Do you want to be an academic who writes regularly? In December, 2014, I decided that I wanted to be someone who practices yoga regularly. I’ve done enough yoga to know that it is good for me to do it regularly. I have a teacher locally that I really like. But I had fallen out […]
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What counts as “writing”?
I have a theory about writer’s block. It’s a theory that involves gremlins. You sit down to write. And then this gremlin turns up. Just as you are about to type something the gremlin says something from this list. What do you mean, you don’t know where this goes or what it’s going to be? […]
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Emergency planning technique
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Emergency planning technique Every once in a while you wonder why you even bother planning and setting goals. You are juggling way too many things. You might have metaphorical balls and broken dishes all over your office. I encourage you to put down all the balls for a moment. Take a […]
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Setting effective goals
My approach to planning is very process focused. I encourage you to make time to do the important work and to notice how your projects are moving forward. I do this because what I see happening when people set goals increases stress, leads to overwork, and doesn’t actually support their best work. Things like: negative self-talk […]
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Process vs Product
I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. I know they are important but I find setting specific goals with an output and a deadline stalls my work rather than motivating it. I see that a lot of you struggle with similar issues in your writing. This post uses a long analogy to my own process […]
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This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education resonated strongly with many of my own views on work-life balance but one section in particular stood out. Don’t Do It All. Do Just Enough. Challenge the idea that you must be some type of Superwoman: Be an X-Gal instead! Prioritize, and place realistic expectations on yourself and those […]
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Jumping off cliffs
Making decisions about your career and your next best steps is like standing on top of a cliff. It seems really scary. It’s a long way down. You can’t really see what’s at the bottom, but you suspect there are rocks. You’d really like to avoid the rocks. Other people confirm your fears. They tell […]
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Priorities or, why being a straight A student isn’t necessarily a good thing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Why being a straight A student isn’t necessarily a good thing I bet you were a straight A student. You got lots of praise for being a straight A student. You’ve lived your life thinking being a straight A student is a good thing. It’s not. It encourages all […]
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What you can change
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What you can change God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. (The Serenity Prayer —Reinhold Niebuhr) Whether you believe in that god or not, the sentiment of this prayer is just […]
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Opposite Day as a decision-making strategy
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Opposite day as decision making strategy An article in Inside Higher Ed about saying “no” and a question on a forum that I participate in combined to make me aware of a strategy that might be helpful when faced with a difficult decision. What if the default was “No”? […]
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When another project is distracting you from this one
This post is part of a series on Optimizing Focus. Finding it hard to focus is normal. Self-flagellation does not work to improve your focus. Furthermore it takes time and energy that takes you away from your writing; it is another distraction. I firmly believe that you can approach your work compassionately rather than violently. […]
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Abducted by aliens
I’m fond of this Eisenhower quote: Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. (From a speech to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference in Washington, D.C. (November 14, 1957) ; in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957, National Archives and Records Service, Government Printing Office, p. 818 ) This is […]
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