In Optimizing Focus: 3 elements to consider, I outlined three elements that affect your focus during a writing session: the task itself, how you are feeling, and the context. I have written a series of follow up articles going into more detail about what that framework looks like in practice. I use the term “optimize” […]
Read More »Search Results for: making decisions
Setting boundaries
One of the elements of a good plan is boundaries. Boundaries enable you to juggle your various different responsibilities without having too many balls in the air at once. According to the OED the term boundary has the sense of both the thing which serves to mark the limits of something and the limit itself. Because […]
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Writing as process and product
This is an excerpt from my book: The Scholarly Writing Process (A Short Guide). Designed to refer to whenever you get stuck, it breaks down the scholarly writing process into stages and provides both a description of that stage and writing prompts to help you get unstuck. Here’s the introduction and table of contents. Introduction […]
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Experienced writers vs novice writers
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Experienced writers vs novice writers Inspired by a conversation on Twitter: I’m sure @ProfessMoravec is not alone. In fact on the same day another friend shared something similar on Facebook, about that stage of the writing process where you go back to the abstract you submitted to see how […]
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How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process This is part of a short series addressing the frustration with how long peer review takes. Other posts in this series include The Frustrations of Peer Review and The Role of Journal Editors in Long Review Times. […]
Read More »What is “administration” anyway?
I find the use of “administration” and “administrators” in academic circles increasingly problematic. In particular, there is a lack of precision in the use of the term. The term “administration” seems to be applied to everything from clerical work to running the institution. It has become a catch-all category for any work done in the […]
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Applying for promotion: Research Trajectory
While helping a client with her application for promotion, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a senior colleague when I applied for a promotion many years ago. “The promotion committee will be looking for a trajectory in your research.” I checked the guidelines for promotion from my client’s institution. Sure enough I […]
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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, […]
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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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Communicating manuscript edits
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Communicating manuscript edits I received a Tweet asking whether I had written anything about managing manuscript edits. I have a class available that helps with the emotional aspects of that process, and leads you through the process of making decisions (Dealing with Reviewer Comments, available in January for purchase, […]
Read More »Are you resisting routine?
During last Thursday’s Meeting, one participant commented that she’d noticed an interesting benefit of A Meeting With Your Writing. Like so many of us, J is prone to changing her schedule a lot. This means making decisions about whether to write now or to do some other thing on the big list of important stuff. A Meeting […]
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Guilt is complicated
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Guilt is complicated This is the 2nd post in a short series about guilt. You may also be interested in Stop feeling guilty, and Take guilt off your to do list. To further complicate the guilt thing… let me throw in that much of it for me stems […]
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