Write Week

Writing "Boot Camp" in the Diamond

Today marks the end of "Write Week" here at the University of Sheffield, and ScHARR's IR team have been busy both as participants and facilitators.

ScHARR library have been busy providing motivational tweets and tips and members of the IR team joined in to share their own projects and advice:

PLANNING A guide to writing a research paper, from idea to full manuscript https://t.co/DltgP5GjEb #WritingWeek2017 @raulpacheco pic.twitter.com/VUrlcGR709

— ScHARR Library (@scharrlib) July 11, 2017

Meanwhile, Andy Tattersall ran a day-long "boot camp" during Write Week - a more intensive form of the popular "write club" sessions held weekly in the library.  This time staff relocated to the Diamond and worked through a schedule of 10 "pomodoros" - 25 minute time slots designed to allow for a concentrated burst of productivity on a specific task, punctuated by 5 minute breaks for refreshment.

Need some focused writing time? Join Writing Boot Camp next Thurs! All MDH staff & students welcome https://t.co/RDfsiTLu9R #WritingWeek2017 pic.twitter.com/wXQfESGZa0

— ScHARRLibrary (@scharrlib) July 7, 2017

There are definite benefits to being out of the building, away from the distractions of the phone (or colleagues knocking on the office door) and having some protected time to do nothing but focus on writing.    Like Write Club, these retreats are popular and staff need to book a place in advance using Eventbrite.    Motivation came in the form of a visual display using the Forest app, showing saplings which grow over the course of the day as illustrations of our productivity.

Just crossed the first thing off my long #WritingWeek2017 to-do list. A small achievement but every little helps right... @scharrlib pic.twitter.com/BTuziTbaTo

— AntheaSutton (@antheasutton) July 10, 2017

Do you have any tips for productivity, or on making time for those important but non-urgent tasks that can easily be neglected when you're running a busy service?