All Episodes
Creating a Satisfying Academic Career with Jo Van Every — 285 episodes
When Your Systems Fail
Do you have too many writing projects?
Interest, Novelty, Challenge, Urgency with Christine Weddle
Writing is a decision making process with Emily Doucet
You need a writing practice
End of summer writing panic
Hyperfocus and intensive writing styles
Being available with limits
Flexibility, autonomy, boundaries
Letting go of unfinished projects
Do good work
Sabbatical + book contract = Overwhelm?
Don't aim to finish articles in the summer
When you stop writing
Work-life balance in academic careers
You don't need accountability
When your work doesn't look like work
Planning Your Summer Writing Time
Why finding time to write is hard
Are you treating your research like a hobby?
Thoughts on accountability, deadlines, and goals
Stop worrying about recycling
Good enough?
Research produces more questions than answers
Of Many Minds: An interview with Lee Skallerup Bessette
Focus isn't just a mind problem - Hannah de Keijzer
Optimizing Focus
Make Your Manuscript Work: An Interview with Laura Portwood-Stacer
An advanced writing practice
Coming back to a neglected project
What should you do next?
Embrace the research process
Finding your way back to writing
The power of 15 minutes a day
The benefits of working small
I hate goals
Permission to think big thoughts
What counts as writing?
What is research?
Developing A New Practice: One Year Later
Developing A New Practice: An Update
Developing A New Practice: How I Do It
Developing A New Practice: Getting Started
Are deadlines helping or hurting?
Small steps yield big results
If you had one more week
How much writing can you do in term time
It *is* possible to write in term time
15 minutes a day
The value of experiments
Spotlight On: The Power of 15 Minutes (Intro)
Turn Your Summer Writing Plans into Autumn Writing Plans
Burnout - A personal experience
Treating each day as a new opportunity
Reflections on 20 years of self-employment
Is it perfectionism? Or is it impatience
Pulling a thread from your tangled mess
Untangling your thoughts as you write
Conferences as motivation to write
Making Travel Less Stressful
Imperfect notes for perfectionists
Introduction to Spotlight On: Saying No
Motivating yourself to finish the damned book
How do I know when my book is ready to submit?
Creating a Satisfying Academic Career - Part 2
Creating a Satisfying Academic Career - Part 1
Boundaries, Balance, and the Whole You
Spotlight On: Burnout
Are you dropping the "eating well" ball?
You can get better at resting
Taking a real break between semesters
How to take the weekend off
Managing Energy: Start by Noticing
You can take your time
Mid-semester burnout
You’re coping until you aren’t
How to make your argument clear
You don't have to start with an abstract
Do you hate writing author bios?
How does teaching make you feel?
Permission to do the scholarly work you want to do
Are you waiting for permission?
Autonomy & asking for help
Using the supports you need, part 2
Using the supports you need
Prove them right
Reconnecting with the desire to write
Spotlight On: Confidence
F**k Confidence. Settle into ease instead.
Do you hate writing conclusions?
Do you struggle with planning?
How grading ruined peer review
Making December less overwhelming
How to find a book structure that works
Jumping off cliffs
Spotlight On: Imposter Syndrome
Are you letting fear drive your decisions?
Shame, vulnerability, and academic work
There will always be things you don't know
Experienced writers vs novice writers
The work you wish you didn't have to do
Sneaky ways your gremlins try to get you not to actually publish
Taking on a leadership role
What would your Fairy Godmother help you do?
How to stop writing for your harshest critics
On valuing your work
Why are you writing this book?
Jo on Tap: A timed 30-minute writing session
Survivor guilt & imposter syndrome: When you are one of the lucky few
Resting when you can't stop working completely
Beyond Accountability: Co-working as support
Radical alternative ways to approach productivity in the PhD
Making Decisions: Applying for research funding
Making time blocking work for you
Spotlight On: Dystopia, Uncertainty, and Disruption
Being an academic in dystopian times: making time for activism
Shifting priorities within your research during the pandemic or other crisis
No, you don't need to completely change your research focus
Being an academic in dystopian times: valuing your academic work
Emergency planning technique
Planning for known unknowns
Life is like a video game
You don't have to decide what to do with your life
Optimism in the face of uncertainty
Tracking “streaks” to establish & maintain habits
Who are you writing for?
You don't need to find a "gap" in the literature
It's okay to move your goal posts
Do you struggle to write for long periods of time?
Introduction to Dealing With Reviewer Comments
Confidence in the face of criticism
Confidence must come from within
How you, as a peer reviewer, can contribute to a better process
The role of journal editors in long review times
The frustrations of peer review: Why is it taking so long?
Revision following peer review is a normal part of the scholarly writing process
Thoughts on "Untangling Academic Publishing"
Peer review supports academic writing
The role of peer review
How can reviewer comments improve your work?
Communicating manuscript edits
Why questions are useful in feedback
Your vision guides the writing and the revision
Peer-reviewed articles and changing things out there in the world
Journals and monographs in academic evaluation processes
How scholarship is evaluated
Spotlight on Peer Review
Managing manuscript edits
Academic Writing: A Discussion with Katherine Firth
Peer review is worth saving
Two questions to help you avoid burnout
10 years of A Meeting With Your Writing!
What is Real Writing anyway?
Starting a new project
Making decisions about writing
Before you can say no
Opposite day as decision making strategy
Your colleagues aren't any better at saying no than you are
Do you over-explain?
Permission to refuse service or admin requests
The importance of quitting
How much teaching preparation is enough?
The cardinal rule of time travel
Academic citizenship & getting better at saying no
Saying no, FOMO, and being strategic about research
Guilt is complicated
It's not too late to adjust your plans
Stop feeling guilty
Why being a straight A student isn't necessarily a good thing
Take guilt off your to do list
Protecting time for writing: Interruptions
Saying no: Do you suggest an alternate?
Burnout is real!
Introduction to Meaningfulness Matters: A Spotlight
Be an amateur
Do you need to be excellent?
When you start to hate what you love
If someone's crying, something needs to change
The importance of your vision
Do you suffer from imposter syndrome?
Goals and Magical Thinking
Mid-career blahs
Is "number of hours" the right measure?
Unpacking 'busy' - the importance of being proactive vs reactive
Risking doing the work you find meaningful
What you can change
Optimizing focus when your project brings up difficult emotions
This is not *your* new year, new start
What to do about a stalled book project
The frustrations of being a dedicated teacher
The emotional toll of grading
When priorities and boundaries feel like cutting corners
Writing is not a reward for getting your grading done
You can ignore the grading
You can ignore the grading, reprise
Do you have to finish the grading before you can write?
Getting out of grading jail
Introduction to Spotlight On: Grading Season
So tired you could cry? Permission granted.
So tired you could cry? Enable Low Power Mode
What if *you* need an extension?
Dictation and focus
When another project is distracting you
Do you have too many writing projects?
Select the task you most want to work on
Meditation as practice and metaphor
Optimizing Focus: Choosing the task to suit the context
Optimizing Focus: Choose the task to suit how you are feeling
The impact of time available on your focus
Focus and the desire for distraction
Distraction: not the usual suspects
One thing at a time?
Intro to Spotlight On: Optimizing Focus
Planning as a practice
Email Sign-offs
Managing email in the rapid switch to remote
Not contributing to other people's email overwhelm
Email is not a task
Email is not urgent
Making Decisions: Peer Review
Making Decisions: Meetings
Making Decisions: Planning and Scheduling
Overcommitted? Declaring a moratorium
Managing the energy you use to make decisions
Write All The Things! is not a summer plan
Why join the Studio in the summer?
How to save time on teaching prep, without compromising quality
Surviving and Thriving in Uncertain Times
Planning in Uncertain Times
Freedom & Scheduling
How to take a vacation
Introducing the Academic Writing Studio
A Story from A Meeting With Your Writing
Pressure vs Ease
A class provides structure
Just Enough Structure (Intro)
Yes, you should take sick leave
Starting your academic year in mid-summer
Where does teaching preparation fit in your summer plans?
Using all 3 types of writing time
Intro to Cycles of the Academic Year
Thoughts on wrapping up teaching for the summer
Introducing That Selfish Bastard
Motivation & accomplishment in your writing practice
About the Short Guides Series
Managing your energy.
You are not lazy
Is dystopia the new normal?
Prioritizing rest over the winter break
Valuing Intellectual Engagement
Email Overwhelm as a Collective Problem.
Priorities & boundaries in the face of job insecurity
Lies you've been told about loving your work.
Where does confidence come from?
Confidence Tricks.
What is your plan to rest?
Asynchronous teaching and setting boundaries.
Juggling, jigsaws, and navigating by the stars.
Dealing with the loss of a physical boundary between work and home.
You are not broken. You don't need fixing.
Resting & recharging is preparing for the new academic year.
How do you think about meetings when you are planning your day/week/month?
Are meetings really a waste of time?
Writing and research in the summer of the pandemic
The case for getting dressed for work
Emotional labour is real work
Time perception and how long things actually take
Autonomy in pandemic conditions
Transitioning to Summer
Writing and Focus in Grading Season
Cycles of the academic year and intensity of work
Maintaining Your Writing Practice When Things Get Busy
Thoughts on academic freedom, scholarly publishing, and mundane practices
Hiking as a metaphor for (summer) writing
Write Every Day?
Are you taking breaks?
How to feel like you are moving forward
Prioritizing meaningful work when you are feeling overwhelmed and powerless
Being an academic in dystopian times (reprise)
Don't Do Your Best!
Communication vs Validation: Why are you publishing?
Optimizing Focus: 3 Elements to Consider
Juggling 101: Elements of a Good Plan
Hope is better than fear.
What an academic career looks like