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 »Developing a Practice
Your academic life is more than a string of articles published, classes taught, and meetings attended. You write because this is how you articulate and develop your ideas. You publish to communicate those ideas to others. Posts in this category help you develop the practices you need to do the work you love well without burning out or compromising your values.
You Need a Writing Practice is a good place to start to investigate the Writing subcategory.
Juggling 101: Elements of a good plan is a good place to start investigating the Planning subcategory.
Pulling a thread from your tangled mess
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Pulling a thread from your tangled mess In Untangling Your Thoughts As You Write, I outlined a way to get started that leans into divergent thinking in the early stages of writing about your research. In it I said Yes, the published version will need a clear central point. […]
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Untangling your thoughts as you write
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Untangling your thoughts as you write One of the strengths of ADHD and other types of neurodivergence is ‘divergent thinking’: the ability to see connections that others don’t see. As a neurodivergent academic, this can be a real benefit for generating original contributions to knowledge. However, it can also […]
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Conferences as motivation to write
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Conferences as motivation to write When I talk to clients or potential clients about specific writing projects, I often ask them what they have already. It is not uncommon for them to reply that they have partial drafts of chapters or articles which are currently in the form of […]
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Making travel less stressful
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making Travel Less Stressful This post was written just after returning from a fall trip back to Canada, to see friends and care for loved ones. We realised that the thoughts I was having about travel might help you too… I (Jo) have just got back from my holiday. […]
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Imperfect notes for perfectionists
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Imperfect notes for perfectionists One of the Academic Writing Studio team told me about a great book they’d read that they thought might be helpful for many of our people. Jeanette has been part of the team for a long time. Perfectionism is something many academics struggle with. You […]
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Motivating yourself to finish the damned book!
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Motivating yourself to finish the damned book Do you have a book project that’s been in progress for a long time? You are not alone. Over the years I’ve helped several mid to late career scholars who are weighted down by the unfinished projects they have lying around. Like […]
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How do I know when my book is ready to submit?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How do I know when my book is ready to submit? You are almost finished with your book! You plan to submit it to your publisher in a couple of months. You’ve been working on it for a long time. You’ve not only got a full draft but you’ve […]
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Creating A Satisfying Academic Career – Part 2
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Creating A Satisfying Academic Career This post is Part 2 of a series on Creating a Satisfying Academic Career. In Part 1, I introduced the idea of “creating” a career based on the opportunities available and provided some reflection prompts to help you figure out what is important to […]
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Burnout – A personal experience
This post is a different format than usual. Typically I write something and then record an audio version. However, when I invited Myriam Houssay-Holzschuch to share something about her experience of burnout, she preferred an interview. The text is an edited transcript of the interview. The audio has also been edited. Myriam and I talked […]
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How to make your argument clear
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How to make your argument clear I’ve invited Lisa Munro to write about the craft of writing and she’s chosen to focus on the central element of all scholarly writing: the argument. Boldly stating your argument requires confidence! That’s not always easy. I particularly like how she provides a […]
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You can get better at resting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can get better at resting As I return from a week of annual leave, I have a few thoughts on rest I’d like to share. I talk about rest a lot, not just because it’s necessary but also because it is objectively difficult. I hope these musings help. […]
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