Three Easy Wins
I start most working days with “three easy wins” for my productivity: before I get stuck into the harder stuff and deeper thinking I do three things that help me feel like I’m already making progress. A walk is often...
Daily viva help for PhDs
I start most working days with “three easy wins” for my productivity: before I get stuck into the harder stuff and deeper thinking I do three things that help me feel like I’m already making progress. A walk is often...
Viva prep is a series of tasks and activities that help you towards being ready for the specific challenge of your viva. From that perspective, I think it’s fair to think of it as a workout: you’re exercising specific mental muscles,...
It’s not irrational to be nervous about your viva or concerned for what might happen. The outcome matters, it’s important, and naturally anyone who faced a viva in their near future could feel a little nervous. If you’re anxious, worried...
I can’t believe I’ve never shared this before! It’s this one weird trick that helps with the viva!! One thing that universities, examiners and PhD graduates don’t want you to know!!! Whatever discipline you are in, however long you have...
First, a candidate can think that vivas are random. It’s true that you won’t know what will happen exactly until you get to yours, but there are general expectations that can help you understand the process. Second, a candidate can...
You’ve written your thesis, read it in preparation for your viva and maybe made notes on pages. So why would you write anything else about it? Why would you write a summary as part of your viva prep? To gather...
If it’s hard to get started on viva prep or you’re putting it off then perhaps you need to make a plan – not to procrastinate but to give yourself some structure. If you get distracted then maybe you need...
Forgetting something in the viva could happen to any candidate. It’s a reasonable thing to worry about, even if there realistically wouldn’t be a great consequence to a minor lapse in memory. It’s reasonable to worry about forgetting; if you...
To organise your viva prep think about what you want to do and what you won’t do. You want to read your thesis but you won’t obsessively re-read it. You want to make a note of typos but you won’t...
To prepare for the viva well it helps to do the right things. You don’t need to cover your thesis in notes and extra scribbles in every margin. Be targeted to make a better version of your thesis. You don’t...