Highlighting Choices

“Do you want to take out the trash now or after dinner?” I ask my oldest this question every Wednesday, which is trash night in our neighborhood. I laughed when I said it the other day because I realized I was implementing my child psychology training around the house.

My question above is an example of highlighting choices. You give children a limited set of choices. Child psychologists love highlighting choices because it helps children gain control of situations. They see their choices. They choose how they want to proceed.

Highlighting choices can be helpful for adults too. Academia’s overwhelming. Regain control by noticing when you have choices. For instance:

• You’ve been developing an idea for a while and are not sure what to do. You feel stuck. Choices. Pursue the idea. Turn to a new idea.
• Reviewers tell you there are too many people on your grant. You’re flummoxed by reviews. Choices. Appease reviewers and cut experts. Risk reviewer wrath and make a case for why you need everyone.
• You submitted (or resubmitted) a grant that is not funded. Choices. Stick with the idea. Move on.
• Everyone seems to be leaving X/Twitter. Choices. Stay. Leave.

There are usually no clear cut answers to choices. That’s why the framing is helpful. You truly get to choose. But the key is slowing down to notice your choices, even in a world where children and scholars often get few choices. (I’m not trying to infantilize you. Just wanted to acknowledge that being a scholar can be disempowering.)

Here’s one strategy for navigating your choices. It’s the Experience, Reflection, Action model, which is popular at my institution. It looks like this:

• Experience. Notice that you are at a choice point. What are your choices? Example. Your grant did not get funded. You can resubmit or let go of the grant.
• Reflection. Take stock. How are you feeling? Does this meet your values? Goals? What are you worried about? Is this a good use of your time? Example. You really like your rejected grant idea. People are encouraging you to pursue it. But you’re up for tenure in a year and are worried about external letter writers thinking you don’t have enough outputs.
• Action. Decide on a course of action. Example. You decide to resubmit to a new funder. You also say yes to a new collaborative grant because you want to add to your portfolio before tenure.

This model seems simple. It is. It’s about creating space to make decisions. We won’t always make the right choices. But thinking through your choices is one way to gain control over your career. Here’s a printable version of the model if you’re a worksheet person like me.

If you know someone who might enjoy today’s newsletter, would you mind forwarding it to them? As always, thanks for reading and believing that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas.

Betty

Stay in touch: The Newsletter, Bluesky, TikTok, and The Grant Writing Guide book.

P.S. My oldest usually chooses to take out the trash after dinner. But he had a brainstorm this summer that he should start training his replacement. He’s been showing his little sister how to take out the trash. He calls her the “Trash-er In Training.”

P.P.S. I’ve been struggling with whether to stay on or leave X/Twitter. I’ve decided to “pause” my X/Twitter activity to move to Bluesky. Please say hi if you’re on Bluesky!