How to do the bare minimum and still get ahead with your research
Image description: A bald masc person in a rumpled suit sits on a porch with their feet in a blue, plastic swimming pool. Their eyes are squinted, and they’re puffing on a cigar and holding a glass tumbler full of an amber liquid. Photo credit: Gratisography.
Qualitative scholars, are you overwhelmed with your to-do list? Need to cut out tasks and do the bare minimum required?
This is hard to do in academia when the criteria for success is rarely written out and when the gauges for success are the most prolific colleagues around you.
One way to ensure your energy is applied to those tasks with the most bang for your buck is to say no to asks that carry less value according to tenure and promotion (T&P) committees.
Three of these optional tasks are tied to publishing:
Book chapters: Unlike journal articles, these are (sadly) undervalued by academia. One of my clients was recently told by their chair to stop “hiding scholarship” in edited volumes. Want to make sure your work has the most impact? Submit to peer-reviewed journals instead.
Book reviews: While book reviews don’t hurt your CV, they do little to help it. Next time you’re asked to do one, try declining the invitation and see how you feel.
Reader reports (peer reviews): Peer review is essential, but it also does virtually nothing for your career advancement. Protect yourself and say no when you can.
Of course, sometimes it’s important to agree to these tasks. But do so carefully and selectively! Reasons you might selectively acquiesce include:
Book chapters: You already have tenure. Or you are a prolific writer who already has articles in high-ranking journals.
Book reviews: You want practice writing this genre of academic writing. You really want to celebrate a book that has important implications for your own work.
Reader reports: You’d like to support scholarship that is important for your field or your own work.
There are no right or wrong decisions about where you place your work or the service tasks you agree to. But when your energy and creativity is in short supply, you’ve got some options about where (or where not) to allocate them!