• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Coaching
  • Academic Writing Studio
  • Library
  • About
  • Contact
  • Books

Jo VanEvery

You are here: Home / Archives for Writing / Self-care

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.

How to take the weekend off

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How to take the weekend off Academic life is demanding. During term time you are juggling teaching, administrative and service work, graduate supervision, and your own research and writing. During the summer and your sabbatical, you feel like you need to devote as much time as possible to your […]

Read More »
an anatomical model of the human brain sliced in half in selective-focus photography

Fatigue impairs cognitive function

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Jo VanEvery 1 Comment

There is lots of research showing that fatigue impairs cognitive function. This is why the military has “boot camp” to make certain behaviours and decisions almost instinctual so they can be done even when fatigued, because war means you sometimes have to work when you are under-functioning cognitively. You are not fighting a war. You […]

Read More »

What does Reading Week mean for you?

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Many universities now have a Reading Week or mid-semester break in one or both semesters. (It may or may not be called Spring Break.) This means no (undergraduate) teaching. Students tend to disappear so probably little or no advising either. It is a break from the usual term-time routine. So what can you do in this week? […]

Read More »
2 white mugs sit in opposite corners of an image where the one to the bottom left is surrounded by perfectly arranged dark coffee beans and holds a white liquid, while the other mug holds a dark liquid and is only sat on a pure white surface showing the contrasts of dark and light

Opposite Day as a decision-making strategy

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Jo VanEvery 2 Comments

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”? […]

Read More »

Practicing what I preach

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

I tell you to take a vacation. I am taking a vacation. My daughter and I are headed to Niagara to visit with my parents and see a bunch of plays at the Shaw Festival. I’ll be back in the office on Monday September 15th. I have arranged for someone to lead A Meeting With […]

Read More »

Are you taking long weekends?

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

We all get long weekends sometimes, though for different reasons. It seems that a lot of holidays that used to float are now observed on a Monday in order to make it a long weekend. I know a lot of academics have a hard time regularly taking 2-day weekends. I’m betting long weekends are even […]

Read More »
A red rose on fire with orange flames burning upwards from the petals, on a dark black background.

When you start to hate what you loved.

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · When you start to hate what you love You started on your academic path because you loved your work. You were excited and interested in a particular area of scholarship. But somewhere along the line you lost that connection, temporarily or permanently. It may have started to feel like […]

Read More »

Beware the long list and wide expanse of time…

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

As tough as this semester has been and as happy as you are for it to end, the transition from a heavily scheduled term to an unscheduled break is tough. You’ve probably got a long list of things too do. Too long, I suspect. A long list + an open stretch of time = procrastination […]

Read More »

Is your mind always racing?

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

I heard an interesting interview on my local CBC Saturday morning show* recently. The interviewee was a news anchor who had decided not to be plugged in and available 24/7,  but rather to limit his smart phone and other device use to 16/6. Yes, he decided to not be connected to the internet, phone and […]

Read More »

You always have time for yoga, mama

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

When you’re busy, it’s easy to forget to look after yourself. You feel like you don’t have time to go to the gym, to go for a run, for yoga, for meditation, for sleep, to eat properly … If you’re lucky, your kids or someone else who loves you will remind you that you always have time. […]

Read More »
A person rests their feet on a desk next to a pile of papers and notebooks.

Permission to refuse service/admin requests

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Jo VanEvery 3 Comments

One difference between an academic career and other forms of employment is that you are often left to manage your workload yourself. The basics are decided by someone else, but you are always “free” to take on more.

Saying “no” is hard. Are you saying yes just to avoid the discomfort?

Read More »
A cosy living room scene with a small decorated christmas pine tree with electric candle lights in the right-hand foreground, with an old vintage armchair in the background next to a warm yellow standing lamp and house plant.

You can ignore the grading, reprise

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Jo VanEvery 1 Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can ignore the grading, reprise This post refers to the break between the first and second semesters of an academic year, which in the Northern Hemisphere tends to incorporate the Christmas holidays. Often the exams and assignments that come in at the end of the semester need to […]

Read More »
Newer Posts
Older Posts
  • Home
  • Coaching
  • Academic Writing Studio
  • Library
  • About
  • Contact
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Find this helpful?

You can support the work that makes this free content possible on Ko-Fi

Search the site

© 2025 Jo VanEvery | Privacy Policy

Proudly powered by WordPress