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Tag: work past worry

Nathan

Worries Are Human

Daily Post

Viva worries are a very typical, human response to an important situation.

It doesn’t mean that something is necessarily wrong. Given the journey that leads to the viva, the known and imagined aspects of the exam and the hoped-for outcome, feeling worried is a very natural response.

It’s also a first response: a first feeling upon thinking about the situation.

You can do more than just worry: you can ask for help, learn more about the viva and generally take steps to get ready. You can take action get past worry.

 

Worry doesn’t come from nowhere. Something prompts it.

Worry isn’t the end either. You can do something about it when it finds you generally – and you can do something specifically to help with your viva.

So, if you feel worried, what will you do?

Nathan

Nasty

Daily Post

Do you think your examiners would ask a harsh question at the viva? If you think yes, why?

If you think yes, what do you think it would be about?

And if you think yes, how likely do you really think it is?

 

I don’t think it’s common for candidates to worry about particularly nasty questions, but for candidates who do the worry is particularly nasty. If it’s on your mind, don’t wait to find out if your fears will come true at the viva.

Talk to someone. Talk to your supervisor. Review anything and everything related to the topic of the question.

Questions at the viva shouldn’t be nasty but if you’re worried, don’t wait: do something to help yourself.

Nathan

What’s Bothering You?

Daily Post

It took me years after my viva to realise what had kept me awake the night before. If I’d realised it that night it was really too late to do anything about it. I was bothered by not knowing what to expect from my examiners and not being sure if I was a capable candidate.

Both of these were things I had probably been pushing aside for weeks leading up to my viva, if not longer – and both could have been addressed sooner if I’d faced up to them.

I passed my viva. In the grand scheme of things it was fine but I could have enjoyed it more if I’d explored what was bothering me sooner, before it was too late to do anything about it.

My wish for you today is simple: if you’re getting ready for your viva and there’s even a hint of something bothering you then face up to it. Figure out what’s bothering you and do something about it. Ask for help, talk to your supervisor, read your thesis, write something – do something!

Don’t hope it will go away and don’t wait until it is too late. If something is bothering you then do something about it.

 

PS: if something is bothering you about the viva process then please take a look at Viva Survivor, my  live webinar I’m sharing tomorrow, Wednesday 25th June. It’s a 3-hour live webinar with a catch-up recording and follow-up materials all about the viva, viva prep and getting ready. Registration closes at 5pm today, so this is your last opportunity to sign up. If you have questions about the viva and think a live session and support might help then take a look and find out more. Thanks for reading.

Nathan

Replacements

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If you could replace one chapter in your thesis what would it be? Why does it need changes?

If you could replace one approach you took in your research what would it be? Why would you want to make that change?

Of if you could replace one of your examiners with someone else, who would it be? Why?

You probably can’t make any of these changes! But being aware of them tells you something.

There’s an issue that’s bothering you. Replacing a chapter or a person isn’t possible but there will be something you can do to help you feel better about the situation. You can learn more about your examiners or unpick what’s not quite right about your work.

You can do something more than fret about changes that you can’t make.

Nathan

Hammer Time

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I bought a hammer for a job – and then remembered the rusty nails sticking out of the fence. I could use the back of the hammer to hook and pull them out. Then I remembered the chest that needed breaking for recycling. I could use the hammer! When a screw wouldn’t bite in the pre-drilled hole of a flatpack bookcase I used the hammer to start it off.

Soon every little fix around the house looks like it needs a hammer. More and more I thought, “What can I use this for?” Sometimes it was helpful and sometimes it wasn’t.

 

Worry is a hammer. Worrying about the viva is applied too liberally. A tiny thought or question in the run-up to the viva isn’t acted on – instead it’s worried about.

  • “I found a typo, I’d better worry about it.”
  • “I’m not sure what vivas are like, I’ll worry about it.”
  • “I don’t know exactly what my examiners will ask so I’ll worry.”

That’s not to say that there are no viva situations that are worry-free, but it doesn’t have to be the first thought or feeling. It doesn’t have to be the last. If you worry you can do something to move beyond. You can always work past worry to a better state.

It’s easy to jump to worry when there’s a problem. Remember: other tools are available and you are very talented.

Nathan

Zero Chance

Daily Post

The failure rate of the UK PhD viva is not zero but it’s very close. An incredibly rare event might still be enough to make someone worry, particularly when the outcome is so important.

If you are worrying at any stage before your viva then please consider:

  • If you did the work that means something.
  • If you wrote your thesis, reviewed, revised and redrafted, that means something.
  • If you learned what to expect that means something.
  • If you prepared well that means something.
  • If you show up with even a small amount of confidence to meet your examiners that means something.

If you have all of the above then you have nothing to worry about. You can work past worry ahead of your viva. You can do your best over a long period of time. The overall failure rate might not be zero but your actions can put you in a category all of your own.

If all of the above points are true for you, what are the chances that you’re really headed towards failing your viva?

Nathan

Storms & Teacups

Daily Post

It’s not that you shouldn’t be nervous about your viva: it’s likely that you can’t do a lot to remove nerves if you feel them.

The viva is one of the final stages of a long process of exploration, knowledge generation and personal development. Those three letters – PhD – will make a difference to you, your ambitions and your future destinations.

It’s not that all of this is so big and important that you should be nervous: you just probably will be because it’s all important.

 

Being nervous is uncomfortable, but is to be expected probably.

Being anxious or being worried is different.

Nervousness is a general feeling but anxiety and worry are more commonly centred around something specific. If that’s more of what you’re feeling then you have to get specific too.

The problem will not be impossible to resolve. It might feel bigger than it is because the viva feels big. The viva is important and so any problem with it feels big and important too. It might not be the case.

If you face any anxiety or problem ahead of your viva then pause. Breathe. Reflect on it. Is this a storm in a teacup? Does it just seem big but won’t make a difference really? Can you do something about it? Is there someone you can ask for help?

In my experience, there’s always something you can do and someone who can help. If you face a problem with your viva that makes you worried, then your next step is to do something.

 

PS: if you have any big worries, concerns or questions then take a look at my Viva Survivor session. Registration is open now for my March 27th 2025 webinar and you can ask questions in advance through the booking process.

Nathan

What’s My Line?

Daily Post

I hate the thought of forgetting something important.

I prepare before any webinar that I deliver – even if, like Viva Survivor, I have delivered the session many, many times before.

  • I have a 1-page session sheet on my desk. I write it out again before every session.
  • I also have a prompt sheet on-screen with key points and timings. Again, this gets reviewed before every session.
  • And I take at least an hour to look over my slides in parallel to reading my notes.

I have shared Viva Survivor with postgraduate researchers over 350 times. And yet, every time before I start, I think, “Wait, what do I say?”

 

You can’t take notes like mine to your viva. Your examiners are looking for a presentation not a conversation. But still you can do things to help yourself if you think you’re going to forget something.

  • You can annotate your thesis with helpful notes.
  • Invest time in reviewing your thesis’ key sections.
  • And it’s essential to rehearse responding to questions to help how you feel.

The last point is especially helpful.

Like me, you might feel bad at the thought of forgetting something that matters. Like my situation though, there are an abundance of things you can try to help you remember.

Nathan

Not The Reason

Daily Post

I’ve lost count of the number of PhD candidates who’ve told me that they’re worried about receiving critical questions.

Some are worried about particular criticisms. Some are worried about hypothetical questions. Some are worried about the questions that they haven’t anticipated.

All are being rational.

It’s not that they should worry, more that it’s not irrational to worry about critical viva questions. Given the amount of work involved in getting to the viva – and given the outcome that a candidate would be hoping for – it’s understandable to worry.

As ever, in situations where someone worries it helps to ask why.

  • If you’re worried about a particular criticism, why? What’s the reason?
  • If you’re worried about a particular hypothetical question, why? If you’ve thought about it, can’t you do something to think about how you might respond?
  • If you’re worried about the undefined mass of questions you’ve never considered, why? Is there nothing you can do to change how you feel?

I have a three-word aphorism that I always try to keep in mind (both for myself and others): work past worry. Worry is human, but action will always take you closer to resolving the situation than worrying alone.

If you worry, do something.

If you worry there’s a reason for that worry. If you do something you can work towards the concern being satisfied in some way.

Remember as well that whatever question your examiners ask, there is always a reason motivating them. If you’re not sure how to respond then try to consider the reason for their question in the first place.

Nathan

Problems And Solutions

Daily Post

In the last four years I’ve tried various lighting options when I present webinars.

Natural light can work well but only when the sun is shining and typically only in the morning. I’ve tried ringlights and they make me look like a ghost. Mostly I have hoped that it will work out and people will be able to see me.

And none of this matters any more: after my summer break I noticed the new “portrait” option in Zoom. A clever filter darkens my background and lightens me. This tiny bit of contrast makes a great difference!

It’s an unexpected solution to the problem I had.

 

All of which is a roundabout way to my point: it can be very easy to focus on one type of solution to a problem. I tried many lighting options but needed something different. Perhaps the problems you face for your viva have different solutions than you expect – or perhaps they are different problems altogether.

  • How will I remember everything for my viva?! Maybe you don’t need to remember everything, perhaps you need to annotate your thesis effectively.
  • How can I get ready when I don’t have time?! Sketching a plan to break the work down will help, as will remembering all the work you’ve already done.
  • How do I get rid of my nerves?! Why not focus instead on building confidence? Build confidence to offset nervousness, rather than try to eliminate nerves.

I spent a long time wondering about how to light myself for the camera – and realised when I landed on a solution that this was only one way to look at the problem.

If you have any viva-related problems and they seem intractable, perhaps a helpful next step is to consider whether or not there are any other ways to look at the situation.

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