You Are Here

Tag: viva confidence

Nathan

When It Matters

Daily Post

Before your viva, for weeks or maybe months leading up, it might feel like the only thing that matters.

During your viva, perhaps it really is the only thing. You might forget everything else. You might genuinely be surprised or confused at how quickly time has passed while there.

And afterwards, there might be a brief spell where you think it was the peak. Maybe. But I have a hunch that the achievement will come to dominate more than the event.

I’ve been keeping thoughts of my viva as a little companion for a long time, but that’s because of work. In the twelve years since my viva I’ve done far bigger things. I’ve had much more important life events. I couldn’t be here today without going through my viva, but my viva doesn’t matter that much now.

Not as much as what I did during the course of my PhD, and not as much as what’s come after.

Perspective takes time, but trust me, if you’re finding any part of the time leading up to or around your viva tough, in future you will find some comfort.

Nathan

Feelings

Daily Post

It’s important to reflect on how you feel about your viva. It’s not enough, I think, to just feel nervous or worried or happy or unsure. Ask yourself WHY you feel that way: dig a little deeper to see what you could do.

  • Feel nervous? Why? What does that tell you?
  • Feel worried? Why? What could you do to feel less worried?
  • Feel happy? Why? What could you do to build on that feeling?
  • Feel unsure? Why? What could bring you greater certainty?

Remember that while it’s your viva you’re not the only person present.

Try to imagine how your examiners might be feeling. Nervous, maybe, because they want to do a good job. Pressured, perhaps, because of how busy they are and what’s happening in their lives. Impressed by what they’ve seen in your thesis? Certainly. And maybe a little excited at the anticipation of a good discussion.

So: how do you feel?

Nathan

Priorities Change

Daily Post

Even when a pandemic isn’t happening all around us, priorities change.

You focus on something and then… You have less time, less resources, less space, less energy, and you have to shift your focus. Or perhaps you suddenly have more of one thing: more responsibility, more to do, more to think about, and you have to change your priority.

If your viva is in the near future, it’s understandable to be concerned. Whatever approach you were going to take before might be in doubt. Timelines and outcomes may even seem uncertain.

The core tasks of preparation remain the same though, even if your immediate priorities might shift: you need to know about expectations, you need to read your thesis, you need to reflect on and reframe your work, you need to have some kind of meaningful rehearsal for responding to questions.

While these need to be done, they might seem a distant second (or third, or…) to everything else. That’s fine: be kind to yourself. Put your focus where you need to. When you can, take little steps to advance your preparation. It doesn’t have to be your focus.

A lot of small steps will get you where you need to be.

Nathan

Achievement Unlocked

Daily Post

I’ve been keeping busy for the last few months, work and family life has had lots going on lately while we make changes and adjust. I’ve been enjoying games a lot: teaching my daughter lots of board games during the day, then switching over to my PlayStation 4 when she goes to bed for games she can’t play!

Most video games I play have some kind of trophies in them: parallel goals alongside the game’s main aims.

Instead of just finishing the Spider-Man game, seeing where the story goes, a trophy might be for taking certain pictures, or beating up bad guys, or collecting runaway pigeons (I hated that trophy). Oxenfree, a fantastic story game I’ve played three times and adore, has trophies for collecting things, but also for steering the game to different outcomes. Detroit: Become Human has similar trophies for the wildly different stories it can become, whereas the Untitled Goose Game has trophies for stealing a picnic, wearing a red bow tie and locking a child in a garage…

Whenever I earn a trophy in a game, a little ding! sounds and a medal-object briefly appears to say, “You achieved this!” Trophies on the PS4 range from Bronze (small accomplishments) and Silver (tricky challenges) to Gold (finishing the game or performing a near-impossible feat).

Trophies aren’t essential, of course, but they can be nice little motivators.

Which brings us back to the viva!

First, what achievements have you already unlocked? Over the course of your PhD, where can you see that you have achieved something?

  • It could be small – ding! You read a paper or solved a little problem!
  • It could be tough – ding! You finished re-drafting your methods chapter!
  • It could be a really big deal – ding! You submitted your thesis!

Take some time to map out what you have achieved – and realise that you’ve done a lot to get this far.

Perhaps consider what achievements lie before you on the path to your viva. Bronze trophies for gathering resources, Silvers for reading your thesis or having a mock viva, Gold for getting everything as ready as possible for the day.

Lots of games have Platinum trophies too: a trophy you get for earning every other trophy in the game. For most games this is particularly hard, ticking every box, exploring everywhere, doing everything.

For you and your viva, with so many trophies earned already, you can be confident that your PhD Platinum is within reach.

Nathan

You Don’t Get This Far…

Daily Post

…by being lucky.

…without talent.

…without results.

…without challenges along the way.

…without making difficult decisions.

…without answering questions.

…alone.

…without hard work.

…if you haven’t sacrificed something along the way.

…if you don’t have a significant, original contribution.

…unless you’ve survived for a long time.

…unless you’re good.

Keep going.

Nathan

Two Reasons I Couldn’t Sleep

Daily Post

I couldn’t sleep the night before my viva because:

  1. I had no idea what my examiners were there to do, or what my viva might be like;
  2. I had little self-confidence in my ability to discuss or defend my research.

These are common problems for PhD candidates, and can be really stressing, though thankfully I’ve not met many people who’ve had insomnia the night before their viva!

I didn’t know why I was lying awake at the time, I wouldn’t have known what to do had I realised why I couldn’t sleep, but both problems have solutions.

The first is solved simply by asking and exploring. Check regulations, talk with academics about their approaches as examiners, talk with graduates about their experiences. Building a set of expectations for the viva is useful to shape how you think about it. Generally, vivas are fine, but you need to know more about them to really believe it.

The second problem has solutions, but they are not so quick. Building self-confidence takes time, but the rewards for time spent dramatically outweigh the investment. Of course, in preparation for your viva spend time reading your thesis, making notes, reading papers, having a mock viva and so on. All of these are necessary and can help with confidence. But what else will you do to confirm to yourself that you are an excellent researcher? That you are capable and accomplished? That you have done the work and have the talent to be at your viva?

It takes longer to solve the confidence problem, but every step you take will help.

Nathan

Take The First Step

Daily Post

You have to do this all the time for your viva.

Take the first step to the viva when you submit.

Take the first step with your prep by sitting down and getting your thesis out again; or by asking for help (plenty of people can help but you have to ask for their support).

If you find a mistake – more than a typo – you have to take the first step, however tricky or uncomfortable, to figuring out what makes it right.

If you want a mock viva, you probably have to email and ask when your supervisor might be free.

If, in the viva, you are stumped by a question, you have to take the first step to responding to it. That could be awkward, you might feel pressured, but you have to do it.

All of which is a long way of saying, that for all the puzzles, problems and challenges you find with your viva, you have to take the first step to resolving them.

There’s no-one else to do it, but also no-one else who could do it.

So take the first step.

(and if you don’t feel you’ve found any puzzles, problems or challenges, take the first step towards finding some, because they’re there…)

Nathan

Rabbit Holes

Daily Post

Tread carefully when preparing for your viva, in case you find yourself tumbling down a rabbit hole.

  • Read one paper by your examiner, and find yourself lead to another, then another, then…
  • Spot one typo and you’ll wonder what else you’ve got wrong, and you’ll see something else, and…
  • Underline something to make it stand out and you’ll want to make something else stand out, then another sentence, and then…

You get the idea. There’s always more things you could do to get ready for the viva. And there’s so much you can do to help yourself that it can be tempting to do more and more. If you start your prep without a plan but just a goal (“get ready!”) then you can just keep going and going until all you can think about is doing more, and wondering have you done enough?

So start with some limits. A to-do list, finite and bounded. This, this and this, and no more. Decide before you turn to page 1 of your thesis, what are the things you have to get done. You can add to the list of course, but you have to have a good reason.

Don’t tumble down a prep rabbit hole! Tread carefully when you make your plans.

Nathan

Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva

Update

I had a great time last week sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative with PhD candidates dotted all around the UK (and the world!). It was really fun to take my creative prep ideas and see them connect: it was just lovely, as was the opportunity to respond to questions in real time. Bar the odd Zoom-related technical hitch it all worked wonderfully.

I’ll be sharing Viva Survivors: Getting Creative again in the future, but next I’ll be sharing another new free 1-hour session, Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva on April 22nd 2020. This is for PhD candidates who have their viva coming up and want to know why it’s going to be fine. Lots of people tell PhD candidates not to worry about the viva – relax, don’t stress, it’ll all be fine – sentiments which don’t always help because they often miss an important Why.

For some candidates, one thing – the right thing – can be enough to make the difference and help them feel certain about their viva. I have seven reasons to share next Wednesday, and my aim is to convince anyone coming that they will be fine for their viva. They may have work to do, things to check or prep to complete, but when the time comes, they can be ready. They will pass.

Like last week’s session, I want to run this again, but don’t have firm plans for now. If you want to come to Viva Survivors: 7 Reasons You’ll Pass Your Viva then book now! Full details are at the link: the session is free, but you have to register to attend. It’s open to 60 participants like the last session – which was fully booked – and at the time of writing 40% of places have gone. Simply click through to sign-up; all of the joining instructions will follow on after that.

Thanks for reading this. If it sounds like it might help you, then please register for a spot on the session. Hope to see you there.

Nathan

Nathan

Perfect Is Hard

Daily Post

Actually, it’s impossible.

Trying to be perfect for your viva will only cause you pain, stress, worry and other feelings of falling short.

Perfection will always be ten steps ahead of you, but ready can be right by your side.

Aim for being prepared: perhaps a little nervous still, but confident, fully capable of successfully meeting with your examiners and doing what you need to.

 

1 … 59 60 61 62 63 … 70