You are an intelligent person. You have successfully completed an advanced degree, secured a position, maybe even already have tenure. You may have won competitive scholarships along the way. (If you are still doing your PhD, you have still accomplished much. Getting into your program is no mean feat.) And yet the job often feels [...]
Knitting in meetings
Posted on February 27, 2013 by
I’m a knitter. Maybe you also knit, or crochet, or do other needlecrafts that are small and portable. I knit in meetings and in other public places. I knit in the pub while talking to friends. Can you really do that without looking? This is probably one of the major issues that is going to [...]
All or Nothing thinking
Posted on January 24, 2013 by
How do you react if someone suggests you put less time and effort into your teaching preparation? Or, be stricter about office hours? What about the phrase “good enough”? What does that say to you? Confusing excellence with perfection As Kerry Ann Rocquemore pointed out in her excellent blog series on perfectionism. Many times people [...]
The Spectre of Professionalism
Posted on January 17, 2013 by
As I was writing the post about how your office is organized, I realized that many of us are haunted by the Spectre of Professionalism. Luckily I have a cartoonist on speed-dial. This Spectre might haunt your office set-up, your writing style, your manner of dress, your interactions with students, your interactions with colleagues, your [...]
Perfectionism
Posted on November 29, 2012 by
I want to alert you to an excellent series of articles at Inside Higher Education, where Kerry Ann Rockquemore has been writing about academic perfectionism. Many times people get confused because they think that perfectionism is really just a form of striving, being goal-oriented, having ambition, being driven and/or having high expectations for your career. [...]
