Do you feel stressed and overwhelmed? You are not alone! Recent studies in Leiden, Amsterdam, as well as in Flanders and the US show that about half (!!) of PhD students experience psychological distress. Troubling figures.
I was invited to give a talk at Prout’s PhD mental health symposium in Utrecht on how to cope with the high-stress environment academia has become, and how to write a stress-free PhD.
In this talk I cover:
– The studies showing alarming PhD mental health figures
– Why this is a collective problem and has little to do with your capability/ suitability for academia
– Why chronic stress is a key factor to address
– My own story of finishing my PhD in challenging circumstances
– Five strategies for being much more effective at work, reducing stress, and increasing academic performance (this is the bulk of the talk)
If you’d like to listen to the entire thirty-minute talk, download the presentation which includes the audio lecture here. (I tried to make it work in the window below, but unfortunately the player refuses to play the audio, so the best thing to do is to download the file and listen to the presentation full-screen in PP.)
For a sneak peek click on the slides below.
Enjoy! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them either on FB or Twitter. I will be there.
How are your stress-levels? Do you feel stressed every so often, weekly, daily, always? Do any of the strategies I mention appeal? And finally, if you found this talk helpful, could you share it? I appreciate it!