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!)