A few conversations I’ve had recently, with clients and on Twitter, have reminded me that we have some interesting ideas about “efficiency“. It’s as if you have a gremlin observing your writing practice like a time and motion consultant. Maybe you feel more comfortable printing out articles and making notes by hand in the margin. […]
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The value of experiments
There are better and worse ways of doing things but there is rarely One Right Way that works for everyone. Whatever it is that you want to do, you need to decide the best way for you. Researching your options can help narrow things down, but there comes a point when you need to experiment. […]
Read More »Redefine “writing block”
One of my clients is well advanced in her career and currently managing a very large research project. By anyone’s definition, she is successful. She has written and published before. She has things to write about. She knows how to do this. She has experimented with different ways of writing over the course of her […]
Read More »There is no typical week
Some of your work is scheduled. You know that you will be teaching that class every Tuesday at 2 p.m. (or whatever) for the next 10 weeks or so. You’ve probably also scheduled weekly office hours in which you will be available to students for class-related questions or general advising. You might even have taken […]
Read More »From the archive: It’s not how much you publish
In this season of setting goals it is worth thinking about how you frame those goals. At the end of a workshop on publishing plans, clarifying objectives, figuring out when to apply for a SSHRC grant, and related issues, one participant made an interesting comment. Thanking me for the workshop she contrasted my approach to the […]
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Goals and magical thinking
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Goals and Magical Thinking You will not be surprised to learn that I read blogs which provide business advice and decided to hire a business coach to help me with my career. Naomi Dunford at IttyBiz wrote a series about goal setting back in 2013 (it’s no longer available […]
Read More »Small steps yield big results
Whether it’s the New Academic Year or the New (Calendar) Year, you probably have some New Year’s Resolutions! It is tempting to set big goals. However, every big goal is achieved by a set of very small steps. Small steps are much less overwhelming than big changes. A post from Peter Shankman on Why Inspirational Quotes […]
Read More »Expectations
As an academic you are expected to do a lot of things, expectations that appear increasingly unreasonable. You may need to do more work than you think is reasonable but you do not need to collude in the erasure of the political agency of others. What happens if you stop using the passive voice when talking about those expectations?
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Boundaries, balance and the whole you
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Boundaries, Balance, and the Whole You The term “work-life balance” is out of favour. I’m not sure why. Perhaps because everyone is working so hard it seems like an impossible dream. I came across a recent piece in Harvard Business Review arguing for the importance of boundaries. They are not […]
Read More »Beware the long list and wide expanse of time…
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 […]
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You can ignore the grading.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can ignore the grading 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 be […]
Read More »Enjoyment and hard work
My friend Norma Miller posted this picture with a jokey comment her friend made: “A friend told me that if I was smiling, I wasn’t trying hard enough.” That kind of joke is not a joke That kind of joke causes injuries. That kind of joke makes you doubt yourself. You push yourself harder. You stop trusting your own […]
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