Creating a Satisfying Academic Career with Jo Van Every

Summer is an ideal time to write in intensive blocks.

 In this track, I suggest planning your time as writing retreats and explain what that might look like. 

Read the retitled post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/schedule-writing-retreats/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

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I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

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If you are struggling to find and protect time for your writing, you are not alone. 

Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/why-finding-time-for-writing-is-hard/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

In this track I tease out the differences between hobbies and jobs to help you be more confident about making sure to protect time for your research and ensure that your research has the potential to benefit someone other than yourself. 

Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/treating-research-like-hobby/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

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Some thoughts on how and why you might use accountability, deadlines, and goals to motivate you to write. I include excerpts from some responses to these thoughts by Pat Thomson and Rachael Cayley. 

My goal in publishing this is to help you reflect on your own practices and adjust them so that you open up the possibility for joy in your writing as well as getting the writing done that you want and need to do.

Read the Pat Thomson post: https://patthomson.net/2015/07/02/accountability-and-academic-writing/

Read the Rachael Cayley post: https://explorationsofstyle.com/2015/06/25/productivity-an-ethical-response/

Read my full thoughts on this here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/accountability-deadlines-goals/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

Originally written for Hook & Eye blog (RIP) in response to one Aimeé Morrison's posts, in this track I talk about the ways in which you might present or publish your work for different audiences in ways that overlap and why that isn't necessarily a problem.

Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/stop-worrying-recycling/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

It is difficult to determine when an article, book, or other output is actually ready to submit. It is not uncommon for it to feel "not quite finished". In this track, I talk about how that feeling of "not quite finished" is not a reliable guide and propose considering "good enough" instead. 

Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/good-enough-or-finished/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

One of the reasons it's hard to know when a specific piece of writing is good enough to submit for publication is that writing it will have generated new questions. 

Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/research-produces-more-questions-than-answers/

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

An interview with Lee Skallerup Bessette about the book Of Many Minds: Neurodiversity and Mental Health Among Faculty and Staff in Higher Education, which she has co-edited with Rebecca Pope Ruark. 

We discuss the trap and the promise of higher education for neurodivergent folks, and the ways that contributors to the book navigate that.

Read the edited transcript on my website here.

Get Lee & Rebecca's book: Of Many Minds here.

Related Posts, Podcasts & Books:

• All The Things ADHD - Podcast
• Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal (book) - by Rebecca Pope-Ruark, PhD
• Lee featured on an episode of Rebecca’s podcast too: S5:E1 - the agile academic

This interview took place via Zoom on Sept 17 2025. It has been substantially edited, as mentioned in the introduction, for ease of reading/listening and reference.

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

A guest post from Hannah de Keijzer, book coach and non-fiction editor, about recruiting your office space and physical habits to help you get into focus more quickly and work more effectively. 

Like me, Hannah works with a lot of writers who are squeezing writing in amongst other professional and personal responsibilities. Writing at home can make it easier not to be distracted by other work responsibilities, but the space available is often less than ideal. 

I love the suggestions Hannah makes in this post for making your writing space welcome, and reducing distractions, even in those less than ideal circumstances. She includes an example of writing at the kitchen counter!

She also suggests small physical rituals to enter and exit focused work time. 

Listen to Hannah read her post in her own words.

Hannah's Website

Connect with Hannah on Linked In, here.

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach  

Over the years I've written a lot about focus and distraction. 

This track introduces the collection of posts from my blog around this theme, with some new thoughts on the value of identifying the problem *before* you try to implement solutions. 

I also say a bit about what you'll find in the other posts. 

Related Posts:

• 3 elements to consider
• Focus and the desire for distraction
• Distraction: not the usual suspects
• One thing at a time?
• The impact of time available on your focus
• Choose the task to suit how you are feeling
• Choosing the task to suit the context
• Meditation as practice and metaphor
• Writing and Focus in Grading Season
• Select the task you most want to work on
• Do you have too many writing projects?
• When another project is distracting you
• Dictation and focus
• When your project brings up difficult emotions

For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter 

To find out how short chunks of time can revolutionise your writing, take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge course: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ 

Or join the Academic Writing Studio community: https://academicwritingstudio.co.uk  

Support me on KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/jovanevery  

I'm no longer on Twitter, but I'm on Bluesky here: https://bsky.app/profile/jovanevery.bsky.social 

Find me on Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jovanevery/  

Or follow along on Facebook here: https://facebook.com/JoVEAcademicCareerCoach