Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Burnout I published my first post with “burnout” in the title, “Burnout is real”, in 2022. We were just coming out of the most intense phase of the COVID pandemic disruptions. The term was familiar to people, but the idea that it might be a real diagnosable […]
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You’re coping, until you aren’t.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You’re coping until you aren’t I’ve written about burnout before. It is a real thing: severe exhaustion, physical and cognitive. It is serious. It often takes years to recover and may change you forever. I suspect the term is being used interchangeably with exhaustion that is somewhat less severe. […]
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You can get better at resting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · You can get better at resting As I return from a week of annual leave, I have a few thoughts on rest I’d like to share. I talk about rest a lot, not just because it’s necessary but also because it is objectively difficult. I hope these musings help. […]
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Making December less overwhelming
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making December less overwhelming I’m publishing this at the beginning of December. It will be shared alongside the regular monthly review and planning prompts in my newsletter. The prompts talk more about reviewing and planning your writing. You can access those here. Planning December is different from other months […]
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Resting when you can’t stop working completely
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Resting when you can’t stop working completely I seem to be having a lot of conversations about rest lately. It came up in Office Hours in the Academic Writing Studio. It’s come up in more than one Guide for the Journey session. If you are tired, you need to […]
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Do you struggle to write for long periods of time?
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you struggle to write for long enough? One of the members of the Academic Writing Studio asked about writing stamina in an Office Hours session, a regular group-coaching session I used to host for members. “You know, I have this ideal self that wakes up every day and […]
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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: Writing & Resting
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Writing & Resting One of the main challenges you face in the summer is juggling writing and rest. The first step is to resist the urge to Write All The Things!. I’ve used a hiking metaphor to explain how your summer writing fits with the writing you […]
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Planning in uncertain times
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Planning in Uncertain Times None of us are any good at predicting the future. On one level we are always planning for uncertainty. The level of uncertainty varies though and has been very high for the past year or so, both generally and in relation to your academic […]
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How to take a vacation
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How to take a vacation Just because your work doesn’t always look like work, doesn’t mean you don’t get to take a real vacation. You already deserve this vacation; it’s not a reward for achieving summer goals. In fact, not only do you deserve a vacation, you need a […]
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Yes, you should take sick leave.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Yes, you should take sick leave Note: I currently live in the UK and have previously lived in Canada. My statements are based on the general employment situation that pertains in those countries and countries like them, where there is significant employment protection in law, and significant levels of […]
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Starting your academic writing year in mid-summer
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Starting your academic year in mid-summer When do academics celebrate the new year? This is a serious question for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, where the beginning of the calendar year in January is more like the middle of the academic year. It seems like […]
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