How many people have asked you this question? I bet you’ve lost count. It is such a common question, someone used it as the title of a book. About non-academic careers for PhDs, of course. (It’s a good book. Well worth it.) And it’s probably your number one source of anxiety while working towards your PhD and […]
Read More »Believe it or not, I do this for a living
I never would have imagined it were possible. Given that there was no internet when I was a teenager, running my own business over the internet is obviously not something I’ve wanted to do forever. In fact, running my own business at all only came to me as an option fairly late in the game. […]
Read More »Confession: I find mind mapping difficult
The trouble is that they have their own aesthetic. Not a linear one but … You see, the examples I see all look good. They use colour. They group similar things together. And when I set out to get all the ideas out of my head onto paper, I worry about where on the page to put them.
Read More »Catch Yourself Doing Something Right
Ann has been struggling with finding time to write regularly. She wants to build this habit. The other day she mentions that she is writing and adds that she didn’t get as much done as she wanted to. Barb has been feeling overwhelmed by teaching preparation. When she talks about it she says things like “I […]
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If someone’s crying, something needs to change.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · If someone’s crying, something needs to change Although initially written about teaching, this post applies to any area of your work or life where you feel the things in the first set of bullet points. No one said teaching would be easy but … You shouldn’t be exhausted. You shouldn’t […]
Read More »Is the beginning of term chaos over yet?
I was talking to a client who was feeling a bit like she’d been hit by a truck. She’s teaching a class for the first time. Even though it is directly in her area of expertise, she’s overwhelmed by how much work it is. And surprised by how exhausted she is. Even if you have been doing […]
Read More »Taking responsibility for your PhD
There is a lot of discussion out there about attrition rates (high) and time to completion (long). Beyond asking questions of your prospective programs, what can you do to make sure that you finish and finish in a reasonable time? Take responsibility. Here’s an extended example from one cur
Read More »Why should students attend your class?
Your goal is for students to learn things. Is giving marks for attendance really going to help you achieve that goal? Or is your course designed so the benefit of attending and participating is clear?
Read More »You don’t have to do it alone
One of the great things about being an academic is how much autonomy you have compared to other jobs. Autonomy can also be one of the not so great things, too. If you are working really long hours and feeling overwhelmed with everything you have to do, you might have gone beyond autonomy. Help is […]
Read More »Why universities are recruiting PhD students
There is a lot of debate about whether we are training too many PhD students (given the demand for academic labour) or too few (given the needs of the so-called knowledge economy). At an individual level, plenty of unemployed PhDs are wondering how they ended up in such a precarious labour market position and why no […]
Read More »Learning to say “no”
I know that academic workloads can be nuts. I’ve been an academic.
I also know that as an academic you have considerably more control over your work than many other professionals.
Read More »Managing your workload as a full-time academic
Overwork is rampant in academe. Whether you are tenure-track, tenured, or some other kind of full-time (temporary or otherwise), the Tenured Radical has some of the best advice I’ve ever seen. It may seem harsh, but you are strongly advised to do everything she says. Here are some snippets to tempt you: Yeah, baby. The […]
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