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Nathan

The Prep Before Prep

Daily Post

Viva prep starts after submission. The focus for your work before then has to be on finishing your research, your thesis and thinking ahead for life after the PhD. The weeks between submission and your viva date are enough to get ready for the particular challenge of your viva.

However, while your focus has to rest elsewhere, there are several key actions you can take to make sure that you’re ready to work when it’s viva prep time. Before you get to submission:

  • Make sure you have checked the current regulations for vivas at your university. Don’t rely on tips or advice from friends when it comes to the rules.
  • Make sure you have talked with your supervisors about your potential examiners. They might ask for your suggestions or simply tell you who they’re thinking about and why.
  • Take time to think about the period between submission and the viva. You don’t need a plan at this stage but you need to be ready to plan, aware of any important dates or situations that you need to account for.

There’s a little prep before your viva prep. It is a small amount of work that helps the rest of it come together well.

Nathan

Crunch

Daily Post

I don’t like work crunch. I avoid it if I can help it. Planning helps me:

  • I have a work diary.
  • I have a handwritten page in my notebook that shows me three months ahead.
  • And I make weekly task sheets that show me what I’m doing when.
  • And I have a spreadsheet on my computer.

And we have a big flipchart-sized calendar on our living room wall to help me keep track!

I’m not forgetful per se – this all helps me to remember. It helps me to see ahead and avoid periods when I have to do more than I’m comfortable with.

I don’t like work stress. I don’t like crunch periods.

But sometimes it comes anyway. It could be the forgotten task. The advanced deadline. The family thing I need to do that dominoes into a time I thought I could write.

Then crunch crunch crunch…

 

It’s possible that my general viva advice about sketching out a plan (or two) for viva prep comes from some of my biases about avoiding crunch and stress!

I don’t think that makes it bad advice though.

When you’re planning your viva prep it is a good idea to do what you can to avoid stress while you work. There will be enough viva feelings floating about that it’s good to keep stress out of the mix. It’s good to make a plan so that when other things come along – and they will! – you can do what you can to minimise feeling that you have to crunch through your viva prep.

How can you organise yourself to make sure you are on top of all of your viva prep tasks?

How will you make a plan that keeps you on track but is flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances?

And, maybe the first question to think about, how do you deal with crunch periods when they come?

Nathan

One Task Per Day

Daily Post

Working at this scale could be enough to get ready for your viva.

I don’t mean “one small thing per day”! A task could be reading your thesis for an hour. A task could be making notes on three or four important papers. A mock viva is a task!

But if you did one thing every day after submission then you would be in good shape for your viva. If you show up as you’ve done for the rest of your PhD, on good days and bad, still determined to get things done then you’d be working well.

You need to rest too. I’m not advocating working for hours on end every day. But if you made a choice to show up and do a little work each day think about how ready you could be by your viva date.

Nathan

The Small Help Of Prep

Daily Post

I have a pocket multitool that fits in my wallet. It’s a solid rectangle of metal with a sharp edge, a ruler, various marks and divots, several holes and a screwdriver point.

I probably use it once a week to help with small tasks. I can probably use it to do a lot more than I’ve realised. I’m glad I have this small help.

My multitool makes me think of viva prep.

Viva prep is a small thing but the general process helps a lot. Viva prep is a solid approach but can be adapted to meet the needs of particular situations. And the steps that help someone get ready are also more widely applicable.

The overall help of viva prep is a small, limited thing. It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in feeling ready for the viva.

 

PS: If you want to know more about viva prep – what to do, when to start and how much to do – then check out my 1-hour 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva webinar next Wednesday 7th October 2026. Viva prep is a big component of the session and the follow-up materials – and there’s a catch-up recording if you can’t attend live. Hope to see you there!

Nathan

Beyond Burnt Out

Daily Post

Remember: you can’t prepare well for your viva if you’re burnt out.

You can’t read, review and rehearse if you’re already exhausted. As important as the viva is and as urgent as it might feel to do something for it you can’t do what you need to do if you’ve got nothing left.

When you submit your thesis sketch out a plan or two for your prep. Make rest a central part of your prep period: there’s work to do and you probably have other commitments but if you don’t get enough rest you can’t do everything else that you need to do.

You can’t prepare well for your viva if you’re burnt out.

Nathan

Make Prep Fun

Daily Post

Viva prep is important. It’s the work that helps you get ready for your viva.

It matters. You have to do it and you have to do it well so that you can do well at your viva!

It’s serious stuff but you’ll probably do it better and get more from it if you have some fun here and there:

  • What can you do to reward yourself for completing tasks?
  • How can you make your work aesthetically pleasing?
  • Can you set a fun tone for yourself by working in an interesting place or listening to nice music?
  • And who can you invite to work with you to help get the work done?

Viva prep matters. What can you do to make it fun too?

 

PS: You can definitely make rehearsing for your viva fun by asking friends to help, giving a seminar or going for nice chat over coffee. Rehearsal is also the topic of the latest Viva Survivors Select collection. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please check it out: twenty posts from the archive and new help to help you get ready!

Nathan

Three Days

Daily Post

On submission day sketch out a couple of plans for getting your viva prep done. It’s unlikely that you’ll start immediately but think about how you would break up the work you need to do. Sketch out one plan giving yourself a month and one where you have only two weeks. Which seems most sensible given your circumstances? Or do you need a better third plan?

On the day you start your viva prep check that you have what you need. Download any papers you were thinking of checking, gather your resources and message any friends or colleagues who you were going to ask for help in the coming weeks. Remove friction from the work you’ll do in the near future.

On the day before your viva take ten minutes to write some notes about what you’ve done. Convince yourself that you’ve done everything you need to be ready for your viva. Reflect on all that you’ve done to get this far.

It takes more than three days to be ready for your viva. The right task at the right time can make a big difference.

 

PS: One activity that really helps with viva prep is rehearsal and it just so happens that Viva Survivors Select 14, The Rehearsal Issue is out now. If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please check it out. It’s the latest issue in my series of curated collections of viva help: twenty posts from the blog’s archive and new help to help you get ready!

Nathan

Feeling Lost

Daily Post

If you find yourself getting lost in the detail of your research – or perhaps lost on the surface of your work because the detail feels too dense to probe – then you need to write a summary.

Write summaries as part of your viva prep to help you explore, unpack and explain your work. Help yourself to think ahead in preparation for your viva.

Maybe you could think clearer if you break a chapter down into five key points. You could capture the ten most important papers that support your work to help you think through the context of your contribution. You could keep it simple and use a simple page to summarise your key contributions.

If you’re feeling lost then writing a good summary can help you find your way.

Nathan

Need To Know

Daily Post

What do you need to know about the viva to feel happy with the process?

What do you need to know about your examiners to feel comfortable talking to them?

What do you need to know about the logistics of your viva day to feel sure it will go well?

What do you need to know through completing your preparations to feel ready?

And, when you know what you need to know, what do you need to do to get ready for your viva?

Nathan

Backups

Daily Post

It is better to use your viva prep time to focus on the best rather than the worst case scenario. Give a few minutes to consider the possible backups for the most important parts of your viva and prep.

  • If your supervisor wasn’t available to facilitate a mock viva then what would you do instead?
  • If your preferred external had to cancel the month before your viva then who is next on the list?
  • What would you do if something unexpected comes along to change your plans for viva prep?

Backups can be the very specific – like alternate examiners or other people to rehearse with – or just the general idea of a backup plan for prep in case something interferes with your situation.

For your peace of mind as you prepare, make sure you have some backup plans for getting ready.

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