Since I have a major conference paper due in less than a month, I naturally found myself today digitizing some old course note binders and researching a potential migration to a new reference management software.
Because I am currently feeling the pressure of this deadline but wanting to avoid the actual work, I thought it’d be instructive to make a list of every single thing I felt the pull to work on instead. Almost everything I came up with is something that doesn’t make a bit of difference in my professional goals.
I then reworked this list into what others have called a No Journal. It’s nothing more than a text file that lives in an easily accessible place. I have documented a list of things I know I should say no to or that I otherwise recognize as avoidance work. I plan to integrate this file into my regular review process so I recognize faster when I’m spending time on things that don’t matter.
You only have finite time and attention, and items in the No Journal unseat more important things.
You can go straight to the source and learn more about the No Journal concept from: