Reviewers' comments terrify me

[phattangent]

I do my best to take comments as constructive criticism. Likewise, when I write reviews, I try make sure they sound more constructive than not. I have heard horror stories a la "no intellectual merit" though.

[fast_and_bulbous]

I am hoping to get that thick of a skin eventually. As it is, I'm waiting on tender-hooks to hear back from a pretty good journal (impact factor > 1.5, which is higher than any other journal I've published in) that I've already sent two previous manuscripts to. I'm basically sending them the third draft of a manuscript based on my dissertation and trying not to cringe at what remarks may come!

It's an archaic term but it's "tenterhooks".

Good luck.

[youllneverwalkalone]

At the beginning of my career I also used to take reviewer's criticism pretty defensively. Now with plenty of publishing and reviewing experiencing I am way more dispassionate about it.

I am hoping to get that thick of a skin eventually. As it is, I'm waiting on tender-hooks to hear back from a pretty good journal (impact factor > 1.5, which is higher than any other journal I've published in) that I've already sent two previous manuscripts to. I'm basically sending them the third draft of a manuscript based on my dissertation and trying not to cringe at what remarks may come!

The best advice I can give you is to forget all about this paper and get busy with your next one(s) while you wait. My advisor told me a long time ago that you should always have at least 1 paper under review and at least 1 paper currently working on, and it's one of the best advice I ever got.

[Puget]

I emphasize celebrating submissions and not just acceptances to my grad students.  Celebrate getting it out there and then forget about it until you get reviews back. Academic life entails a lot of rejection-- you can't publish (or get grants, or jobs, or. . .) without rejection. Consider starting a Rejection Collection: https://sarneckalab.blogspot.com/2017/12/rejection-collection.html
(Also check out her writing workshop blog and materials, they are fantastic! https://sarneckalab.blogspot.com/2018/07/writing-workshop-table-of-contents.html)

The best advice I can give you is to forget all about this paper and get busy with your next one(s) while you wait. My advisor told me a long time ago that you should always have at least 1 paper under review and at least 1 paper currently working on, and it's one of the best advice I ever got.

Yes, keep the pipeline full! I set up a paper tracking board (in Asana, which is awesome btw, but you can use anything), with columns for: Preregistrations, Analyzing, Drafting/Revision for new journal, Under review, R&R revising, R&R under review, Accepted. (I also recently added a "???" column for middle-authored papers that seem to have disappeared into the void but may resurface some day).
I try to keep all the columns populated, and notice when a paper has been languishing in one column too long.
Moving a paper over is cause for celebration--

[scamp]

Yes, keep the pipeline full! I set up a paper tracking board (in Asana, which is awesome btw, but you can use anything), with columns for: Preregistrations, Analyzing, Drafting/Revision for new journal, Under review, R&R revising, R&R under review, Accepted. (I also recently added a "???" column for middle-authored papers that seem to have disappeared into the void but may resurface some day).
I try to keep all the columns populated, and notice when a paper has been languishing in one column too long.
Moving a paper over is cause for celebration--

I need to do something like this to keep everything sorted. Sometimes I can't decide on what to work on at any given time (which is a problem - I have at least 5 half-finished papers languishing because I get bored). But maybe if I can see it as progression it will feel more satisfying to move things over, kind of like crossing things off a to do list.

Puget, if I wasn't pretty sure we were in different fields, I might think you are my PhD supervisor - his method of responding to reviewers was almost identical to what you described on the first page of this thread, down to the color coding of responses. I mostly do the same and find it very helpful.

[Puget]

Yes, keep the pipeline full! I set up a paper tracking board (in Asana, which is awesome btw, but you can use anything), with columns for: Preregistrations, Analyzing, Drafting/Revision for new journal, Under review, R&R revising, R&R under review, Accepted. (I also recently added a "???" column for middle-authored papers that seem to have disappeared into the void but may resurface some day).
I try to keep all the columns populated, and notice when a paper has been languishing in one column too long.
Moving a paper over is cause for celebration--

I need to do something like this to keep everything sorted. Sometimes I can't decide on what to work on at any given time (which is a problem - I have at least 5 half-finished papers languishing because I get bored). But maybe if I can see it as progression it will feel more satisfying to move things over, kind of like crossing things off a to do list.

Puget, if I wasn't pretty sure we were in different fields, I might think you are my PhD supervisor - his method of responding to reviewers was almost identical to what you described on the first page of this thread, down to the color coding of responses. I mostly do the same and find it very helpful.

Well, not a he so pretty sure you're not my student ;) -- Some things just work and spread.

It sounds like you need a term plan and a weekly writing plan -- I refer you once more to Barbara Sarnecka's awesome writing workshop materials linked in my last post, which explains how they work and has links to google sheet templates. They really have revolutionized how we work on my lab--it has been super helpful for both me and my students. Members of two other labs now participate in our writing group. If you're not in a lab field, consider starting a department group.

One huge upside in addition to increased productivity is I feel much less guilty about everything I should be doing, because I either do everything in the plan for that week, or recognize that it was unrealistic and re-plan so I can still get it done that term. Once I've done everything on that week's plan I can relax without feeling guilty. I also don't have to spend any mental energy figuring out what to prioritize that day/week, because I do it once at the beginning of the term (with some adjustments as needed) and week then just follow the plan.