Photo by 
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Burnout I published my first post with “burnout” in the title, “Burnout is real”, in 2022. We were just coming out of the most intense phase of the COVID pandemic disruptions. The term was familiar to people, but the idea that it might be a real diagnosable […]
Read More »Welcome to the Library
The Library is an archive of my writing about academic work since launching this website in 2009. The top section contains the most recent additions. If you are new here, scroll down to see a few suggestions for good posts to start with to get a sense of my general approach. The Spotlight section at the bottom highlights a series of posts on a specific topic, and is updated regularly.
Most of my writing is sent to Studio members or my newsletter before appearing here. Since 2020 I’ve been creating audio versions of most new posts. They are embedded here but you can also follow me on Soundcloud if you prefer to listen.
Recent posts
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 […]
Read More »
You’re coping, until you aren’t.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You’re coping until you aren’t I’ve written about burnout before. It is a real thing: severe exhaustion, physical and cognitive. It is serious. It often takes years to recover and may change you forever. I suspect the term is being used interchangeably with exhaustion that is somewhat less severe. […]
Read More »
Juggling 101: Elements of a good plan
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Juggling 101: Elements of a Good Plan A good plan can reduce the stress and overwhelm you experience when trying to juggle all your different responsibilities. This is why I have developed planning classes for members of the Academic Writing Studio [Recently opened up to everyone else too!]. In […]
Read More »
Communication vs Validation: why are you publishing?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Communication vs Validation: Why are you publishing? The primary purpose of publishing, even scholarly publishing, is communication. If you centre the communicative role of publishing, with a focus on the audience and the difference you would like your work to make for that audience, decisions about when and where […]
Read More »
Optimizing Focus: 3 elements to consider
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Optimizing Focus: 3 Elements to Consider Everyone struggles with focus. This is why I prompt participants in A Meeting With Your Writing to think about what they’d like to try that day to optimize their focus. In this rather long post, I set out the fundamental principles that underpin […]
Read More »Spotlight On: Confidence
We all wish we didn’t live in a world where we needed to know quite so much about burnout. Alas… This Spotlight brings together all the posts I’ve written on the topic, alongside several that are relevant to prevention and recovery.
Explore the whole Spotlight here, or if you prefer to listen, you can find a playlist of this introduction and all the posts mentioned over on my Soundcloud.
You can do this!
