Photo by 
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Treating each day as a new opportunity “My challenge is treating each day like a new opportunity to get things done without letting the perceived inefficiencies of the previous cast a dark cloud over a new working day.” – Planning Class participant (2023) If this is also your challenge, […]
Read More »Welcome to the Library
The Library is an archive of my writing about academic work since launching this website in 2009. The top section contains the most recent additions. If you are new here, scroll down to see a few suggestions for good posts to start with to get a sense of my general approach. The Spotlight section at the bottom highlights a series of posts on a specific topic, and is updated regularly.
Most of my writing is sent to Studio members or my newsletter before appearing here. Since 2020 I’ve been creating audio versions of most new posts. They are embedded here but you can also follow me on Soundcloud if you prefer to listen.
Recent posts
Reflections on 20 years of self-employment
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Reflections on 20 years of self-employment In April 2005, I found myself unemployed. April 2025 marks 20 years of self-employment. My approach (and my advice) is often to take stock of the context, look at the opportunities available, and pick something to try. As I said in a post […]
Read More »
Is it perfectionism? Or impatience?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Is it perfectionism? Or is it impatience One of my coaching clients mentioned that their reluctance to allow themself to write a “shitty first draft” may not be perfectionism but rather impatience. Re-reading Jeanette Hannaford’s review of The Perfectionists Guide to Losing Control in the light of this conversation […]
Read More »
Hope works better than fear
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Hope is better than fear. I have cycled through a few tag lines in my attempt to succinctly capture what it is I do: “Love Your Academic Work” made way for “Transforming Academic Lives“. This latest iteration has the benefit of coming directly from something clients have said about […]
Read More »
Optimizing Focus: 3 elements to consider
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Optimizing Focus: 3 Elements to Consider Everyone struggles with focus. This is why I prompt participants in A Meeting With Your Writing to think about what they’d like to try that day to optimize their focus. In this rather long post, I set out the fundamental principles that underpin […]
Read More »
Communication vs Validation: why are you publishing?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Communication vs Validation: Why are you publishing? The primary purpose of publishing, even scholarly publishing, is communication. If you centre the communicative role of publishing, with a focus on the audience and the difference you would like your work to make for that audience, decisions about when and where […]
Read More »Spotlight On: Burnout
We all wish we didn’t live in a world where we needed to know quite so much about burnout. Alas… This Spotlight brings together all the posts I’ve written on the topic, alongside several that are relevant to prevention and recovery.
Explore the whole Spotlight here, or if you prefer to listen, you can find a playlist of this introduction and all the posts mentioned over on my Soundcloud.
You can do this!
