PhD Advice
My Current Productivity Stack (including scholarly tools)
I am a productivity hobbyist and have a bad habit of chucking my whole system every once in a while to try and adopt somebody elseās from scratch. This never works, though, and I inevitably end up rebuilding my own Frankensteinās monster of tools. I started feeling this itch again recently, and after briefly flirting with Tiago Forteās PARA method, decided to go back to basics and look at what I already know works for me before spending a lot of time switching things up.
Personal Productivity
Hereās what Iām using right now. I based the list on what kind of things are in a productivity stack on this Pleexy blog post.
Personal Task Management
I donāt like using software for this. Thereās something about the feeling of pen on paper that makes me prefer it intensely. It does mean that my tasks are not linked to relevant email messages, as Tiago Forte suggests they should be, but I can use email labels to hold things for later in a sort of David Alleny method with folders like Waiting For, Read/Review, and Reference.
So because I prefer to do task management on paper, I use the Bullet Journal method and its companion app. I do a pretty vanilla implementation of the core collections and add custom collections as appropriate.
The notebook I prefer is a large hardcover squared Moleskine/. Iām experimenting right now with the expanded edition, since I usually go through a couple notebooks a year. At first I didnāt like the added weight or feeling of it in my hand, but now Iām used to it and it doesnāt seem that different from the regular one.
The pen I prefer is the Pilot G2 07 in black.
I also use tabs with my notebook: 1ā ones across the top to mark the future log, this month, this week, and today, and 2ā ones down the side for collections.
Calendar
The Bullet Journal Method includes a way to calendar, and I do use it some. But I mostly use Google Calendar for this. Itās useful for collaboration - my colleagues and my husband all use Google Calendar, so itās easy to schedule things with/for them this way. I also schedule a lot of recurring tasks and appreciate being able to search to see when something happened in the past.
Note taking
The Bullet Journal is great for note-taking, too, but I have a tendency to ignore notes once I get them on paper. For short notes that I want to be easily accessible, I use Google Keep. I use recurring reminders with these. For example, I have a list of all my meds and a recurring reminder to fill my cases with them, and a list that pops up every day of stuff M. needs to be ready to go to school.
Longer notes end up in my blog, which I host on Micro.blog, or in Google Docs. This is an area where I could grow. If I decide to really get into personal knowledge management, Iāll probably experiment with some other tools. Iāve tried Evernote and Notion in the past and neither of them is quite right for what Iād imagine doing.
Focus
I use Forest, but I use it pretty inconsistently. When Iām in flow, I donāt really need this kind of app. As I do more writing, though, I might use it more.
Time management
I could use Forest for this, too, and I might. So far I donāt do a lot of time tracking.
Habit tracker
These never work for me, so I donāt bother with one.
Automation
I donāt do this much, either. I like a bit of friction in my workflow. As I keep refining it, I may discover areas that could benefit from automation, though.
Scholarly Productivity
Scholarly productivity requires its own specialized set of tools. Hereās what I use.
Citation management and reading
I use Paperpile for both citation management and scholarly reading. It integrates seamlessly with Google Docs for writing. It has its own built-in reader interface available on web or mobile. It costs about $30/year and I love it. It has completely eliminated lots of document-syncing headaches I had in the past when I used Zotero.
Literature tracking and notes
I use the labels and folders in Paperpile, along with Raul Pacheco-Vegaās Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump method for this. I track a given body of literature using a Notion spreadsheet I created. You can get it (pay-what-you-can starting at $0) here.
Keeping up with literature
I use a combination of Google Scholar alerts and journal alerts for this.
Mind-mapping
I use bubbl.us.
Writing pipeline
I track my writing pipeline in Notion, with a database that lets me view it as a list or as a kanban-board according to stage in the publication process. I have a pay-what-you-can (again, starting at $0) template you can download for that.
Revisions
I have a revisions database in Notion for each paper, as well. I havenāt made this available as a template yet, but I plan to soon. Sign up for my Newsletter if you want to find out when it goes live. It will be pay-what-you-can like the others.
Permissions
If you are using images from othersā work in scholarly publishing, you will need to obtain and track permission to use that work. I do that in a Notion database. You can get my template. (As always, pay-what-you-can, $0.)
Areas for growth
There are two big gaps in my productivity stack right now. One is the difficulty in serendipitously serving up notes to myself. The kinds of connections that build creativity arenāt readily available using Google Docs or Keep. I started to build a personal wiki for this purpose but I think the amount of labor required to keep it up was too high. Iāll probably play with Notion for this some more, but I might just keep putting stuff on my website and occasionally scrolling through categories there to find connections.
The other big gap is REVIEW. I donāt have a solid review process. Iāve tried timers and time blocking and so far they havenāt worked for me. But I know all of this would work much better for me if I dedicated the time to review it, so I will keep working on figuring that out.
I hope itās been helpful for you to read about my productivity stack. Whatās in yours?
7 Things to Do Before You Start Your PhD
Itās the time of year when people are announcing their PhD acceptances. If you are psyched to be doing a PhD, yay you! I have some advice for things you can do to make it easier. If you are already into your program or even graduated and havenāt done these yet, itās never too late to do them. But I wish Iād done all of them before beginning my PhD, so if you can do them ahead of time, I think it will go better for you.
1. Choose a citation manager.
Youāre going to be reading a LOT of scholarship: articles, book chapters, conference proceedings. Youāll read some assigned by your professors and some you find for your own work. If you start out capturing all of them, itāll be easier to find them later when you reference them in your own work.
You have two options here: something that will grab references for you and build citations and reference lists, or doing it manually.
Software that will do it for you
There are a lot of options for the former. I personally use Paperpile. It integrates with Google Docs, which is where I do most of my writing. It has mobile apps and includes a reader that will save your highlights and annotations. It costs about $30 a year.
Iāve also tried Refworks, Zotero, and Mendeley. I recommend looking at the features for each option and choosing the one that looks like it will match best with your anticipated workflow. Paperpile is good for me because I like to read on a tablet and it requires no extra steps to set that up. Think about your plans for reading and your plans for writing.
Know that this is a pretty low stakes choice, as most of these have an export option that will let you move all of your references to a different manager easily.
Doing it manually
You can do this manually if you like, though it can get unwieldy if you start to build up a large collection of resources. (I currently have over 3500 in my Paperpile library.) To do it this way, I recommend setting up a spreadsheet according to Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vegaās Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump method. (If youāre a Notion user, Iāve got a pay-what-you-can template for doing this.)
To create the references to include in your bibliography, you can either build them manually or find them in Google Scholar and click āCiteā to get a list of formatted citations.
If you go this route, you should be meticulous about keeping track of which references you use. I would recommend building your reference list as you write rather than waiting until youāre done writing.
2. Choose a way of storing readings.
With Paperpile, Zotero, and Mendeley, this is handled for you. If you use Notion, you can use their web clipper to gather readings. You can also just download readings into a folder you manage yourself. If you do this, I recommend backing them up to the cloud using Dropbox or Google Drive and backing up to an external hard drive for extra security.
3. Figure out how you prefer to read.
Knowing this preference will save you time later and help you build a reading-writing-citation environment. You might like to print things on paper, read them on your computer screen, or read them on a tablet or phone. Try all of the options available to you to figure out what you like best.
4. Look for information on your university libraryās website about help with research.
Is there a specific librarian assigned to your department? Learn about them. Maybe even get to know them. You are not bothering the librarian. The librarianās job is to help scholars with research. You are a scholar. The librarian will work with you.
Does the library provide instruction in how to use databases? Sign up for a session. Do they offer topic guides? See if thereās one close to your research interest and get familiar with the resources included in it.
5. Learn to read and take notes.
This is the most important one. Donāt be like me and spend hours of your PhD reading every paper in excruciating detail. If you are in the social, natural, or applied sciences, check out Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vegaās Abstract-Introduction-Conclusion method as a starting point, then dig deeper into readings that feel especially important for your own work.
Track everything you read, keep notes on it, and later you wonāt have to work as hard to hunt it down. Again, I recommend setting up a spreadsheet according to Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vegaās Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump method. (If youāre a Notion user, Iāve got a pay-what-you-can template for doing this.) Dr. Pacheco-Vega also has a lot of wisdom to share on note-taking techniques, so look at those and see what might work for you.
6. Develop an elevator pitch for your research interests.
Youāre going to have to introduce yourself and your research interests to people, a lot. Try to get down a quick explanation of your research interests. This will change over time.
For example, in my application, I said I was interested in researching how connected learning could fit in school libraries. Then, I said I was interested in interest-driven learning in libraries. Now, I am interested in how connected learning as manifested through fan activity contributes to information literacy and practices. (Would I need to define some of those terms? You betcha. In that case, I could say Iām interested in how fans engaging in activities like cosplay and fanfiction learn through those activities, as well as how they find, evaluate, use, create, and share information.)
7. Get a hobby or two.
A hobby gives you something to do thatās not school, and thatās important. Ideally, itās something you will have begun learning before school starts so that youāre not, say, simultaneously trying to understand Marxist geography and the sociology of space while also learning to knit. If you can get more than one hobby, even better. I like having a solitary one and one that will lead you to interact with non-school people. In my MSLS days, my principal hobbies were baking cupcakes and being in the Durham Savoyards. During the PhD, they were tinkering on the IndieWeb and doing improv comedy.
There are a lot of other things you might do to make your experience go smoothly, but if youāve got these seven down, youāre going in with a strong foundation.
