If you have a goal to achieve and you keep putting it off, here’s a brilliant way to get yourself to dive deep in. Arrange a writing or innovation retreat! Of course, you can join one of the formally organised writing retreats by your university, and I encourage you to do that. But what if you need a few additional ones during the year? Arrange your own!

Retreat means to withdraw, to go to a place where you get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and, in this case, to focus on achieving your goals. Practically, you book a few days out of your schedule to work on a specific goal in a different location. You may want to use this time as a writing retreat, in other words, to create a literature review or work on your research project, or maybe you want to use this time as an innovation retreat where you do the groundwork to start a new business, or to learn and implement new teaching and learning methods into your teaching, or … I’m sure you can come up with quite a few more examples from that “important but not urgent” list of goals. You can either go on a retreat alone, ask someone to join you, or you can formally organise it for a group of students or colleagues. Also, you can sleep over at the venue or just travel there for the day and sleep in your own bed at night. It does not have to be miles away from home on a deserted island. It can be in your local library, a conference venue or a room at a guesthouse.

By taking time out of your schedule to focus on one thing and by working in a location that you don’t usually work in during everyday life, you ensure you don’t have the usual distractions around you, you increase your chances of making progress, and you set yourself up for success. Your progress during a single writing/innovation retreat is often enough to boost your motivation and get the ball rolling for brilliant progress. Try it out!

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