This post is part of a series on Optimizing Focus. Finding it hard to focus is normal. Self-flagellation does not work to improve your focus. Furthermore it takes time and energy that takes you away from your writing; it is another distraction. I firmly believe that you can approach your work compassionately rather than violently. […]
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Confidence must come from within
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Confidence must come from within It’s easy to think that external validation will help build your confidence. Getting that paper accepted. Getting that grant. Having someone more established in your field cite your work or compliment you on it. It won’t. Like Groucho Marx, who famously would not want […]
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What is an “efficient” writing practice?
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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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 […]
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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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Writing for the people who will like your work
It strikes me that many academics spend a lot of time and energy worrying about the people who will hate their work. Even before you’ve written the article, you are imagining someone criticizing it, probably in a particularly mean and hurtful way. No wonder you have trouble writing. Write for the people who are eager […]
Read More »Why finding time for writing is hard
Recognize this little fella? Research day? Is that what you call it? You’re just staying home in your pyjamas taking a day off. You’ve got more important things to do like plan classes, and prepare for that committee meeting, meet with students … I certainly do. In fact, back when I was still an academic […]
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Take guilt off your to-do list
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Take guilt off your to do list This is the third post in a short series about guilt. You may also be interested in Stop feeling guilty, and More about guilt. As I was writing the post on making difficult choices another important aspect of this discussion about guilt […]
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Changing your relationship to planning
Did my post on planning make you think about changing how much planning you do? Did a gremlin (or six) turn up to tell you what a big risk that would be? This is not surprising. After all writing is an important part of your work. A lot is riding on it. Maybe no one […]
Read More »Do you recognize this gremlin?
I’ve noticed this little fella hanging around lately. I’m not sure that they’re hanging around more. I think maybe I’m noticing them more. I think what happens is that someone suggests a way of approaching something that I’m stuck on and it makes visible a whole set of rules I thought I needed to follow […]
Read More »Does it feel like this term might be getting away from you?
It is now mid-November. For those in the Northern Hemisphere this is so far from the beginning of the autumn term that you’ve completely lost the energy from the newness of it but not quite close enough to the end to feel like it is almost over. Are you starting to worry that you aren’t […]
Read More »You are not a procrastinator: Will you look like a fool?
I’ve had more than one client recently worry about their inability to get down to their writing. This is not a minor problem. It can lead you to question your ability to do the work you are doing and to question your own identity. If you aren’t an academic and a writer, who are you? […]
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