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Nathan

Silver Bullets

Daily Post

In stories werewolves are powerful, almost unstoppable. Perhaps you can guard against them or run away for a time, but there’s no great defence you can mount. You have to hope that you can find or make silver bullets.

We sometimes use the idea of silver bullets as a shorthand for a solution to a particularly tricky problem. They are the one thing that will allow us to understand a situation, help us to plan better or get things done. It would cut through everything and solve the problem – if only we can find a silver bullet.

PhD candidates sometimes look for silver bullets for the viva. They hope for one thing that will help them to be confident. Or one thing that will help them feel prepared. Or even the one question they will definitely be asked that they can be ready for.

It might be nice to think about, but all of this forgets a couple of things:

  • Silver bullets, if they were needed, are rare, expensive and hard to make. Do you have time for that when you’re getting ready for the viva?
  • Werewolves, if they existed, are unique and difficult encounters. Your viva might be unique and difficult to some extent but vivas happen almost every day: there is a lot to learn about them and about how others have faced their challenges.

Don’t look for a single silver bullet to solve all your problems. Silver bullets are a distraction. You don’t have the time for them and you don’t need them.

Take simple steps to learn what you need to do to be ready for your viva – and then do the work.

Nathan

Planning Time

Daily Post

Viva prep typically takes between twenty and thirty hours. The range follows from the wide variation in thesis size, how a candidate might feel and practically how much time they can commit given their other responsibilities.

I think it’s impossible to plan out in advance exactly how much time you will spend each day over the course of your prep. On Tuesday 24th I will read my thesis for forty-five minutes… I don’t think that approach works well.

I think you can decide that you might read your thesis over the course of a week and allow an hour or so each night. You can set aside an hour on a date to write a summary about a particular chapter. You can schedule a mock viva for whenever is mutually convenient.

Sketching a plan at submission, figuring out generally how much time you might spend in the coming weeks is a good approach to prep that lowers stress. Detailing the minutes spent each day will most likely add more negative pressure and create standards that are hard to meet – and unnecessary.

Take a little time to plan your prep. Use the rest to get prepared.

Nathan

Viva Survivors Select 03

Update

It’s come around so quickly hasn’t it? Or maybe that’s just how I feel…

In any case the third issue of Viva Survivors Select is out today!

Viva Survivors Select 03, The Preparation Issue is here and I’m very excited to release it into the world. Twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive plus two new original pieces equals a lot of concentrated support for anyone who needs to get ready for their viva.

In this issue I felt it was time to dig into viva prep in detail: when do you start? What do you do? What tasks help? And how can you make the most of the time between submission and the viva to get ready for meeting your examiners?

Twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive and two new original pieces: a new resource for having helpful rehearsal conversations with friends and a confidence-building project you can start to help you feel better for your viva. Viva Survivors Select 03 is out now for £3 and joins the first two issues in this project of monthly viva help.

If you like the blog, want more help and want to support what I do then please take a look at and consider buying The Preparation Issue – and please do pass on details of this issue and Viva Survivors Select to anyone you know who is looking for viva help.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Nathan

Helpful Factors

Daily Post

Viva prep needs reading, reviewing, rehearsal and a lot of practical work on your part. There is also a lot you can do to help your preparations be as productive as possible.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of helpful factors for viva prep:

  • Make a small plan. Sketch out what needs doing in the weeks leading up to your viva.
  • Meet your needs. Make sure that your plan actually addresses what you need.
  • Make time. Planning is great but you need the time to do it. Figure out when works well for you.
  • Be flexible. Leave room in the plan because something will need to change at some point. That’s life!
  • Find support. Ask for help before submission and be clear about what you need from others.
  • Review your progress. Take ten minutes every few days to check that you’re on track.

And rest. Remember that all of the work will be better if you are as well-rested as you can be.

Nathan

A Day Off

Daily Post

Rest is a part of viva preparation. There’s plenty of practical stuff you need to do to get ready – reading, making notes, rehearsing – but you have to rest as well.

You have to rest so that you can do the other stuff.

You have to rest so that you can have time to consider what you’ve done and what you still have to do. You have to rest to help you keep going.

I hope that you can find some rest today. I hope that you can take today off if possible! But if not today, then set some time aside soon. You need rest to be ready for the viva.

 

PS: if you have two minute spare today then check out Viva Survivor, my upcoming live webinar on Wednesday 25th June. Registration is open now for my 3-hour live session all about the viva, viva prep and getting ready – and there are follow-up materials, a catch-up recording and plenty of time for questions. Take a look and see if it might help you.

Nathan

Don’t Rush

Daily Post

It’s not a good idea to rush into viva prep.

You don’t need to start the same day that you submit your thesis. You don’t need to start without a plan. You don’t need to over-invest time and effort. Following that path will lead to stress and missing things.

Don’t rush.

Focus on what you’re doing so you can do it quickly and well. A small amount of consideration can set you on the right path to getting the most from your viva preparation. Asking for help, fixing on what you need from the process and regular effort will help you get ready.

Get it done and do it well. As Seth Godin says, “Don’t rush… but hurry.”

Nathan

This Time Next Year

Daily Post

The act of planning helps us to think: when change does come along there might be new work to do or challenges to overcome but we’ll be better placed for the planning.

If you’re working towards submission then plan for getting there. What milestones are along the way? How will you measure your success? And how will you remind yourself of your progress and what that means?

If your viva is in the near future then plan to be ready. What are the key tasks you have to do? How are you recording your progress? And how can you build up your confidence for the viva?

For both, what can you do to help when things change?

This time next year you might have submitted and had your viva – but what else will be different? What can you do today to help you be ready for the future that’s on the way?

Nathan

Navigating Prep

Daily Post

I always assume that anyone who has to get ready for their viva has a busy life.

After submission I expect that any PhD candidate will have some combination of work they have to do, work they are looking for, odds and ends of research that need to be tidied up, a social life, personal responsibilities, caring necessities and family life – all essential things that reduce the available time for viva prep.

Which is OK! Viva prep is typically twenty to thirty hours for most candidates. The submission period typically ranges from one to three months. There is time but it’s probably a good idea to plan what you will do and when you will do it.

Navigating all of the other commitments you have – plus new and necessary ones that emerge as you work towards the viva – is much easier with a plan. When you sit down to start getting ready ask yourself:

  • What do you need to do?
  • What do you need to help you do what you need to do?
  • What commitments do you know about?
  • What commitments might come along as you’re doing your prep?
  • And how can you reduce stress and pressure on yourself?

Remember that generally you have more power than you might think to work in a way that works well for you.

Nathan

Quiet Prep

Daily Post

Reading your thesis, making notes, writing summaries, checking papers… It’s quiet time. It’s you time, alone, getting the work done.

The exception is rehearsal. Rehearsal needs talking, questions and people. You need more than you, your thesis and your thoughts.

Are you ready for the quiet time? Are you happy in the quiet? And if not, what can you do for yourself?

Nathan

Better Than Busy

Daily Post

I was really busy when I was getting ready for my viva.

I’m thinking about the volume of work I did. About six weeks, 9am to 4pm with lunch breaks: reading my thesis, reading papers, making notes, planning a presentation, talking with my supervisor and trying to throw away hypotheticals that would pop into my mind.

Here are some things I did not do during those six weeks:

  • Apply for jobs;
  • Work at a job I already had;
  • Have to manage a household or substantial responsibilities;
  • Manage any health conditions;
  • Think about life after the PhD.

I did a lot of work to get ready for my viva and a lot of it was useful. But I look back and see that I did more than I needed to so that I kept busy. I kept the feeling going for myself that I was getting ready.

I did that partly because I could hide in busy-ness, partly because I was unfocussed in my life then and partly because I didn’t know what to expect from my viva.

 

I’m going to assume that you have to commit a serious amount of time to at least two of the items on the list above right now. Your life and time is not as open as mine was. I’m going to assume as well that, if you’re reading this post, you have at least some idea of what to expect from the viva.

You don’t have time to keep busy with your prep. In some ways that makes you fortunate compared to 2008-Nathan. You can be effective in your viva prep instead.

Sketch out your prep plans. Check you know what to expect. Ask for help. Don’t throw yourself into stress and rush and busy. Work out how to get the work done alongside your life.

You can do better than busy.

 

PS: if you’re looking for more helpful ideas about the viva then take a look at Viva Survivors Select – my new curated zine series collecting great posts from the daily blog archive. The first issue is available now here. Thanks for reading!

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