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Tag: getting ready

Nathan

Thoughts on Sustainable Prep

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Getting ready for the viva is far more productive and beneficial if it’s done in a sustainable way.

  • Don’t sit down to get ready when you’re already tired.
  • Don’t sit down in a space that isn’t right for you, where prep is going to be a struggle.
  • Don’t leave it all to the last minute so that you have extra pressures.

You can’t exhaust your personal resources and work well in an environment that adds pressures to you. That’s no way to get ready.

  • How can you get ready at a time that works well for you? When might that be?
  • Where can you prepare well? What might you need to do to prepare that space?
  • How do you need to plan your preparation so that it’s not a rush? When do you need to start?

Prep will take anywhere from a few weeks to a month. Invest a little thought into how you are going to do that to look after yourself, as well as considering what exactly you will do to get ready.

Nathan

The Control Room

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You can’t control how long your viva will be. Or what question you’ll be asked first. Or what parts your examiners do or don’t like. Or how they express themselves or pose their questions to you.

You can’t control the flow of the viva. Knowing which questions commonly come up won’t mean you can control if they’ll be asked to you. You can’t control whether or not a response to a question will be satisfactory. You can’t control if your examiners agree with you on a methodological point. You can’t control whether or not they are going to ask that one question which you dread being asked.

But you can control how you prepare.

You can control what you do to get ready.

You can control how you start your viva day.

You can make choices to help lead you in the direction of confidence for your viva.

Nathan

Three Prep Sketches

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A period of viva prep could be lots of things depending on your circumstances. You might not be able to control your situation entirely, but the direction of your work can be chosen. You could decide to have:

  • A few busy days: many hours a day of reading, noting, reminding – emailing your supervisor – checking the regulations at the last minute, unsure and perhaps worrying over what your examiners might ask or do.
  • Two weeks of prep: an hour or two most evenings. Reading your thesis, making notes, a mock viva to be scheduled and had, and a bit of a chance to sit with your concerns and do something about them.
  • A month of small tasks for the most part: thirty minutes most days. A week to read your thesis, a week to make notes and check details. You already know the regulations before you start preparing. Plenty of space to reflect and do what needs to be done.

Three sketches, but you can probably tell by my word choice which I favour!

Of course, different situations can drive different needs. Your situation could require you to squeeze your prep into the few days leading to your viva. That said, if you can space out your prep over a month you can take your time to be sure you’re ready. You don’t need to over-stress because you’re doing the long, slow approach to your viva which leads to confidence – confidence through regular, deliberate actions that highlight your talent and your knowledge.

Nathan

Be Kind To Yourself

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Whenever you’re reading this, be kind to yourself when you’re getting ready for your viva.

Don’t settle for less than you’re capable of, but do be kind to yourself and have reasonable expectations for what you can do with all of the pressure, stress and disruption around you. Make reasonable demands on your time. Recognise that you need to take a break.

How are you going to do your best in your viva if you’re not kind to yourself?

Nathan

The Pillow Fort Principle

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How can you make a sanctuary for yourself before your viva? How can you make a nice space for preparing, or create an environment that is going to help you feel good as well as get ready? It probably won’t involve setting up cushions and a blanket, but the same idea applies: how can you make a safe, sheltered, secluded space that’s comfortable, quiet and just for you?

What do you need to help make this real?

How do you need your friends and family to support you?

How can you take a little pressure out of your situation to help you get ready for your viva?

I could make suggestions, but they wouldn’t be as good as your responses to these questions.

What kind of a viva prep space are you going to make for yourself?

Nathan

A Few Thoughts On Feeling Ready

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“Ready for the viva” doesn’t mean “not nervous about the viva”.

Ready doesn’t mean perfect in any way.

Ready and prepared aren’t quite the same thing – but they travel in the same car.

Ready for the viva means you’ve practically prepared and found some confidence for the day.

There’s always more that you could do to feel more ready, but a finite list of tasks is sufficient to get you ready.

Ready is personal. What does it mean for you?

Nathan

Clear (To You)

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Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide…

 

A few weeks ago I was half-humming, half-singing Bohemian Rhapsody as I was tidying up.

“What’s that?!” asked my seven-year-old daughter.

I started singing the song properly. I stayed in tune. I know the words pretty well and thought I did a good job.

When I stopped, I waited for applause and appreciation.

My daughter said, “No, what was that? I don’t know that. Is it new? Or is it really old?”

She could hear all the words, catch the tune, see her dad making a bit of a fool of himself (that’s standard operating procedure), but was at a loss for trying to really get what she was listening to. She’d never heard Bohemian Rhapsody, was unfamiliar with that kind of song or style of music, and so all she got from my virtuoso performance was confusion.

Whereas I thought I was being very clear!

 

Consider, as you prepare for the viva, where you feel you’re clear – in your thinking, in your knowledge, in how you communicate your research – and explore what you could do both to check how clear you are and improve how clear you are. Share your research with friends and ask them about what they understand and what they want to know more about. It’s not enough that you get it: check that they get enough of what you’re trying to share.

You know a lot and can do a lot to have got this far through your PhD. Now check how clear you are when communicating with others – something you’ll have to do when you meet your examiners in the viva.

 

Any way the wind blows…

Nathan

Consulting Your Supervisors

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Your supervisors will be able to help with lots of things related to the viva. It’s good to consider them in the role of a consultant.

Consultants take a step back, they’re there to advise: you have to do the work. It’s best to ask highly-targeted questions and make specific requests – both to get the best response from them and respect their time.

  • Before submission they can offer feedback on your research, guidance on your thesis and talk through expectations for the viva.
  • During preparation time they can steer your perspective, share insights into your examiners and perhaps practically help your preparations with a mock viva.
  • After it’s all done they can support you as you deliver on your corrections, and hopefully even find a way to help you celebrate!

There’s lots of possibilities: before you ask for help, consider what you might really need from them. Then focus on asking for that.

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.

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