Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Managing Energy: Start by noticing The quarterly planning session in January 2021 was one of the first where I tried a new model for the planning class. Instead of focusing on all the things participants may need to fit into their plans for the next few months, I talked […]
Read More »Developing a Practice: Self-care
Self-care is not a luxury. Self-care is the foundation of everything else you do. You need sleep, good food, exercise, love, nature, etc. We could debate Cartesian dualism all day but you have a body and it needs to be looked after or you can't do anything with your mind.
Spotlight On: Writing & Resting
One of the main challenges you face in the summer is juggling writing and rest. The first step is to resist the urge to Write All The Things!. I’ve used a hiking metaphor to explain how your summer writing fits with the writing you do in the rest of the year to help you decide […]
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How to take a vacation
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How to take a vacation Just because your work doesn’t always look like work, doesn’t mean you don’t get to take a real vacation. You already deserve this vacation; it’s not a reward for achieving summer goals. In fact, not only do you deserve a vacation, you need a […]
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Yes, you should take sick leave.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Yes, you should take sick leave Note: I currently live in the UK and have previously lived in Canada. My statements are based in the general employment situation that pertains in those countries and countries like them, where there is significant employment protection in law, and significant levels of […]
Read More »![A flatlay photo of a white desk surface displaying a few items. A black rope noticeboard with walnut frame reads: "Things to do: 1. own today. 2. [empty space] 3. [empty space]. A pair of bright neon turquoise wired headphones, a laptop, turquoise notebook, black coffee in white mug and grey cable knit jumper sleeve decorate the image edges.](https://jovanevery.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/emma-matthews-digital-content-production-p6g6S_kXkFc-unsplash-900x600.jpg)
Motivation and accomplishment in your writing practice
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Motivation & accomplishment in your writing practice Given how hard it is for most academics to find time to work on their writing, and how difficult it is to know how long some stages of the process will take, I advocate establishing a regular writing practice and trusting that […]
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Managing your energy.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Managing your energy The academic year varies in intensity. The typical structure of an academic year has 2 teaching semesters, or 3 teaching terms with shorter breaks between them and then a long break in the summer. Everyone involved needs time to recover and recharge, and to integrate knowledge. […]
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Are things getting worse? Or is dystopia the new normal?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Is dystopia the new normal? Things were already bad. You were already more tired than usual before the break. Maybe you’d just started getting your head around how to keep going in a pandemic, even if you didn’t like it much. The readers of this newsletter are based in […]
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Are you dropping the “eating well” ball?
When you are busy and tired making decisions about what to eat and preparing healthy meals is more difficult. This is particularly difficult if you eat your main meal in the evening. The Covid pandemic just makes it worse. Principles for solving this problem and ideas to try.
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Prioritizing rest over the winter break
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Prioritizing Rest over the Winter Break I wrote this in December but it also applies at the end of 2nd semester when you are going into summer. Or, at other times of year when you have a break from teaching and you are feeling exhausted. On the first Friday […]
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So tired you could cry? Enable Low Power Mode.
This post is part 2 of a mini-series called So Tired You Could Cry. The 1st part can be found here. You know when your phone warns you about the battery being low, it also asks if you want to enable Low Power Mode? You need to figure out what that looks like for you. […]
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So tired you could cry? Permission granted.
This post is part 1 of a mini-series called So Tired You Could Cry. The 2nd part is available here. You can cry! In fact, put it on your to-do list. Cry in the shower every morning. Cry in bed wrapped up in your blankets. At a minimum stop trying not to cry. Tiredness isn’t […]
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Email overwhelm as a collective problem
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Email Overwhelm as a Collective Problem. This post was prompted by the renowned classicist, Mary Beard, stoking up the embers of email stress recently over on Twitter. for all you guys (women and men) recommending 'delay delivery',. do you know what that means? It means that at 9.00 my […]
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