What if I told you rethinking your academic year to align with your goals and values could help you manage your workload more confidently? Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Cycles of the Academic Year Cycles of the academic year & intensity of work is where I first started thinking about the broader shape of […]
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Thoughts on wrapping up your teaching for summer
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Thoughts on wrapping up teaching for the summer Academic work is cyclical. There are seasons to the work. You need to account for those cycles when you plan. Summer may feel like the research & writing part of the year. If you value teaching and being a good teacher, […]
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Are things getting worse? Or is dystopia the new normal?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Is dystopia the new normal? Things were already bad. You were already more tired than usual before the break. Maybe you’d just started getting your head around how to keep going in a pandemic, even if you didn’t like it much. The readers of this newsletter are based in […]
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Resting & recharging is preparation for the new academic year
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Resting & recharging is preparing for the new academic year I wrote this just before taking a 2 week holiday and mentioned how important it is to prioritize rest at this time of year. Fatigue impairs cognitive function. This is a fact. There is lots of research to back […]
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Not contributing to other people’s email overwhelm
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Not contributing to other people’s email overwhelm As a companion piece to Managing email when you’ve rapidly switched to remote working, I thought I’d also share some tips to make email more effective as a means of communication. Modelling good email practices does create change. If other people find your […]
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Managing email when you’ve rapidly switched to remote working
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Managing email in the rapid switch to remote You probably have a hard enough time keeping on top of your email at the best of times. The changes you have had to make to respond to the pandemic are likely to make things worse. It is possible you […]
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Do you have too many active writing projects?
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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Juggling 101: Elements of a good plan
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Juggling 101: Elements of a Good Plan A good plan can reduce the stress and overwhelm that you experience when trying to juggle all your different responsibilities. This is why I have developed planning classes for members of the Academic Writing Studio. In this rather long post, I set […]
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Using all 3 types of writing time
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Using all 3 types of writing time Writing is a core activity for academics. Writing, as far as I’m concerned, encompasses anything that moves your projects forward. I advocate establishing a writing practice, while making writing a priority when you plan the rest of your schedule. Finding and protecting […]
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Hiking as a metaphor for (summer) writing
As I was updating the script for the Planning Your Summer class, I felt a bit weird about the Juggling section. I mostly ignored it at the time because I couldn’t quite put my finger on the problem. The juggling metaphor has been central to how I developed all the planning classes and it seemed […]
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Early morning writing
The benefits of early morning writing can often seem like preachy, unattainable, eye-roll inducing positivity. But I have brought together some real examples of this life-changing process for your writing, just to give that eye-roll some evidence first… Rachael Herron has written eloquently about how crazy the idea of early morning writing sounds and how […]
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Introducing That Selfish Bastard
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Introducing That Selfish Bastard A couple of recent client conversations renewed my motivation to write more about managing the number of things you are juggling. Those conversations made me realize that you want to say yes to things. You value community, collaboration, and collegiality. There’s just a lot more going […]
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