Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Protecting time for writing: Interruptions I encourage you to make writing a priority and block time so that writing becomes a regular practice, rather than something you only do when you have specific deadlines. Although I recognise that different people will work better in different places, I strongly advocate […]
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Save time on teaching prep, without compromising quality
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · On Definining Learning Objectives I am a fan of articulating learning objectives or expected learning outcomes. (They are outcomes once they’ve happened. Expected outcomes or objectives when you start.) Articulating clearly what you expect students to learn as a result of taking your course can benefit students. It makes […]
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Shame, vulnerability, and academic work
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Shame, vulnerability, and academic work I am somewhat allergic to celebrity. I will admit that my tendency is to avoid things that everyone is reading and talking about. However, as I was writing about peer review for my Short Guide, I realized I needed to do some reading with […]
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Making Room for Reading
This is a guest post by Sarah Burton, a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow. You can follow her on Twitter @DrFloraPoste. I’ve added the headings, a few comments (in italics at the end), and the related posts. Thinking about what the life of an academic would look like I usually pictured piles of leather-bound books […]
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Peer Review and emotional labour
This is an excerpt from my most recent Short Guide: Peer Review (A Short Guide) which was published on 15 November 2019. The one sentence summary that has been guiding my own revisions is “Peer review supports academic writing!” The book has 3 main chapters: One giving an overview of peer review in scholarly publishing. […]
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Dictation and Focus
In Focus: 3 elements to consider, I outlined three elements that affect your focus during a writing session: the task itself, how you are feeling, and the context. I have written a series of follow up articles going into more detail about what that framework looks like in practice. I use the term “optimize” purposefully. […]
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Writing and Focus in Grading Season
In Focus: 3 elements to consider, I outlined three elements that affect your focus during a writing session: the task itself, how you are feeling, and the context. I have written a series of follow up articles going into more detail about what that framework looks like in practice. I use the term “optimize” […]
Read More »Working on multiple projects without feeling like they are competing for your time
This question came up during Office Hours in the Academic Writing Studio and also in a conversation with another client. I’m going to share an excerpt of the Office Hours recording here. Some context: The person asking the question is in her early career. This was the Office Hours in the week following Planning Your […]
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Sneaky ways your gremlins try to get you not to actually publish
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Sneaky ways your gremlins try to get you not to actually publish One of the Studio members asked this question: I’m struggling a bit with my book because it’s going to be one of those £80 books that are marketed to libraries and basically no one reads. Modesty aside, […]
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Cycles of the academic year & intensity of work
I am a wee bit bossy about sleep and rest. In this post I want to talk about something related: intensity of work, what is normal, and the importance of cycles in the academic year. You are tired at the end of the academic year. I am writing in April. Although the exact dates of […]
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Sleep is not a luxury
It seems that there is an epidemic of sleep problems and inability to actually relax out there. I’m going to share a few thoughts. Sleep is important. Not only does lack of sleep impair cognitive function, it can mess up your metabolism and cause all kinds of health problems. There is some evidence that the […]
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Confidence Tricks
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Confidence Tricks Everyone struggles with confidence at least some of the time. While confidence can’t be overly reliant on external validation, negative feedback is always difficult, and it’s tough to maintain your confidence when external validation is slow in coming. Confidence also depends on things you don’t have complete […]
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