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 […]
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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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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. […]
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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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You don’t have to start with an abstract
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You don’t have to start with an abstract Do you use conferences as a way to start new writing projects? In my experience it’s a pretty common practice. You are working on some research. You need to transition into the writing phase. A conference offers an impetus to make […]
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Spotlight On: Confidence
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Confidence Confidence is another thing a lot of people struggle with. It is related to Imposter Syndrome but is not quite the same thing. And, like Imposter Syndrome, lack of confidence isn’t an issue that will ever go away completely. It’s normal to lack confidence (sometimes). It’s […]
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F**k Confidence. Settle into ease instead.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · F**k Confidence. Settle into ease instead. Although confidence is bandied about as an individual, empowering thing, it’s also an insidious neoliberal, capitalist, patriarchal ideal that can often be more harmful than not. It tells us that: ‘you just have to be confident!’ ‘just do it!” ‘just be yourself!” ‘fake […]
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Do you hate writing your author bio?
Aimée Morrison, writing at Hook & Eye, raises an interesting point about writing academic bios: One thing that’s increasingly becoming clear to me is that the bios that accompany Serious Scholarly Writing, like a peer-reviewed article, don’t mention teaching. Better more words devoted to where you’ve published and who funded your work, than to describe […]
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Do you hate writing conclusions?
“I really hate writing conclusions. I am writing something now and I am very tempted to write the following as my conclusion: I wrote, I argued, it has finished. You can stop reading now. Thank you.” — (via Bluesky January 2024) This is a very common sentiment. I have seen it numerous times on social […]
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Do you struggle with planning?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you struggle with planning? The Anti-Planner is the brain-child of Dani Donovan, an artist who’s been working on support materials for ADHD and other neurodivergent types for a while. It’s designed principally for people with ADHD, but it seems to be useful regardless of what brain type you […]
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On research and emotional entanglement
A Note from Jo: This post has been repubished from Liz Gloyn’s own blog site, because it is relevant to the struggles I know my clients and Studio members unfortunately go through on a regular basis. Term has finished, the Christmas tree is up, and I’ve got a week before annual leave kicks in… so […]
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