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Month: April 2022

Nathan

Rewarding Progress

Daily Post

If you need any extra motivation to get viva prep done, consider setting rewards for when you finish tasks. Big or small, rewards help spur people to action. What sort of rewards might help you? What sort of milestones in your prep could you aim for?

  • What could you do to reward a read-through of your thesis?
  • How will you celebrate when you have finished exploring your examiners’ recent publications?
  • And how could you bring a smile to your face after completing a mock viva?

You could ask others to join you for some friendly social pressure, or set some future rewards by yourself. The fact that you set rewards for yourself will do nothing to dampen your enthusiasm, so long as the reward is suitably motivating!

Nathan

The Next Steps

Daily Post

At some point your PhD will be finished.

Then what?

You don’t need to have all the answers. There’s no single right path that should be followed by a PhD candidate as they prepare to finish. It will help though to consider, while you’re writing up and getting ready, what your next steps might be.

  • Perhaps explore what excites and interests you. Where could you find opportunities that would allow this?
  • Maybe necessity governs your next actions. What needs must be satisfied by work, in terms of time, money and location?
  • It could be that you need to take simple steps before then. Is your CV up to date? Do you need to get help from others? When will you make time to do what needs to be done?

To figure out your next steps you probably also need to look back at the journey so far. This can help you decide what you have to do or what you could do, but it also helps prepare you for the viva too. Looking back could bring into clarity the trajectory that you’re on, both for the viva and for life after the PhD.

Nathan

A Happy Accident

Daily Post

I started the daily blog five years ago today by publishing No Accident.

It was a short post to start an ongoing daily blog! I wanted to begin by exploring what gets a postgraduate researcher from the start to the end of their PhD. In the last line I clumsily expressed a simple truth about nerves and the viva:

It’s understandable if you are nervous, but it’s no accident that you’ve got this far. Keep going.

I meant that it wasn’t only luck. The outcome of a viva and a PhD doesn’t depend on an accident of any kind. A person can have good fortune but only when they do the work and that works out for them.

I’m sure many postgraduate researchers, even given the last two years or so, feel fortunate at times. They do an uncertain experiment that works out. A resource arrives when it is most needed. An opportunity you just seem to thankfully stumble into. A happy accident, maybe you are the right person in the right place at the right time, but still you have worked to put yourself in that place and time.

Over the last five years I have been very grateful for everything that writing this daily blog has brought my way, for all the things that I have stumbled into! I’m thankful for the funny looks from people who don’t get it; strange looks from people who do get it but think it’s kind of weird to do; grateful emails from people who have been helped by one or more posts.

I’m very thankful to Nathan-in-2017 for following the idea of a daily blog and for all other iterations of me over the last five years who kept going.

If you find yourself encountering a happy accident situation, recognise and remember the work that you’ve done. Be grateful when your hard work pays off.

Use all of that to keep going.

Nathan

What Do You Do?

Daily Post

Here and there in my posts you’ll see subtle hints and outright confirmation that I love games of all kinds. Computer and video games, board games, card games, role-playing and story games. Thematic games, abstract games, little games, big games – basically games of all kinds, purposes, styles and descriptions.

I have a particular fondness for role-playing and story games. I love the countless possibilities when one reads a game and appreciates the intent and flavour that someone else has presented – that is now open to interpretation, modification and enjoyment by the people who are going to play. It’s a great thrill!

In many role-playing games, whatever their mechanical rules or genre, there is a fundamental question asked by the people playing whenever a situation is encountered: What do you do?

  • A dragon appears in the dungeon! What do you do?
  • You try to open the door but it’s stuck. What do you do?
  • The person you’re talking to has answered your question but you’re not sure if they’re telling the truth. What do you do?

There could be a facilitator for the game or not. You might be playing with a group or responding to prompts in a text. You might be rolling dice or drawing cards to influence the outcome but still at some point the question is always, “What do you do?”

 

It strikes me that this simple question is one that helps a lot in so many other situations, even with the viva.

  • You find a passage in your thesis after submission that doesn’t read well. What do you do?
  • Your first-pick for external examiner has cancelled. What do you do?
  • You have a week before your viva and want to boost your confidence. What do you do?
  • It’s two hours into your viva and your internal has called for a break. What do you do?
  • It’s two hours into your viva and your internal has asked a question you’ve never considered before. What do you do?

You might have an idea in mind. You might need to ask someone for information or help. You might not be in a hurry. Eventually, you have to do something. You’re the only one who can do something to move things forward or start the process.

It might not help to consider endless “what if…” possibilities, but considering how you might approach particular challenges could help. More importantly, recognising that it really is you who will have to do something to resolve a challenge, big or small, can help you realise that you’ll need to take action.

So, what do you do?

Succeeding in the viva is not a game, but it can help your confidence to have a winning strategy. You don’t need to play a role to pass. If a challenge presents itself pause and ask yourself what you will do. Then do it and move closer to your ultimate goal.

Nathan

Passing The Test

Daily Post

It doesn’t feel right, given the scope of the viva, to say that success is simply about passing a test.

But you pass. The latest test, the final test – but certainly not the only test. Any PhD candidate is tested again and again throughout their journey. From first year uncertainties  all the way to final year fears and the challenge of writing-up. One test after another, week by week.

If we have to use these words for the end of the PhD too then let us show the importance: you pass The Test.

The Test of your whole PhD. You succeed, you rise to the challenge, you pass The Test.

Your viva might be one day that looms large in your mind as it gets closer. Remember all of the other days, small and big, where you have succeeded too. This latest success follows all of the others.

Nathan

Thank Your Examiners

Daily Post

During a recent webinar I was asked if it was appropriate to send a thank you note to examiners after the viva. There must have been a strange mood in the postgraduate researcher hive mind because the next day someone asked if they should get gifts for their examiners.

While giving gifts is a nice thought it’s not appropriate to give them to examiners – particularly before the viva!

A thank you note or message after the viva could be a nice gesture though. A chance to say thank you, to ask any follow-up questions that you forgot or to ask about keeping in touch if that aligns with your future work goals.

If a thank you note, card or email doesn’t feel right to you though then still take a brief moment on the day to thank your examiners. Thank them for their time, for their questions and for being part of your viva.

Nathan

Why You?

Daily Post

If 99.9% of PhD candidates succeed in defending their thesis, why would you be any different?

You’re not the exception, you’re exceptional: hard-working, talented, knowledgeable, determined and capable. You might be nervous or have doubts; explore what these really are and get help if you need it. You might need to know more about the viva. You could need encouragement from your supervisors or friends. You could need help to get ready.

If approximately one in one thousand candidates fail at the viva, why would it be you?

Nathan

Tell Your Story

Daily Post

After your viva tell your story to anyone who you think it will help. Why you did a PhD, how you got through it, what happened at the viva – share practical help but also how it felt as you were working your way through. Help others see that they can make it through too, that it’s not luck or chance.

Before your viva tell your story to yourself. Remind yourself of what you did to get as far as you have. Find words to describe how you overcame obstacles and resolved problems. Help yourself see and believe that you are capable, talented and not lucky.

Nathan

Do This

Daily Post

Read your thesis. Write an overview. Have a mock. Congratulations you did it!

There is a lot of good, general advice for the viva but it can’t be reduced to an easy step-by-step instruction book. The unique nature of every viva, thesis and candidate mean that prep has to be individual.

And still: every submission period of prep work comes down to making time and doing the work. Reflecting, checking, thinking again, getting ready and reminding yourself that you are a good researcher.

Do the research, get your thesis done, do the prep – do all of this and you’ll succeed.

Step-by-step you go towards success.

Nathan

Pressures & Priorities

Daily Post

When and how do you get ready for the viva? How do you manage what needs to be done, especially considering that you’ve already got lots that you need to do?

Consider the pressures on your time and availability to get the work done. You don’t need thirty hours per week for a month before the viva; a little time each day can help. Focussed work helps you get ready.

If you have a job or responsibilities, if you’re looking for work or face other pressures then you can find time to get your prep done. Step back and look at the big picture. Find gaps to allow you to get the work done.

Consider that viva prep – even while getting ready for your viva – is probably not the number one priority in your life. Acknowledge that it needs doing, accept that there are other things that have to be your main focus, then plan out where and when you will do your work to get ready for the viva.

Sketch a plan over the period you think best, making sure there is enough time to do all of the things that will help you: reading your thesis, making notes, checking papers and rehearsing for the viva.

The pressures and priorities that are your personal situation can only be navigated by you. Step back: look at how things are and what you need to make space for. Then find a solution that works for you.

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