Meggin’s Current Articles

Writing Letters of Recommendation For Students – 5 Tips For Lessening the Procrastination and Stress

30th March, 2010 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

If you are a faculty member, you can expect that students will ask you to write letters of recommendation for them. It is a part of the overall responsibility of being a professor and it is an honor to be asked. However (and let’s tell the truth), it can feel like a burden especially when those requests begin to pile up. Here are five ways to reduce the stress and the tendency to procrastinate.

Have an established “letter of rec” day each month. You want to bunch tasks like this one. Once you are in a letter-of-recommendation mindset, it is easier to stay there and keep your momentum going. Let students know that you write letters once a month (or whatever time you establish) and make it clear that they need to have all requests submitted to you prior to the date or their request will not be addressed until the next month. You may always make exceptions for special situations, but don’t let on about that! I was always more lenient with doctoral students or special undergraduates who had an opportunity for a scholarship or fellowship, but even with these folks, I did my best to steer them toward the designated day. It usually worked.

Have a basic template set up that is pre-formatted to fit on your stationery. Send that to the person who is asking for the letter so that s/he can input the information right in your template (address, addressee, etc.). If you are working on this without the student’s help, then having the template makes it easier for you, too, of course.

Have a label-maker program (e.g., Dymo Label Writer is what I use) so that it’s easy and fast to create the envelope. You can also ask the students to bring you a label along with their request for the letter of recommendation. It’s amazing that not have the envelope ready can be part of what we procrastinate on. This is simply solved using one of these two suggestions.

Say yes most times…but not always. There are some students for whom you would not be able to write a good letter of recommendation – and there are others you just don’t know well enough. Tell students the truth. Writing a good letter of rec is much easier than writing a difficult one.

Write a great letter – but not a perfect letter. You can strive for excellence. You cannot attain perfection. This applies to letters of recommendation as well as to essentially everything else you’re working on.

Most of these ideas also work well when the letter of rec needs to be submitted electronically, which is, of course, happening more and more. Use and adapt any or all of the tips that will fit your situation. You will be more responsive and productive (and less stressed, which is always a plus) when you are asked to write letters for students, colleagues, or others.

And for scores (and soon hundreds) of sets of Top Ten Productivity Tips like these, you’re invited to join others around the globe who subscribe (free) to one of the Top Ten Productivity Tips series (including the Top Ten Productivity Tips for Professors):

** http://TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2010 Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. | The Ph.D. of Productivity(tm)