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Jo VanEvery

You are here: Home / Archives for overwhelm

overwhelm

A business reply envelope in the mail with dark turquoise facemask next to it. Formal letters have so many conventions of tone and structure.

Email sign-offs

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Email Sign-offs Every once in a while there is a bit of a social media storm about how we sign our email messages. There are some humourous memes attributing passive-aggressive intent to various formal sign-offs. They are only funny if you don’t regularly worry about whether the way you […]

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A person seemingly drowns in brightly coloured plastic balls in a ballpit where only their face is visible with a strained facial expression peering through.

Overcommitted? Declaring a moratorium

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Overcommitted? Declaring a moratorium It’s easy to get overcommitted. In addition to all the things you have to do, there are a lot of things you would like to do. You don’t want to manage your workload by dropping everything that makes your work meaningful. In fact, I encourage […]

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A flatlay photo of a white desk surface displaying a few items. A black rope noticeboard with walnut frame reads: "Things to do: 1. own today. 2. [empty space] 3. [empty space]. A pair of bright neon turquoise wired headphones, a laptop, turquoise notebook, black coffee in white mug and grey cable knit jumper sleeve decorate the image edges.

Motivation and accomplishment in your writing practice

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

 Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Motivation & accomplishment in your writing practice Given how hard it is for most academics to find time to work on their writing, and how difficult it is to know how long some stages of the process will take, I advocate establishing a regular writing practice and trusting […]

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A white and brown cat naps curled up on a green velvet arm chair with light coral red cushion.

Prioritizing rest over the winter break

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Prioritizing Rest over the Winter Break I wrote this in December but it also applies at the end of 2nd semester when you are going into summer. Or, at other times of year when you have a break from teaching and you are feeling exhausted. On the first Friday […]

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Several piles of different sized and multi-coloured notebooks are stacked high into various piles then squeezed into a small vertical white cupboard with a few shelves

Do you have too many active writing projects?

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Jo VanEvery

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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A photo of an ambulance rushing past on a road where the rest of the background street is blurred horizontally to show fast paced movement

Emergency planning technique

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Emergency planning technique Every once in a while you wonder why you even bother planning and setting goals. You are juggling way too many things. You might have metaphorical balls and broken dishes all over your office. I encourage you to put down all the balls for a moment. Take a […]

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If someone’s crying, something needs to change.

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · If someone’s crying, something needs to change Although initially written about teaching, this post applies to any area of your work or life where you feel the things in the first set of bullet points. No one said teaching would be easy but … You shouldn’t be exhausted. You shouldn’t […]

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Is the beginning of term chaos over yet?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Jo VanEvery Leave a Comment

I was talking to a client who was feeling a bit like she’d been hit by a truck. She’s teaching a class for the first time. Even though it is directly in her area of expertise, she’s overwhelmed by how much work it is. And surprised by how exhausted she is. Even if you have been doing […]

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