I am by no means an expert on academic jobs just because I now (miraculously?) have one. But I have been told that I am organized, and, yes, that is because being an anxious person sometimes means having a system for everything. So before I totally bury all memories of the academic job market, I thought I would put together a timeline of some of the things I did to get ready to search for academic jobs…
Continue reading “How I prepped for the academic job market”
My mom is the happiest person I know, and I was always aware of it growing up. It made me proud, for a while. Then I became a teenager, and I started rolling my eyes. A lot. It was easy to make fun of my mom for being so cheery. Then I went off to college and I started to really appreciate her again. But then, I realized that not only was my mom super happy, she was also really smart about being happy–she made choices to make herself happy everyday. She sings in the grocery store. She laughs super loud while watching tv. She gets excited about everything from running into friends to hearing her favorite songs. And you know what? All of that takes work.
I really started to understand the work of being happy and that appreciation has only grown since I got to grad school, where it’s clear that I can either find a way to enjoy this life, or I can let my potentially demanding job choice swallow me whole. I definitely don’t make the more difficult choice every day, but I do try! So this week, I asked some wise grad school friends why happiness can seem so hard in academia. Here’s what we came up with…
Continue reading “Maintaining optimism in a demanding career–or, why happiness is not a waste of time in grad school”Or, every tip that has helped me write my dissertation.
We are on day 8 of #100daysofdissertation, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out Academeology on Instagram and she’ll get you filled in. I’ve been really enjoying talking to other grad students about what they do to get sh*t done this past week, so I’ve decided to write up what works for me here. I hope this list is helpful to you, whatever large project you might be up against, academic or non. The title is mostly a joke, but I don’t use the Pomodoro method, instead I do a bunch of other stuff, like….
Continue reading “How to be productive if you don’t like the Pomodoro Technique”
Thanks to a follower who asked for a bag round-up for grad school! A grad school bag is pretty important if you ask me! It’s your daily companion so it needs to be able to lug gear and set you apart from your students. Here are my current favorite workhorse bags, updated for 2021!
One sad part about being an adult who is still in school is that I REALLY miss back to school shopping. Here is a mystery of my childhood: why did I think I needed an updated lunchbox every year? Why did my backpack, binder, and lunchbox have to match? Now, I don’t even use a lunchbox, instead I just pray that the tupperware in my backpack doesn’t explode on my way to school. But I still love new school year supplies–I just have an updated list of needs:
1) Good pens. I got a pack of Staples Opti-flow pens last year and somehow they all wandered off. I’m looking to re-up my supply (they dry INSTANTLY) but I’m also tempted to buy a set of Muji pens after reading the reviews.
Q: Hi Rebecca! What are your thoughts on tech for grad school (specifically tablets)? Is there anything that’s made your time in academia more efficient?
A: Hi! I don’t have a tablet but I really wish I did–I see people bring them to conference sessions, meetings, etc and they seem like a lighter, easier thing to travel with. Our dept appears split on having them or just bringing a regular laptop.
In terms of other tech that has made my life way easier: Zotero (citation manager, get the Word plug in and YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO CITE BY HAND AGAIN) and Evernote (keeps all your notes in one app–I didn’t see the value at first but it’s far more searchable than going through all your word docs) have been my two favorite upgrades. Also, an hour tracker is a good way to keep yourself on track when you work (and to recognize that even when it feels like 60 hours of work a week it’s really not!).
Lastly, not grad school specific: I’ve been using Cladwell to get dressed every day. It’s $40 per year (sign up on their website, not the app store), and it just makes getting ready totally brainless, in the best way possible.
I’m reblogging this to say I just bought Grammarly Premium as well–it is like spell check but way better, and says things to you like “you’ve said the word ‘communication’ a lot in this document, want to try a different one?” and “this sentence is wordy.” Seriously life changing. I had an out of body reading experience the other day while looking over some writing–I was like “wait did I really write this this well?” Thx Grammarly.
Passive aggressive thank yous
Inside joke acknowledgements
Jokes in footnotes
Unacknowledged puns
Saucy comments like “as much as researchers would like this to be the case..”
Random trivia in footnotes
Unnecessary appendices (songs listened to while writing, lists of weird historical events, etc)
Citations of yourself, because goals
Unnecessary citations of your academic friends
Song lyric quotes in italics as chapter openings
What else you got? Looking to spice this document up.
The productivity bug hit me today even though I promised to take the week off.
Also, friends with illustrator skills who make you custom desktop wallpaper are the best ❤️
Two helpful grad school advice books about the future
Hi all, taking a break from reading to say I’ve just finished these two excellent books, which have helped me wrap my head around 1) getting a job, & 2) writing a dissertation. If you have anxiety about the future (everyone in grad school?) these made me feel more in control of the big picture.
1) The Professor is In: This book hurts. Karen Kelsky is here to administer all the tough love you may not be getting from your advisor. Best advice snippets: don’t wait to be invited to do things (submit to conferences, submit to journals), you need to push yourself to put it all out there if you want a job; and try to identify 1 or 2 mentors outside of your department/elsewhere in your field, with tips on how to build relationships with them.
2) Destination Dissertation: This book is kind of the opposite of tough love. It’s more like, “hey, if you’re in the humanities/social sciences, here are 12 steps to write your dissertation, it will only take 12, we promise.” This book has calmed me down a lot about the impending dissertation. I picked it up early (I’m a second year PhD) and I’m glad I did because it was worth reading the chapter about picking a topic this early in my studies.
Alright, back to work. Happy Sunday all! Does anyone have more good grad school advice books they would recommend?
Got a lot of work done in my tiny basement office today.