Just like eating, sleeping, and exercise, the work required to build and maintain relationships and to work collectively with colleagues has to be a priority. Those relationships are the foundation that makes a lot of other things possible. You cannot leave it to whatever time remains. Nor is it helpful to enter every collective situation […]
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Freedom and scheduling
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Freedom & Scheduling One of the things you like about being an academic is the considerable freedom to organize your work the way you want. You cringe at the thought of having to be in at a set time every day, take your lunch break at a set time, […]
Read More »What that 15 minute practice looks like
You are probably worried about being able to write high quality academic prose, to get it published, to write and publish enough of it, and so on. You may look at my advice to write for 15 minutes a day and think that is never going to help you with that. What useful writing can […]
Read More »Practicing what I preach
Do you want to be an academic who writes regularly? In December, 2014, I decided that I wanted to be someone who practices yoga regularly. I’ve done enough yoga to know that it is good for me to do it regularly. I have a teacher locally that I really like. But I had fallen out […]
Read More »What counts as “writing”?
I have a theory about writer’s block. It’s a theory that involves gremlins. You sit down to write. And then this gremlin turns up. Just as you are about to type something the gremlin says something from this list. What do you mean, you don’t know where this goes or what it’s going to be? […]
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Emergency planning technique
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Emergency planning technique Every once in a while you wonder why you even bother planning and setting goals. You are juggling way too many things. You might have metaphorical balls and broken dishes all over your office. I encourage you to put down all the balls for a moment. Take a […]
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Setting effective goals
My approach to planning is very process focused. I encourage you to make time to do the important work and to notice how your projects are moving forward. I do this because what I see happening when people set goals increases stress, leads to overwork, and doesn’t actually support their best work. Things like: negative self-talk […]
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Process vs Product
I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. I know they are important but I find setting specific goals with an output and a deadline stalls my work rather than motivating it. I see that a lot of you struggle with similar issues in your writing. This post uses a long analogy to my own process […]
Read More »More thoughts on work
This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education resonated strongly with many of my own views on work-life balance but one section in particular stood out. Don’t Do It All. Do Just Enough. Challenge the idea that you must be some type of Superwoman: Be an X-Gal instead! Prioritize, and place realistic expectations on yourself and those […]
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Jumping off cliffs
Making decisions about your career and your next best steps is like standing on top of a cliff. It seems really scary. It’s a long way down. You can’t really see what’s at the bottom, but you suspect there are rocks. You’d really like to avoid the rocks. Other people confirm your fears. They tell […]
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Priorities or, why being a straight A student isn’t necessarily a good thing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Why being a straight A student isn’t necessarily a good thing I bet you were a straight A student. You got lots of praise for being a straight A student. You’ve lived your life thinking being a straight A student is a good thing. It’s not. It encourages all […]
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What you can change
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What you can change God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. (The Serenity Prayer —Reinhold Niebuhr) Whether you believe in that god or not, the sentiment of this prayer is just […]
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