Bonus: Navigate Case Studies

If you’ve been on the fence about joining this cohort of Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap, you’ll want to listen closely to these experiences from two real-life Navigate alums.   Enrollment is open for just a few more days for the Radical Change Cohort of my Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap program. To help you decide if the program is right for you, I’m interviewing two past participants to find out how Navigate impacted their careers and made a difference in their academic lives.    Participant #1: Nicole Why did she join? Nicole was in her first year of a tenure track position when she joined Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap. She found balancing all the demands of a heavy teaching load while keeping her research and writing robust was a big challenge, and she wanted some support.   What part of the program was most impactful for her? Going through the exercise of breaking down her time and collecting the data of where the time went each day empowered her to advocate for herself with her department, say no when she needed to and create protected writing times in her schedule.   “I’ve become much more comfortable with saying, ‘no, this doesn’t match up with...my vision for going forward.’” What is something she learned in the program that she uses on a regular basis? The Ideal Week exercise has helped her find a structure that supports her needs and stick to a schedule. Also, learning how to put boundaries around email and other tasks so her time is protected and others know what to expect.   “50-70% of my battle with ‘finding time to write’ is actually taming all of the other lions.”   How did the program change her writing and publishing process? It helped her feel empowered in the process, helping her realize that just because things are coming at you doesn’t mean you need to catch them all!    Who does she think should join? Everyone! Anyone who feels overwhelmed by writing and finds it keeps sinking to the bottom of the pile. She felt like she was losing her edge on research, writing, and thinking, and Navigate helped her get back onto the patch she wanted to follow.  Participant #2: Kimberly  Why did she join? Kimberly is a tenured faculty member who realized she was in a rut and felt like she has lost the purpose in her career. She felt like she wasn’t doing anything important. After some reflection, she decided she did want to remain a faculty member, but needed to jumpstart her career.   What part of the program was most impactful for her? Crafting an academic mission statement and aligning all of her activities to it was impactful. It helped her refine her vision, and feel better about some of the work she was already doing. Even though that task was taking time, it aligned with her mission which made it valuable and helped her feel at peace with it.  What is something she learned in the program that she uses on a regular basis? She has incorporated templates into her work, in emails, feedback and anywhere it’s helpful. This has saved her time, and ensured feedback given when she has less time and energy is as valuable as any other feedback. How did the program change her writing and publishing process? The program helped her manage her pipeline better, and use her time wisely. She now has a pipeline with a variety of projects she can move between to maintain her motivation, and she feels empowered to cull projects that are no longer useful. Who does she think should join? Anyone who needs to be reinvigorated after tenure or if they feel stuck, as well as those who are in the beginning stages and need help figuring out how to get things done.   “You don’t know what you don’t know that first year.”   If you’re ready to radically change your career, your outlook, and academia as a whole, join us in Navigate: Your Writing Roadmap. You’ll be glad you did! Enrollment is only open for a few more days, so don’t wait, enroll here. Pulled in a thousand directions and can’t seem to carve out time to write? Download my 10 Ways to Make Time to Write cheat sheet for ideas to implement today!   Connect with me: Website Facebook Group Facebook Page Follow me on Clubhouse: @cathymazak  This episode was first published at cathymazak.com/bonus-navigate