This post was originally written in February 2021 as a follow up to Planning Your Winter Semester and was shared in the Academic Writing Studio. It has been edited and divided into a series of shorter posts for ease of reading. The general principles—habits, routines, and default responses—are explained in the first post in the […]
Read More »meetings
How do you think about meetings when you are planning your day/week/month?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How do you think about meetings when you are planning your day/week/month? When you are planning your week (or your day or your month) and you look over what’s already in your calendar what is your reaction to scheduled meetings? When someone contacts you to organize a meeting, how […]
Read More »Are meetings really a waste of time?
This post was originally written during a time when many universities and workplaces had shifted to remote work in response to the COVID pandemic. Although circumstances have now changed for many people, much of what I say in this post still applies. Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Are meetings really a waste of time? […]
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Flexibility, autonomy, and boundaries
One of the things you love about academic work is the flexibility and the autonomy. You don’t have to be in the office at 9 a.m. every morning. You don’t even have to be in the office every day. In theory you could take Wednesday off to go for a nice long hike and then work […]
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Knitting in meetings
I’m a knitter. Maybe you also knit, or crochet, or do other needlecrafts that are small and portable. I knit in meetings and in other public places. I knit in the pub while talking to friends. Can you really do that without looking? This is probably one of the major issues that is going to […]
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Do you over-explain?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you overexplain? When you say “no” to a request, do you offer an explanation? Do you have your full schedule posted on your office door? Is your electronic Calendar publicly visible with all the details of your meetings? Do you also find it hard to say no? Do […]
Read More »Are you valuing your time?
It is really easy to overvalue tasks that other people ask you to do or see you doing. And to undervalue the tasks you do alone. Writing happens alone. Sometimes it doesn’t even look like work, especially when you have to do a lot of thinking. It takes a long time to get a product […]
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