Managing research, service load, and deep work as an academic

Executive overview

Academics face a recurring tension: institutional obligations expand while research time shrinks. Adding more service without adjusting expectations produces stressed, mixed-quality output — the worst of both worlds.

The solution is a three-part approach: reset research expectations downward but raise quality, protect a fixed block of deep work time, then actively constrain service commitments using explicit quotas rather than pain-driven gut instinct.

Doing less but doing it better is a more sustainable and career-protective trade-off than maintaining volume at declining quality.

Research note-taking for academics

• Use the same software you write papers in — LaTeX, Word, whatever your field uses — so notes are immediately citable
• Enter citations into your bibliography manager from day one; never reconstruct them later
• Build annotated bibliographies organised by topic, with subsections per paper
• Use varied granularity: a one-line summary is enough until a paper becomes directly relevant, then go deep
• Grow notes on demand — don't pre-read everything exhaustively

Managing an expanded service load after tenure

• Accept that more service means less research output; something has to give
• Apply the Drew Faust rule: publish less frequently, but make each piece excellent — mixed-quality high-volume output is the worst outcome
• Determine the minimum deep work time needed to sustain that quality standard, then protect it as non-negotiable
• Use fixed schedule productivity: set the constraint first, then let back-pressure force you to rationalise everything else
• Reduce administrative overhead through process design — replace ad hoc messaging with set protocols, ticketing systems, or standing meetings with fixed agendas

Saying no with quotas

• Most people use the 20% rule: wait until overloaded by 20% before saying no — this is a bad heuristic
• The difference between 0% and 20% overloaded is a handful of committees; it looks the same externally but destroys you internally
• Quotas replace pain-driven refusals with a clear, defensible system: "I do three committees per semester; I'm full"
• When declining, state the quota and stop — no fallback offers, no asking the other person to let you off the hook
• People respect someone with clear limits who does good work; they don't respect either freeloaders or people perpetually on fire

Whether to pursue an employer-funded MBA

• Standard rule: only pursue a graduate degree if there is concrete evidence a specific desirable role requires that specific degree
• Free tuition removes the monetary cost but not the life cost — time in an MBA is time not spent on family, community, self-development
• Thoreau's Walden frames this: measure cost in life spent, not just money paid; the wagon that saves one hour a month but costs five hours a week to fund is a bad trade
• A free MBA is worth it only if the outcome materially and clearly improves your life in a way that outweighs that time — a 40% salary bump enabling a major lifestyle change may qualify; a vague 10% bump does not
• Avoid exploratory degrees regardless of price

Selecting and sequencing deep work projects

• Distinguish deep efforts (concentrated work that moves the needle) from support efforts (logistics, prep, coordination)
• Support efforts for many projects can run concurrently in normal task flow; deep efforts cannot
• Work on deep efforts one at a time until you reach a natural stopping point, then rotate
• Keep two to four active deep efforts at any one time — more than four creates too much rotational drag
• Maintain a bench of upcoming projects; begin support activities for bench items so they're ready to activate

Building and maintaining a value system

• Investigating what matters in life should be a tier one activity with regularly scheduled time — not something left to chance
• Approaches vary: religious study, philosophical reading, experiential service to others
• A solid, evolving value system is the foundation for stepping outside digital distraction and finding durable meaning
• Values should cascade: values → vision → semester plan → weekly plan → daily actions
• Treat value interrogation the way you treat exercise: scheduled, non-negotiable, recurring