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 · Managing email in the rapid switch […]
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Optimizing Focus: Select the task you most want to work on
In Optimizing Focus: 3 elements to consider, I outlined three elements that affect your focus during a writing session: the task itself, how you are feeling, and the context. I have written a series of follow up articles going into more detail about what that framework looks like in practice. I use the term “optimize” […]
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Is tidying your desk procrastination?
As you may know, my definition of writing as “anything that moves your writing project forward”. Typically, this expands your sense of legitimate activities to include reading, taking notes, going for a walk so you can think through the ideas you are working on, or sorting out your project files. A couple of things have […]
Read More »Transitions in your work day
Occasionally my yoga teacher focuses on transitions. While the poses themselves are important, how we move from one pose to another is also worthy of attention. Academic work is complex. You do a lot of different things in a day. In addition to thinking about how you do the specific tasks — email, teaching, writing, […]
Read More »Beware the long list and wide expanse of time…
As tough as this semester has been and as happy as you are for it to end, the transition from a heavily scheduled term to an unscheduled break is tough. You’ve probably got a long list of things too do. Too long, I suspect. A long list + an open stretch of time = procrastination […]
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If you had one more week…
A while ago on Twitter, one of the people I followed said: “Just realized Fall term lectures start a week later than I thought they did. A week more of prep time, here we come!” You might be able to guess what I replied: “Or a week free for writing!” What would you do with […]
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