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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Being an academic in dystopian times: Making time for activism
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Being an academic in dystopian times: making time for activism Since the election and inauguration of the 45th President of the United States there has been a surge of political activity. Many of my clients and the academics I follow on social media are posting more about the political […]
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The role of journal editors in long review times
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The role of journal editors in long review times This is part of a short series addressing the frustration with how long peer review takes. Other posts in this series include The frustrations of peer review and How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process. […]
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How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process This is part of a short series addressing the frustration with how long peer review takes. Other posts in this series include The Frustrations of Peer Review and The Role of Journal Editors in Long Review Times. […]
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Writing is NOT a reward for getting your grading done
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Writing is not a reward for getting your grading done Grading is dispiriting at the best of times. There is too much of it to do, to a very tight deadline. And despite the occasional brilliant paper or clear demonstration that students are getting it, there are too many […]
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Being available, with limits
There are all kinds of reasons why you need to be available to students outside the classroom. You have various means of enabling those students to ask questions outside of class time: Fixed hours when you are available in your office for this purpose An e-mail address where they can contact you A space in […]
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Managing your workload by creating containers
One way to get some control over how much time and energy you give to certain kinds of legitimate requests is to create a container for that kind of work.
Just as it is easier to store flour if you pour it into something with firm sides and a lid (so it doesn’t just flow all over the counter), some tasks can benefit from being contained in particular time periods or particular spaces.
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“Write all the things” is not a summer plan
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Write All The Things! is not a summer plan As the semester got busier, chances are you started saying “I’ll get to that in the summer” about a lot of things, especially writing. At this point you’ve probably got a list that is roughly “Write all the things.” Of […]
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Abducted by aliens
I’m fond of this Eisenhower quote: Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. (From a speech to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference in Washington, D.C. (November 14, 1957) ; in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957, National Archives and Records Service, Government Printing Office, p. 818 ) This is […]
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Getting out of Grading Jail*
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Getting out of grading jail *the term “grading jail” is borrowed from a popular Twitter hashtag #gradingjail At this time of year, it is tempting to drop everything else and just grade all the time. After all, you have lots of grading. You might as well get through it […]
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The cardinal rule of time travel
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · The cardinal rule of time travel Last week I talked about how helpful my Magnificent Metaphorical Time Machine is. Travelling forward in time can help you see the outcome you want, without worrying about the messy and difficult process of actually getting there. However, there is a cardinal […]
Read More »Why I don’t recommend the Pomodoro technique
This little Italian tomato has been popping up in my tweet-stream, blog comments, blog posts I read, and other places around the Internet. It looks like a really cool technique. (There is a video on that site that explains the basics.) Lots of people are using it and getting good results. So why do I […]
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