Goals for academics for 2027
Write, publish and teach with a plan.
Academic goals compete with teaching, service and email for the same hours. Many universities ask faculty for yearly goals in teaching, research and service, and PhD students face the same tradeoff between the thesis and everything else. These five goals protect writing time, set submission targets and improve a course with feedback you can act on. Put the same goals in your annual review form and here, so the steps stay visible all year, not only in the week the form is due.
Start with these 5 goals- 1
Write for 30 minutes every weekday
1-year goalProfessionalFirst step: Block a daily writing slot in your calendar
Track it: Log the minutes you write each day. Count the weekdays you reach 30.
- 2
Submit two papers this year
1-year goalProfessionalFirst step: List the projects closest to submission
Track it: Write a target journal and a submission month for each paper. Mark the draft, the internal read and the submission as steps.
- 3
Finish a full draft of my thesis or book chapter
1-year goalProfessionalFirst step: Outline the chapter on one page
Track it: Set a date for each section of the draft. Mark each section when a full version exists, even a rough one.
- 4
Use student feedback to improve one course
1-year goalProfessionalFirst step: Plan a short anonymous survey for week 5
Track it: Read the survey the same week, pick one change and tell the class you made it.
- 5
Protect one research day a week
1-year goalProfessionalFirst step: Move your meetings off one weekday
Track it: Mark the day in your calendar for the whole semester. Count the weeks you kept it.
Track these goals for free
Create a free account and add these 5 goals in one tap. Keep the ones you want and mark your progress every week.
Start with these 5 goalsFree to start. No credit card needed.