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Tag: viva preparation

Nathan

The Best Prep

Daily Post

If we focus on effective viva prep it might be tempting to steer towards questions like:

  • When do you schedule things?
  • What do you start with?
  • How do you focus?
  • How much time do you spend on tasks?

These questions aren’t wrong, but they could lead someone down a difficult path to getting the work done.

When thinking about how to organise your prep, perhaps consider the following questions:

  • What’s the least stressful way for you to get ready?
  • What’s the most enjoyable task you could start with?
  • How can you prepare without rushing?
  • How can you best motivate yourself to do the work?

Effective viva prep flows from creating a good process and a good environment to do the work. It’s less effective to just focus on tasks and timetables.

Nathan

Making Prep Better

Daily Post

The time between when you submit your thesis and have your viva is your viva prep period.

Is it possible to wing it? To go with the flow and do things as and when you feel like it? Probably! It might not be very comfortable though.

Everyone is different – in themselves, their research and their situation – so I’m sure some people could do what comes to them as they go through the weeks leading up to their viva.

If that doesn’t feel like a comfortable situation for you though, or even if it does and you want to make sure your prep is as good as it could be, consider doing some of the following:

  • Sketch a plan. Think about the time you have available and how you might do the work to help you get ready.
  • Prioritise. Make sure you make time to do the things that matter most.
  • Ask for help. Ask early and as you need it. You’re alone at your viva but before then there are many people who can support you.
  • Recognise when you have done something. Mark a checklist or record it on your calendar. Make it obvious to yourself that you have done the work.

Finally, take time to remind yourself of the work you’re doing now and all the work you’ve done before. Viva prep is for the particular challenge of your viva. In the years before you have done a lot of work that helps you.

Nathan

Bit By Bit

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Idea by idea. Paper by paper. Day by day.

There’s no other way to put your PhD together than keep showing up, good days and bad, and work your way through. Learn more, do more, achieve more and find your way to becoming a good and capable researcher in your field.

When the time comes, this approach is what helps you prepare for your viva too. There’s no single activity that flips the switch to “ready”.

And, really, it’s how you get through the viva too.

Question by question.

Chapter by chapter.

Response by response.

Minute by minute you demonstrate the capable researcher that you became bit by bit.

And that’s enough.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on May 23rd 2023.

Nathan

Asks, Favours & Requests

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Not all viva prep needs to be done alone.

It’s OK to simply ask, “Can you help me?”

It’s OK to ask for a favour, “It’s not something little, but I really need help. Can you?”

It’s even OK to make a request, “I need this specific thing and I need you to do it, please.”

Supervisors, peers, colleagues, friends, family – all can be there to support you. Given where you are and what you’re doing, given the state of the world, uncertainty and pressure – even if others around you are feeling it too – you can ask. Tell people what you need, when you need it, why you need it, then work with them to get what you need.

And when someone asks you, do your best to help them too.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on June 3rd 2020.

Nathan

Sensible Prep

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Getting ready for the viva involves big pieces of work and little tasks.

It could feel like there’s lots to do, maybe even too much, especially if you have other responsibilities. Start the process by getting everything out from your brain and onto a space you can track.

Write a list. Jot things down on a whiteboard. Start a new document and type anything that comes to mind.

Once you think you’ve got everything out, try to put some order in place. What comes first? What goes last? How could you fit this jigsaw of jobs together?

It’s possible to get ready for the viva by simply doing something productive for an hour per day for enough days.

It’s sensible to get ready for the viva by thinking a little, planning a little and then getting to work.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on August 24th 2021.

Nathan

Mocks Aren’t Magic

Daily Post, Sabbatical

A mock viva is not a silver bullet that will solve all of your nervous feelings about the viva.

What are you looking for from your viva preparations?

  • Confidence?
  • A better picture of how you see your work?
  • A clearer understanding of what the viva is like?
  • Opportunities to practise?
  • Opportunities to think and get your head straight?
  • A chance to check your own talents?

If you know what you’re looking for, you can think about how you might find it. And while it’s not a magic solution that solves everything, when you think about what it can do, a mock viva could help with all of the above.

A mock viva is not a silver bullet, but maybe it’s good enough that we can think of it as a bronze arrow?

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on April 2nd 2019.

Nathan

A Contentious Thesis?

Daily Post, Sabbatical

Don’t worry. It means you have something interesting in your research. It means that in the viva your examiners have a lot to ask about.

And it means you’ve been working on your thesis for a long time. You will know how to engage with people who aren’t sure. With people who want to know more. With people who have their own ideas.

So read up, think, have a mock viva and conversations with friends, and get ready to explore your work.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on May 12th 2019.

Nathan

Start With Three Things

Daily Post, Sabbatical

There’s a lot you can do to prepare for the viva – so much that at times it could feel overwhelming. Whatever you’re going to do, start with a limit of just three things to help you focus.

  • Ask your supervisor three questions to help you prepare – what would they be?
  • Put three bookmarks into your thesis – where would they go?
  • Check three papers you’ve referenced – which ones would they be?
  • Take three minutes to summarise your work – what would you say?
  • Think of three questions you would like to ask your examiners – what are they?

Three is just to start. You can invest more time, more questions, more effort after the first three, the most important three are done.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on October 12th 2019.

Nathan

The First Day Of Viva Prep

Daily Post, Sabbatical

It’s not the day you submit, or the day after.

It’s not the first time you read your thesis after submission, or when you start to get ready for a mock viva.

It isn’t even when you really start to plan for submission, or first think about what your examiners might ask.

The first day of viva prep was a long time ago. The first day of your PhD, whenever you started the work that has lead to your thesis. You have been preparing for a long time before you get to the viva: developing your talent, building your knowledge, getting better.

A little extra prep after submission is needed to be ready. Don’t forget though, for your confidence, that you have been preparing for a long time.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on January 4th 2020.

Nathan

No Plans

Daily Post, Sabbatical

It’s a public holiday in the UK. Unless your viva is 9am tomorrow you’re probably safe to relax for a day.

Rest. Take today for you.

Don’t read your thesis, scribble in margins, chat with your supervisor or look at one more paper.

Don’t make a big list of annotations to add to your thesis or commit your ten most valuable references to memory.

Don’t make a plan for the weeks leading up to your viva and what you might do over that period.

Rest is as important as all the reading, writing and rehearsing for the viva. You might need to do some or all of the things above in preparation but you don’t need to do it today.

 

Viva Survivors Summer Sabbatical: I’m taking July, August and September off from new writing to concentrate on other creative projects, so will be sharing a post from the archives every day throughout those months. Today’s post was originally published on August 30th 2021.

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