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Supervision Woes and Tips to Cope

Sometimes synchronicity happens. And this time it happened with a good cry. About supervision. A few weeks ago I found myself walking through the park - the Amsterdam Vondelpark (far too touristy) - in tears. This was completely unexpected: I hadn't thought about my own PhD for years. It is an awful story: my supervisor died in the last year of my PhD. He had a heart attack. And I was suddenly sad about it. Really, really sad. This hadn’t really happened before in this way, and it is 8 years ago that he died, so it completely took me [...]

July 12th, 2019|
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Stop, pivot, go in the opposite direction! Three ways to increase your PhD productivity

PhD productivity is a funny thing. I have come to the conclusion you often have to move in the exact opposite direction of where your instincts are telling you to go. Hence today’s motto: Stop, pivot, go in the opposite direction! If you want, you can add a ‘breathe’ in there as well…stop, breathe, pivot, go! Maybe you’re familiar with the following ‘loop’: PhD progress is slower than you might like, deadlines real or imaginary are approaching, you are getting overwhelmed by the amount of work you still need to do, you start feeling bad about it, and yourself, PhD [...]

January 21st, 2019|
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How to Write a Happy PhD

Behind the scenes I am preparing for the next live sessions of the Stress-Free PhD Programme. This means I’ll be running the course with a live session at the beginning of the week, where you can ask questions (and I’ll answer them!) to get the most out of the programme. The programme is designed to help you write your PhD in fewer (and happier) hours a day. This can be done! But it takes a few steps, some of which are to do with a shift in mind-set (we’ll be going against the conventional wisdom of working longer hours is [...]

November 7th, 2018|
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How to Work in Waves, or the Key to PhD Productivity

Behind the scenes I am preparing for the next live sessions of the Stress-Free PhD Programme. This means I’ll be running the course with a live session at the beginning of the week, where you can ask questions (and I’ll answer them!) to get the most out of the programme. The programme is designed to help you write your PhD in fewer (and happier) hours a day. This can be done! But it takes a few steps, some of which are to do with a shift in mind-set (we’ll be going against the conventional wisdom of working longer hours is [...]

October 30th, 2018|
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How to Handle Stress in Academia

Behind the scenes I am preparing for the next live sessions of the Stress-Free PhD Programme. This means I’ll be running the course with a live session at the beginning of the week, where you can ask questions (and I’ll answer them!) to get the most out of the programme. The programme is designed to help you write your PhD in fewer (and happier) hours a day. This can be done! But it takes a few steps, some of which are to do with a shift in mind-set/ the way you think about the PhD, some of which are practical [...]

October 25th, 2018|
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Suffering from PhD Overwhelm? Break it Down

I've written about the PhD monster before. It comes out of the shadows to haunt you, and looks over your shoulder telling you "this is too hard", "you'll never finish this project" and in general completely clouds your judgement. It makes finishing the PhD seem like a completely elusive goal. No matter your good intentions, it will steal your energy, and cause you to topple over in overwhelm. The reality is: writing a PhD is doable. Finishing the PhD is doable. You can do this. So how to put this monster in its place? How to shrink it, do you [...]

October 2nd, 2018|
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LIBRARY

Free Resources Library

I have compiled some free resources for you to download. An e-book, a short course with encouraging emails to nudge your writing productivity alive, and a worksheet with a mini-course to create an effective and very zen work routine.
Leave your email to get access.

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