I learned the 2+2+2 formula from my mentor who helped me organize a very productive and enjoyable life as a scholar, and it never let me down.
If you are a research scholar in the humanities, here’s how the formula works.
At any given time, you need to have:
2 pieces out for publication (e.g. 1 submitted and awaiting decision + 1 accepted and getting prepared for publication)
2 pieces you are writing at different stages (e.g. a new article you are writing + an article where you are introducing requested changes)
2 pieces you are preparing to write (reading primary sources for a new book + gathering secondary sources for a future article).
This way, you won’t have any holes in your CV no matter what happens.
And, most importantly, you’ll always remain a scholar and won’t let life drag you into being everything else except the only thing you actually want to be.
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