Posts by Hillary
Academic Success Catalyst Program Begins This Wednesday 4/24 at 3:30 Eastern. Enroll now.
The ASCP is for graduate students, postdocs, junior faculty, and other junior academic researchers who would like to: • get more productive in their writing and other work • finish their thesis, papers, or other projects • have an easier time finding a job • have better relationships at work and at home, and • be more strategic and effective…
Read MoreLyrical Guy Embodies Perfectionism (Now With More Hemingway)
Someone posted an entertainingly macho/perfectionist take on writer’s block. I’m not going to link to the original, in the interests of protecting the misguided, but it does provide us with a valuable teaching moment, displaying as it does such vivid examples of perfectionism as: Harsh Judgements (“Those who complain about writer’s block are just looking…
Read MoreMayo Clinic Poll: Half of Americans Would Consider Donating a Kidney to a Stranger
Great news. And here’s the link to my kidney donation story.
Read MoreInteresting Links: Critical Thinking, The Internet and Democracy, 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
A Great Overview, in plain-sense language, of How to Read and Write Critically, and why you should. The Internet is Catalyzing Democracy and Freedom It’s the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Read MoreThe Importance of Daily Rituals to Writers, Artists, and Other Creators: What Would Flaubert, or Beethoven, or Balzac, or Edward Gorey Do?
An entire chapter of The 7 Secrets of the Prolific is devoted to the topic of resources and requirements needed to be a prolific writer. It’s not a trivial topic, as abundantly resourcing yourself can mean the difference between being and being blocked. Here’s an excerpt: Writers, like other artisans, tend to be fascinated by…
Read MoreJust Because…
Boston is on lockdown this morning, so here’s a yellow bird.
Read More“Minecraft” Creator Blocked
Markus Persson, the creator of the megapopular game Minecraft, is blocked on his next project. Sounds like a classic case of situational perfectionism to me. SP often follows a huge success or an early success. (See, also, this.) He sounds like a genuinely nice guy (among other things, a supporter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation)…
Read MoreFeeling Powerful Makes You Think Better
I’m turning into a big fan of Annie Murphy Paul’s Brilliant Blog. The advice in this article on thinking more effectively by locating your centers of power nicely complements The 7 Secrets of the Prolific’s thesis that procrastination is caused by disempowerment. I particularly like Paul’s advice to find a role in which you feel…
Read MoreHow to Spend Your Weekend
Some great suggestions from Laura Vanderkam author of What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend: I like her #2 and #3 best: 2. They Don’t Go Limp. If you spend your workweek running — or worse, flying — from place to place, you may think you want to collapse on the couch all…
Read MoreProlific Robot
An artist did this for me a while back at a science fiction convention:
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