This week Laura Wood, an independent early career research, shares her planning method!

How much research time is built into my job: As an independent, I have a second career, so, in a way, none, but, in another way, I’m much freer with the time I do have. I find I have to be very intentional about carving out interrupted research time: I have to plan to accommodate it. I aim for a day a week of writing/research time, but don’t always manage that when life gets in the way.

If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:  (For UK respondents)  Shrug?

I work on: Late medieval/early modern women and religion. The focus of my doctoral thesis was vowesses – women, usually widows, who took vows of chastity without becoming nuns – and I’m continuing to develop that theme whilst exploring female lay piety more broadly in the early Reformation.

Tools I use to plan my research: My bullet journal, insofar as it’s how I plan my life and my research is a part of that. [Laura mentioned my bullet journal video in a note here - in case you don't know what a bullet journal is see my video here and the official site here - Ellie] I use that for time management and setting goals, so that it’s integrated with everything else I’m also doing. This helps me to notice when I’m being unrealistic about what I can achieve and reminds me not to let other stuff encroach upon research time. The research nitty gritty goes in a separate lined notebook, divided into sections for different projects or pieces of writing. There I will write/scribble in more detail about what I’m doing and what I’m planning to do.

My approach to planning/planning philosophy is: To break everything up into very small increments/tasks. This both saves me from my own appalling short-term memory and helps with feeling overwhelmed or anxious.

My routine is: Flexible. Sometimes I don’t have childcare for whatever reason, sometimes insomnia is kicking my arse and I’m useless, sometimes I have other stuff to do which is more urgent than research… Planning helps me to identify the time I do have and to make the best use of it. I had my son half-way through the doctorate and, while that wasn’t easy, it did teach me to prioritise, to maximise the time available, and to be very comfortable with rescheduling (ie because suddenly my child is vomiting).

I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify): Organised. Perhaps a little too organised?

​I would like to improve my… Level of detail in planning my daily tasks. (Forgive the bullet journal nerdery here.) I currently use quite a large chunk of page for each day, divided into daytime and evening, and this quickly gets full of stuff to do. It includes mundane, habitual stuff like “shower”, “empty the cat’s litter tray” - and this can be obstructive for areas like research, where I’m trying to make and measure actual progress. I’ve recently introduced a separate space for ticking off recurring daily tasks, but don’t want this too far geographically from the rest of the day’s stuff, so ended up having tiny boxes for each day, to save space, but then they were too small to be useful. I haven’t yet found the optimal size of box for a daily to-do list: too large and I fill it up with too much stuff, overburdening and exhausting myself; too small and I get frustrated because I need to write things down. Daily lists are odd because they’re where research collides with domestic life and my other work and my friend’s birthday and everything else. It’s good that I have the separate notebook for research as well!
 
My best piece of planning advice is: Try a bullet journal. There are no hard and fast rules to them – they’re fully customisable, so you do what works for you. The process of working out what helps you and what doesn’t will teach you so much about yourself, how you operate, and what’s really important to you. My academic writing and research skills have benefited hugely from this. The best way to look after your research is to look after yourself.

This week, Charlotte Dann, a Lecturer in Psychology and the University of Northampton lets us peek into her planning schedule…

Current position: Lecturer in Psychology (social and developmental), full time permanent at University of Northampton. You can find out more about me at my website! charlottedannacademic.co.uk

How much research time is built into my job: I am very passionate about work/life ‘balance’, and apply this to all areas of my life, as with my research – I use about a day of research time per week (dependent on whether marking is due!)

If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would: Be thinking about the next REF – I have my three-year plan that I’m working on for REF 2021, and of course have longer term goals in the back of my head. Currently, my plan is to publish 2 papers from my PhD thesis per year for the next few years, with other projects running alongside this.

I work on: My own research is focused on womens’  tattooed bodies. I explored the nuanced ways that women simultaneously resist and conform to ideal representations of femininities, with their tattoos acting as one intersection amongst many. I’m also working on a project focusing on ‘sharenting’ (definition: the habitual use of social media to share images, news and other such information about one’s children) with some colleagues from The Open University and Bradford and have an internally funded project at the University of Northampton exploring diversity within the psychology curriculum using innovative assessments.

Tools I use to plan my research: Whilst I am a huge stationery fan, and a lover of the Bullet Journal, I’ve recently converted to an all digital planning method. I’ve been using this on and off for a few years, with some notebooks in-between, but have finally settled on these as the most important (and efficient) for me (no affiliations here, just pure love!):

• Wunderlist - I literally don’t know what I’d do without this app. It is my go to to-do list. I know there are plenty of other apps available, and I’ve tried things like Todoist, I just really get on with this. It’s simple in design. I think the main sell for me that sets it apart from a standard to-do list is that you can set a date for something to be done. I do not leave email in my inbox as a to-do (I am a fan of inbox zero where possible), and instead, schedule in time for tasks. It allows me to see what I have to do on a given day, so I can assess if it’s doable. There is some satisfaction in seeing the amount of things you have also ticked off the list. 
•  Evernote - now that I’ve moved away from my physical bullet journal, I used Evernote for everything. I like the fact that you can store multiple journals in it, with different notes that are organised. I currently have a photo journal stored in there, an events calendar that I cross reference with my own calendar, as well as space for general things that interest me (with separate notes labelled from ‘A’ to ‘Z’). If I want to make quick notes, I do that here and know it will sync across devices (such as now - writing this whilst I’m in the hairdressers to pick up later!)  
• iCalendar - as with the above, I couldn’t function without my calendar. It is literally my digital memory, because my memory is poor (if I don’t note things down). I book in time for the events coming up, meetings and teaching, but also I schedule in time to do my tasks, taken from Wunderlist. I ALWAYS over budget the time I think something will take, always (number one tip!). In addition, I always set my deadlines before the date. By doing this, if I’m ill, or something urgent comes up, I’ve given myself time. The only time I’ve struggled with deadlines is when I haven’t allowed for this.

 
My approach to planning/planning philosophy is: Fail to plan, you plan to fail. Whilst I’ve spent a good amount of time procrastination planning (you know, spending a lovely amount of time with notepads and mind-maps and colouring, but not getting anything done!), if I don’t plan at all, then I won’t get anything done.

My routine is: I set up my week far in advance (I usually plan 1-3 months ahead, putting in all events, meetings, teaching etc, and add as necessary), and block out time for research/tasks around my fixed commitments (i.e. teaching). We can share our calendars with colleagues at work, so I update mine so they can see when I’m working on research (usually, I block out Mondays for this). Regardless of the task I’m working on, I set my pomodoros (you can read about this technique here) for 25 minutes, and work like this for the entire day (or schedule session). I cannot work without pomodoros – this keeps my focused, with breaks scheduled so I can play Animal Crossing or make a coffee for 5 minutes without guilt!

I think I am:  super organised. I balance two jobs, multiple roles within and outside of those roles, as well as do things I enjoy that I plan my week around (i.e. music classes and socialising). The techniques that I use are things that I’ve tried and tested for years – you just have to find what works for you.
I would like to improve my… levels of procrastination. This is my worse trait! I’ve recently learned about something called ‘strategic procrastination’, whereby you complete another task (less painful than the one you’re putting off), so at least you’re still getting something done. It works to a point, and I like the concept (I’m sure I’m not the only person who has a super clean house when an important deadline is looming!)

My best piece of planning advice is: ALWAYS over-budget the time you think a task will take. For example - if I think that lecturer preparation is going to take an hour, I will give myself about an hour and half (there is a really great post you can use to work out what’s best for you from Steve Pavlina). Since I started doing this for everything, I haven’t struggled with deadlines. Of course, life happens, but you can plan for that - doing things like this helps mediate it. Think about following doctor’s surgery example too - they will leave a couple of gaps in the day in-between appointments in case they run over, so they’re not struggling by the end of the day. I also do this - even if it means time to grab a coffee, or just chat with a colleague, or see a student off the cuff. It has been the biggest help by far.

This week is a very special edition of How I Plan. Brittany is one of my students at the University of Leicester – and wanted to give the view from the other side of the lectern! What she shows here is that a lot of students take the same approach to planning their research-time as we planning-addicted academics do!

Current position: BA Ancient History and History Student

How much research time is built into my job: Due to being in uni only 7 hours a week, research time is around 60-70 hours a week

I work on: Building up my bibliography and getting assignments done on time

Tools I use to plan my research: a weekly planner! I have one from Paperchase, its A5 but has enough room to show me my whole week!

My approach to planning/planning philosophy is: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, if you don’t plan at all do not expect to be successful and have things done on time, because you probably won’t!

My routine is: Lectures, plan for seminars, seminar and then read for assignments

I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify): I think I vary, some weeks I can be very organised, and assignments and reading is done well ahead of time, other weeks I forgot and I have to do the reading a few hours before it’s due

I would like to improve my… consistency with being organised, instead of having the weeks where I am not organised and some where I am. I would love to be constantly organised

My best piece of planning advice is: Fail to plan, plan to fail!

It's been a while since I wrote my first 'How I Plan' entry, so I thought I'd give you a quick update!

Current position: Teaching Fellow in Ancient History (University of Leicester) and Research Associate (Institute of Classical Studies)

How much research time is built into my job: None. I am a full-time teacher here - but there is research time built in to my preparation time, in that I understand 'research led teaching' to be just that, and I have a bit of time to get research that is related to my classes done. But, I obviously am still doing my own research in my own time.

If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would: not be returned.
 
I work on:
Ancient Greek religion, and specifically personal experience and belief. I am finishing up my monograph (Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion: Death and Reciprocity) and doing some work on young girls in Athenian religion - how their bodies are used as ritual objects, and how they experience religion.
 
Tools I use to plan my research: 
This is the same as my earlier How I Plan!
I use a Bullet Journal style system, and my two main research-planning parts are my Gantt chart and my research pipeline. I’ve talked about both of these in videos on YouTube. I also use a Calendex and appointments schedule, weekly planning spreads that refer back to my Gantt chart, goals (including 1, 3, and 5 year goals, and REF related goals). I like having my plans on paper because they feel much more tangible to me than if they are digital. I can touch them, I can mould them: it may sound silly but having a physical, inscribed object that speaks my plans and goals makes them feel real and concrete to me.
 
I also use OneNote to keep an updated ‘master plan’ of each research project: this is kind of like a research proposal to myself. It includes an abstract, a plan, a brief timeline. This is all related back to my Gantt chart, and research is slotted into spaces that it will fit (rather than having everything start now, because then nothing starts!)

Videos:
Research Planning in a Bullet Journal
Gantt Chart

I don't spend as much time planning as I used to, because I have streamlined my processes. For example, I now use a two-weeks-to-a-view Filofax insert, to which I add a piece of dotted paper with all my other 'bullet journal' bits.

My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
Just Plan. Be Flexible. And... of course:
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives" - Annie Dillard.
 
My routine is: 
At present: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in Leicester; Wednesday and Friday in London. Do all my teaching prep, spend time writing every day, think about my career wherever possible, try and relax.
 
I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify): 
Again, unchanged:
I think I live in a constant state of organised chaos, where some parts of my life come into sharp (organisational) focus – like work. Other parts are just a blur of fuzz.
 
I would like to improve my…
Still not getting my logging down...
Logging! I try and log all my writing and reading, but I often forget or run out of time. I like doing the logging because on days when it feels like not much has been done it’s nice to look back at a list of things you actually have achieved!
 
My best piece of planning advice is: 
Set goals and stick to them.

Setting goals is so important. 

(Bonus: here's my video on setting 1, 3, and 5 year goals!)

Current Position: PhD Student, Department of War Studies, King’s College London
 
How much research time is built into my job:
As a PhD student at a UK university, my ‘job’ effectively was largely research time. In fact, there was the distinct impression that doing other things- such as teaching- had to be carefully considered in light of how that would affect research time.
 
If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:
Not be returned, for many reasons.
 
I work on:
My PhD thesis examines how the Royal Navy was defined from 1660-1749, and argues that the combination of definitions in statute and in ‘conventions’ created an effective ‘Westminster Model’ constitution. I’m really interested in studying the development process of individual institutions, and understanding their development over longer periods of time. I do stray quite a bit however, and I’m also really interested in musicology and the history of music, the history of food and cooking, history of fashion and other topics. I hope that I’ll be able to do more research in these fields in the future.
 
I actually began my university career in Computer Science, rather than history. I had applied to CompSci because I enjoyed creating computer games with my friends, but I didn’t realize until third year of my undergrad that what I actually enjoyed was the world creation and design aspects, both of which I can satisfy through historical research and writing. I have recently realized however that there is so much potential in taking various types of sources, and putting them in online databases. I would love to further explore how the Royal Navy’s many documents and types and sources can be made available to researchers digitally, and finding out what kind of analyses and things those researchers can do. I’m actually more interested in the creation of the tools, databases and websites than I am in specifying a research question that would justify the funding to create those tools.
 
 
Tools I use to Plan My Research:
Quite frankly, the only tool that I really used in the past was writing out my plans in emails, Twitter, Facebook posts or the quarterly departmentally-required planning forms. I guess it was an attempt to state things in public so I could hold myself to them.
 
I have realized how poor this approach is, and I’ve recently acquired some tools to help with future research and planning. For example, I’m now using Mendeley to organize my research, so that I can plan for future acquisition of journal articles and online sources. I’m looking into something to use that is like ‘Evernote’. I am also currently researching apps/software for tracking my personal library, so that I can better organize my research in hardcopy books. I am also going back to basics and creating to-do lists.
 
I have also used the new remote document ordering tools various archives have on their websites/catalogues, under the reasoning that if I order the documents a few days in advance, I have to go into the archives to do the research. I did find this useful because it did allow me to having several volumes already ready for me and allowed me to look through the catalogues at home, and to minimize non-research time at the archives.
 
​My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
Under Development. I often set goals for myself, and then get quite frustrated when I don’t meet them, or even manage them adequately. I am working on developing an approach that is flexible so that if I need to spend time unpicking and redoing things, I have the time to do so. So far, this approach will take the form of identifying big goals, and then defining the sub-processes that need to occur and planning for them first and foremost. This new philosophy will also be able to accommodate forms of productivity that aren’t ‘word count’ or ‘photos taken’ or similar.
 
My routine is:
Changing. I work part time at a book store, which occupies my weekends. Theoretically, this left most of the week free for doing research. Until recently this time was occupied with rewriting my PhD thesis for resubmission, and many other tasks. In the new year, I will be allotting 4-6 hours a week for doing new research for new projects. Some of this will involve going to archives. To start, it will involve me properly cataloguing and investigating the research I have already done. For example, I have several Gigabytes of archival photos in a folder named ‘To Be Sorted’. I am hoping that once I’ve moved from my current employment to a full-time position, I’ll be able to dedicate an evening a week for new research. The reality is that so many of the documents I’ll need for immediately future projects are already in my possession (if not read), or are available online. This should help with the creation of a research routine.
 
I think I am organized/disorganized/other (please specify):
In many ways, badly disorganized in that I hardly make the deadlines that I set for myself. Also, I often duplicate work because I forget that I’ve already looked at a volume or downloaded an article. I am working on both of these.
 
I would like to improve my….
My organization, my identification of and planning for sub-processes, and my process of allocating appropriate time and importance to the various projects I’m involved with.
 
My best piece of planning advice is:
Remember that sometimes, you have to say to no to doing research, or becoming involved in a project because you just don’t have time in the foreseeable future.

Current position:
AHRC Midlands3Cities funded first year PhD student at the University of Leicester.

How much research time is built into my job:
In theory, all of it. In practice, not a lot of it right now. At the moment it’s all about the secondary reading – and an awful lot of classes. Looking forward to next term, in the new year, when it should settle down. Having said that, I’m managing to sneak a little bit of primary source research into my days. Shush. Don’t tell anyone, will you?

However even once the classes and reading has eased off, I’ll still have breaks from the research – Midlands3Cities are very keen for their students to make the most of opportunities to grow outside the PhD in ways that contribute to our studies/careers and we’re able to take placement breaks from the PhD of up to 3 months.

If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:
Shrug my shoulders, as it doesn’t (yet) apply to me, and then pray fervently (and probably fruitlessly) that all the current problems with it will be fixed by the time it does apply to me.

I work on:
My PhD is parochial relationships in seventeenth-century Herefordshire, with a focus on clergy-lay relationships. Very much orientated towards social history, political history (as in politics of the parish). My MA was in English Local History and Family History at the Centre for English Local History at the University, so I’m using the Leicester approach; lots of maps, landscape history, and some archaeology of the built environment (specifically churches).

Tools I use to plan my research:
The centre of my planning is my bullet journal. That has all the day to day stuff in – I have appointments and classes in google calendar which is on my smartphone, but in terms of actual to-do and planning, it’s pen and paper. Like Ellie, many people comment about the amount of time that it must take to keep my bullet journal going but I find it doesn’t take much more than a pre-printed planner would. In fact, I’d argue less, because I’m not wasting time trying to make a pre-printed planner work for me. I have a blank notebook – a Leuchhturm 1917 at the moment, but in January that will finish and I’ll start afresh in a Rhodia (I’ve also used a Moleskine in the past). These are all dot-grid journals which I love. Each day has a page; each week has a sort of one-page overview, so each week has 8 pages. That makes it very easy to plan ahead and I usually block out a month at a time. On the daily pages I will record any appointments, the tasks I have to do, people I have to email, and notes I need to remember, or quotes I love, or just things I liked or want to remember. At the end of the day I write a bit about the day. It’s a very strong and flexible system. If I’m travelling on public transport, or attending a conference that day, then I have lots of space to add the details of what I’ve got to catch, where, or what papers I want to hear, and when they’re being delivered.

I have a planning journal where I plan a year in advance, and then revise that plan every three months. Each month I transfer that month’s plans into my current bullet journal, then break them down by week, and then the associated tasks slowly make their way onto my daily list. It’s not perfect but it helps me to keep on track of most things – the time critical, or important things. My biggest problem is being too ambitious!

For the PhD, my main focus planning wise is an A4 Leuchhturm book, the Master sized, which is a whopper of a notebook. In there is the meta information for the PhD, as sort of overview of the project. There is a large section of the book that gives each parish in Herefordshire a half page. There, I am slowly gathering information on each parish, and will eventually record information in there such as when I have collected/transcribed a particular source for that parish, or when I’ve visited the church there, and so on. There’s also a research diary in it, for secondary material, listing the searches I’ve done, what criteria I’ve used.

For secondary material, I record the bibliographic material that I’m actually using in my thesis into Refworks; but the actual record of my literature review searches are being kept in Excel (such as, what material I’ve found, and the status it’s at – is it read, have I decided not to use it, why not, have I got e-copies or hardcopy copies, where are they kept, and so on). Notes on my secondary material are being done in a series of B6 sized journals. When it comes to the primary source material, though, I may set up a database; a couple of people at the Centre for English Local History at Leicester have done this with their research and the result is tremendously powerful. So I’m a mix of tech and paper – I love both, but I prefer to use the strengths of both as I think best.

​My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
Whatever works best for you. If that means standing on your head and typing backwards, so be it. But I’m also very much in favour of continually questioning the way that I work, and trying to improve on the processes. That means if I feel something isn’t working, I’m very quick to change it up.

My routine is:
At the moment it’s rather chaotic due to those classes, but if I’m at home, it’s very simple: drive partner to work, come home, grab coffee and go to my study. I start with something straight forward – perhaps answering email – to warm up and then go into something difficult. Then I’ll answer a few more emails before lunch. I try to have a proper lunch break and not work while I eat – it’s good for the brain to switch off and do something else. Then back to work – again, I try to go with the easy-difficult-easy approach. I’m very good at procrastinating and the best way I’ve found to get through that is swallowing a frog – that is, just doing something workwise, anything, just to get the ball rolling. Mark Twain suggested doing the most difficult thing first (i.e.frog swallowing) but I need to work up to it.
(note: no frogs were harmed in the writing of this post, or my daily life.)

I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify):
Organised, definitely. If I start to feel disorganised, out of control, I hate it and will do whatever is necessary to get back into my happy organised state. I can deal with mess, but it has to be organised mess, if that makes sense.

I would like to improve my…
Study space. I am so incredibly fortunate, I know, in having a dedicated room that is my study space, that I can shut the door on in the evening, and know that I can walk away and no one will touch the papers on my desk until I come back to it. While I have the kind of shelving that makes academic bibliophiles jealous, there’s a lot I can do to improve the rest of my study.

My best piece of planning advice is:
Whatever system you have, plan to revise. That is, every so often, sit down, look at what you’re doing. Does it work for you? If not, be prepared to change it. It may not always be entirely possible (e.g. at the end of a three year PhD!) to change all of it, but changing some of it will help to keep it lively and active and keep you engaged with what you’re doing. I think this is a large part of what makes the bullet journal so phenomenally successful – that people are able to take the basics and make it work for them.

​Current Position:
Lecturer in English and Education
Team Leader for Foundation Degree Programmes
 
How much research time is built into my job:
Technically none.  I teach HE in an FE setting.  I’ve slowly moved from ‘A’ level to predominantly HE as the degree programmes have grown.  This year, I’ve been lucky enough to be successful in a bid to carry out some research for the AoC, so finally I actually have some remission.
 
If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:
Not be returned.  I’m in an FE setting so there is no REF!

I work on:
Gender and Education - specifically how the construction of masculinities impacts on how boys perceive literacy. I have worked on other projects such as the impact of teacher talk around the texts they deliver and the development of curricula which allow ESOL parents to learn English with their children.  My background is sociolinguistics and English language teaching but slowly over time I appear to have moved more to the field of Education rather than linguistics.  This is largely because of opportunities that have presented themselves rather than by design.  The project that I am about to embark on is exploring the delivery of HE in an FE setting.
 
Tools I use to plan my research:
I have a Hobonichi Planner (which is Japanese) and after doing the rounds of every type of planner imaginable, have settled on this.  It’s pretty pricey because it’s from Japan but well worth it, just because the very thin but high quality paper means it can pack hundreds of pages in. It’s A5 (which is the size I prefer) and contains yearly, monthly, weekly and daily spreads all in one book.
 
In the yearly spread, I keep track of my different modules and marking schedules.  This is essential because my courses are delivered in partnership with two different universities so I have to keep track of all of their deadlines for various boards, meetings and reports as well as my own college.  The admin of working for three different institutions can be overwhelming.
 
The monthly pages offer a good overview so I can set goals of what I want to achieve.  This has been really important as all of my doctoral research was fitted around my job and family.  I did initially let a year slip by of doing very little before I realized I had to get tough on myself and set really firm goals and deadlines.  One of the positive outcomes of my planning is that I did get to a point where I could clearly see that I actually didn’t have enough time to do everything unless I started to sleep less.  I used to be a Head of Department and it helped me to make the decision that I either wanted to do that or I wanted to complete my Doctorate and press ahead with research.
 
The weekly pages I use for notes that I need to go back to.  I jot down anything I want to read or explore so I can return to it at a later date.  This is sometimes just ideas or cutting and pasting something I’ve ripped from somewhere. I tend to photograph book titles etc. and stick it in. 
 
My days are very busy and I need an entire page for appointments, lists and notes.  I use a bullet journal system but I allocate tasks to particular days.  At peak marking times, I use a pomodoro system but instead of using the circles to represent time, I use them to track papers.  It keeps me on target and it can be quite satisfying – a bit like counting down the contractions whilst you’re in labour!
 
Finally, my Hobonichi also tracks personal events.  The one thing I’ve learned from being a Head of Department, is that it’s essential to keep hold of some kind of life-work balance.  At some point, I did start pasting in photos and mementoes of events and time with my kids and I have to say that when I flick through it feels like I have a life outside of work too.  It sort of makes my planning system like a living thing that I interact with and again, I’m more likely to go back through the pages so I tend not to miss anything.
 
I have a second notebook – a Leuchtturm dot grid.  I take all my notes here and I have a colour coded key.  I colour in a square at the page edge so that I can easily find notes relating to different things.

​My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
I need to have a planner that I want to ‘interact’ with.  For me that means colouring, pasting, drawing, painting, writing.  For me, it’s an integral part of my planning process.  It keeps me focused.
 
My routine is:
Just changing as I have started working two evenings this year. I am taking the time back where I can but I need to be firmer about this so I’m not just working 8am-9pm. My remission is due to start so I need a new schedule and plan for research time.
 
I think I am organized/disorganized/other (please specify):
I am organized but I’m flexible too.  I don’t sweat if things don’t go according to plan.
 
I would like to improve my….
Long term goal setting.  I tend to think of today, this week, this month.  I need to really map out the next year, next five years…
 
My best piece of planning advice is:
Don’t try to do too much.  If it seems like you can’t fit everything in, consider the possibility that you might genuinely have too much to do. If you are continually stressed, looking for time that you never seem to have, it’s time to reassess your situation rather than your planner.

​Current position:
Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellow in Ancient Science and Technology.

How much research time is built into my job:
I’m a postdoctoral research fellow, so theoretically 100%, but I’m also doing a small amount of teaching.

If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:
Be returned, assuming the outputs I produced while in my previous position could be ported (I started my current job on 5th September).

I work on:
Broadly speaking, the history and archaeology of medicine. However, I’m at that annoying stage where I have multiple projects on the go (one drawing to a close, one about halfway through, and one just starting), so what I work on varies quite significantly from day to day.

Tools I use to plan my research:
Confession: I’ve never really planned my research. I focus on one thing at a time, as far as is possible, and see where that leads me. I can tell you how I got to where I am, but I can’t tell you where I’m going next.

I have an eighteen-month week-by-week diary that I use to keep track of my deadlines, trips, appointments etc. I also use this for my weekly To Do lists. I’ve tried using the electronic organisational tools that come with PCs, tablets, smartphones etc., but these don’t work for me. I need to write something down and look at a physical version of it in front of me to have any chance of remembering it.
With regard to my research, a pen and a piece of paper are indispensable. I start with mind-maps of my general thoughts, progress to bullet-points, and then write everything out by hand before typing it up. While I can add to pre-existing work and edit complete work on a computer, I can’t start work from scratch that way. I also use post-it notes to mark pages in books I’m reading, or take note of references, and I stick these either to my work or to my computer to remind me to incorporate the new information.

I have a whiteboard and a corkboard on my office wall. I use the whiteboard to keep track of all my projects and the corkboard to keep track of events that I may or may not want to attend, books I may or may not want to read etc.

My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
Do whatever works for you for as long as it works for you. I’m interested in how other people plan and I love to get an insight into their process, but I won’t necessarily try and adopt that process in its entirety because I know it’s not for me. So at the moment, I’m attempting AcWriMo because I have several fast approaching deadlines and so far I’m managing to write 500 words per day, but I know from experience that I won’t be able to do that indefinitely, so once I run out of steam, I’ll move on to something else.

My routine is:
Under construction. Three house moves in six weeks, no internet access at home, starting a new job and getting to grips with a new institution, and a lot of upheaval in my personal life have meant that I haven’t been able to really settle down and establish one yet.

Generally, I tend to book-end my days with productive academic work; in the middle I deal with admin, teaching and whatever else needs to be done. I’m an early riser (5-6am most days without an alarm) and I have a lot of energy first thing in the morning, so I tend to do an hour or two of work while I drink my coffee and wake up. I aim to get into my office between 8.30 and 9.30 and tend to start the day dealing with emails, before moving on to whatever else is on my To Do list (at the moment: conference organisation, grant applications, teaching preparation, book reviews). I generally leave the office mid-afternoon, call in at the library on my way home, and once I get home settle down and work until dinner (6-7 pm). After dinner, I wind down.

I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify):
I think I’m an organised disorganised person. I’m very organised in the short term (I know exactly what I’m going to do each day from the moment I wake up in the morning), less organised in the long term (I tend to be reactive rather than proactive). I hate being taken by surprise with something new that needs to be done when I’ve already planned to do other things.

I would like to improve my…
Technological know-how. Not because I want to, but because I need to. There’s only so long you can justify formatting everything by hand when you know there are online resources that will do it for you in a fraction of the time.

My best piece of planning advice is:
Be prepared to be flexible. Also, tasks tend to expand to fill the time available, so be wary of spending too much time on one thing at the expense of everything else.

​Current position:
Lecturer (permanent position)
How much research time is built into my job:
My job includes teaching, research and admin. I don’t know if it’s stated formally anywhere, but I think of it as about 40% teaching, 40% research, 20% admin/other. 
If the next REF were held tomorrow, I would:
Possibly be returned – it would depend on whether outputs were portable, as I just started a new position two months ago.

I work on:
Ancient linguistics, mainly sociolinguistics and epigraphy. Right now, I’m in the early stages of a major project on language contact in pre-Roman Italy, taking a comparative approach across different regions and different contact situations. I have smaller ongoing projects on the Venetic dedications to the goddess Reitia and the linguistics of colour in the ancient world. I’m also editing a book on language and migration with some colleagues.

Tools I use to plan my research:
I have a Moleskine Weekly Notebook for my day-to-day planning, which has all my daily appointments and to-do lists. My research notebook is a lined Leuchtturm 1917, and works (loosely) on a Bullet Journal system. I use this notebook for all my notes on everything: research, teaching, meetings, random ideas, planning out articles and blog posts. I also have my monthly goals here: at the beginning of each month, I set goals for what I want to achieve, so I can tick them off as I go along – and I leave space on the page for extra things I’m proud of doing that month too. I use Evernote for on-the-go quick notes and for saving snaps of pages or images I want to use later.

These days, I have probation requirements to show me what boxes I need to tick in the next 2-3 years; in my last job I checked the “essential” and “desirable” qualities on job ads to help me with long-term planning. Every few months I update my Master CV, which helps me see what areas could use some attention. I also have a Research Record in my Leuchtturm notebook (inspired by Ellie’s Research Pipeline) for tracking what stage each project is at.

I use Zotero for saving the details of books and articles I’ve read, and then they’re sitting there ready when I want to write. I also log my hours over the week using a colour-coded Excel spreadsheet, with different colours for each activity and each cell representing one half-hour. I don’t really know why I do this, except that it’s a habit I got into a few years ago. It’s a bit like a pedometer – I like having the data, even if I do nothing with it, and sometimes it’s an encouragement to do just a little bit more writing that day. 

My approach to planning/planning philosophy is:
Write everything down, but keep it flexible. 
I use weekly to-do lists, rather than blocking out specific times to do specific things. If I find myself with an hour or two, I can choose any activity from this week’s list. This keeps things flexible, and allows for unplanned meetings with students, urgent emails or impromptu coffee breaks with colleagues, which are all important too!

My routine is:
I get into work between 8 and 9, and usually work in my office for most of the day. I finish between 4.30 and 6.30, depending on my teaching schedule. At the moment, work is mainly teaching prep; next term, I have a lighter teaching load, so there will be more time for research. I have one week day each week with no meetings or teaching, and on that day I normally work from home – that’s often the day when I do research activities like writing grant applications, abstracts or blog posts. I usually work one weekend day, and take one weekend day off. I don’t work in the evenings. 

I think I am organised/disorganised/other (please specify):
I’m definitely very organised, which has helped a lot with adjusting to my new job.

I would like to improve my…
“To read” list! For years, I have tried to keep a sensible record of things I want to read that I’ve seen on BMCR, or in someone’s references, or someone has mentioned in passing. I’ve tried paper lists, typed lists in Word, colour coding on Zotero… nothing has stuck. 

My best piece of planning advice is:
Know thyself.
There’s no point planning things in a way that are unachievable for YOU (and what works for someone else will not necessarily be achievable or sustainable for you). If you write best in the morning, block out an hour or two in your schedule. If you get less distracted at home, work from home. If you know you can’t do research on teaching days, that’s ok. If you need sleep, sleep. Almost everything I do has been labelled “not the right way to do things” by someone at some point (including the amount I sleep!), but I know what works for me, and I adjust my plans when I need to.