Write Two Lists

On the first list capture the following sorts of things:

• Your disappointments from your research.
• The things that didn’t work.
• The questions you don’t know how to answer.
• Your concerns for finishing your PhD.
• Your worries about the viva process.

On the second list write the following sorts of things:

• The conclusions of your thesis.
• The results you got through your research.
• The ways you became a better researcher.
• The topics you’re looking forward to talking about at your viva.
• Your great plans for the future.

Now decide: which of these lists are you going to look at every day, and which are you going to skim over once a week?

Put the everyday list in a prominent space and the once a week list in a drawer.

You get to decide where you put your focus; it might be helpful, for example, to think a little about viva worries and do something about them – but maybe it’s better to think more often about the good things in your thesis than the what ifs of your viva?

(writing two lists is a viva-centric riff on a Seth Godin idea – his blog is always worth reading!)