Making Time for Research (and You) Article

From "To-Do" to "Ta-Da": Reclaiming Your Calendar with an Intentionality Toolkit

We’ve all been there: that one tab that stays open for three months, or the article printout buried under a stack of interlibrary loan requests. For me, that "someday" read was "Making Time for Research (and You): Using an ‘Intentionality Toolkit’ to Achieve Your Goals and Mitigate Feelings of Overwhelm."

I finally crossed it off my list, and honestly? I wish I’d opened it sooner.

While the article focuses heavily on the academic struggle to balance faculty research with service roles, its core message is a lifeline for any health science librarian feeling the squeeze of "urgent" tasks displacing "important" goals.

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As librarians, our work is variable and responsive to others. We respond to urgent literature searches, clinical inquiries, and troubleshooting requests. Because we are "helpers" by nature, our own long-term projects—whether that’s committee work (like writing a blog post 😬), a professional certification, or reorganizing a digital repository—often get pushed to the I can do that later pile.

The "Intentionality Toolkit" suggests that overwhelm isn't just about having too much to do; it's about the cognitive load of trying to keep track of it all while feeling like you're losing control of your time. This rang incredibly true for me. 

Two Game-Changers for Your Workweek

The article outlines several strategies, but two stood out things I'm going to try:

1. The Strategic Brain Dump

Instead of a linear to-do list that grows like a weed, the toolkit encourages a massive weekly or so brain dump.

• The Goal: Get every "should," "must," and "want" out of your head and onto paper (or a digital board).

• Why it works: It stops the "open loop" cycle in your brain where you're constantly reminding yourself not to forget "X" while trying to focus on "Y". This is a big struggle for me not be-bopping between all of the tasks. Stopping to check the latest email while in the middle of a literature search really can detail the train of thought. 

2. Intentional Weekly Scheduling

This isn't just about marking meetings. It’s about defensive tattooing of your calendar.

• The Shift: Rather than looking for gaps in your schedule to do "deep work," you schedule the deep work first often weeks in advance. This is vital for those long-term projects that don't have a screaming deadline but provide the most value to your career or institution. If it isn't on the calendar, it doesn't exist.

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Why This Matters for Us

Whether you are in a hospital or university library, the feeling of being "busy but not productive" is a fast track to burnout. It’s about making sure that the goals that actually move the needle for your career—and your well-being—don't get buried under the daily deluge of emails.

The Bottom Line: You don’t need more hours in the day; you need more intention in the hours you have.