In academia, the managerial notion of time is brought to bear on academics through the idea of "publish or perish". It catalyses anxiety and fears about thinking, experimenting and writing against a ticking clock. But academics are not managers and don’t need to use managerial time. They’re artisans, and need to work on artisanal time.

I’m just rounding up a year in Lyon, France before my move back to Singapore. And a move is a time for reflection. Looking back, I’d say: it’s been a GREAT year. And the main reason for that? My two-hour workday lunches.

Paper rejections can be deeply unsettling, especially for junior academics. Healing the wounds of a rejection takes time. It involves going through several phases, including acknowledging the upsetting and frustrating dimensions of a paper rejection early on.

Although rejection is an incredibly common event for academics, it remains a taboo subject in academia. This invisibility of failure creates false expectations of immediate successes for early career researchers on the one hand, leading to a complete lack of confidence. On the other hand, seasoned academics used to receiving rejections may continue having great difficulty with rejections, the cumulative force of multiple rejections acting as a battering ram to their ability to function normally.

Guest post by Dr Chris Hill.

Previously, I wrote about the role of inspiration and mental well-being in productive writing practice. Here I explore how good sleep habits can improve your writing productivity.

If I am not happy and balanced, then it is no surprise that I am easily distracted and uninspired. And so, achieving balance and happiness will involve some kind of reflection on my thoughts and emotions. Let’s use techniques that can improve your mental well-being and cognitive performance to make you a more productive writer.