Sustainable Productivity
for Academic Writers
A 6-month small-group coaching program
to help you build a sustainable writing practice and
bring your article(s) or book chapter(s) to completion
Program runs Jun. 1–Dec. 4, 2026
Enrollment Options & Pricing
Program Overview
By the end of the workshop, you’ll also have refined and expanded your “toolbox” of strategies for making meaningful progress on your writing on a week-to-week basis. Through reflective exercises, group coaching, and video lessons, the workshop will support you in developing a writing practice that works for your life and that will help keep you on track with your goals. The video lessons draw ideas from a wide array of books and other sources. Michelle Boyd’s insightful book Becoming the Writer You Already Are will also provide an important piece of our curriculum in modules 2 and 7.
The core program includes 8 video modules (with a workbook!) on the topics below and 7 monthly group coaching calls. You can also bundle in two optional add-ons: enrollment in the Support & Accountability Community (with twice-weekly cowriting, a cheering-each-other-on thread, and more!) and one-on-one coaching or editorial consultations.
The program is capped at 8 participants. Group coaching calls will be held on the first Friday of each month from 12:00–1:15 ET. If you can’t make it, a recording of the call will be posted in the private forum for the group.
Curriculum & Coaching calls
June–July: Energy
Start-of-program group coaching call: June 5th (12:00–1:15 ET)
Module 1: Cultivating strong BASE writing habits (behavioral, artisanal, social, and emotional habits) and bringing pleasure into the writing process. Using easing-into-writing and end-of-session rituals to make it easier to get started each day.
Module 2: Managing your inner critic. Overcoming procrastination and easing any tension you feel about writing. (Reading for the week: chapter 2, “More Than You Think: How Head, Hand, and Heart Make Writing So Hard” from Michelle Boyd’s book Becoming the Writer You Already Are.)
Group coaching call for modules 1 & 2: July 3rd (12:00–1:15 ET)
July–August: Structure
Module 3: Setting effective goals and figuring out what level of structure works best for you. Breaking your project into small tasks and setting up a system to manage those tasks. Realistically estimating how long various tasks will take so you can create a plan and timeline for your revisions.
Module 4: Figuring out a good structure and rhythm for your workweek. Maintaining motivation.
Group coaching call for modules 3 & 4: August 7th (12:00–1:15 ET)
Mid-Session Pause (with Coaching Call at End of Pause)
No new content between the early August and early September group coaching calls. (No weekly cowriting sessions during this period for those enrolled in the Support & Accountability Group; weekly cowriting sessions resume the week of September 7.)
Group coaching call focused on navigating the start of fall term: September 4th
September–October: Boundaries
Module 5: Protecting your time for writing & self-care. Strategies for setting boundaries.
Module 6: Protecting your focus. Managing your email efficiently and minimizing distraction in your workday.
Group coaching call for modules 5 and 6: October 2nd
October–November: Writing Stages
Module 7: Getting unstuck at various stages of the writing process. (Reading for the week: chapter 3, “Turning Toward Yourself: How Writing Process Can Get You Unstuck,'“ and chapter 5, “Growing from the Inside Out: Exploring and Expanding Your Writing Process,” from Michelle Boyd’s book Becoming the Writer You Already Are.)
Module 8: Handling both constructive and less-than-constructive criticism. Asking for the feedback you need for the writing stage you are in.
Group coaching call for modules 7 and 8: November 6th
November–December: Purpose
Module 9: Clarifying Your "Why"
Group coaching call for module 9: December 4th
Learn about the Support & Accountability Community (one of the add-ons) by clicking on the headings below.
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Zoom cowriting from 2:00–3:45 ET Tuesdays and 10:00–11:45 ET Wednesdays most weeks.* Brief check-ins at the start, midpoint, and end. Come as often as you like, for part or all of each session.
*There will be a pause in the cowriting sessions from August 10th through September 4th and during the week of November 23rd.
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During the second week of each month, I’ll be available for on-the-spot one-on-one coaching in a breakout room during one of the cowriting calls. (If I offer the coaching during the Tuesday call one month, I’ll offer it during the Wednesday call the next month.)
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During the cowriting call with the on-the-spot coaching, we’ll also have a longer check-in time at the start (more like 20-30 minutes than 5). This longer check-in will include a short reflective writing prompt as well as time for group conversation.
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I’ll create weekly check-in threads on the private online forum for the group where you can post about goals, challenges, or little wins (giving a high-five or encouragement to the person who posted above you in the thread).
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Writing prompts and strategies (shared in a Google doc during each cowriting session) tailored to the generating, shaping, and polishing phases of the writing process. You can look at the prompts for inspiration if you’re feeling stuck.
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I’ll also share a Google doc during each cowriting session (which I’ll invite everyone to contribute to!) about little ways to bring more fun or pleasure into your writing practice.
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Once during the 6-month session, I’ll hold an editorial Q&A where you can pick my brain about revision challenges or academic book publishing. (If I don’t have an answer for you regarding some aspect of the publishing process, I can reach out to my network to see if I can get information!)
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My goal in creating this group is to foster a supportive community to help you make consistent progress on your writing projects without burning out.
One-on-one coaching and writing consultations (the other add-on option):
In sustainable productivity coaching, I can support you with things like creating schedules and plans that feel supportive, working through emotional and logistical barriers to doing your writing, clarifying priorities, bringing more fun or pleasure into your writing practice, and setting any needed boundaries. Writing coaching brings in an editorial component: we can discuss both the writing process (and your larger work life or home life, if helpful) and your writing itself.
Learn more about each type of coaching here; see the different “add-on” options for my group coaching program here.
The editorial consultations that I offer as a possible add-on for the group coaching program feel closer to coaching than to my developmental editing process in the sense that I’m helping you figure out solutions to issues you’re working through in your writing rather than developing potential solutions for you. Instead of reading a full manuscript so that I can enter into deep “puzzle-solving” mode myself, I engage with targeted elements of your project so that I can help provide some direction for your puzzle-solving process.