“Ding!” Co-creating wellbeing in a Friday online research writing group

Decreasing wellbeing of higher education staff in the face of increasing pressures to comply with research performance output measures while juggling demands of increasing online education administration and service is well documented. Academics now turn their attention to promoting wellbeing for themselves in various ways. Collective writing groups have a positive impact on wellbeing and productivity of participants. Tired of feeling isolated and dealing with other demands at the expense of our writing, we created a weekly online writing group held twice on Fridays. Using the Pomodoro Technique, we created a supportive environment with balanced social and work time. This chapter offers a collaborative exploration of our experiences of wellbeing in our group. We note themes of friendship/connection, productivity, resistance, emotion, and successful endurance. We conclude with strategies for other academics to consider when setting up a writing group to enhance wellbeing.