1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 In Episode 274, Christine Tulley addresses the familiar end-of-March crunch that faculty and graduate students face — a point in the semester when obligations to others have quietly piled up. Her solution is a &quot;catch-up list&quot; of everything she owes other people, which she walks through in detail: back grading for two writing classes, course substitution memos for graduating students, a tuition remission form, follow-up materials from a workshop, thank-you correspondence, outreach to struggling students at risk of failing, joining a special interest group, and posting workshop information — plus a book manuscript due in mid-April. &amp;nbsp;Her core advice is to organize such a list into time buckets (tasks under 15 minutes, under an hour, or 2+ hours) to make it feel less overwhelming, tackle the quickest items first for a momentum boost, and then block a dedicated chunk of time — in her case, a full Monday morning — to power through the rest. The broader takeaway is that letting these obligations accumulate creates mental background noise that interferes with writing and other focused work, so clearing them out periodically is itself a productivity strategy. Resources Mentioned Episode 75: I Tried Penzu for Logging Writing DPL Resources Tuesday Toolbox - contact christine@defendpublishandlead.com for subscription information to get more videos like Lesson 13 Set your writing goals with us! Try us out in a free consultation. Check out our current and past workshops at Eventbrite for writing support content. A FREE webinar is posted each month. Missed a workshop? Request a workshop or webinar recording from christine@defendandpublish.com Don't forget about the wonderful resources at Textbook and Academic Authors Association. The organization can be found at: https://www.taaonline.net New to TAA? Join for just $25 using discount code DP26! You will also receive a copy of the eBook, Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time &amp;amp; Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors. Defend, Publish &amp; Lead Podcast https://www.defendpublishlead.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/40721595/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/40721595