Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Do you struggle with planning? The Anti-Planner is the brain-child of Dani Donovan, an artist who’s been working on support materials for ADHD and other neurodivergent types for a while. It’s designed principally for people with ADHD, but it seems to be useful regardless of what brain type you […]
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Spotlight On: Peer Review
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Peer Review Peer review is central to academic freedom. It ensures that the criteria for evaluating the quality of scholarship are in the control of scholars and not subordinated to commercial, government, or other interests. My writing on peer review over the years has primarily focused on […]
Read More »Starting a new project
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Starting a new project Once you’ve found and protected time for writing, your next challenge is to decide what to work on in that time. In Making Decisions About Your Writing, I talked about prioritizing amongst multiple projects. In this post, I want to talk about starting a new project […]
Read More »Making Decisions about your writing
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making decisions about writing This is a belated addition to the Making Decisions series that begins with Managing the energy you use to make decisions, published in August 2021. You might want to read the introductory post first. You can also find links to other posts in the series […]
Read More »Spotlight On: Meaningfulness Matters
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Meaningfulness Matters: A Spotlight I have been supporting academics with research and writing in some way since 2005. It took several years for my business to evolve into what it is today, but one thing that has remained consistent is my belief that focusing on what matters to you […]
Read More »This is *not* your new year, new start
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · This is *not* your new year, new start The beginning of the calendar year is accompanied by a lot of cultural pressure to reflect on the year just ended and make some big decisions about the year ahead. Reflection and planning are both practices I encourage. However, if you […]
Read More »What to do about a stalled book project
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What to do about a stalled book project Are you *not* writing a book? Maybe it’s your “thesis book”. Maybe it’s something else. You might have a contract for it. You might not have started it, but think you should have by now. You might have a lot of […]
Read More »Introducing: the Academic Writing Studio
The Beginning When I started A Meeting With Your Writing back in September 2011, I didn’t even know if it would work. All I knew was that virtual accountability and community was needed, and that I was prepared to facilitate something that might help. Now, it feels central to everything I do. Participants have told […]
Read More »Spotlight On: Cycles of the Academic Year
What if I told you rethinking your academic year to align with your goals and values could help you manage your workload more confidently? Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Cycles of the Academic Year Cycles of the academic year & intensity of work is where I first started thinking about the broader shape of […]
Read More »Motivation and accomplishment in your writing practice
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 […]
Read More »The value of intellectual engagement
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Valuing Intellectual Engagement Burnout and stress are not just about the quantity of work you have to do. Lack of control and a sense of meaninglessness are major contributors to burnout. It has become very clear that your difficulty managing your workload is not a personal failing. You are […]
Read More »Juggling, jigsaws, and navigating by the stars: making reasonable plans
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 · Juggling, jigsaws, and navigating by the […]
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