Successful Academic Newsletter

Psychic RAM

Removing splinters generates a burst of energy. There is a charge from removing those small nagging phrases that have occupied your thoughts over and over: “Oh yeah, I really have to….” You can delete those thoughts from your mind. And once you erase the task there is room for more interesting musings. You’ve freed up more “psychic RAM.”

I love this phrase coined by time management expert David Allen. His main mantra concerns the waste of mental energy we spend keeping track of all the tasks we have to do. He insists that we need to write down every single pending project. Once things are on paper, he says, we don’t have to waste psychic RAM on them. On paper = out of mind.

How many of your thoughts relate to tasks that you need to do, or appointments you will attend, at some point in the future? Wouldn’t it be nice to have more psychic RAM available for curiosity and scholarly musings?

In his book “Ready for Anything”, here’s what David Allen says about finishing up nagging tasks:

“Closing open loops releases energy…. No matter how unimportant they seem or how unconscious we are about them, unfulfilled commitments consume psychic fuel that is unavailable for other uses. When these unfinished items are brought to the surface and completed (or acknowledged as complete, as is), previously inaccessible energy shows up.”

Give yourself a burst of energy today. Remove a splinter.

Are Your Splinters Festering?

When minor chores remain undone they stop being minor and start to impede our productivity and sense of wellbeing.

I’m not talking about procrastination on large anxiety-provoking tasks like your grant, first-author paper, or dissertation. I’m talking about the small tasks that are rarely critical but must be done sometime.

I call these tasks “splinters”.
Splinters are not serious wounds, but minor irritants. However, left unattended, splinters can become infected, lead to bothersome pain and take a long time to heal.

There are work-related splinters and life-maintenance splinters. Both can impair your functioning over time.

Examples of academic splinters:

Life-maintenance splinters:

What are my own splinters?

Mending is my downfall. I have clothes that I haven’t worn for years because I lost a button or the hem came unraveled. What’s the big deal? Who knows? I just don’t get around to threading the needle.

All of us must leave some of the tasks undone some of the time. If you’re an academic there is always more to do than is possible. The trick with splinters, however, is to remove them as soon as possible.

As you know, when splinters fester they can lead to major problems, such as late payment fees, angry colleagues, engine troubles, frustrated spouses, disapproving mentors, a depleted wardrobe, etc.,.

How can you remove splinters?

The process of plucking splinters tends to be self-reinforcing.
It feels great to have them gone, and it is energizing to watch your list dwindle.