Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · 2 questions to help you avoid burnout During the early stages of the Covid pandemic, I recommended what I thought were probably temporary emergency measures. Not even a year into the pandemic I was asking “Are things getting worse? Or is dystopia the new normal?” In the face of […]
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Making Decisions about your writing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making decisions about writing This is a belated addition to the Making Decisions series that begins with Managing the energy you use to make decisions, published in August 2021. You might want to read the introductory post first. You can also find links to other posts in the series […]
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Saying No: Do you suggest an alternate?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Saying no: Do you suggest an alternate? One issue that comes up reasonably frequently in relation to saying no, especially for research related things, is whether or not you should suggest someone else. There are 2 sides to this question. Would the person asking you welcome your suggestions? Would […]
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Burnout is real!
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Burnout is real! As the Covid19 pandemic and related adjustments extended over months and years, conversations about burnout seemed to increase. The additional pressure of the pandemic seems to have pushed several people over the edge. A client who was already working with me to move a book project […]
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Spotlight On: Meaningfulness Matters
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Meaningfulness Matters: A Spotlight I have been supporting academics with research and writing in some way since 2005. It took several years for my business to evolve into what it is today, but one thing that has remained consistent is my belief that focusing on what matters to you […]
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Do you have to finish your grading before you can write?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you have to finish the grading before you can write? It’s already difficult to keep writing while you are teaching and doing all the other things that need to be done in the main part of the academic year. You probably look forward to the end of teaching […]
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No, you don’t need to completely change your research focus
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · No, you don’t need to completely change your research focus This post was written in the early stages of the Covid pandemic. One of the issues that had come up in both Office Hours (a group coaching session for members of the Academic Writing Studio) and in the Establishing […]
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Lies you’ve been told about loving your work
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Lies you’ve been told about loving your work Your employer exploits the fact that you love your work (or aspects of it) to avoid addressing serious workload pressures, to avoid the cost of appropriate staffing levels, to justifying paying you less, and to avoid addressing the mental health issues […]
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The importance of your vision.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The importance of your vision One reason I started doing what I’m doing, is that I could see all of these brilliant, interesting people not really enjoying their academic jobs. For various reasons you were discouraged, frustrated, or just plain overworked. As I’ve worked with clients, I have noticed […]
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Shame, vulnerability, and academic work
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Shame, vulnerability, and academic work I am somewhat allergic to celebrity. I will admit that my tendency is to avoid things that everyone is reading and talking about. However, as I was writing about peer review for my Short Guide, I realized I needed to do some reading with […]
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Mid-career blahs
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Mid-career blahs An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “I’ve Got Tenure, How Depressing” (Kathryn D. Blanchard, 31 January 2012), highlights the fact that even getting a coveted tenure-track position doesn’t necessarily lead to the “happily ever after” ending. Since my provost gave me the news about my promotion, I […]
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Risking doing the work you find meaningful
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Risking doing the work you find meaningful A longstanding imaginary-friend-on-the-Internet, who now runs a very successful online business, once said that something I’d said to them years ago had been pivotal to their success. I had no idea what they were talking about. Apparently, back when we were both […]
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