading, etc. By thinking about all of these things as writing, you will see progress towards your publication goals, even when you are not physically writing.     A project is not the same thing as a task. The first step to managing your academic writing projects is to know the difference between a project and a task. Projects are big: writing an article, a book proposal, a grant. Tasks are small: Write the introduction, investigate competing titles, create the grant budget. Tasks are what we put on our calendars. Projects are what we put on our publication pipelines. If you’ve been writing “finish article” on your to-do list, it’s time to break it into manageable tasks.     Estimating time for completing each task is critical.  Most people underestimate how long it will take to do something. The danger of this is that you start to feel bad about your writing, which leads to guilt and overwhelm, writing’s two biggest enemies.  Instead I want you to overestimate the time it will take you to do tasks. To maintain and perpetuate positive feelings about your writing tasks, you need to feel like you are “winning”,  checking things off the list, moving projects forward. If you overestimate the time it takes to do a writing task, and then you get finished earlier: that’s what you want!   Many of the academic women I coach having been writing for years but still can’t put accurate time estimates on how long it takes for them to complete writing tasks. In this episode I talk about an exercise you can do to dial in your ability to estimate the size of your tasks. It’s important that each task is able to be completed in one hour or less.     Scheduling tasks in your calendar. I recommend one of two methods: (1) actually give each task a due date or (2) have a prioritized bank of tasks and scheduled writing time; during the writing time you pull from the bank of tasks. Whichever method you choose, be sure your individual tasks have a place on your calendar.     Systems are the Foundation of Writing Project Management   It is best to work on one project at a time, but this is nearly impossible in academia. So strive to work on one writing project at a time and move it all the way to completion. Moving a project through your pipeline and to completion is dependent on implementing workable systems. Here’s how:     Use templates to make common project tasks repeatable. So much of our writing energy goes to figuring out what to do next. A writing project management system eliminates this time spent thinking and planning at the beginning of every writing session. A “template” for academic writing projects is a generic task list and outline for that type of project.     “The benefit of templates is that they stop you wheel-spinning by making sure you never start with a blank page.” -Cathy Mazak     Schedule time for project management. For people short on time, it might seem counterintuitive to add time to the calendar for project management. But this is a short, focused planning session that will save you so much time and energy later. You can use Trello or another project management tool, sticky notes in a calendar, or a bullet journal. The idea is to begin your week with the big picture of what needs to get done.        Trust the System. Once you’ve set up templates for repeatable tasks and taken the time for project management, you need to trust the system and try it out for at least two weeks. Sometimes if I get stressed it is tempting to push my carefully laid plans aside. To combat this, I’ve adopted the mantra “trust the system.” When I want to ditch the plan I made the day before in response to something new that’s come up, I just tell myself to work on the things I planned to work on and deal with fitting in the new task when I get to my project management planning time at the end of the day.     Need Help with Implementing Academic Project Management? I use Trello for my project management needs, and I am offering a course to show you how to use Trello to organize all of your academic projects. The course is called Organize Your Academic Life and includes a complete set of academic project management templates, made by me, for you. In the course I walk you through how to personalize and set up these templates and workflows for common academic projects on everything from co-authoring to communication with students and colleagues to research and writing. To find out more and sign up for the course, click here.    Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/episode3

Cathy and I talk about how she recently achieved a major milestone: making $100K in one month. This was especially exciting because previously she'd been making $100K in a whole year - and she's only getting bigger from here. We talk about the inception of her business, how she made the decision to lean out of academia and into entrepreneurship, and how she balances work with her bustling family and farm life. Cathy shares a lot of wisdom about scaling, hiring before you're ready, and why coaching is such a crucial investment. Get full show notes and more information here: https://helloseven.co/22

When you need help to scale your business, hiring a new team member that mimics your skill set can be both necessary and a little scary. Where should you start looking? And, how can you have the confidence to find someone that you know will be a good fit? Join Shelli Warren for an on air coaching call with Academic Women’s Writing Coach, Cathy Mazak. Cathy is a Full Professor at the University of Puerto Rico and a former Mastermind client of ours who has dedicated herself to helping other female academics find time to write and get published. She provides a range of great courses, retreats and small group programs. While she has no problem filling seats, Cathy has reached a stage in her business where she’s ready to welcome a new writing coach to help work with her clients. Shelli and Cathy talk through her hiring strategy and Shelli offers solid advice when it comes to stacking her team, letting go of control and how to be confident when it comes to handing clients over to another writing coach. In this episode you’ll discover: How to make sure new team members are held accountable to relay your brand’s philosophies and methods Why you should give new team members a level of responsibility from the beginning How to create a graduated pay scale for new team members Join the BizChix Community Connect With Cathy Mazak Website LinkedIn Facebook “I Should Be Writing” Facebook Group Twitter Listen to The BizChix Podcast Work with Us: One Day Mastermind GrowthChix Accelerator Program ProfitChix Mastermind CEOCHIX Mastermind Strategy Session Join the BizChix Community This episode was first published at BizChix.com/syt-56. Listen to our sister podcast, BizChix, on your app or at bizchix.com.

Cathy Mazak helps academic women write and publish more so that they can have the career (and life) they want. A full-time professor and mom of three, Cathy teaches the focus, time management, and mindset skills that academic women need to write and publish more, guilt-free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ishouldbewriting https://www.cathymazak.com https://www.facebook.com/cathymazakcoaching/ https://twitter.com/cathymazak https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathymazak  

Cathy Mazak helps academic women write and publish more so that they can have the career (and life) they want. A full-time professor and mom of three, Cathy teaches the focus, time management, and mindset skills that academic women need to write and publish more, guilt-free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ishouldbewriting https://www.cathymazak.com https://www.facebook.com/cathymazakcoaching/ https://twitter.com/cathymazak https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathymazak