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Nathan

Action Overcomes Fear

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I looked back over the last three years to see how I’d been inspired by Halloween previously:

I’m not going to be silly or spooky today though – this year has had enough fear and worry in it.

If your viva is coming up and you’re worried or afraid, the first step to resolving the situation is to figure out what the problem really is. Ask for help from someone, or think about how you’re going to do something about it. Then do something! And remember why you’re doing it.

Your fears come from somewhere. Beating them comes from you.

Nathan

No Hurry, No Pause

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The work of Tim Ferriss has helped me a lot over the last decade. I’ve enjoyed all of his books, but one of his must-read posts that I keep returning to is “Testing The Impossible: 17 Questions That Changed My Life” from 2016.

While the post is about business and lifestyle design, re-reading it for the 73rd time today I’m struck by how so many of the questions resonate with my view on viva preparation too:

  • If I could only work 2 hours per week on my business, what would I do? Leaving business aside, the time restriction is an excellent provocation. What do you need to do first?
  • Am I hunting antelope or field mice? This makes me think of obsessing over typos and what-ifs. You could hunt for endless little things, or focus preparation efforts on the larger “antelope” that will provide you with more!
  • What would this look like if it were easy? A simple prompt. How could your preparations be easy? What conditions would you need? Now which of those can you create?
  • No hurry, no pause. As Tim notes, not a question! But something that has stuck with me personally, and which I think applies really well to viva prep. A little planning before submission goes a really long way. A little organisation makes your preparation come together nicely, stress-free. You might be anxious about your viva still, but your preparation will not be a contributing factor.

I thoroughly recommend the article. See how it might prompt you to reflect on your preparations before the viva. Look for ways to make the process as valuable as it can be.

Nathan

A Viva Prep Top Ten

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It has to be a top ten rather than the top ten, because there are so many useful things that one could do to get ready for the viva!

  1. Sketch a post-submission timeline.
  2. Stick a Post-it Note at the start of each thesis chapter.
  3. Read recent papers by your examiners.
  4. Check the regulations for your institution.
  5. Read. Your. Thesis.
  6. Have a mock viva.
  7. Write a few summaries.
  8. Check the details of the viva arrangements.
  9. Explore the why of your research.
  10. Find ways to remind yourself that you are good at what you do.

There’s more you could do, but this list would give someone a good overview of the practical work that helps.

What else would you add to this list? And what are you going to do next to get ready?

Nathan

Start Prep Well

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Everyone has responsibilities or time pressures.

Yours might include family life, a job, research you’re working on, caring responsibilities, illness or many other things. Way before you submit, sketch out what a typical day or week is like for you. You don’t need to take days off work necessarily to get ready for the viva, but you might want to mark out a couple of evenings in each week. You might need to block out a Saturday morning. Or ask a family member to cover a responsibility around your home so that you have a little time each evening.

Everyone has responsibilities or time pressures – but preparing for the viva doesn’t need to feel pressured. A small amount of thought, the simplest of sketches for a plan can help you to begin getting ready without a rush, without a feeling of uncertainty, without a sense that you don’t know what you’re doing.

Start well with a plan; start as you mean to go on.

Nathan

Little Things Help

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Sticking Post-it Notes to mark the start of chapters.

Bookmarking the webpage with your university’s viva regulations.

Underlining a typo, and then leaving it alone.

Making a list of things you know.

Reminding yourself that you are talented.

There’s lots of big pieces of work that help someone like you create a thesis. There’s lots of big things that you need to do to get ready for your viva.

Don’t forget the little things that will help too.

Nathan

All-You-Can-Prep!

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When I was a kid I used to love all-you-can-eat buffets. Some of this, some of that, pile the plate high and devour! And repeat! And repeat!

And then regret…

Sore stomach, parched throat, and a fuzzy head from too much of everything.

As an adult, my preferences have changed. Far better to have things you really want, rather than consume everything because it’s there.

I think it’s similar in a way with viva prep.

Most candidates will have between six to twelve weeks after submission. There’s lots you could do. You could read your thesis a few times, make lots of notes, have lots of conversations with people, a mock viva or two, read all of your references, check to see if there’s any new good ones and just keep doing more and more work. There will always be more you could do, and there’s a big gap of time (leaving aside how busy you probably are) to prepare in.

But all that focus will probably leave you with a fuzzy head from too much of everything.

Far better to act with intention. Decide in advance what outcomes you’ll need to satisfy to consider yourself prepared. You really can’t do everything. You don’t need to use every hour of every day to get ready.

So what do you need to do? Who do you need to help you? When will you get it done?

Don’t treat prep as open-ended task. A little thought and a little plan will go a long way to helping you get the work done.

Nathan

Two Moves Ahead

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I’ve been learning how to play chess over the last few months. I’m a total beginner. I knew how the pieces moved, have always been interested in the game but from a great distance. A video I saw by chance on YouTube has hooked me, and now I’m trying to get good enough that I can help my daughter when she starts learning in school next year.

As I’ve been learning recently, you have to analyse constantly in chess. Be thinking several moves ahead: if I play like this, what are the possible likely responses, and what could my responses be to those moves. It’s a curious thing: I’ve played lots of kinds of games over the last few decades, and played plenty of games where you have to think ahead, but never has it struck me in the way that chess has now. In doing so, it’s giving me a new way of seeing games (when you’re playing to win!).

Another thing that stands out to me is that this way of looking ahead in playing chess is completely the opposite of how I think about the viva and preparation for it. Thinking two moves ahead for the viva doesn’t work. You can’t game the viva by writing your thesis in a certain way, to avoid questions or lead examiners in a preferred direction. It’s not possible to think ahead and anticipate all of the questions you might be asked, then think about possible responses – and think abut the remarks or questions that might come from those responses.

Thinking two moves ahead won’t help you win your viva: instead you have to continue with the same long-term strategy. Do good work. Learn things. Become talented. Keep going. Then whatever move your examiners make, you’ll be able to respond well.

Nathan

Thoughts on Viva Prep

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A loose collection of thoughts on getting ready for your viva…

If you’ve not submitted your thesis then you don’t need to start getting ready for your viva.

You need time to read your thesis, annotate it, check any relevant papers, make any useful summaries and rehearse.

A useful range for time needed to do viva prep well is 20 to 30 hours, depending on size of thesis, free time, confidence and so on.

Everyone is different:

  • How long do you think that will take for you?
  • How busy are you generally?
  • Then how long before your viva do you need to start preparing so you don’t rush and stress yourself?

Sketch a plan around submission time for how you might do the work. Probably only start the work once you know your viva date. Don’t overcomplicate things. Don’t tie yourself up in knots. If you have a problem, get help. If you need support, don’t be afraid to ask.

Viva prep is work that continues the development that has lead you this far, not something wholly new. You already know and can do the overwhelming majority of what you need to do for your viva when you submit.

Maybe viva prep is not so much getting ready as proving to yourself that you are ready.

Nathan

Factors For Prep

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I mentioned yesterday that it’s ten years since I started doing work on the viva, but it’s nearly twelve years since I became an independent researcher-developer. That’s a lot of paperwork and notes, and when you sort through it you find things that you don’t need, things you might need, things you’d forgotten about and things that just might be useful…

Like a note on an old creative thinking workshop plan, not for top tips or processes, but for things that help creativity. Things that are personal to everyone, but which if you get right can really make a difference in outcomes. These four factors that help are Location, Atmosphere, Behaviour and Resources – and all of them can help viva prep too!

  • Location: where will you do your prep?
  • Atmosphere: will your prep space be silent or have a soundtrack?
  • Behaviour: how are you approaching your work?
  • Resources: what do you need to support you?

By themselves they aren’t viva prep – you still have to read your thesis, make notes, practise and so on. But how you do something can have as big an impact as what you do. How can you tailor your situation and strategy to help you prepare well?

Nathan

Ten 1-Minute Viva Prep Tasks

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Viva Prep!!!

Maybe you’re busy and overwhelmed, or don’t know where to start. Perhaps you only have a few moments in which you could get something done. Or simply you’re looking to be ready.

Here are ten tasks that will all help your viva prep, and each of which can be completed in a minute or less. Some are the first steps of bigger tasks, but can be compartmentalised and done to lay the foundations for future work:

  1. Google and bookmark your internal examiner’s staff page.
  2. Google and bookmark your external examiner’s staff page.
  3. Send a message to a group of researcher-friends to see who would be willing to help with asking you questions for practice.
  4. Stick a Post-it Note at the start of each chapter of your thesis.
  5. Find the regulations for thesis examination for your institution (this page might make that task even quicker).
  6. Find contact details for someone in your graduate school or doctoral college who could answer questions about the viva process.
  7. Gather up a pile of Post-it Notes, pens and stationery to help with viva prep.
  8. Sketch a basic calendar of the days between now and your viva.
  9. Check out the Resources page of this site!
  10. Write I DID THIS clearly on the abstract page of your thesis.

Simple searches and minor tasks all need doing – and only need doing once.

Viva prep takes more than ten minutes, but could begin idea number 10 – with clearly remembering and reinforcing to yourself that YOU have written your thesis. YOU did the work.

YOU are going to pass your viva.

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