books to read before starting a phd

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10 things you need to know before starting a PhD degree

So you want to do a PhD degree, huh? Here we've got everything you need to know about getting started.

So you want to do a PhD degree, huh? Are you sure about that? It’s not going to be an easy decision, so I’ve put together a list of 10 things you need to know before starting a PhD degree. Oh, and don’t panic!

I have recently graduated from the University of Manchester with a PhD in Plant Sciences after four difficult, but enjoyable, years. During those four years, I often felt slightly lost – and there was more than one occasion on which I didn’t even want to imagine writing up my thesis in fear of delving into fits of panic.

On reflection, I realise that – to quote a colleague – commencing my PhD was like “jumping in the deep end with your eyes closed.” If only I’d known to take a deep breath.

1. Are you sure you want to do a PhD degree?

Let’s be under no false impressions, completing a PhD isn’t easy. There will be times when you feel like Wile E Coyote chasing after the Roadrunner – a little bit out of your depth a lot of the time. It’s four years of your life, so make sure it is what you really want to do.

If you want to pursue a career in science, a PhD isn’t always necessary.

It is possible to make great inroads into industry without a doctoral degree. That said, a PhD can also be a very useful qualification with many transferable skills to add to your CV.

By the time you’ll have finished, you can include essentials such as time management, organisational skills, prioritising workloads, attention to detail, writing skills, presenting to an audience – and most importantly – resilience, to name but a few.

2. Choose your project, and supervisor, wisely.

This is  very  important.

Time after time, our experienced scientists at EI, including Erik Van-Den-Bergh (and I agree) say, “ make sure you’re extremely passionate about exactly that subject. ” When I saw the PhD opening that I eventually was offered, I remember being demonstrably ecstatic about the project before I’d even started it.

I was always interested in calcium signalling and organised a meeting with my potential supervisor immediately, which (to quote Billy Connolly) I leapt into in a mood of gay abandon.

Not only does this help you to keep engaged with your project even through the painstakingly slow times, it also greatly enhances your ability to sell yourself in an interview. If you can show passion and enthusiasm about the project and the science then you’ll be that one step ahead of other candidates – which is all the more important now that many studentships are competitive.

You have to  be the best  out of many, often exceptional candidates.

However, as important as it is to be passionate about your project, make sure that the person who will be supervising you is worthy.

Does your potential supervisor have a prolific track record of publishing work? What is the community of scientists like in the lab you may be working in? Are there experienced post-doctoral scientists working in the lab? Who will your advisor be? Is your supervisor an expert in the field you are interested in? Is the work you will be doing ground-breaking and novel, or is it quite niche?

There is nothing more frustrating – and I know many PhD degree students with this problem – than having a supervisor who is rarely there to talk to, shows little interest in your work, and cannot help when you are struggling in the third year of your project and some guidance would be much appreciated.

Personally, and I was very lucky to have this, I think it’s incredibly useful to have two supervisors. My PhD degree was split between the University of Manchester and the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth. Between my supervisors, I had two people with expertise in different fields, who could give me some fantastic advice from different perspectives. This also meant that I had two people to check through my thesis chapters and provide useful comments on my drafts.

Make sure you are passionate about your subject before taking it to PhD level. And by passionate I mean  really  passionate.

For a start, you will most likely have to write a literature review in your first three months, which if done well will form the main bulk of your thesis introduction and will save you a lot of stress and strain when it comes to writing up.

At the end of your first year, you will have to write a continuation report, which is your proof that you deserve to carry on to the end of your three or four years. This doesn’t leave much time for lab work, which means time management is incredibly important. If you think you’ll be able to swan in at 11 and leave at 3, think again.

Fundamentally, never, ever rest on your laurels! As tempting as it may be to slack-off slightly in the second year of your four year PhD, don’t.

4. Be organised.

This is a no-brainer but still, it’s worth a mention. Take an hour on a Monday morning to come up with a list of short-term and long-term goals. You’ll probably have to present your work at regular lab meetings, so it’s always worth knowing what has to be done (lest you look a pillock in front of the lab when there’s nothing to show for your last two weeks.)

It’s always good to have a timeline of what will be done when. If you have a PCR, maybe you can squeeze in another experiment, read a few papers, start writing the introduction to your thesis, or even start collecting the data you already have into figures.

The more good use you make of your time, the easier it’ll be to finish your PhD in the long run. Plus, it’s lovely to sit back and look at actual graphs, rather than worry about having enough to put into a paper. Once you’ve typed up your data, you’ll realise you’ve done far more than you had anticipated and the next step forward will be entirely more apparent.

5. Embrace change – don’t get bogged down in the details.

Felix Shaw – one of our bioinformatics researchers at EI – put it best when he said, “ it felt like I was running into brick walls all the way through [my PhD]… you’d run into a brick wall, surmount it, only to run straight into another. ”

You’ll find that, often, experiments don’t work. What might seem like a great idea could turn out to be as bad as choosing to bat first on a fresh wicket on the first day of the third Ashes test at Edgbaston. (Yeah, we don't know what that means either - Ed).

Resilience is key while completing your PhD. Be open to change and embrace the chance to experiment in different ways. You might even end up with a thesis chapter including all of your failures, which at the very least is something interesting to discuss during your  viva voce .

6. Learn how to build, and use, your network.

As a PhD student, you are a complete novice in the world of science and most things in the lab will be – if not new to you – not exquisitely familiar. This matters not, if you take advantage of the people around you.

Firstly, there are lab technicians and research assistants, who have probably been using the technique you are learning for years and years. They are incredibly experienced at a number of techniques and are often very happy to help show you how things are done.

There are postdocs and other PhD students, too. Not only can they help you with day-to-day experiments, they can offer a unique perspective on how something is done and will probably have a handy back-catalogue of fancy new techniques to try.

There are also a bunch of PIs, not limited to your own, who are great to talk to. These people run labs of their own, have different ideas, and might even give you a job once you’ve completed your PhD.

Don’t limit yourself to the labs directly around you, however. There are a massive number of science conferences going on all around the world. Some of them, such as the Society of Biology Conference, take place every year at a similar time in different locations, attracting many of the leaders in their respective fields.

If you are terrified by the prospect of speaking at a full-blown science conference and having your work questioned by genuine skeptics, there are also many student-led conferences which will help you dangle your fresh toes in the murky waters of presenting your work.

One such conference, the Second Student Bioinformatics Symposium, which took place at Earlham Institute in October 2016, was a great place for candidates to share their projects with peers, who are often much more friendly than veteran researchers with 30 year careers to their name when it comes to the questions at the end of your talk.

Another great reason to attend conferences, of course, is the social-side too – make the most of this. You never know who you might meet and connect with over a few drinks once the talks are over and the party commences.

7. Keep your options open.

You should be aware that for every 200 PhD students,  only 7  will get a permanent academic post , so it’s  incredibly unlikely that you’ll become a Professor  – and even if you make PI, it probably won’t be until your mid-forties.

You may also, despite having commenced along the academic path, decide that actually, working in a lab environment isn’t for you. Most PhD graduates, eventually, will not pursue an academic career, but move on to a wide range of other vocations.

It might be that Science Communication is more up your street. This was certainly the case for me – and I made sure that I took part in as many public engagement events as possible while completing my PhD. Most Universities have an active public engagement profile, while organisations such as STEM can provide you with ample opportunities to interact with schools and the general public.

You might also consider entrepreneurship as a route away from academia, which might still allow you to use your expert scientific knowledge. There are a variety of competitions and workshops available to those with a business mind, a strong example being Biotechnology YES.

I, for example, took part in the Thought for Food Challenge, through which I have been able to attend events around the world and meet a vast array of like-minded individuals. Many of the participants from the challenge have gone on to set up successful businesses and have even found jobs as a result of the competition.

8. Balance.

Remember that you still have a life outside of your PhD degree – and that this can be one of the greatest opportunities to make amazing friends from around the world.

A science institute is usually home to the brightest students from a variety of countries and can provide a chance to experience a delightful range of different people and cultures. Don’t just stick to the people in your lab, go to events for postgraduate students and meet people from all over campus.

There are usually academic happy hours happening on Fridays after work where you can buy cheap beer, or some lucky institutions even have their own bar. At Norwich Research Park, we not only have the Rec Centre, along with bar, swimming pool, calcetto, samba classes, archery, and a range of other activities, but there are also biweekly “Postdoc pub clubs” which are very fun to join on a Tuesday evening.

Maintain your hobbies and keep up with friends outside of your PhD and you’ll probably find it’s not that gruelling a process after all.

Plus, the people you meet and become friends with might be able to help you out – or at least be able to offer a sympathetic shoulder.

9. Practical advice.

If, after reading all of this, you’re still going to march forth and claim your doctorhood, then this section should be rather useful.

Firstly, make sure your data is backed up. It’s amazing how many people don’t do this and you’d be bonkers not to. Keep your work saved on a shared drive, so that if your computer decides to spontaneously combust upon pressing the return key, you won’t have lost all of your precious work – or have to go through every one of your lab books and type it all up again.

Secondly, don’t leave your bag in the pub with your half-written thesis in it. I did this, the bag was fine, I was in a state of terror for at least half an hour before the kind person at Weatherspoons located said bag.

Thirdly, read. Read broadly, read anything and everything that’s closely related to your project – or completely unrelated. It’s sometimes amazing where you might find a stroke of inspiration, a new technique you hadn’t thought of … or even in idea of where you might like to go next.

Finally, ask questions – all of the time. No matter how stupid it might sound in your head, everyone’s probably been asked it before, and if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

You’ll probably look far less stupid if you just ask the person standing next to you how the gradient PCR function works on your thermal cycler rather than standing there randomly prodding buttons and looking flustered, anyway.

10. Savour the positives.

At the end of all of this, it has to be said that doing a PhD is absolutely brilliant. There’s no other time in your life that you’ll be this free to pursue your very own project and work almost completely independently. By the time you come to the end of your PhD, you will be the leading expert in the world on something. A real expert! Until the next PhD student comes along …

Related reading.

A PhD, is it worth it? Just ask our students

The realities of doing a PhD

My advice for PhD students? See what bites

COVID and my PhD: to lockdown and back

How does a PhD work and how to find the right one

Building the confidence to take on a PhD

PhD life, 10 things we learned in our first six months

What’s the third year of a PhD like? Tips for navigating your PhD

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3 books you should read before you start your PhD

by Gertrude Nonterah PhD | Oct 18, 2021

Here are three books you should read before your start your PhD.

Congratulations! You’re about to start grad school! 

These books will help to prepare your mind for PhD work and inspire you to continue when things get tough.

Grit by Angela Duckworth

Angela Duckworth is a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania.  She has done a lot of work around grit, or determination, through difficult situations in your life. Starting your PhD is a difficult situation. Angela gives you a lot of research-backed data and stories that demonstrate how it is not necessarily people who have the most “natural talent” that are successful, but those with the most grit.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

James Clear has been writing about habits and the science of habits for a really long time.  This book talks about building habits that will be lifelong habits. A habit is something that you do involuntarily.  For instance, brushing your teeth.  No one tells you to do it or how to do it. These are habits tend to be automatic. James Clear gives you researched based methods for building habits and turning something you want to do into a habit. 

I particularly enjoyed the chapter about writing habits. I am a writer, therefore, found this especially intriguing. In the book, he talks about having daily devoted writing time and leaving everything that would distract him outside of the room. As a writer, he would also go to a place everyday to set the intention and set himself up for success instead of lounging on the couch or in his bed. 

All through grad school you will be building habits that will help you get to the end goal of graduating and landing a job you enjoy. Reading this book will set you up for success as you build those new habits.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

A really REALLY important part of your PhD education, which is not emphasized as much as I would like it to be, is networking.

As PhDs, we tend to think that because we’ve gone from college into grad school that the next automatic step is getting a job.  The reality is that once you finish your PhD, you’ll have to go through a rigorous process of applying for jobs, interviewing, and negotiating employment.  This work is made less rigorous when you have built a network within the academic or industry sphere that you would like to work in.  Building relationships with people is the best way to get in the door at many places.

I wondered how valuable relationships were to the hiring process, so I spoke with an HR representative at UC San Diego where I used to work. One of the things that she told me was that new hires were not only based on resumes or applications.  There was almost always a referral or word-of-mouth referral.  I didn’t only hear this about academia, but also from a biotech company. They mostly hire based on referrals.  So, if you don’t have these industry relationships built, there will be no referrals, and finding a job becomes more difficult.

Reading these three books will put you ahead of the curve when it comes to your mindset in graduate school.

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The 7 Books Every PhD Student Should Read

By alex wakeman.

Let’s be honest. If you’re nerdy enough to be doing a PhD, you probably love a good book. Whether you’re looking for entertainment or advice, distraction or comfort, the seven listed here can each, in their own way, help you through your frustrating but uniquely rewarding life of a PhD student.   

• Isaac Asimov – I, Robot   

“1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.  

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.”  

The Three Laws of Robotics. Simple. Elegant. Watertight. What could go wrong? These three, now legendary rules are printed on the first page of ‘I, Robot’ then are immediately followed by a series of masterful short stories in which Asimov dismantles his seemingly perfect creation before your very eyes. With ‘I, Robot’ (and many of his other works) Asimov displays dozens of ways rules can be bent and circumvented. As it turns out, a lot can go wrong.   

In some ways, this collection of short stories about misbehaving robots acts as a training manual for one of the most essential skills any PhD student must develop: discerning truth. Has that experiment proved what you think it proves? To what extent does it prove that? Are you sure? You might be convinced, but will everyone else at the conference see it that way? At first glance, Asimov’s Three Laws seem like a pretty good crack at a clear and concise system to prevent anything from quirky, metallic shenanigans to an anti-organic apocalypse. Are you sure about that? Look at them again, have a think, test them as vigorously as you would any real-world proof. Then go and read ‘I, Robot’ and find out how wrong you were.  

• Sayaka Murata – Convenience Store Woman   

You could probably be doing something better with your life, you know. Most people doing a PhD are a pretty effective combination of intelligent and driven. You almost certainly got a 1 st  or a 2:1 in a bachelor’s degree, probably a masters. Someone with this profile could certainly find a career with a starting salary above the RCUK minimum stipend level of £15,285 a year, likely one with a much more concrete future ahead of them as well. For most people it doesn’t make a lot of sense to do a PhD; it’s a huge investment of time and energy directed towards a very specialised end. But there are plenty of good reasons to do one as well and if you’re currently working on a PhD you are probably (I sincerely hope) aware of one of the main ones: it’s fun. It really can be fun, at least for a very peculiar type of person. But, of course, it’s not a particularly normal idea of fun. Most people have had their fill of learning by the end of school, or at most university, and it can sometimes be tough convincing a partner or family member that this genuinely is what you enjoy, despite the dark rings they’ve noticed forming under your eyes.   

Keiko would probably understand. She feels a very similar way. Not about PhDs or learning, making novel discoveries, or changing the world for the better; but she does feel a very similar way about her work in a convenience store. She enjoys everything about the convenience store, from the artificial 24/7 light to the starchy slightly ill-fitting uniforms, it provides her with enough money for rent and food and she wants for little else. Murata presents us with a tender and often hilarious portrait of a woman attempting to claim agency over her own, unique way of living, and convince others of the simple joy it brings her. If the average PhD student is twice as strange as your typical person, then as a PhD student you have twice as much reason to follow this proudly comforting story of an atypical person and her atypical interest.    

• Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning   

Suffering is relative. It is certain that I will struggle with my PhD. I am still in the early days of my studies, but I am aware that studying for a PhD is likely going to be the hardest thing I have done with my life so far.  In all the interviews I had for various funding schemes and DTPs, not one failed to ask a question that amounted to: “How will you cope?”. But at its worst my PhD still won’t cause me to suffer nearly as much as Viktor Frankl did. Don’t think I’m recommending this book to remind you to ‘count yourself lucky’, or any similar nonsense; Frankl isn’t concerned with pity, or one upping your struggles, he just wants you to feel fulfilled, even in the worst moments when nothing’s going right and you’re starting to doubt if you’re even capable of completing a PhD.   

The first half of ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ is a stark, sometimes unpleasant autobiographical account of Frankl’s time imprisoned in various Nazi concentration camps. But the difficulty of the subject matter is worth it for the fascinatingly unique perspective of the author: Viktor Frankl was one of the 20 th  Century’s foremost neurologists. The first-hand experience of one of Europe’s blackest events – viewed through the lens of a Jewish psychiatrist – could quite easily paint a rather bleak and hopeless image of humanity. This, however, is not the case. Instead, Frankl uses the second half of the book to explain in layman’s terms the psychological basis behind his biggest contribution to his field: Logotherapy. Frankl emerges from the immense suffering of the holocaust to clearly and kindly encourage us to find meaning and joy in all parts of life. Far from being a depressing read ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ is instead likely to leave you feeling inspired, cared for, and capable of getting through whatever nonsensical data, failed experiments, and frustrating failures your PhD might throw at you.   

• John Ratey – Spark!   

We’ve all had times in our lives when we felt that we couldn’t afford to exercise, when life is just so overwhelmingly occupied, there’s too many important things going on. At some points in your PhD, when you feel too busy to take a break, see friends, or cook a proper dinner, having a go at the ‘Couch to 5k’ certainly doesn’t look like it’ll be getting any of your valuable hours any time soon. But after several decades of researching the human brain, Professor John Ratey is here to argue that you can’t afford  not  to exercise.  

I’m sure it isn’t a great revelation to you that exercise is vital for your physical health, but ‘Spark!’ instead implores us to think of exercise as an essential activity for our brain. With an abundance of examples from modern publications in psychiatry and neuroscience, Ratey explains the effects of regular exercise on the human brain. Better memory, improved problem solving, better pattern recognition, longer periods of focus, reduced procrastination and improved mood; I struggle to believe there’s a single human being who would not benefit from every one of these and the countless other benefits discussed throughout the book. But for PhD students, whose work is especially dependent on the functioning of their brain, the effects are potentially even more transformative. You wouldn’t dream of mistreating the expensive lab microscope. You’d never work with equipment that had been left dysfunctional due to lack of care: why treat your own brain any differently? 

• Hermann Hesse – The Glass Bead Game  

 PhD students are students. Sometimes this is painfully clear, sometimes it is easy to forget. But nevertheless, learning is at the centre of a PhD and learning is a two way-street. There is no learning without teaching, even if the learner and the teacher are the same person. ‘The Glass Bead Game’ is a novel about learning and teaching, it is a realistic portrait of two sides of the same coin, simultaneously superimposed upon one another. 

The story takes place in an imaginary European province in which experts, scientists, scholars, and philosophers are allotted unlimited resources and are permitted to follow any interest or whim to their heart’s content. In many ways this place may sound utopian compared to the current state of academia, so ruthless in its limitation of funding, and so stringent in its selection processes. Yet this is not a utopian novel. But neither is it a dystopian one. Hesse somehow manages to create a world that feels genuine and authentic, despite its fantastical premise. Though he uses the extreme concept of a country entirely focused on pedagogy to explore the nature of learning, this extremity never becomes fanciful with regards to the positives and negatives of such a way of living. Rather than leaving the reader with a melancholic longing for a fantasy world where the streets are paved with postdoc positions, the realism of ‘The Glass Bead Game’ is more likely to help you find a balanced appreciation for life in academia, better able to accept it’s many blemishes, and in doing so more able to appreciate it’s many joys.  

• Plato – The Last Days of Socrates   

A PhD is a doctor of philosophy. As PhD students we are all therefore philosophers-in-training. We are learning how to ask precise questions, and how to answer them in a convincing, conclusive manner. We are learning to fully understand the nature of evidence and proof, to recognise when something is proved and when it is not. The word itself comes from the Greek ‘philos’ (loving) and ‘sophia’ (wisdom), an apt description of anyone willing to spend several years of their life researching one extremely niche topic that few others know or care about.   

Although the Classical philosophers arrived long before any concept of scientific method, and they often came to some conclusions that now seem laughable, a small understanding of their world can do a lot for any 21st century philosopher. This book in itself won’t come to any ground breaking conclusions that haven’t been long since disproved, or better communicated, but it’s place in this list is earned as an essential introduction to the history of asking questions. At a time in which more and more people are recoiling from the influence of experts, this story of a man being put on trial for asking too many questions remains as relevant as it was 2,000 years ago. And ultimately, this book would still earn its spot on this list solely as the source of the famous scene in which Socrates insists that the only reason the Oracle named him the wisest of the Greeks, was because he alone amongst the Greeks knows that he knows nothing – a statement that may haunt and comfort any PhD student, depending on the day.  

• Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass   

Perhaps you’re wondering how a book of 19 th  Century poetry is going to help you be a better PhD student. Unlike the other entries on this list, I will make no claim to its ability to help you think better, nor will it help you ask better questions, nor make you feel more justified in your choice of career path. ‘Leaves of Grass’ will not help you be a better PhD student in any way, because you are not a PhD student, you are a human being, and that’s enough. Not only is that enough, that’s everything. To Walt Whitman there’s nothing more you can be. It is quite easy for your view of the world (and therefore your place in it) to become narrowed. You spend all day working on your PhD. All, or most of your colleagues are doing the same, perhaps many of your friends as well. But your PhD is not your life. The success or failure of your research is not you. The accumulation of three Latin characters at the end of your name is not an indication of value. If you are to read any of the books that I have recommended here make it this one and there will be no problem over the coming years that you will not be prepared for, not because it will guarantee your success, but because it will assure you that whilst there are trees and birds and stars and sunlight there doesn’t need to be anything more – anything else that comes out of each day is a welcome (but unnecessary) add-on. Whatever happens during your PhD, whether your thesis changes the world, or all your plans come to nothing, or you drop out halfway through, or you take ten years to finish. Just be you, be alive, be human, and know that that’s more than enough. 

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Five tips for starting (and continuing) a PhD

On 4th September 2020

In Advice for other students

Lots of the specific stuff you learn as a PhD student, as well as general approaches to your work, begins with informal advice rather than formal training. I’ve received lots of advice from others during my PhD, since the very early stages of my project. This has helped me both build a PhD project that I’m happy with, and actually enjoy my life while I do my PhD (the two, of course, being closely but not entirely linked!). As it’s the start of the academic year I want to share a few of my own tips along those lines, to help get your PhD off to a good start, and keep it on a trajectory you’re happy with:

1. Keep notes on everything you read

My PhD, like many, kicked off with lots of reading of textbooks and academic papers. My reading has ebbed and flowed, but not really stopped, since then. Reading is a big thing during your PhD. It’s useful to keep track of what you’ve been reading because you won’t remember all of it, but you will want to come back to a lot of it.

My system for keeping notes on my reading is highly unsophisticated, but it works: I have (currently) three Word Documents, called Reading_[insert year here] stored on Dropbox so I can access them anywhere. I’ve got a separate one for each year of my PhD because 1) each document is a bit more manageable than one scary enormous one, and 2) I find it surprisingly easy to remember when-ish I was reading different stuff because my reading has gone through some quite distinct phases (e.g. more stuff relevant to study design early on, more stuff about analysis later) so it seemed like a reasonable and simple way to organise my notes.

The  notes I make on what I read vary a lot: at my laziest, I just copy and paste the paper title, first author and abstract into the doc, and I’m done. If I’m feeling enthusiastic, I make more extensive notes on the paper and my thoughts on it, or copy specific sections that are especially interesting or relevant to my work. I make sure that each paper title or reference is formatted as a heading so that I can scan through the document easily, and create a contents page for each document.  Now, if I want to find a specific paper or read publications on a particular theme, I can Ctrl+F to find key words in my Reading documents.

2. Read a couple of theses

I’m going to disagree with tip #2 in Five Tips for Starting Your PhD Out Right and say you don’t need to read them cover to cover – I don’t think this is necessary in the early stages in your project, unless you really want to do so, or if you feel that every chapter is highly relevant to your own PhD. But I do think it’s helpful to flick through and see different thesis structures (trends in how to structure a thesis evolve over time, and also vary by subject area, so look at recent graduates in your field for ideas of what’s likely to be appropriate for you).

Theses might also contain some specific content that you didn’t realise you’ll need to add to your own thesis (such as more detailed methodology than you usually see in a published paper) or useful references if the PhD is closely related to your own work. I think it works well to look through the theses of recent graduates in your research group, your supervisor, or others working on similar stuff to you. But you can also search for theses online, for example by using EThOS .

3. Start a Word document called “Thesis”

You can use other people’s theses (see previous tip) as a guide to add appropriate headings and subheadings to this document which will act as your own thesis structure / outline. Okay, I did this in third year, not first year, but I reckon it would have been helpful to start this earlier. Since I started this document, I’ve made good progress on actually organising my thoughts and even writing a few things down. And if you’ve got this document ready from early on in your project, you can populate it with notes and ideas whenever they occur to you at any point during your PhD.

Recently, I’ve been going through my Reading documents (remember tip #1) page by page and copying across notes from papers that I have read (and often forgotten about) into the appropriate sections of my Thesis document. It’s surprising how quickly my rough structure has been populated with ideas and material for literature review and synthesis, and how this has helped me link different ideas together i.e. stuff I read in first year and forgot about, with stuff I’ve been reading recently, with stuff that’s coming out of my own analysis. Actually, now that it’s getting quite full, I’ve split my Thesis doc up so that I’m just working with one document per empirical chapter. In first year, a simple thesis structure in a single document is a good place to start.

4. Think about how to make the flexibility of your PhD (and your control over it) work best for you

This one’s quite big-picture, and I’m kind of cheating the list-of-five by squeezing several tips into one. But I think that the general principle of this tip is important, and can be interpreted in different ways to suit different people: PhDs are often inherently flexible, in how you set your daily, weekly and monthly schedule, and I think that you should make the most of that.

The nature of your PhD flexibility and your control over it depend on the details of your project, how you’re going to be working with your supervisors and institution. But there are usually opportunities for flexibility, even if you have to be in the lab most days. PhD-life-flexibility can be exploited for your professional or personal development, to maximise your productivity, to create opportunities that are fun or useful now, or allow you to flex creative muscles you haven’t had the opportunity to flex before.

Below I list the kinds of things you can think about to best use the flexibility of your PhD. These are all things that can work alongside the core research / write / defend thesis requirements of your PhD, and while you definitely don’t have to make any firm plans on day one, I think that it’s really valuable to think about ideas like this (and any more you have) early in your project. It’s all about what you want to get out of your time whilst doing your PhD , including but not limited to the PhD itself, and how you want to structure that time:

• How do you want to set your daily schedule, where do you want to work? What’s going to be most pleasant and productive for you, and fit in with your home life?
• What things do you want to do outside of your PhD (sports, reading non-PhD-related books, joining local clubs and groups, always protecting weekends off) to actively maintain a healthy work-life balance (which is better for both your wellbeing, and the state of your thesis)?
• Are there times when you’re going to be working extra hard (like fieldwork)? How do you want to balance that with rest and recuperation afterwards (an extended post-fieldwork holiday…?)?
• Do you want to take an interruption from your PhD for an internship or job?
• Do you want to practise writing by starting a blog or try a bit of science journalism ?
• Do you want to get involved with science outreach?
• Do you want to build a professional profile and network by making a website or getting on social media?
• Do you want to teach undergraduates or Masters students?
• What training courses would you like to do (and where do you find out about them)?
• Do you want to try turning one or more of your chapters into academic papers?

5. Talk to people, lots, in both general and specific ways

Starting a PhD can be overwhelming, and knowing where to start, or where to go next, can be really tough. Having conversations with other PhD students about what they are working on, how they are finding their PhD, what kind of training they have received, might point you to interesting new research topics, training opportunities, or just give you a bit of a general feel for what it’s going to be like doing a PhD in your new department. These general conversations are important because they can provide you with nuggets of wisdom you didn’t know you needed and, crucially, help you feel connected to and supported by your colleagues and peers.

Asking your supervisor or others specific questions like are there any academics whose work you recommend I look into? / do you recommend any textbooks on [planning a research project], [planning fieldwork], [fundamentals of landscape ecology], [fundamentals of development research] [insert another topic you’re not sure about yet but want to learn about]? / are there any conferences I should look out for? can give you some useful starting points for directing your own learning in the early stages of your project. So, think specifically about what you need at the start of your PhD, and ask for help with it.

…And one bonus tip: read advice from other (ex-) PhD students

There are similar posts to this one with advice on starting your PhD here , and I particularly like the twenty top tips from Lucy Taylor here . There are actual full guides to PhD life like The A-Z of the PhD Trajectory and The Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research which can be very helpful to read through at any stage of your PhD (though I guess you maximise your use of them if you read them early!) and to use as reference books as and when you need them. There are lots of people blogging about their past and present PhD experiences, which can offer great advice and comfort at every stage in your PhD. Personally, I love the Thesis Whisperer and like to check in with it semi-regularly. Reading TW feels a bit like my tip #5: it’s about seeking out help and advice, sometimes when you didn’t even know you needed it.

Practical tips on how to be an interdisciplinary individual

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• Doing an internship during your PhD – Ellie Wood

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5 must-reads for doctoral students

January 11, 2016

The decision to pursue a doctoral degree can be exciting and scary at the same time.

Good preparation will ease the path to writing a great dissertation. Reading some expert guide books will expand your knowledge and pave the way for the rigorous work ahead.

Capella University faculty, doctoral students, and alumni recommend these five books for doctoral students in any discipline.

1. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading  by Mortimer J. Adler

“One book fundamental to my doctoral education that my mentor had my entire cohort read, and which I still recommend to this day, is  How To Read a Book , which discusses different reading practices and different strategies for processing and retaining information from a variety of texts.” – Michael Franklin, PhD, Senior Dissertation Advisor, Capella School of Public Service and Education.

Originally published in 1940, and with half a million copies in print,  How to Read a Book  is the most successful guide to reading comprehension and a Capella favorite. The book introduces the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—including elementary reading, systematic skimming, inspectional reading, and speed-reading.

Adler also includes instructions on different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy, and social science works.

2. Dissertations and Theses from Start to Finish  by John D. Cone, PhD and Sharon L. Foster, PhD

This book discusses the practical, logistical, and emotional stages of research and writing. The authors encourage students to dive deeper into defining topics, selecting faculty advisers, scheduling time to accommodate the project, and conducting research.

In clear language, the authors offer their advice, answer questions, and break down the overwhelming task of long-form writing into a series of steps.

3. Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day  by Joan Balker

This book is recommended for its tips on compartmentalizing a large project into actionable items, which can be helpful when working on a project as mammoth as a dissertation. Balker connects with the failure and frustration of writing (as she failed her first attempt at her doctorate), and gives encouragement to students who encounter the fear of a blank page.

She reminds dissertation writers that there are many people who face the same writing struggles and offers strong, practical advice to every graduate student.  Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day  can be applied to any stage of the writing process.

4. From Topic to Defense: Writing a Quality Social Science Dissertation in 18 Months or Less  by Ayn Embar-Seddon O’Reilly, Michael K Golebiewski, and Ellen Peterson Mink

As the authors of this book state, “Earning a doctorate degree requires commitment, perseverance, and personal sacrifice—placing some things in our lives on hold. It is, by no means, easy—and there really is nothing that can make it ‘easy.’”

This book provides support for the most common stumbling blocks students encounter on their road to finishing a dissertation. With a focus on a quick turnaround time for dissertations, this book also outlines the importance of preparation and is a good fit for any graduate student looking for support and guidance during his or her dissertation process.

From Topic to Defense  can be used to prepare for the challenges of starting a doctoral program with helpful tools for time management, structure, and diagnostics.

5. What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings—and Life  by Laura Vanderkam

According to author and time management expert Laura Vanderkam, mornings are key to taking control of schedules, and if used wisely, can be the foundation for habits that allow for happier, more productive lives.

This practical guide will inspire doctoral students to rethink morning routines and jump-start the day before it’s even begun. Vanderkam draws on real-life anecdotes and research to show how the early hours of the day are so important.

Pursuing a doctoral degree is a big decision and long journey, but it also can be an exciting and positive experience. Learn more about Capella’s  online doctoral programs .

What's it like to be a doctoral student?

Learn more about the experience, explore each step of the journey, and read stories from students who have successfully earned their doctorate. 

Explore The Doctoral Journey >>

You may also like

Can I transfer credits into a doctoral program?

January 8, 2020

What are the steps in writing a dissertation?

December 11, 2019

The difference between a dissertation and doctoral capstone

November 25, 2019

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5 books to help you with your PhD

There’s so many, many books on the market that claim to help you with your PhD – which ones are worth buying? I have been thinking about it this topic for some time, but it’s still hard to decide. So here’s a provisional top 5, based on books I use again and again in my PhD workshops:

I wish I owned the copyright to this one because I am sure they sell a shed load every year. Although it seems to be written for undergraduates, PhD students like it for its straight forward, unfussy style. Just about every aspect of research is covered: from considering your audience to planning and writing a paper (or thesis). The section on asking research questions is an excellent walk through of epistemology: an area many people find conceptually difficult. I find it speaks to both science and non science people, but, like all books I have encountered in the ‘self help’ PhD genre, The Craft of Research does have a bias towards ‘traditional’ forms of research practice. You creative researcher types might like to buy it anyway, if only to help you know what you are departing from.

2. How to write a better thesis by Paul Gruba and David Evans

This was the first book I ever bought on the subject, which probably accounts for my fondness for it. I have recommended it to countless students over the 6 or so years I have been Thesis Whispering, many of whom write to thank me. The appealing thing about this book is that it doesn’t try to do too much. It sticks to the mechanics of writing a basic introduction> literature review> methods> results> conclusion style thesis, but I used it to write a project based creative research thesis when I did my masters and found the advice was still valid. Oh – and the price point is not bad either. If you can only afford one book on the list I would get this one.

3. Helping Doctoral Students to write by Barbara Kamler and Pat Thomson

I won an award for my thesis and this book is why. In Helping doctoral students to write Kamler and Thomson explain the concept of  ‘scholarly grammar’, providing plenty of before and after examples which even the grammar disabled like myself can understand. I constantly recommend this book to students, but I find that one has to be at a certain stage in the PhD process to really hear what it has to say. I’m not sure why this is, but if you have been getting frustratingly vague feedback from your supervisors – who are unhappy but can’t quite tell you why – you probably need to read this book. It is written for social science students, so scientists might be put off by the style – but please don’t let that stop you from giving it a go. Physicists and engineers have told me they loved the book too. If you want a bit more of the conceptual basis behind the book, read this earlier post on why a thesis is a bit like an avatar.

4. The unwritten rules of PhD research by Marian Petre and Gordon Rugg

I love this book because it recognises the social complexities of doing a PhD, without ever becoming maudlin. Indeed it’s genuinely funny in parts, which makes it a pleasure to read. The authors are at their best when explaining how academia works, such as the concept of ‘sharks in the water’ (the feeding frenzy sometimes witnessed in presentations when students make a mistake and are jumped on by senior academics) and the typology of supervisors. It’s also one of the better references I have found on writing conference papers.

5. 265 trouble shooting strategies for writing non fiction Barbara Fine Clouse

This book is great because it doesn’t try to teach you how to write – you already know how to do that. What you need more is something to help you tweak your writing and improve it. This book is basically a big list of strategies you might like to try when you are stuck, or bored with the way you are writing. This book is so useful I have literally loved it to death – the spine is hopelessly broken and pages are held in by sticky tape. There are many wonderful tips in here from ‘free writing’ and ‘write it backwards’ ideas, to diagramming methods and analytical tools. Opening it at almost any page will give you an idea of something new to try.

What books would be on your top 5 list and why?

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The Thesis Whisperer is written by Professor Inger Mewburn, director of researcher development at The Australian National University . New posts on the first Wednesday of the month. Subscribe by email below. Visit the About page to find out more about me, my podcasts and books. I'm on most social media platforms as @thesiswhisperer. The best places to talk to me are LinkedIn , Mastodon and Threads.

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The Ultimate Guide to Doing a PhD

Have you ever considered doing a PhD, but have no idea where to start? Or are you doing a PhD and feel like you're losing the plot?Deciding to do a PhD is going to be one of the most impactful choices you'll ever make. It's a multi-year commitment that can really shape your career and your life. Yet as important as the PhD is, there's not much collated information about the process as a whole: this is where this book comes in!It explores every aspect of doing a PhD from application to graduation, and the whole mess in between. There are chapters on the motivation to do a PhD, the application process itself, questions around workload, time management, mental health, (peer) pressure, supervisor (mis)communications, teaching, networking, conference attendance, all the way up to publishing your thesis, and preparing for the next steps. And no, the next steps don't necessarily mean continuing to work in academia. This book addresses both career pathways, whether leaving or staying in academia, equally.This book aims to take a PhD student or prospective student by the hand and outline the entire PhD process, answering every question you might possibly have along the way.

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Should you be reading for pleasure in graduate school?

Think you only have time to read text books in grad school? That’s what I thought too. You have more time than you think. Your future self will tell you so (trust me). The 5-15 hours and $8-$35 it will take you to read any of these books will pay itself back in time and earnings many-fold throughout your student life and in your first job offer after graduation. Invest in yourself and reap the benefits later.

Don’t set out to read all these books at once. Order 2-3 to start and read them in small doses. Take the day to think about the pages you just read and how they can apply to your life. After you see the changes manifest, come back and find a few other books to continue your journey to becoming your best self.

Follow the links below to have these books in your hands in a few days with Amazon. These are referral links, which means that purchasing these items through these links results in a small percentage of the sale helping to support this blog at no cost to you. We appreciate your support so we can continue putting out helpful content and reviews to help you find the best tools for your research!

* Reminder: Prices on Amazon fluctuate and there are new, used and eBook versions. Follow the links to check the most current prices.

Books to improve your academic writing skills and research output:

How to write a lot: a practical guide to productive academic writing by paul silvia.

This book won’t make you a better writer. It’ll make you a more prolific one. By focusing on good writing habits and drawing clear boundaries between writing time and personal time, you’ll start to turn the excruciating blank page process into a series of small measured successes.

The 2 nd edition includes new sections for advice on grant writing and fellowship proposals, making it a favorite book of many post-docs and new faculty. He also deconstructs every excuse you could ever make for not writing, relying on binge-writing and otherwise procrastinating.

If you follow the advice in this book you should expect benefits to your mental health and work-life balance because you won’t always “feel like you should be writing.” Try it!

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Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

A bestselling classic about the writing process, writer’s block and the internal obstacles in the writer’s mind. Not specifically about graduate school or academia but is included in this list because it is so highly recommended in the writing community.

The title refers to a short story from her childhood about writing a paper about birds. Like the “How to write a lot” book above, this one encourages a steady and consistent process taking small tasks one at a time. You won’t find a lot of advice about how to write well in this book.

This is written for anyone who struggles with anxiety, perfectionism and paralysis when staring at the blank page and blinking cursor. It’s more of an introspection to ease your nerves with a few exercises to help you get started.

Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg

A unique book that can help snap you out of typical academic writing mode “…thus the present findings elucidate a novel method for exploring the behavior and interactions of…”

Almost poetic. Almost rhythmic. Straight to the point. The author explains in free form the fallacies and illusions of forming sentences and getting them onto the page. This will force you to re-think your mental process resulting in better sentences and better papers.

The end of the book covers examples of common sentences and calls out the superfluous wording, re-writing it with only the essentials.

Ever had trouble fitting a personal statement into two pages or a proposal into six pages? This is the book for concise and punchy writing. When you can convey more information than your competition, you gain the edge.

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis by Joan Bolker

If you’re lacking motivation, struggling to get started every day or are completely overwhelmed by the massive task at hand, give this book a look. It doesn’t offer any real advice on the details of a dissertation but instead aims to instill confidence in the reader. The author guides you through setting daily page goals, storing ideas and getting something…anything down on the page each day. Essentially a personal confidence coach for writing, applicable to more than just a dissertation.

The Scientist's Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily and Effectively throughout Your Scientific Career by Stephen B. Heard

A little-known but well-reviewed book on how to improve your science writing. This one also discusses the writing process but with a focus on structuring the story of your paper to clearly convey your experiments, results and conclusions. He often takes a whimsical tone that makes it a fun read. The author breaks down the structure of a scientific paper and the functions of each part. He also dives into the details on submitting, revising and coauthoring scientific papers. This is perhaps the most detailed guide to scientific writing in this list and the advice is reinforced with specific examples.

If you’ve ever written a critical literature review, you probably identified a handful of authors whose papers were just more enjoyable to read. This book can help you become that author. This book also makes for a great gift for a grad student about to dive into first-author writing.

Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Joshua Schimel

Great technical writing tells a story. If you’re wondering how experiments and data can be framed as a story, then this book is a must-read for you. This is one of the best books for writing fellowship proposals, research proposals and research grants. Dr. Schimel comes from a biology background but his experience on major government funding agency panels has given him the insight to know what gets funded.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author breaks down classical story structure and relates it to the segments of a strong research proposal. Don’t skip the exercises; they are the most valuable part of this book. He’s exceptionally good at exploring these ideas at all levels, from the macro to the micro, and I came away with a much clearer picture of how to write a cohesive and multi-level proposal.

It’s an easy weekend read that you should approach with a highlighter a notepad ready. If this one book helps you land even one grant, it will be paying itself back roughly 1000-fold.

The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success by Lawrence Machi

I took a chance on this book before writing my literature review for qualifiers. We eventually published the review to a major journal in my field and it’s gained over 600 citations in the first 4 years! There’s definitely some great advice in here that helped guide me toward writing a well-received paper.

Starting your literature review is the hardest part. It feels like a daunting task without a clear path to success. This book helps break down each step in the process into achievable goals supplemented by strategies for efficiently and effectively approaching each one. The few hours spent reading this book will be paid back to you in saving time researching and writing later.  It will help save your sanity and reduce anxiety approaching your first literature review.

I recommend this book specifically for graduate students in their first two years of a Masters’ or PhD. It can easily be read in an afternoon but should be used as a reference throughout the process!

Books to more clearly convey your research data to the reader

These three books below by Edward R. Tufte completely revolutionized my approach to creating graphs, figures and tables in both journal articles and conference presentations. I attended one of his full-day seminar courses around the country where Dr. Tufte works through the failures of that status quo in data presentation and showed gorgeous and enlightening examples of how good it can be.

I strongly believe this book series is the key reason why some of my journal articles have been so highly cited. Authors tend to cite papers that clearly convey a point and are more likely to reproduce figures that can stand on their own without wordy descriptions. See for yourself the difference these can make in your research career!

Beautiful Evidence by Edward R. Tufte

This book highlights innovative examples of data visualization spanning hand-drawn 17 th century charts to computer-generated “big data” presentation that will open your mind to forms of data visualization outside of your standard color-coded X-Y plots. The author also details strategies for identifying cherry-picked data and being a keen observer fraudulent data presentation.

This book is also the best gift for graduate students and post-docs on this list, making for a perfect coffee table book after fully reading through it.

Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte

This book walks the reader through a huge range of first-class graphical data representations and shows how each is well-suited to presenting the data at hand. Dr. Tufte makes you think about how different data types are structured and how those structures can guide you to the best methods of presentation.

The data visualization here is often layered so that your first glance gets the main point across but a closer examination unveils rich multi-dimensional data by cleverly using colors, shapes, sizes and alignments of objects and axes. These are the skills that create an ultimate, self-supporting figure for a journal cover or a winning poster that will hang for years on the walls of your institution without needing you there to explain it.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte

A timeless classic on data visualization that dives into the nitty gritty of optimizing your charts and figures. Tufte contrasts excellent charts with horrendous ones to point out bad habits that you may not know you have. He teaches you about efficient design and layout of plots, from the ratio of ink that makes up your data to how one should effectively use tick marks on the axes or box plots around your data groupings.

This book may at first seem outdated, but the principles inside do not change. If you want to truly master the art of effective data visualization, this book can’t be skipped over.

Books to increase your productivity and focus in grad school:

The miracle morning.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this book thoroughly changed my life. I reached a point where I was physically and mentally exhausted halfway through each work day and realized I was not cognitively performing at the level I needed to be successful. Within a few days of implementing this, I felt a noticeable change in my energy, mood and motivation each day at work. I only wish I had picked it up in graduate school. My research output probably would have doubled simply from the changes to my mood.

The premise is fairly simple. Hal Elrod was recovering from a near-fatal car accident that left him physically and mentally impaired. He took the six most popular morning routine practices (exercise, reading, journaling, visualization, affirmations and meditation) and started doing all of them every single morning before starting work or any other responsibilities. Over time, he refined the timing and intentions around each practice and started sharing it with friends. It eventually exploded by word-of-mouth and he decided to write this book to share the technique with the world.

Yes, you’ll have to wake up a little earlier. Ideally you set aside one hour to do all six practices but with practice you can get most of the beneficial effects in less than 15 minutes. The book isn’t completely necessary to implement this – you can read enough about it online. But by all accounts, you’ll have a much higher chance of follow-through if you purchase and read the book as I did.

I started the practice a few months ago and used my “reading” time to read this book a few pages per day. Starting each morning with this book was essential to helping me refine the other five following practices and approach them with intention for maximum benefit.

Most days I squeeze in all six practices. Some days it’s only four and on some weekends only one or two. The key is to keep trying and don’t miss on two days in a row. The extra time spent in the morning comes back to me in productivity and focus throughout the day.

I can’t recommend this book enough for anyone whose workday is self-driven and self-structured like a typical grad student research life. Read it sooner rather than later and witness the profound effects it can have on every aspect of your life!

The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll

Have you heard of Bullet Journaling? It’s a method invented by Ryder Carroll to design your life and live intentionally that in a few short years has spawned a global movement and thriving community. It helps cut through the unnecessary “busy” tasks to focus on what matters. The technique can be done in any standard notebook but involves quite a bit of symbols and shorthand one must learn to truly gain the full benefit.

This book is the comprehensive how-to guide recently written by Ryder. For added effect, he includes how this method can help to de-clutter your life and bring you greater peace of mind. If you’re a “BuJo” newbie, this book will take you from novice to professional in a few weeks of practice.

The technique can have a profound effect on productivity and design of your research tasks to cut through to results you really need. Research has so many moving parts from experiments to data analysis to writing and publishing that this method is incredibly well-suited to keep track of. You might want to pair the book with this symbol stencil and journal bookmark if you’re not already familiar with the technique.

Fun reads for any scientist or engineer:

Skunk works: a personal memoir of my years at lockheed by ben rich.

A popular and highly-rated classic about the top secret “Skunk Works” engineering projects at Lockheed Martin that helped win the Cold War, written by the head of the division for two decades. It covers the pinnacle of high-pressure, high-stakes ultra-secretive engineering projects and the technological game of chess that the USA was playing with the Soviet Union in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It includes anecdotes and testimonials from high-ranking government officials and pilots on revolutionary projects like the SR-71 Blackbird, F-116 Stealth Fighter and U-2 spy plane.

This book is an enjoyable and inspiring read for any grad student who has a true passion for problem solving and cutting-edge technology. The reader will also take away valuable lessons for managing technical projects and teams of scientists and engineers to achieve nearly impossible goals.

Check the price on Amazon

The Martian by Andy Weir

This is our all-time favorite book that any scientist or engineer will enjoy reading. For such a technical book, it’s got an incredible plot yet isn’t overly dramatized (except a little at the end). No other fiction book has captured this much popularity while running through exact calculations, estimations and scientific principles just to keep someone alive. You’ll be rooting for Mark Watney and inspired by the idea that your technical knowledge could one day save your life.

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9 Unique Gift Ideas for Scientists

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Useful books to read before starting PhD?

By RunnerGrad June 5, 2018 in Officially Grads

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There are numerous books out there about academic writing, surviving the PhD process, etc.  I’ve read through the Amazon reviews of a number of them, but I thought I would ask here if anyone has found any particular books useful?  I’m not talking about discipline-specific books, but more general guides, such as  How to Write a Lot  by Paul Silva.

I’m in the Health Sciences if that makes a difference (non-wet lab work) and both my future advisor and myself think I’ll be doing mixed methods research.

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I really like this book:  https://www.amazon.ca/Marketing-Scientists-Shine-Tough-Times/dp/1597269948

It has been recommended to me (not me personally, but like our class) by several professors and I saw it on my advisor's shelf too. The author has an interesting history: he's a NASA astrophysicist who decided to also go professional with his country music. He learned all the marketing from his music business and picks out what might apply to academia to put into this book. You don't have to be a fan of country music or an astrophysicist to get useful stuff out of the book though---it's pretty general to all of scientific research.

If you do pick up this book, I'd have to say that the sections on giving effective and compelling presentations are the most useful. The sections on different archetypes is interesting but I'd caution against categorizing yourself or others into one of the many archetypes listed. I feel that some of them were just made up to fit the story better. Nevertheless, each of the archetypes presented does show a few important aspects of how you present yourself (i.e. "your brand") to your department, your community, the public, etc. and there are many things to keep in mind!

rising_star

Getting It Published ,  How to Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day ,  The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us , How Professors Think ...

For methods, SAGE publications are my go-to standard. Cresswell has some good volumes. I also like  Mixed Methods Research: A Guide to the Field  by Clark and Ivankova.

I'm a fan of  The Craft of Research . It was required reading for my MA, and I saw it was on the recommendation list for graduate students at the university I'm at now.

https://www.amazon.com/Research-Chicago-Writing-Editing-Publishing/dp/022623973X .

iwearflowers

Good thread! A friend of mine who is ABD sent me The Professor is In as a congratulations present when I chose a school. She was required to read it as part of a job hunting class they have to take, and she said she wished she had read it sooner. I'm also reading Getting What You Came For , which is a bit dated in terms of technology but has a lot of very clear information about how a PhD is structured and how you can set yourself up for success.

I would also recommend  Proposals that Work , which has great advice about writing your thesis/dissertation proposal.

Adelaide9216

Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D.

> http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4313037.aspx

How to publish high-quality research

I had to read this book at the start of my Master's. Really helped me actually with writing. I still sometimes go back to it if I'm stuck in a certain section (especially intro). I know some people liked it because it also gives tips on how to formulate research questions and the like.

Thanks for all the recommendations so far!  I will need to check and see which ones I can borrow from the library (municipal or university) and which I want to purchase to have on hand.

I have my basic research proposal formulated (I needed to do so in order to apply for scholarships such as OGS) but it definitely needs to be refined (and will be over the summer, as my advisor wants me to apply for CIHR funding this fall).  And I still have one paper from my master’s that I should really edit in order to submit it to journals.

You can also ask your advisor for recommendations on books when you start. I know that a few profs stock these books and are happy to lend them to their students!

• 2 weeks later...

madamoiselle

I'm also here to boost  The Professor is In!  I've been doing some pre-advising advising with my department head, and she gave me some outline examples from the blog. I've been recommended the book multiple times, and I'm about to start reading it. 

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10 Must-Read Books for Productive PhD Students: Improve Your Writing, Research, and Reading Skills

As a PhD student, reading is an integral part of your research and academic journey. Whether you are looking for inspiration, practical advice, or in-depth analysis, books can provide a wealth of knowledge and guidance to help you achieve your academic goals. In this article, we will discuss some of the best books to read for a PhD student and why they are important.

• “How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing” by Paul J. Silvia

One of the biggest challenges for PhD students is writing. This book provides practical tips and strategies for making writing a habit and increasing your productivity. It covers topics such as setting goals, creating a writing schedule, and dealing with writer’s block. By following the advice in this book, you can improve your writing skills and make progress towards completing your dissertation.

• “ The Craft of Research” by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams

Research is at the heart of the PhD experience, and this book is a comprehensive guide to the research process. It covers topics such as formulating research questions, conducting literature reviews, and evaluating sources. The authors provide practical advice on every step of the research process, from planning your project to presenting your findings. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone conducting academic research.

• “The Thesis Whisperer: An Insider’s Guide to Completing a Thesis” by Dr. Inger Mewburn

This book is written by someone who has been through the PhD process herself and has helped many others complete their theses. It covers a wide range of topics, from managing your supervisor to dealing with procrastination. The author also provides practical advice on writing, editing, and formatting your thesis. This book is a must-read for anyone who is feeling overwhelmed by the thesis writing process.

• “How to Read a Book” by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren

Reading is a fundamental skill for PhD students, but it is not always easy to read effectively. This book provides practical advice on how to read different types of books, from novels to academic texts. It covers topics such as active reading, taking notes, and understanding complex arguments. By following the advice in this book, you can become a more efficient and effective reader.

• “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Clear and concise writing is essential for academic success, and this book is a classic guide to good writing. It covers topics such as grammar, punctuation, and style. The authors provide practical advice on how to avoid common writing mistakes and how to write with clarity and precision. This book is an essential resource for anyone who wants to improve their writing skills.

6. “The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success” by Lawrence A. Machi and Brenda T. McEvoy

This book is a step-by-step guide to conducting a literature review, a critical aspect of any research project. It provides practical advice on identifying relevant sources, analyzing and synthesizing information, and presenting your findings. The authors also cover common pitfalls to avoid and how to organize your literature review effectively.

7. “The Portable Dissertation Advisor” by Miles T. Bryant

This book provides practical advice on every aspect of the dissertation writing process. It covers topics such as choosing a topic, conducting research, organizing your ideas, and writing effectively. The author also provides guidance on how to work with your advisor, manage your time, and deal with stress. This book is a comprehensive guide to completing your dissertation successfully.

8. “The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job” by Karen Kelsky

This book is a practical guide to the academic job market. It covers topics such as creating a strong CV, writing effective cover letters, and preparing for job interviews. The author also provides advice on how to navigate the often-challenging academic job search process and how to position yourself for success.

9. “The Productive Writer: Tips & Tools to Help You Write More, Stress Less & Create Success” by Sage Cohen

This book provides practical tips and tools for increasing your writing productivity. It covers topics such as creating a writing schedule, setting achievable goals, and developing a writing practice. The author also provides guidance on how to overcome common obstacles to productivity, such as procrastination and self-doubt.

10. “Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis” by Joan Bolker

This book is a practical guide to completing your dissertation in a time-efficient manner. It provides tips and tools for making progress on your dissertation in just fifteen minutes a day, even when you are feeling overwhelmed. The author also covers topics such as managing your advisor, staying motivated, and dealing with writer’s block.

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80 things I wish I knew when I was doing my PhD

Jun 8, 2020

There’s one thing that is often missing from guides and books written on how to do a PhD: the human dimension. Often they fail to fully appreciate the person behind the PhD, the person who struggles and worries and wonders what it is all about. This article is for you. In it, I draw on my experience as a PhD coach , thesis proofreader and academic to outline 80 things I wish I knew when I was doing my PhD .

A lot of this I had to work out the hard way, and I know from my conversations with PhD students that many of you struggle with the same issues. Often, the difference between unnecessary worry and successfully muddling through is having someone on your side who can tell you that what you’re feeling is normal and reassure you with good, practical advice that speaks to the core of you. That is the goal of this article.

Each of the eighty pieces of advice below refers to things that I only wish I was told earlier. Some may be common sense to you, whereas others may be eye-opening. You can read them in any order you wish and refer back to them for inspiration and motivation when you’re having a bad day. I encourage you to bookmark this page for that very reason. I also encourage you to share this post with your friends on social media. You can find shortcuts to do that at the bottom of the post.

However you approach these tips, know that you’re on a tough, relentless journey. You’re learning as you go and you won’t always get it right. Try to have faith in your abilities and be aware of your inner critic becoming too powerful. Most importantly of all, have fun.

1. You’re never going to please everyone

There will always be people who disagree with you. There will always be people who can find holes in your argument. There will always be people who think you’re doing things in the wrong way.

That’s the nature of academia. Indeed, this entire industry is built on people critiquing one another’s work. What this means is that, no matter how hard you try, there will always be things ‘wrong’ with your writing. Your literature review will always be incomplete, your theory framework will always annoy someone somewhere, your methods will no doubt be flawed, and your discussion could have been framed differently.

What’s important to remember is that perfection in this context is elusive. No matter how hard you try, someone will always find a problem.

But rather than feel defeated, see this as empowering. It means that you can stop striving for perfection and instead strive for ‘good enough’. Work in the way you think best – and ensure that way has the proper grounding in the literature – and be prepared to counter any criticisms should they come up in your supervision meetings or viva.

2. To succeed, you need to embrace failure

When you tell people you’re doing a PhD, they probably think that what’s required to complete one is a superhuman intellect.

But it’s not. The key attribute to succeeding isn’t brains or even creativity. You need them, for sure, but they’re not key.

No, the key attribute is being able to deal with failure. It’s being able to show up each day riddled by the plague of defeat and uncertainty and keep putting the hours in, even if you’re not sure you’re on the right track or that what you’re doing will lead anywhere. It’s failing over and over again and each time ending up more committed.

In your PhD you’ll fail at lots of things many times. The further you go through the journey the more you’ll fail and the higher the stakes will be. Those who make it to the end are those who can pick themselves up, learn from the hardship and carry on more determined than before.

Keep failing, keep messing up and keep making mistakes, but be kind to yourself while you do so.

Keep doing that and you’ll be a Doctor in no time.

3. You need to know when to move on 

Your PhD is a performance with many acts. It’s important not to get stuck in one scene.

Writing a PhD isn’t a linear process, but I often treated it like it is. I often thought, ‘When I finish writing the literature review I can move on to the theory framework and only when I’ve written the theory can I move on to methods, and so on…’

The danger of working in this way is that you can get stuck. You can spend so long trying to make one chapter ‘perfect’ in the mistaken belief that you can’t progress until you have done so that you fail to progress in your thesis.

The PhD writing process isn’t linear. Parts of the literature review or theory framework chapters, for example, may only become clear to you when you’ve written your conclusion, but for as long as you treat it linearly, you cause an unnecessary headache.

What’s the solution? It’s easy: write as much as you can of a chapter or section before moving on, but if you find yourself struggling with a particular line of argument or to make something fit, leave it and come back it later once you’ve worked on other parts of the thesis.

You’ll likely find that everything becomes clear at a later stage when you’ve ironed out details in other chapters. Make the problem your secondary concern and move on to other parts of the thesis. You’ll find things just ‘click’ into place.

Draft chapters are just that: they’re drafts. Accept that a draft is unfinished and only needs to be ‘good enough’. Move on to another section and chapter and make a note to come back and revisit the sticking points at a later date. You’ll be amazed at how simple the problem seems when you do.

4. Be sceptical of boasters

There is no one quite like you. Your PhD isn’t like anyone else’s, you work in ways that suit your unique temperament and you have your own challenges to deal with.

This is part of the reason why you shouldn’t compare progress in your PhD (or life in general) with that of others. They’re different to you.

I say it’s part of the reason because there’s also something more sinister to consider. In this age of social media one-upmanship, your feed may be awash with those boasting of how easy they find their PhD, how great their experiments are going, or how they submitted early, got that prestigious job, had three papers published  and  raised kids.

Don’t believe any of it.

Whether deliberately or otherwise, people tend to avoid sharing their failures and setbacks. What looks like progress and success on the glossy social-media outside is likely cloaked in struggle, failure and personal challenges. The trouble is, those never get shared. Then, to the outside, their PhD looks far more straightforward than yours could ever hope to be. The result? Anxiety and worry about not being ‘good enough’.

Your challenges and struggles are real, valid and understandable. Don’t focus on what others are doing. Question whether their boasts are true, and look inward at your own progress. Understand that social media has the power to misrepresent reality and that it isn’t a good means through which to assess your own capabilities.

Then you can keep doing things your way, irrespective of others.

5. Recognise your own brilliance

We often give ourselves too little credit for all the good we do. We often spend so much time looking forward – to where we’re heading or think we ought to go – that we forget to look back and take stock of how much progress we’ve already made. We often get so wrapped up in our perfectionism that we fail to acknowledge everything that  is  working or everything that is perfect about our imperfections.

We spend so much time surrounded by intellectual and professional over-achievers that we convince ourselves we’re not ‘good enough’ or haven’t got what it takes.

And over time we’ve learnt to talk to ourselves in a negative tone that we would never dream of using with a friend or loved one.

Spend a moment right now reminding yourself that life is not about how inventive or creative you are, but about noticing what you’re already a part of. Reflect on the incredible journey you’re on and on all of your positive attributes. If you struggle to think of any, think harder – they’re there, I promise you.

A PhD is a cruel, unforgiving exercise. Don’t let it colour your worldview such that you stop noticing the incredible gifts you have and the incredible trajectory you are on.

6. Really think about what it is you are trying to say

If you struggle to find the thread in your chapters or your thesis as a whole, here’s some advice: think hard about the key argument you are trying to make in each chapter/the thesis. Then, don’t over-complicate things.

Broadly speaking, the term thesis itself means ‘a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved’, so it stands to reason that your PhD thesis as a whole exists to elaborate upon one or a small number of central points. Its job is to make the case for something, whether a new theory, new insight  and new methods.

Looking at individual chapters, they all have a specific job to do: the methods is there to show how you conducted your study, your theory framework is there to show the hypotheses/concepts that informed it, and so on.

In other words, in each chapter, there will be a central, core argument or point you want to get across (e.g. the lit review: there’s a gap in the literature; the methods: this is what the study looked like, and so on). Sure, you’ll have lots of smaller arguments that you’ll be developing in each chapter, but they’ll all be nested in a key, central argument.

So when you next struggle to find the thread in your writing, sit and think: what one key point am I trying to make in this chapter?

Once you answer that question, you can structure the rest of the chapter around developing and backing up that point.

Your PhD Thesis. On one page.

7. know that you’ll get there eventually.

It may not feel like it sometimes, but one day you’ll be done with your PhD and it will all be worth it.

All the hard work, the uncertainty, the perseverance, the never quite knowing. It’ll all come to fruition and you’ll look back on it all in years to come with a sense of wonder and awe.

This is true regardless of whether you complete your PhD or whether you decide to leave it in pursuit of other endeavours. All we can do in life is try our best and do so with the best intentions and best information we have available at the time.

If we do that, then whatever happens in weeks, months and years to come is the natural course of things, and you can look back at your former self and think: “I tried my best”. With that attitude, everything will be worth it because you’ll end up exactly where you need to be.

Failure is a horrible word and comes in varying degrees. We may succeed in our PhDs, but we may fail to do so in the way we had hoped. We may fail our PhDs entirely. We may fail to live up to any number of the expectations and demands we place upon ourselves, even when we are, to outsiders, very much succeeding.

But whatever your failure remember that it is often through defeat that the greatest accomplishment stems. It’s when you’re tested and when you’re forced to retreat that the real magic happens, even if it may not feel like it at the time.

8. You can be both dedicated and struggling

You can be passionate about your PhD and dedicated to your research but still struggle with productivity and struggle to stay motivated. You’ll have days where you procrastinate or where you question the path you’re on, but that doesn’t mean your passion or dedication has disappeared. It’s just harder to access, that’s all.

Struggle is a part of life, not least during a PhD. It comes and goes like waves on the surface of the sea. But underneath the waves, the sea remains more steady.

Your passion and dedication are steady in the same way. Like the waves, your procrastination and struggles will pass in time, creating space for calmer and more focused moments.

Be patient and…

9. Keep steady on your path

During your PhD, you’ll have days where nothing seems to make sense.

You may question why you’re doing your PhD at all, or you may look towards the future with anxiety and doubt as you wonder whether you’ll ever be ‘good enough’ or whether you’ll ever ‘make it’.

It’s on days like these that you may begin to think about dropping out.

On these days, lean into your discomfort and have faith that you’re exactly where you need to be and doing exactly what you need to do. Remind yourself that, although your anxious mind is fearful of the future, you’re on the right path. Having that faith in your direction can help you to keep on going in spite of the doubt and anxiety.

Keep muddling through even when you don’t want to, but do so knowing that in calmer, less anxious times you put yourself on this path with all the best intentions. Have faith that those intentions will get you where you need to go.

Keep your head down, keep turning up and you’ll eventually see sunnier days.

10. Some things are worth fighting for

Underpinning every PhD (and PhD student) is a personal struggle. Something worth fighting for.

On the cold, dark days where nothing seems to be going right or you can’t escape the PhD-blues, it is helpful to remind yourself what this fight is, and of why you’re here and why you decided to start your PhD in the first place.

You see, you may not like to admit it, but every PhD student is fighting for something, whether that’s to prove something to yourself, to placate the perfectionist in you, to make your parents proud or to show everyone who ever told you that you can’t (that last one was my fight).

Whatever it is, reflecting back on this bigger cause can give you the little boost you need when you’re about to jack it all in.

It can show you that the PhD is worth fighting for, no matter how tough things get.

11. It’s okay to take days off

It’s okay to take days off.

It’s okay not to be productive every day.

Having less productive days doesn’t mean you’re failing or that you won’t succeed.

Learn to embrace unproductive days as a necessary part of the PhD journey. We all have ups and downs and we must learn to both recognise them and work around them. Don’t try to fight yourself when you’re unmotivated; be kind and self-soothing instead. The world will keep on spinning if you stop writing for a day.

12. There’s more than one way to write a PhD

It’s hard not to compare yourself to others. We do it all the time, often with disastrous results.

Never is that more true than during your PhD. We all know that PhDs are lonely, frustrating places, but it is precisely because of that hostile environment that we seek solace in comparing our progress to that of others. It’s a way of seeking out reassurance and finding out whether we’re doing our PhDs in the ‘right’ way or whether we’re as far along in the PhD journey as we’re ‘supposed to be’.

But each PhD is unique. Beyond the obvious differences in discipline and subject material, there is a unique personal story behind every PhD and within every PhD student. You are doing a PhD for different reasons than others in your department, and you’re facing different circumstances and challenges. What’s more, you work in different ways, have different priorities and may wish to take a different route to achieve the same goal and reach the same destination.

So all these differences – in subject material, personal motivations and challenges, and ways of working – all mean that there is no one ‘right’ way to do a PhD. Everyone is going to be working in their own unique way.

This means that comparing your progress to that of other PhD students is futile. You’re unique, and so is your particular PhD journey. You may be at a different stage of the journey to a colleague, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing it ‘wrong’. Learn to have faith in your workflow and recognise that as long as you do your best and work in a way that is true to your motivations and personality, you’re doing everything just the way you’re supposed to.

13. Should is a dangerous word

What ‘should’ you be doing, feeling, thinking of achieving right now?

The short answer is nothing.

The more realistic, longer answer is that your mind is probably awash with ‘shoulds’. You may feel like you ‘should’ be further along in your thesis, or you ‘should’ be more esteemed, richer, more loved, or myriad other things that we convince ourselves we need for a full and complete life.

Let’s take the PhD journey as an example. You may feel like you should have a better study, or better data, or that you should be as successful as your non-PhD friends. You should be writing, you should be procrastinating less, you should be better. Should, should, should….

We can become attached to what we should be doing. So much so that we are never satisfied with what we have.

That’s because this notion of what we should be doing, thinking, feeling, and so on, is an illusion. Everyone’s sense of should differs, as it is a product of their internal wiring, upbringing, life experience and environment. Put somewhat simply, depending on where and how you grew up, you will have a particular brand of should.

By becoming attached to this notion of ‘should’, we limit our ability to enjoy what’s happening right now. Practice letting go of this attachment. This is hard, and something that requires practice, but it essentially revolves around the idea of noticing when your mind is convincing you of what you should be doing or feeling and focusing the mind instead on the present moment, on your current reality.

The more you do this, the more you’ll realise that you’re attached to illusions about an imaginary future and the more you’ll start to realise all the wonderful, beautiful things you’ve got going on right now.

14. Don’t become attached

If you were to describe what it’s like living with your brain, you’ll probably describe a scene with an internal dialogue, perhaps an internal critic, and a seemingly never-ending stream of emotions, worries, thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears and anxieties.

This inner-working is part of being human, but often PhD students find that the negative dimensions of their mind – the inner critic, the self-doubt, the fear of failure, the perfectionism – dominate proceedings.

It can feel like a real burden. A struggle even, as you navigate your PhD carrying the weight of internal mental struggle.

Spend a moment now to pause. Breathe in deeply and think – really think – about how you are feeling in this moment. What’s on your mind? Are you worried about anything? Is that worry serving you or are you serving it? Can you drop the worry and focus instead more mindfully on the present moment?

15. What’s your inner-voice saying?

I  bet you’ve got really good at convincing yourself you’re an imposter/not good enough/going to get found out/a terrible writer/and so on?

Well, that’s your inner voice doing its best to undermine your capabilities.

For some, their inner voice is on their side and sings in harmony. For others, the inner voice can take over and start to rule their life. It can get really good at convincing you you’re not up to the job of completing your PhD.

Stop all activity for a moment. Be still. Notice what your inner voice is saying. Do you hear anything? Is it telling you you should be writing? Is it worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year? Listen carefully.

Check in regularly with yourself and ask yourself what that inner voice is telling you. Listen for your self-critical inner voice that tells you that you are inferior to anyone else. Listen for your inner judgments; listen to your inner voice of defeat that tells you that you are incapable of succeeding.

Gaining awareness of what that voice is saying is revolutionary.

16. Know it’s okay to fail

You’re going to fail over and over again.

You’ll get things wrong, you’ll say the wrong thing, you’ll act against good judgement, and you’ll behave in ways that you’ll be ashamed of.

That’s just all part of being human.

Instead of seeking and craving perfection (and then being disappointed when you don’t achieve it), learn to embrace your fallibility. Try your best not to fail, but expect to do so from time to time and be kind to yourself when you actually do.

If that seems like a terrifying prospect, then consider this. Think back to a time in your life when you actually did fail. Picture it vividly, recalling how you may have felt immediately afterwards. Now ask yourself what you learnt from that mistake and what positives it may have had in the longer run. When seen in this way, failures don’t seem as terrifying as they first did and oftentimes are an opportunity for growth.

When you next fail at something – however big or small – remind yourself that to do so is to be human and that it is through our failures that we learn, grow and develop.

17. Understand that you can’t control everything

This is a useful time to remind yourself of the distinction between things you can control and things you can’t. All through life, there are things you can’t control – the job market, university bureaucracy, and so on, but there have also been things you can control.

There is little point worrying about all the things outside of your control.

Keep focusing on what you can control. Try to put everything outside of your control to one side.

18. Enthusiasm can make up for inexperience

There will always be things you don’t know and as you first set out on the PhD journey you’ll suffer from a lack of experience and expertise.

But the more enthusiastic you are, the easier it will be to navigate this inexperience. Remain enthusiastic in your reading and learning. If you don’t know something, find someone who does and ask them. If you’re confused, tell someone. Keep an eye out for opportunities to polish your research skills and sign up for them when they come along. Say yes to new responsibilities where possible and never let your inner critic tell you you’re not good/smart/competent enough.

What you lack in experience you can more than make up for in enthusiasm.

19. Realise that nobody really knows what they’re doing

Next time you wonder whether you’ve got what it takes to finish your PhD, or you think that you’re an imposter that’s about to get found out as a bumbling idiot, remember that no one else really knows what they’re doing.

There’s an all too prevalent assumption that as adults we should have everything worked out and that we should know exactly what we’re doing and where we’re heading. But no one really does. At best, we’re making it up as we go along (particularly if we’re at the start of our studies/careers) whilst bumbling from one decision to the next. All the while, we’re hoping we don’t mess up.

Over time, as you bumble from decision to decision in your PhD, you’ll start to realise that this muddling through approach works well. You’ll stop assuming that you should know it all or be good at it all. You’ll stop trying for perfection and start accepting that you’ll make mistakes.

You’ll start to settle for uncertainty. And you’ll start to be satisfied with good enough.

So bumble away and make it up as you go along. That’s how all this works.

20. You’ve got to fall over occasionally

If you’re not falling over and stumbling from time to time it means you’re just coasting.

It’s when you push yourself, go outside your comfort zone or try something new that you make mistakes and stumble. That’s no bad thing. It’s part of the learning process, and the very fact you’re making mistakes is a sign of progress and a sign that you’re pushing the limits of your capabilities. It is at this stage that you grow.

So next time you struggle with something in your PhD or you find a new part of the PhD journey hard, remind yourself that you wouldn’t have made any mistakes at all if you were just coasting through. Instead, you’re pushing yourself and you’re growing as a result. Your mistakes are a testament to that. Embrace them.

Hello, Doctor…

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21. Separate creation from improvement

We’ve all had moments where we can’t seem to write enough and, as we put words on the page, we label them terrible, delete them and end up back where we started.

This to-and-fro of writing and editing is a serious impediment to productivity. You can’t do both at the same time, as they are two distinct activities that require different skills. If you try to write and edit concurrently, you’ll do both ineffectively.

A far more effective way to overcome writing hurdles is to separate the process of writing and editing.

So while you write that first draft, do so free of judgement. Just focus on getting words on the page. Only once you have a draft in front of you do you go back and start judging and editing.

Freeing these two tasks will mean one thing: you’ll write more words, more quickly and more competently.

22. Don’t be so damn hard on yourself!

PhDs never, ever, ever go to plan. You’ll make mistakes all the time. You’ll realise six months down the road that you messed something up, or went down the wrong path.

But don’t be so harsh on yourself.

You’re human, and humans make mistakes.

Show yourself loving-kindness, and see the mistakes as part of your ongoing development as a scholar and PhD student.

23. You’ll have to navigate Shit Valley

At some stage, every PhD student ends up in Shit Valley.

You normally find yourself here around halfway through the PhD journey. You’ll know you’ve arrived when everything you can see around you looks like it’s covered in shit.

You’re knee-deep in the data, you still don’t really know what’s going on and your levels of self-doubt are sky-high. In front of you is a mountain of hard work – also covered in shit, incidentally – and behind you is a wake of unproductive drafts, wasted time and lots and lots of confusion. Nothing in your day to day life gives you joy any more and there doesn’t seem to be a way out, no matter how hard you look. Because you’re halfway through your thesis when you get to Shit Valley, you’re about as far away from an exit point as you can be.

Shit Valley isn’t a nice place to be and nothing anyone tells you will make it any easier. It’s shit after all. Your workload is immense, you’re still figuring out what goes where, and you’ve got no motivation to do any of it.

But do it you must, because the only way out is to keep on journeying though. Have faith that you will – eventually – get out of the valley and that, when you do, your workload will be more manageable, you’ll start to know what you’re doing, you’ll have more motivation and you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Keep ploughing on through, try not to look at all the shit around you and know that one day you’ll find the exit.

24. Settle for good enough

Perfectionism is hard work.

It makes life challenging because no matter how hard you try or how well you do, it’s never good enough.

If you’re a perfectionist, you’ll recognise the guilt, anxiety and stress that can accompany everyday life, particularly when things aren’t going to plan.

You may feel that you have to meet every deadline, exercise as much as you do normally, eat healthily and be as productive as you are in normal life.

But the pressure is self-imposed and doesn’t reflect reality. There’s no such thing as perfect, and by striving for it you’re working towards something that is unattainable. If you keep doing that, you’ll never be satisfied and will always be stressed.

That’s why this is a perfect time to embrace being satisfied with ‘good enough’. Cut yourself some slack, stop expecting so much from yourself and recognise that to be human is to make mistakes.

You won’t always be productive, you won’t always eat healthily and you won’t meet every deadline. And that’s good enough.

25. Work with tiny texts

One of the biggest challenges you’ll face when writing your thesis is staying on message and making sure that your writing is punchy, coherent and flows logically.

When you’re writing such long chapters it’s easy to get lost in the detail and go on tangents. What started out with good intentions may end up going astray as you veer off message and your argument gets diluted.

A really effective way of avoiding this is to write a short introductory paragraph that summarises the key points and arguments that the rest of the text will develop. Someone should be able to understand broadly what your chapter is about just from reading one of these introductory statements.

They don’t have to be long. Typically they only need to include two or three sentences. Their job is to summarise the argument and present the top level, headline detail. ‘This chapter will argue….’ or ‘The purpose of this chapter is to…’, and so on.

They have a number of benefits.

First, they force you to stop and think about what exactly you’re arguing. By stripping away all the bloat and being confined to just a couple of sentences, you’re forced to crystallise your thinking.

Second, they make the reader’s life easier by priming them for what is about to come. With these introductory statements, you’ve told them what the point of the chapter is in the first paragraph. Because they know where you’re heading, they can more easily follow along as you get there.

Third, they help you structure the rest of the text because they serve as super-condensed chapter outlines.

So next time you find yourself struggling to get your point across, try and write this kind of two or three sentence summary. You’ll be surprised by the effect it has.

26. Learn whether or not you’re a perfectionist

Most of the PhD students I talk to are perfectionists. Are you?

With perfectionism comes a desire to have control over day-to-day life, knowledge of what’s going to happen in the short term, and the certainty that the PhD thesis will be, well, perfect.

But your day to day life can easily become disrupted, as happened with coronavirus. Suddenly, you’ve got no way of knowing what will happen in the short or long term, and you may worry that your thesis will be sub-optimal as you step away from fieldwork, labs and supervisors.

The perfectionist in you is panicking, right?

Perfectionism is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can fill you with drive, passion, dedication and motivation. It can inspire you to try your hardest and do your best. It’s likely what got you on to your PhD programme in the first place.

But at the same time, it has a dark side. For as much as it can inspire, it can lead to panic. Anxiety, worry and dread often follow in the footsteps of perfectionism, such that when you lose control over your reality, or when you get things wrong, make mistakes or produce something sub-optimal, you panic. What starts off as a simple mistake can quickly become the end of the world.

Part of the challenge of doing a PhD is learning to embrace imperfection and recognising that sub-optimal does not necessarily mean failure. Managing perfectionism involves reminding yourself that you’re only human and that humans face stresses, make mistakes and sometimes struggle to produce their best work. Even the brightest and most competent of people have off days.

The more you can remind yourself of that, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with what life throws at you and your thesis.

27. Remember that PhDs are meant to be hard

Less than 2% of the population has a PhD. That’s because they’re hard.

But pause to reflect on why they’re hard.

You’re adding to a field. You’re creating new knowledge and pushing the boundaries of what we know. That’s never easy.

Anyone can learn what other people have already discovered. Anyone can regurgitate information. That’s easy.

What isn’t easy is bringing new knowledge into the world.

What’s even harder is doing it in this current time of crisis, facing considerable adversity.

You’re smarter, more capable and more gifted than you may give yourself credit for. Keep showing up, cut yourself some slack and remind yourself how capable you really are.

28. See worrying for what it is: pointless

Our brains have a negativity bias built into them that’s hard to control at the best of times.

Sometimes, it seems that the only thing we can do is worry.

But worrying can be like sitting in a rocking chair; it can give you something to do, but it doesn’t really get you anywhere.

29. Appreciate that there are no stupid questions

I get a lot of emails every day from people looking for advice on structuring or writing their PhD.

And often they’re accompanied by the same statement: ‘I’m sorry if this is a stupid question, but…’

But there is no such thing as a stupid question.

If you don’t know the answer to something and you ask someone that does, that makes it a valid question. If someone tells you you’ve asked a stupid question that’s their problem, not yours.

So next time you’re scratching your head wondering what goes where in your PhD, don’t be afraid to ask people more knowledgable than you. That might be your supervisor, a colleague or me.

30. Show yourself some compassion

One of the best skills you can learn during your PhD is how to be more loving to yourself.

Self-love is the art of showing yourself the same kind of love and support you show to friends, partners and families. It means being a friend to yourself and doing things that nurture and strengthen you.

This might be something as simple as treating yourself to a slice of cake to celebrate a good day, or developing a workout routine to improve your physical and mental health.

Whatever it looks like, over time you’ll build up greater resilience to handle what the PhD has to throw at you.

But another useful – and related – skill is to develop self-compassion. Self-compassion is the art of going easy on yourself and not giving yourself such a hard time when things don’t go to plan. It involves you being kinder to yourself when you get things wrong, reminding yourself that you’re trying your hardest and that you’re only human.

If you can nail these two skills, you’ll be much better prepared not just to navigate your PhD, but to handle the stresses and strains of life more generally.

31. Be a friend

We all feel lonely from time to time, but you may find that as you get further into your PhD your feelings of loneliness increase.

Whilst difficult, it’s normal. It’s you that has to carry around the weight and anxiety that accompany your PhD, and it’s you who has to constantly find a way over what seem like insurmountable hurdles, problems and sticking points. Coupled with that, you often have to spend long hours working alone.

As loneliness starts to creep in, we can instinctively expect other people to reach out to us, message us, invite us to things and be there for us. When they don’t, we feel even more lonely.

But instead of waiting, be proactive. Be a friend to others. Initiate the messages, send the invites and organise the events. Be there for those around you who may be dealing with struggles of their own.

Not only will you feel more connected, but you’ll be a good friend to others.

if you want more advice on PhD loneliness, you can read a new guide I’ve written by clicking here .

32. The iceberg illusion

It’s easy to compare yourself to others. It’s easy to look at your PhD colleagues and wonder why you aren’t as competent, far advanced or as confident as they are.

I’ve talked before about the dangers of comparing your insides to other people’s outside, but I want to expand on that.

The reason it’s so fruitless if because of the iceberg illusion. With an iceberg, what you see above the surface of the water is only a fraction of the total mass. Beneath the surface is a far greater volume, but it’s hidden from view.

And in life, people’s successes and achievements are only the things people see above the surface. What other people don’t see is what lies beneath the surface. You don’t see their persistence, failures, disappointments, hard work, good habits and dedication.

In other words, people might look great on the outside, but you don’t see all the effort, hard work and failings that go on behind the scenes.

Bear that in mind next time you find yourself comparing yourself to others.

33. Prioritise your workflow

We often spend too much time worrying about and focusing on the trivial things and not enough time on focusing on the important things.

When you approach your PhD in day-to-day life, it helps to spend a few minutes at the beginning of the day looking at your to-do list (or making one, if you haven’t already) and asking yourself what things on it are important and urgent, not important and not urgent, or just plain trivial.

In other words, work out the things on your list that you absolutely have to focus on and the things on there that can either be forgotten about entirely (because they’re trivial) or can wait for another day (because they’re not urgent or important).

Working in this way gives you some wiggle room if you don’t manage to get things done because it shows you what you can quickly cull from today’s list. Importantly though, you make sure that the most important and urgent things get done first.

34. Focus on the bigger picture

You wake up, you’re late, you miss your bus and before you know it you’ve got to your desk and it’s nearly lunchtime. You think to yourself ‘today’s such a bad day’. You then start to stress about the amount of work you’ve missed, how behind you’re going to be, and how late you will have to stay to catch up.

You feel bad about the impact this will have on your performance and progress.

But it’s just one day.

In your life and your PhD, you may tend to judge your performance on a micro level and be constantly gauging whether you’re doing well or badly, or doing the right or wrong thing.

But it often helps to take a look at the bigger picture and to reflect on your performance over a longer time frame. Perhaps you could do this by tracking your weekly progress or even setting monthly targets and goals.

Assessing yourself daily is a false economy because part of being human and part of being a PhD student is having up and down days. Our circumstances, mood, health, energy, motivation and drive all fluctuate day by day. If we track our mood on this micro level, we can be overly critical of ourselves when we aren’t so productive.

By focusing on the macro perspective, you can accommodate the bad days and accept them as part of the natural progress of a PhD.

35. Remember that there is always a silver lining

You’re going to have dark days. You’re probably going to have a few dark weeks. And you may even have the odd dark month.

Whichever state you find yourself in, there will always be a positive or two upon which to focus. There’s always something that is going right or making you feel good, no matter how bleak the outlook is otherwise.

The trick – and this is one that gets easier as you progress through your PhD – is to be mindful enough that you can spot those few glimmers of positivity and focus on them more than you focus on the negative.

The more you can hone that skill, the easier it will be to deal with the dark times.

36. You’re probably to blame 

When things go wrong with our PhDs, we can often try to look outside of ourselves to find someone to blame.

If we get negative feedback during a supervision, we can blame the supervisor for not reading our work properly or failing to understand what we are saying.

Or, if we miss a deadline or feel overwhelmed, we can blame outsiders for excessive workloads.

While other people may have played a role in whatever misfortune you find yourself experiencing, often we also forget to look at the role we have played. We spend so long looking for fault in others we forget to ask ourselves what we could have done differently.

Doing so not only allows you to more realistically work out what went wrong, but it also allows you to see what you can learn and how you can behave differently in the future.

37. When you write, ask yourself ‘so what?’

I read a lot of PhDs and I coach a lot of PhD students.

When I do, I find myself asking one question over and over again: ‘so what?’

When you are writing about, say, particular design decisions, or a specific theoretical concept, ask yourself ‘so what?’

That way, you go beyond merely discussing a particular phenomenon, method, or whatever, and instead tell the reader why such a discussion is important and why it is relevant in the context of your thesis.

That’s because, in your thesis, everything should be rooted in your research questions, research aims and research objectives. By asking ‘so what’ you are showing what those roots look like and, in doing so, being explicit about why a particular discussion is worth having and telling the reader why they should care you are having it.

For example, if you are talking about a particular method, by asking ‘so what’ you tell the reader why that method is appropriate given your questions/aims/objectives, what benefits or drawbacks it will bring, and how it will bolster your study.

If you fail to ask ‘so what’, you’re just describing a method and the reader is left wondering – you guessed it – ‘so what’?

38. Build self-care into your PhD journey 

Self-care can be transformative.

It’s the product of an inwardness, a self-aware attitude to your day to day life, in which you recognise what’s not good for you and introduce things that are.

It may be as simple as starting a gratitude journal, taking ten minutes each day to meditate, allocating time away from screens, or connecting with a loved one.

Or, it may be more drastic. It may involve distancing yourself from toxic people in your life, avoiding food or drink binges, or perhaps – most drastically – changing PhD supervisors.

Whatever it is, self-care becomes self-reinforcing. The more you take time out to care for your well-being, the better able you are to handle what your PhD throws at you. Then, the better able you are to navigate the PhD, the better able you are to exercise self-care.

I’m talking from experience (albeit bad experience). I exercised very little self-care during my PhD. I drank too much, I had poor routines, I didn’t look inwards and ask myself what is and isn’t making me feel good, and I generally took poor care of myself. The result was an incredible amount of stress, self-loathing and difficulty.

It is only in my post-PhD life that I have discovered the transformative power of self-care. To find out more about self-care in particular and mental good health in general, I can highly recommend the  Tiny Buddha  blog. It’s completely free and is an incredible resource for those looking at taking better care of their mental wellbeing.

39. Learn the power of saying no

When I was doing my PhD, there was one word I didn’t know the meaning of: ‘no’.

Can you do more teaching this semester Max? Yes, sure. Can you mark this extra pile of papers over the weekend? Of course. Can you work for free, it’ll be good for your CV? Sure! Where do I sign up?

Three things motivated me, a fear of not getting a job at the end of my PhD, satisfying the perfectionist in me by being the best version of a PhD student I could, and fear of getting a reputation as lazy.

But what was driving it all was trying to please everyone, at the expense of my wellbeing.

Are you the same? Do you find it hard to say no?

Ask yourself why. Is it because you’re also a people pleaser?

Whatever motivates it, you need to watch out. Saying yes to everyone and everything ends badly. You burn out, give up too much of your free time, overwhelm yourself and, ultimately, end up getting a reputation for being always available. That’s not a great position to be in.

Saying no won’t be the end of the world, and it won’t tarnish your reputation. It’s an act of kindness to yourself and a way of respecting your own boundaries.

So next time someone asks you to do something and, deep down, you don’t really want to, don’t be afraid to say no.

40. Imagine you are holding a stack of pillows

I want you to imagine you’re holding a small red pillow. If I were to ask you to pick a pen up off the floor without dropping the pillow, you’d be able to do it. Sure, it’d be a bit cumbersome, but you’d manage.

Now imagine that I added one blue pillow on top of your red pillow. Picking that pen up is getting a bit more difficult now, isn’t it? Gradually, I add one blue pillow after another. As I do, you start to disappear behind a tower of pillows.

Picking that pen up without dropping the pillows is now impossible.

Now imagine that the red pillow represents a problem you’re having with your PhD. Perhaps it’s a problem with an experiment, or an issue you’re having planning a chapter. Whatever it is, it’s an objective issue you’re currently having.

And much like the pen and the red pillow, even though you’ve got that problem on your mind, you can still go about your day to day life largely unencumbered.

But the blue pillows represent our brain’s capacity to worry, stress, ruminate, catastrophise and do all the other things it does to turn a small problem into a nightmare.

Over time you start to add blue pillows. You start to worry about whether you’re an imposter, or the perfectionist in you starts to convince you you’re a failure. You start to worry about whether you’re going to complete or even why you bothered to start in the first place.

Much like with the blue pillows, as you add these problems one by one, you start to feel their weight and you can’t perform basic functions. You notice you’re crippled with stress, anxiety or worry.

But you have a choice. Sure, the problem – the red pillow – is real so you can’t really change that. But you can change how you respond and you can choose not to add the blue pillows. Catch yourself when you’re adding those pillows and stop yourself doing it.

That’s the art of mindfulness. It’s the art of choosing how you respond to the world around you and it’s a great way to manage common PhD stresses and anxieties.

Practising mindfulness in this way sounds straightforward, but it’s an art and it takes practice. A good place to start is a guide I’ve recently published that talks about the science of mindfulness for PhD students.

41. Learn to deal with criticism

If there’s one thing that perfectionists can’t handle it is criticism.

Ring a bell?

It does for me.

Let me give you an example. I like to think that I’m a pretty great  proofreader  and  PhD-coach . My feedback and reviews are, on the whole, glowing.

But sometimes I get a bad one when someone isn’t happy.

Now, the rational part of my brain tells me that I tried my hardest and that one negative review out of hundreds isn’t the end of the world, however disappointing.

But the perfectionist side tells me that my business is doomed. The imposter syndrome kicks in; ‘they’ve found me out!’ it screams. I panic, think about that one review all day and give it far more space and energy that it deserves.

And you may be the same when it comes to your PhD. Most of the PhD students I interact with tend to have perfectionist tendencies — some more than others.

When you get feedback on your work, or when you are at conferences or other public speaking events, you sometimes have the same response to negativity. It can feel like the end of the world, and it can feel like your entire PhD-journey is in vain.

Sometimes this can be a good thing. Your worry and attention to detail can mean that you fix problems faster than most and that you’re more careful to avoid them in the first place.

But it can also be detrimental. Much like me giving too must space and energy to that one review, you may find that negative feedback and critique can become more significant than it actually is.

Step one in overcoming this is recognising if and when it’s happening. Ask yourself if you’re putting too much focus on critique. Once you’ve begun to foster greater awareness, you can start to shift your perspective from one of ‘I’m doomed’ to one of ‘okay, what can I learn from this?’

Above all though, recognise your humanity and give yourself a break. We all make mistakes.

42. Your thesis is a cruel mistress

As a PhD-student, you may find your partner (or friends, if you’re single) are coming second to your thesis.

That’s because you may feel that what it takes to be successful is to marry your thesis.

You then feel like you have to devote your entire life to it, pushing away other things that are important for a balanced life (like, say, friends, partners or hobbies).

But instead of marrying your thesis, treat it like a cruel mistress. See it as this part of your life that is doing its best to ruin you and to make your life as difficult as possible but that, because it’s just a mistress, you can keep it on the periphery as an addendum to an otherwise balanced, fulfilled life.

What does that mean in practice? It means showing up when you have to and letting it do its best to ruin you. But – and this is the crucial bit – it also means stepping away from it regularly, having clear PhD/life boundaries, not taking things too personally, and realising that your PhD is just one part of your life, not all of it.

43. Remember it’s lonely at the top

Completing a PhD is no small feat. It requires brains, guts and cunning. But it can be lonely at the top.

Large numbers of students struggle with anxiety, depression and stress. Above all, many feel lonely. I was incredibly lonely during my PhD. I felt as though my problems and stresses were unique and that I was the only student in my cohort to be feeling them. That meant I put on a mask of competence.

So much so that my peers couldn’t tell that, underneath that mask, I was crumbling.

And the longer I wore that mask, the less connected I felt from my peers and the more I felt as though I was living a lie.

Are you the same? Do you have a mask? Are you suffering in silence?

What I found most liberating – and what cured my loneliness – was making myself vulnerable and sharing my challenges, frustrations and pain points with my PhD-peers. I opened up, talked about things we’d never really talked about and shared my inner thoughts, doubts and worries.

And the response amazed me.

Almost every one of my PhD colleagues shared similar stories of self-doubt and anxiety. They shared stories that sounded remarkably similar to mine. This led to strong bonds among us. We started to sympathise with one another more and look out for one another. In short, it fostered a shared identity and a stronger sense of community.

So, if you’re suffering behind your mask, speak out and share your struggles. The response may surprise you.

44. Take time off

We can kid ourselves and pretend every day is going to be a good one, or that we’re going to wake up with a spring in our step.

But life doesn’t work like that, and your PhD definitely doesn’t work like that.

Seemingly at random and without any apparent cause, you’re going to have days where you feel rubbish, or you don’t want to get out of bed. You’ll wake up with no confidence, or crippled with self-doubt, left wondering what the point of it all is, or why you even started a PhD in the first place.

It’s at times like this that you need to embrace the power of taking a day off.

You’re a human being as well as a PhD student, and you too deserve sick days. Use them.

If you teach, find cover. If you work in a lab, let your supervisor know you’re sick. If you have a chapter to finish, it’ll still be there when you come back.

Remember, just because you haven’t got physical symptoms doesn’t mean you don’t need some you-time, or to curl up on the sofa in front of the TV.

The benefits will be great. By recognising your low mood, recharging your batteries and taking time out to care for your own wellbeing you can avoid bigger problems in the long run and come back to your PhD the next day in a more positive frame of mind.

The alternative is that you fight through, fail to recognise that part of being human is having off-days, and then create bigger problems as you find your performance lacking and your stress levels rising.

Remember: Be a friend to yourself, particularly when the outlook is cloudy.

45. Recognise the power of incubation

There’s a special kind of fear that comes from starting the writing process and staring at a blank screen. The start of every chapter, proposal, abstract or paper can be filled with dread.

Do you find yourself lost for words when you first set out writing something? Or perhaps you know what you want to say, but aren’t sure how you’re going to arrive at that destination

With everything you write, you will have an objective or series of objectives in mind. In a chapter, for example, it’s the main argument you want to get across and the various sub-sections you use to build and validate that argument.

But getting your ideas and sub-sections in order (or even working out what they are in the first place) is tough.

So I use this one tip. When you’ve got that blank screen in front of you, your first job should be to sketch down your rough ideas. Create the skeleton plan for the chapter, proposal, or whatever else you’re writing. It’ll be rough around the edges; that’s fine.

Then the next step is to put the text to one side and do something else. Something completely different, ideally. Let me explain.

During my PhD, there were several moments when I was sitting in front of my computer writing that I found myself stuck. I couldn’t wrestle the ideas and concepts into the right order. Defeated, I’d turn off my computer and got on with my life. It was often during those non-writing moments that things would make sense. Something would ‘click’. When I wasn’t even thinking about it.

And that’s the point. It may not feel like it, but all the while you’re doing things other than writing, you’re incubating those early ideas you jotted down on paper. You’re processing them, relating them to what you already know and drawing on your experience, to the extent that the next time you sit down to write you’ll find the words flow much more easily.

Try it today. If you’re lost for words, sketch some rough ideas down on paper and then step away. Incubate those ideas and see if your writing doesn’t flow more easily next time you’re in the mood to write.

46. Realise that life is unfair

‘Life’s so unfair.’

If you ever find yourself saying that to yourself, ask yourself whether you are doing so because you assume that life should be fair, or because you think it will be fair if only x, y or z changed.

The truth is that life is unfair. The same is true of your PhD.

Things won’t go to plan, good work will get overlooked, more competent people will get promoted, and you will be treated unfairly.

It’s not right, nor is it rational, but it’s reality.

It’s plain unfair.

If you go through your PhD program assuming that life is fair, you will be disappointed as you confront the environment around you.

I don’t intend to be defeatist. Instead, by shifting your assumption about the world and your program – and thus assuming that it is, in fact, unfair – you better prepare yourself for those instances in which things don’t go to plan, or you do get treated badly.

The alternative is kidding yourself that things should go right and then getting thrown off balance when they inevitably don’t.

Building up this resilience is key to deflecting a lot of the irrational, nonsensical behaviours and outcomes you encounter on your PhD-journey. Without it, you’ll be disheartened.

47. Try a done list 

When you look at your to-do list, how do you feel?

Anxious? Overwhelmed? Exhausted?

That’s because to-do lists are just a long list of things you haven’t yet done.

No doubt yours contains things that you don’t particularly want to do, or that you’re going to put off until you eventually admit defeat and get rid of them altogether.

But have you ever heard of a done list?

A done list is a way of tracking what you’ve already achieved rather than things you’ve yet to do.

Whilst a to-do list can be helpful in structuring your workflow, a done list is more rewarding. To-do lists can overwhelm, whereas done lists inspire.

That’s because the only things that matter are the things you actually do.

So if your to-do list is scaring you, also keep track of all your accomplished tasks on a done list.

You may find that it inspires you and offers a sense of reward for a hard day’s work.

48. Stop trying to improve things

We tend to think, ‘If only I solve this problem’, everything will be okay, or that things are bad because of x, y and z, and that all that’s needed in the pursuit of happiness is to solve specific, objective problems.

But life doesn’t work like that, and nor does your PhD.

Sure, solving those problems is important, but just as quickly as you solve them, new problems will rear their heads. Then, new ones. And new ones.

But all the while, you’ll be thinking, ‘I just need to solve this problem and I’ll be happy/less-stressed/in control/whatever’, whereas all you are doing is treading water. You’re failing to see that your PhD is an exercise in dealing with problems. They never stop, and their form and frequency is uncertain. You won’t ever overcome them all.

Instead, embrace them. Embrace the fact that things will never be complete, and that happiness isn’t as easy as solving problem X, Y and Z.

Happiness and contentment with your PhD are lived, not planned. You find it in the every day, in the coping strategies you have to confront the problems, and in the small joys you may be overlooking.

Focus on these, and your problems may start to look less problematic.

49. Embrace your flaws and imperfections

What is it you are hoping to achieve by letting that inner-critic run free and focus on all the things you’ve done wrong?

It’s as if, by viewing the imperfections in our persona and our work so negatively, we’re striving towards some ideal-type in which we never make mistakes and always produce work of the highest quality.

Part of that comes from the environment we’re in: our days can often be surrounded by excellence, by highly polished journal articles and well-honed lectures, and by accomplished professors drawing on all their skills and experience.

We’re left somewhere in the wake wondering where we went wrong.

But the academic world, given the value it places on excellence and expertise, often tends to overlook a simple human trait: we’re fallible and imperfect, and part of the joy of being human – or at least being a content human – is to embrace our imperfections rather than constantly try and fix them.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should stop seeking to improve, or that you should fail to address shortcomings in your own work. But it does mean that you should take other people off of their pedestals. You should recognise that humans fail, and they often do so spectacularly. It also means that just because someone on the outside looks fantastic, infallible, and seemingly untouchable, doesn’t mean that they aren’t hiding their own humanity.

Celebrate yours. Celebrate all the times you messed up, the times that taught you what you know and bought you where you are today. Embrace the things you don’t yet know and the things you wished you knew. Grab them, and hold on to them, for perfection, even if it were to exist, is a boring utopia.

Your PhD thesis. All on one page. 

Use our free PhD structure template to quickly visualise every element of your thesis. 

50. You can’t assess the quality of your own work

Have you ever looked at something you’ve written and thought to yourself, ‘How am I ever going to graduate? What I’ve written is awful’?

We all have.

It’s human nature (at least amongst PhD students, it seems) to be critical of our own work. The perfectionist in you is never quite satisfied, no matter how much improvement you make.

But next time you find your inner critic telling you that what you’re doing isn’t up to standard, remember this: you’re the worst person to critique your work.

You’re too invested in it, to the extent that it clouds your ability to see all the positives. Plus, you know the writing and argumentation better than anyone. You know exactly what it is you are trying to say, and if the text on the page doesn’t match up you’re going to be critical of it, even though – chances are – what you’ve written is already solid.

Read through your work and be critical of it, sure, but recognise that you’re not an objective judge.

51. You’re the only one who has heard it all

When you’re writing your thesis, you have to remember that you know more about your research and your study than your reader does. You know all the detail, all the quirks and you know how the thesis ends.

When the reader opens your thesis, they don’t know any of this.

Yet sometimes when we write we forget that. We write as if the reader is as knowledgeable as we are, and in the process, we confuse them.

So whenever you’re writing, remember that disconnect between what you already know and what the ready is yet to know. Write clearly, signpost and guide the reader on the journey you want to take them.

52. Remember what you’re a part of

When you started your PhD, you did so with a sense of wonder. But somehow the wonder of it wasn’t enough, and you stopped wondering and started to wonder about yourself.

We start our PhDs with such noble intentions, driven by an urge to explore and uncover.

Yet as we progress, we start to make everything so messy; we don’t keep it simple. We get so bogged down in the minor details, worrying unnecessarily about our own competence or what we’re doing with our lives, or overthinking the mechanics of our PhDs, that life as a PhD student becomes so in-ordinarily complicated.

You’ll only be a PhD student once. Your moment to be a part of this community happens only briefly. The challenge is not to show how inventive you are, or how colourful your PhD can be, but rather to see how much you can enjoy it, how much you can notice and relish what you are part of.

That way, you’ll get to the end of it having had a great time.

53. Focus on what you do have, not on what you don’t

I want you to stop and ask yourself whether you spend more time focusing on what you haven’t done and not enough time focusing on what you have.

When we’re feeling frustrated at our progress, or when we’re convinced that we’re not up to the job, it’s easy to look at others and see the apparent ease with which they navigate the literature or the speed with which they produce chapters or the number of publications they already have.

We do so and instinctively look at our own work, telling ourselves, ‘If only I do these things, or have these things, or complete these things, I will finally be happy with my PhD and won’t be so stressed’.

But this is a form of torture. Not only is it a needless form of suffering, but it is built on a fundamental misunderstanding about what actually makes us happy and what makes us content with the progress we are making in our PhDs.

Contentment in your PhD comes not from what you haven’t done, or what you haven’t produced, but instead from what you have.

It’s the small things that matter: the hurdles you overcame to get here; the brilliant feedback on that chapter; the chance to work with that brilliant professor; getting 100 words down on paper when all you wanted to do was sleep; heck, even just turning up is an achievement sometimes.

So our problem when we are feeling stressed, unfulfilled or lacking in sufficient progress is not one of means or outcomes, but of perspective. We spend so long looking at what we lack, and not enough time at the achievements and pleasures that are already under our belt.

Give yourself time to appreciate these things and you may find that some of your PhD-stress lifts off your shoulders.

54. Your PhD is unique. Just like everyone else’s

We’re social creatures, which means we take comfort in situating ourselves in relation to others.

Most of the time, this isn’t a problem, and can actually give us a good indication of what to do, when to do it and how to do it.

But when it comes to your PhD, comparing yourself to others can be misleading.

There are two traps students often fall into:

1. They may compare their progress to that of their peers. 2. They may look to the papers, research and studies of others and think to themselves ‘why doesn’t my research look/sound/work like theirs’?

If you’re guilty of any of these, you’re overlooking the fact that PhDs are all unique.

Students progress at different rates because of the nature of their study and the nature of their skillset.

And your research may not read or be structured like that of someone you look up to, largely because your research is different and you write and structure your work in your own way.

Learn and draw inspiration from others, sure, but recognise that every PhD and every PhD student is unique. You all work and progress in different ways, and although you’ll go about it differently, you’ll all eventually end up at the same destination.

55. Don’t be so hard on yourself

PhDs never, ever, ever go to plan.

You’ll make mistakes all the time. You’ll realise six months down the road that you messed something up, or went down the wrong path.

56. Make sure your goals are small and manageable

It is important to plan for the future and have goals in your PhD.

But there is an important thing to point out:

They need to be realistic and manageable.

If you’re anything like I was when I was sitting in your position, I would set lofty, ambitious goals that would, in effect, require me to work at 100% for 100% of the time.

I quickly failed.

Over the years, both during the PhD and in my career afterwards, I have learnt the importance of setting more realistic, manageable goals. Doing so is an act of kindness because the only person you’re kidding (and letting down) by setting lofty goals is yourself. By making them more realistic, not only do you avoid piling on unnecessary stress, but you increase your chances of actually meeting them.

There’s no shame in it either. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your next chapter won’t be either. It will take as long as it takes. Understand your limits, be kind on yourself, accept your fallibility and have faith that small steps in the right direction will get you where you need to go.

57. Notice when you’re worrying unnecessarily

When I was doing my PhD it seemed as though most of my time was taken up with constantly over-thinking things.

So much so, that I used to spend hours trying to solve unsolvable problems, plan and predict the future of my PhD, or try and make sense of every minute detail of my PhD research and thesis.

It’s likely that you do the same.

That’s because we often assume that, so long as we think hard enough, we will crack what it is we are worrying about.

But that isn’t true. Sure, there is a space for creative problem solving, but ruminating – going over and over the same things in your head – is unproductive and, to be frank, a waste of time. It can distract you from the present, can raise your anxiety levels and can foster an unhealthy relationship with your thesis.

Try and catch yourself when you find yourself ruminating and ask yourself whether you’ve strayed across the boundary from healthy problem solving to unhealthy rumination. If you have, consciously divert your attention and step away from the thought process.

58. Your PhD will always be there

Your PhD, at least until you graduate, is a never-ended pit of tasks, worry and things to do.

No matter how much you work, no matter how much you think or write, or how much you worry, the PhD will always be there. It’ll always be there to occupy more of your time or mental and emotional capacity, and no matter how much you invest in it, it’ll demand more. It’s as though it is never satisfied.

This may sound apocalyptic, but instead, I want to use this observation to make an important point, one that’s relevant throughout your PhD journey: you need to delineate PhD time and your time. You need to be clear when the times are that you think, work and worry on or about your thesis, and when the times are that you focus on hobbies, self-care or other non-PhD things.

If you don’t, you run the risk of being consumed by your thesis as it seeks to take more and more from you.

59. One day you’ll overtake your supervisor

All throughout your undergraduate and master’s programmes, you were very much the student and your professors and lecturers were there as the experts, teaching you what they know.

And when you start your PhD, your supervisor is more of an expert in your field than you are. It’s their job to help you navigate along the PhD journey and get to grips with the literature and state of the art.

In other words, they’re there to teach you because they know more about the field than you do.

But there comes a time in every PhD where you become an expert, where you become so plugged into the literature and the data that you know more about your topic and area of study than your supervisor. Sure, it may only be within the niche of your PhD topic, but it’s important to recognise when this switchover takes place.

That’s because it has important implications for the supervisor-student relationship. Before this point, their opinion and input have more power and you would be wise to listen to their advice. But as you reach and go beyond this point, you can begin to exert your own academic muscles and start to recognise where their advice may be inappropriate or misplaced, given what you know and they don’t.

Inevitably, you become the expert and it becomes your job to act and talk like one.

That’s the point of a PhD, right?

60. Having crap writing is better than no writing

In my free time, I like to go running.

I remember when I first started, I used to be harsh on myself because I was slow and was being overtaken by people much fitter than me.

But my perception changed when I got one piece of advice:

“You might not be the fastest, but you’re overtaking everyone sitting on the couch”.

And it’s the same when it comes to writing your PhD.

You may not have a finished draft yet, and you may not be happy with what you’ve written. Heck, you may only have ten words on the page.

But having some words on the page is better than having no words on the page.

Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you haven’t made the progress you aimed for, or you still have a lot of writing to do.

Instead, congratulate yourself on the writing you have done, not the writing you haven’t.

61. Nothing you read is irrelevant

I remember from my own PhD that I would often ask myself what the relevance was of a particular article or book chapter, particularly in the early years. I would read and wonder where it fitted into the grander PhD-picture.

One day a professor gave me a great piece of advice:

“Nothing you read is irrelevant. One day, maybe years down the line, you’ll remember that article or book and it’ll play an important role in ways you can’t yet imagine”.

And they were right.

In the later stages of my PhD, I found myself remembering back to articles and chapters that I had previously written off as irrelevant and realising that they could be useful.

So keep reading, make detailed notes when you do so, and don’t worry too much if you can’t work out how everything fits. That’ll all come later.

62. Sometimes you’ve just got to suck it up

Being irritated about progress in your PhD is a choice.

Your PhD won’t always go to plan, you will get things wrong and you will have sleepless nights about whether you’re on the right track.

That’s just how PhDs work.

Now, you can either let that eat you up and irritate you, or you can choose to recognise it as part of the PhD-journey and try not to take it to personally.

In other words, you can choose to not let your PhD irritate you.

63. You need to learn from your mistakes

We won’t get things right all of the time. The world just doesn’t work like that.

We’re going to mess up. A lot.

That’s just part of being human and part of being a PhD student.

Sometimes those mistakes are innocent and have little effect on our lives or our PhDs, but sometimes they are more serious and can have a lasting impact and can take a long time to rectify.

But in either case, you can use the mistake as an opportunity to ask yourself a really powerful, effective question, one that can allow you to harness a negative experience and try – as much as possible – to turn it into a positive one.

The question is: what can I learn from this mistake?

64. There’s no right answer

The hardest thing I found when I was doing my PhD was that there’s no right or wrong way of doing one.

Sure, there are guides, templates and books you can read, but ultimately each PhD is different and each PhD students works in different ways.

So instead of a right or a wrong way, there’s just your way.

Now that’s all well and good, but the really terrifying part of it is that we often we don’t know whether our way of doing things is effective until years down the line when we face our examiners at the viva.

This requires incredible trust in your own abilities and faith that the decisions you make today – and the decisions you made yesterday – are made in good faith and reflect the fact that you are trying the best you can.

Believe in yourselves, form design, writing and research decisions on the basis of logical thought processes, keep putting in the effort and you’ll get there in the end.

65. The PhD journey isn’t linear

When you speak to your supervisor or read books or guides on conducting PhD research, you are often made to think that the research process is linear.

This makes people panic because if your research doesn’t fit into neat little linear boxes there is a tendency to think that you’re doing something wrong.

Which is nonsense, because the research process is never linear.

Instead, it’s a mess. Sure, there are various stages involved in a PhD (e.g. planning, writing, researching, and so on), but you’ll find yourself moving back and forward between different stages – even stages that are seemingly far apart – all the time.

In my PhD, for example, I redefined my research objective and problem slightly after I had collected data. I even made small changes to my research question as I was writing up.

My point is this: research is messy and it doesn’t progress in a linear fashion. You’ll go round and round in circles and you’ll make mistakes. You’ll have to go back, start over and cover old ground.

And you know what? That’s fine; that’s just the way research works.

66. It’s okay to take a break

During my PhD, I totally burnt out.

I had too much going on for me professionally and emotionally. I crumbled and found I could barely function day to day.

Riddled with anxiety and crushed by the weight of the world, I spoke to my supervisor. To my surprise, they were completely understanding and supported my decision to take a short break from my PhD to give myself time to recharge.

When I came back, I was more energised than ever and made up for the lost time. If I had stayed without a break, my productivity would have reached zero. By taking a break, I mitigated that and got back up to 100%. It was in my interests to drop everything and step away from the PhD.

The people who are overseeing your PhD are human; they’ve been where you are and know the stress you’re under. By honest with them if you’re struggling and know that it’s okay – and often preferable – to take a break if you’re struggling to stay afloat.

67. Your PhD doesn’t define you

The PhD journey can take over your life. The deadlines, supervision meetings, fieldwork, writing up and the extra-curricular anxiety and worry can, if you’re not careful, start to define and encompass your entire life.

Sure, your PhD is important, but it doesn’t and shouldn’t fully define your life. You are more than your thesis and you have more to offer the world and yourself right now.

Tap into the things you do (or did) outside of your thesis that you enjoy (you may need to learn time management skills in order to carve out the time to do this), start to see yourself as a human first and PhD student second and start learning that there is more to life than your PhD thesis.

Why? Because it means that when your PhD gets tough and starts to put pressure on you (which it will, for sure), it won’t make your entire life stressful and difficult, just one part of a holistic, more balanced existence.

68. Your PhD needs to tell a story

Your PhD thesis is a story and as a thesis writer, you’re a storyteller.

This has two implications.

First, your thesis will have a distinct beginning, middle and end. Your beginning is the introduction, lit review, theory framework and the methods chapter. It’s where you set the scene, introduce the characters and signpost the plot. The middle is your empirical work. This is where you get down to business and flesh out that plot. The end is your discussion chapter and conclusion. It’s where you tie everything together, complete the story (by answering the research questions) and set up the sequel (with questions for further research).

Second, you have to think like a storyteller. Guide the reader through your story. You may know how it ends, but the reader won’t so don’t assume they do. Make everything really clear, don’t confuse them by failing to properly introduce plotlines (concepts, ideas, theories, and so on) and guide them gently. Hold their hand almost Importantly, write with confidence! You’re the expert; don’t be afraid to speak like one.

69. Savour the joy of simply being

There’s always something to complain about or something not quite going to plan. There’s always room for improvement or things we’d do differently next time around. Always. That will never change.

But there’s also so much joy to be had from simply being and from recognising – and being fully aware of the fact – that you’re sat where you are, that you’re a PhD scholar and that you’re part of something far, far bigger than yourself. There’s always joy to be found, no matter how bleak the outlook.

You’ll always, once you dig deep enough, find that the very fact that you’re alive, reading this and doing something as wonderful, challenging and (ultimately) rewarding as a PhD is something worth celebrating. Whilst at the surface there may be pain, if you scratch deep you’ll find joy.

70. Let a stranger read your work

Yesterday I held a  coaching  session with someone who had been stuck on a particular problem for a long while. It was causing them stress and anxiety, but over the course of an hour, they could see a light at the end of the tunnel and a way to solve their problems.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an advert. Instead, I want to share with you the insight I had during and after the call. I realised that what helped in this situation was that they had someone independent of the research take a look through their work and offer their thoughts.

There’s so much value in having a stranger offer their input.

That’s because we’re too invested in our own work to be able to think clearly. We fixate on the wrong things, we create problems where none exist and, because our vision is blurred, we can’t see solutions even when they’re staring us right in the face.

But when you hand over your problem to a stranger, they don’t have the same investment. They are looking at things from an impartial perspective and don’t have the same prejudices and pre-convictions. That means they can see much more clearly what’s broken and, importantly, how to fix it.

So my advice to you today is this: if you’re stuck on something and you can find a solution, talk to someone independent of your research. Ideally, that would be a fellow academic or anyone else who understands the research process. The point is, you should ask for support from someone who has no investment in your project but has the skills necessary to offer solutions. Even just talking through your issue for a few minutes could help.

You will likely find that even a quick chat about your problem with this person can save you days or even weeks of headache and unnecessary worry.

71. Savour the good days and be kind to yourself on the bad ones

Not every day is going to be a good day. Sure, some will be brilliant. You’ll get everything done, you’ll find your flow, things will just ‘happen’.

But others will suck. You’ll be in a down mood, or your experiments fail. Whatever it is, you’ll have days you just want to forget.

Before I’ve talked about the danger of expecting every day to be a good one and the power in embracing the imperfection of life.

Today the advice is this: because life is imperfect, really savour the good days. See them as a treat, something that doesn’t happen often and something that should be truly appreciated. Remind yourself how lucky you are, savour the moment and be grateful for the experience.

But, on the flip side, be kind on yourself when you have a bad day. Remind yourself that not every day can be good and that what won’t help things is letting your internal critic get the better of you.

Savour the good days, be kind to yourself on the bad ones.

72. Realise that routines are safe

Routines feel safe. They’re predictable, we can plan around them, we can plan for them and we know that, so long as we keep doing our thing, we’ll get everything done that we need to.

But sometimes you’ll be away from your routine. You might be at a conference or home for the holidays. You may be out of the country or forced away from the familiarity of day to day, for whatever reason.

It is at these times that we realise just how comforting routine can be. We notice the lack of structure, the lack of familiarity or the difficulty with which we accomplish tasks that we previously found easy as we struggle to get in the zone. We might struggle to concentrate, or to focus, or to even find a place appropriate for work.

But you must power on through. You must prioritise what’s important and, however hard, get on with it. Carve out time, however unfamiliar. Routines are safe, sure, but that doesn’t mean that a lack of routine is dangerous for your workflow; you just need to be more creative and lower your expectations for how productive you can be.

Find the time, prioritise the important stuff and go easy on yourself. That way, you’ll get the stuff done that matters, even when you’re feeling unstable and insecure.

73. Some days you’ll want to do nothing

A byproduct of our modern-day obsession with efficiency, maximisation and optimisation is an underlying guilt if we ourselves fail to operate according to such principles.

For many of us – myself included – there is a tendency to feel as though down-time, or time spent doing something that isn’t work- or PhD-related, is in some way a ‘waste’ of time.

But to think like this is to assume that efficiency and productivity are what we should be achieving all of the time when in fact we’re only human and we will always have our off-days.

If we walk around thinking it’s possible to always be on the ball, we’re going to be disappointed and feel like we’re failing when the inevitable happens and we do have off days, aren’t on our A-game, or we spend the afternoon napping when we should be working (any guesses how I spent yesterday afternoon?).

Instead, shift your mindset to begin to embrace the moments when you’re not at your peak. Start to see them as a natural part of being a fallible human. Look at the longer-term picture, and track your productivity and efficiency, say, on a weekly basis, rather than hour by hour or day by day. Start to recognise when you’re exhausted or when your heart’s not in it and embrace it; use it as a chance to leave your desk and step away from the thesis.

To do so will start to liberate you from the internal critic within you who may be trying to attack you for having personal time and who may be creating unrealistic expectations that you’ll never be able to achieve.

74. Take the first step

Elsewhere in this post, I talked about the importance of having a plan in place for the top-level, structural detail before you start getting bogged down with tasks. Without knowing the structure of, say, a chapter, it is hard to assign and then execute tasks in a way that is efficient and productive.

But that doesn’t mean that you need to know all the detail. It doesn’t mean you need to know, say, exactly how the entire chapter is structured before you can start writing.

Instead, you need to know enough detail to be able to take the first step. Enough to get the first word on paper, or conduct the first experiment. Plans are fluid and they’re necessarily incomplete.

So if you’re struggling to see the end-point, just do all you can to be able to take that first step.

75. You won’t keep up with everyone else

There’s a tendency amongst all of us – PhD students or not – to compare ourselves with those around us.

This is particularly true when we’re working on our theses. We can look to those around us and feel like we’re alarmingly behind, or worryingly ahead of where everyone else is.

Some of those you look at and compare yourself too may have done their fieldwork, or may have even written draft chapters in their first year. Or it may be you who is ahead, now worrying that you’ve been working too quickly.

The truth is, everyone works at different speeds, either because of their own skills and preferences or because of the type of project or methodology they are engaging with.

Those using grounded theory, for example, may get their fieldwork finished surprisingly early. What’s more, just because someone has written a draft chapter in their first year, that doesn’t mean that it’s any good and won’t need substantial revisions later on.

So my advice to you is to focus on your thesis and try to avoid measuring your progress relative to others. Work with your supervisory team and listen to their advice.

Plus, reflect on whether you’re working slowly or quickly not in terms of other people, but in terms of your own skills or aptitudes. Are you getting bored and struggling to fill the days? Probably time to work a bit harder. Do you feel exhausted and stressed? It’s best to slow down, in that case.

76. Understand the difference between tasks and projects

Your PhD is one big project and each of the chapters is one smaller project.

All involve countless smaller tasks.

But trying to work on tasks when you haven’t clearly defined and outlined the nature of the higher-order project can mean that you waste time, wander aimlessly and have to perform u-turns.

Work out the top-level detail – the chapter plans, the aims and objectives, the research questions, and the epistemology or ontology, for example – before you start to work on the lower-level tasks. That way, you’ll save time, work more efficiently, and have a better sense of direction.

77. Set intentions

You may find yourself struggling for motivation, or wondering where the time goes as you bounce from one week to the next.

Sitting down at the beginning of each week and even at the beginning of each day and setting your intentions can make a huge difference.

Five minutes is all it takes; you may choose to set yourself a few tasks (e.g. write section 1, read that article, and so on), or you may be more emotion-oriented (e.g. be kinder to myself, stop procrastinating, or connect with others).

Whatever it is, the simple act of setting intentions can subtly shift your mindset and outlook over the course of a day or a week.

So next time you’re struggling to get up speed, try it and see what effect it has.

78. Remember that, if a PhD was easy, everyone would have one

If a PhD was easy, more people would have one.

The truth is that they’re hard. They always have been and they always will be. And yours will get no easier.

First, you need to accept that the only route to a successful thesis is putting the hours in, knuckling down and getting on with the job.

Two, you also need to accept that, although things don’t get any easier, you do get better at managing that difficulty. You build up new skillsets and develop intellectual and emotional resilience that means that the days do start to get easier, even if the workload doesn’t.

79. Being shot out of a cannon doesn’t work

In the course of your PhD, you’re going to have moments where you swing wildly and hit the target right on point. The home runs, if you will.

You’ll see them in others, and you’ll see how we all celebrate them: the blockbuster papers, the dream job offers, the passes with no corrections.

They’re appealing, but they’re not worth chasing. You can’t plan for them, and you certainly can’t build a strategy out of them.

However, you can build a strategy out of slow, steady perseverance, out of showing up each day and putting in the hours. Taking one step at a time will get you where you need to go more predictably and precisely than being shot out of a cannon.

Don’t plan for the home runs, but embrace them when they come.

80. Your finished thesis won’t look like the one you first designed

Your research will take you in directions that are hard to predict. New questions emerge, new insights lead to hunches, and pre-conceived ideas turn out to be false.

That’s just how research work.

The thing is, we go into our PhDs with research proposals that map out the entire project in one elegant plan.

If you’re anything like I was when I was doing my PhD, I got anxious about the fact that my research was deviating from this original research proposal, especially as I had funding awarded for it.

I was worried that the thesis I submitted would look very little like the research I had proposed.

I had no need to be. That’s how research works, and it’s entirely natural for the finished text to be different.

We can’t predict the future, so a proposal is somewhat of a hunch or a guess about what you think may happen over the next three, four, five years or longer. Then, when we start the research proper and enter the field, we face reality and see how things really are.

What’s more, when we plan our research, we often have lofty ambitions about revolutionising our field. Then, as time goes on, we develop a sense of pragmatism and realism such that our project becomes much more specialised.

Seen in that light, it’s entirely understandable that the project evolves over time.

So if you’re one of those worrying about deviating from your proposal, try not to. That’s because, providing it’s based on a sound reading of the data and literature, such deviation is an entirely normal part of the research process.

Wrapping up: You can forge your own path

Every PhD is different and, more importantly, every PhD student has their own way of doing things.

So, if some of the tips and techniques I suggest don’t resonate, or you can’t see how to apply them to your context or your way of thinking, that’s fine. That’s just a reflection of your unique qualities.

There will be some things you read that make complete sense, but others that you find harder to wrap your head around. Again, that’s fine.

But what that implies is a need for ongoing critical reflection of how you do things and how you can best manage your PhD. It means taking advice and tips you read – whether from this post, The PhD Knowledge Base or elsewhere – and asking whether and how they fit into your PhD-life.

It also means you need to gain a thorough understanding of how you work (and how you don’t) so you know how you can best manage your PhD and what resources are the most useful in helping you do so. However you do it, have faith in your ability and keep turning up. Over time, you’ll end up exactly where you need to be.

Share this:

Thanks Doctor it is a great idea, and helps to have all the motivations in one place. One can just print it and have it on hand.

Thank you for always going out of your way to motivate us all. I have completed a professional doctorate – BMin in 2018, now busy with PhD in philosophy in Biblical studies and it is much more of a challenge than the professional doctorate. These motivations have motivated me to continue.

Have a great and blessed day.

Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad the resources are helping. It’s my mission to make other students’ lives easier than mine was when I was doing my PhD, so it fills me with a lot of joy to see that working. Good lucK!

This is the panacea to Ph.D headache. Just take a dose per day. Read it and forward to your friends, colleague, students or partners going through this pathway in life.

https://www.thephdproofreaders.com/writing/what-i-wish-i-knew-before-my-phd/

I’m just starting out on the Psychology PhD journey, having started (and not completed) a PhD some 15 years ago in a different discipline. These 80 tips are fantastic — I have book marked them to come back and re-read regularly 🙂

Thanks Kylie – your words are music to my ears.

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Tress Academic

#24: New to the PhD? – 5 tips for a great start!

September 17, 2019 by Tress Academic

New to the PhD? Looking forward to an exciting time in your life? Bet you are! But maybe you’re also feeling a bit anxious for how to get this major undertaking started off right? Do you wonder what things you should be aware of? We’ve got it for you right here: Our 5 essential tips for new PhDs!

Have you started your PhD recently – or are just about to getting started and looking for a way to get off on the right foot? You’ll share this feeling with many other PhDs who start with the beginning of a new academic year. We recently came across the following post in a Facebook group that says what you’re all thinking:

“Hi everyone! I am working on my doctorate in Educational Leadership at Georgia State University, and I just began last week. What tips do you have for someone just starting their journey?”

As academic career consultants, who’ve been advising PhD students for more than a decade, this is the one question that makes us bubble over with suggestions. We could literally give you tons of tips and a quote like this makes us want to pass on all the wisdom we’ve ever gathered about PhD students to you. 

With that said, you would likely be overwhelmed and not get much out of an outpouring of advice. So instead, we thought we’d distill a few solid  tips that will be really useful right from the start and also essential to your success in the long run.

At the beginning of a PhD education, you have a lot of choices and many decisions to make. Your ‘room-to-manoeuver’ is quite large. But later on, this narrows and you become more fixed in every aspect of your project. So it is essential that you put everything surrounding your PhD on the right track now – to get off to a good start and reap the benefits in the long run!

1. Be wary – time flies 

If you are right at the beginning, and you’re in a structured graduate programme, you’ve likely got 3-4 years (or more depending on your funding and country) of PhD time ahead of you. 

Quite understandably, this may seem like an eternity to you. It may seem like you have years of endless freedom ahead of you to work on a topic that you find captivating and thrilling. Right now, your calendar may be nearly empty and your task-list short. The pressure is lowest right at the beginning, so you don’t perceive any urgency to quickly crack-down on your project ideas. But be aware that one PhD student after another gets caught in the trap of losing too much time in the early months, time they can’t make up for later on. This is the no. 1 regret of PhD students nearing the end: they did not take the time seriously enough at the beginning.

• Be aware of the fact that your PhD clock starts ticking from the very first day. What may help you is to have a calendar in your office or phone  with a countdown to your hand-in date (or end of contract if that is more appropriate in your case). This way you’re reminded every single day that time is your scarcest resource.
• Do not spend the first weeks hanging around without any direction. Instead make up your mind very quickly for what the focus of your PhD will be. Zoom in to that, develop a project goal and start working on it. 
• If you are not clear on your topic or your project goals – then to develop this is the most important work for you to do right now. 
• For further advice, read our SMART ACADADEMICS blog post no. 2: So you want to finish your PhD on time? and download our free expert guide “5 Reasons Why PhD Students Delay and How to Avoid” .

2. Gear up your work-ethics

Some of you have just completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree and likely finished it with stellar marks – otherwise you wouldn’t be working on your PhD now. Others may not be coming straight from university, but have had a few years of professional work experience under their belts. All of you have beaten a tough competition to earn a grant, get a scholarship and make it through the job interviews.

Careful: don’t fall into the trap of thinking ‘Hey, I made it, I can relax now’ or  think that the skill-set or mindset that brought you here will make you successful in the coming years! 

This is a new game and the rules are different. The level of ambition and complexity of a PhD project is not comparable to a Masters programme or anything you’ve experienced in the corporate world. A PhD is not meant to be an easy journey, and not everyone finishes in the end. How successful you are in your PhD depends as much on your attitude and work-ethics as on everything else.

Tips: 

• Don’t think this will be easy! Approach your PhD with the right attitude: respectfully and seriously . A PhD is an unwieldy beast and you’ve got to master it in the end. You can do it, and you should be confident that you’ll be successful in the end. But you should also acknowledge that it will take all your energy, strengths and effort to do so. 
• Step-up your work ethics, not just one, but 2-3 gears: Gone are the days of excessive partying, late-night outs and long lie-ins (keep that for the weekend). Instead, from your very first day onwards, try to be as focused and efficient as possible. Work hard and concentrate on the most important tasks every single day that will bring you ahead quickly. 
• Make important decisions early on and move forward with your project rather than postponing out of fear of making the wrong decisions.
• Establish a good working routine: Get up early and work on your most important tasks during the morning while your energy level is still high and you’ll find it easier to focus. 
• For more tips on strengthening your work ethic and efficiency read our SMART ACADEMICS blog post no. 4: “How to make time for research”   and download our free expert guide: “How to boost your productivity as a researcher” .

3. Read, read, read

You’ve got a steep learning curve ahead of you. In just a few weeks (ideally) you have to make a quantum leap to familiarise yourself with the most significant scholarly discourses and current trends in your field.

There’s no way around it. If you don’t know what’s going on in your field, you: 

• won’t know what others have already done (probably resulting in a duplicate of a project)
• won’t know what the most significant and crucial questions are right now – so you can’t judge the relevance and importance of your own project ideas
• won’t know what approaches and methods are standard in your field, so you won’t have a blueprint to approach your own ideas.

This is like becoming fluent in a foreign language: If you’ve never been through the foundations of its grammar, you’ll never be able to speak it without mistakes. 

Towards the end of your PhD, as you become an expert, you’ll need a solid foundation (and keep it updated) so you can challenge existing beliefs and customs, and you can develop a new way of thinking. That is the point where science really get’s interesting and you’ll be able to make a significant contribution to your field. 

The literature you could potentially read today is virtually unlimited, but your time is . If you try to get started all on your own you’ll likely get confused, lost or overwhelmed. 

• Here’s a shortcut that works wonders: Ask your supervisors, plus a few colleagues and post-docs around you for the five to ten most relevant published papers in your field. Mention that you want to get an overview and that you want to use their suggestions to get a head-start. 
• Start with reading those papers or books that everyone has on their list and then make your way through the rest. 
• It’ll be really hard at the beginning, and you’ll find it difficult to understand at times but don’t worry, this is normal, just keep going, because it will get easier the more you read! Don’t hesitate to get back to those who suggested a paper to you and ask them to explain a particular aspect or section that does not make sense to you. You’re right at the start of your PhD, so you’ve got a right to ask.
• Get used to making notes or short excerpts right after you finished a paper – jot down the overall  thoughts and results that are presented. This will later help you develop your writing skills. Over time you’ll gradually move on to spend more time writing than reading. For more great tips on writing see our SMART ACADEMICS blog post no. 5: How to get started with writing papers? and download our free expert guide “5 Strategies to Avoid Initial Paper Rejection”  
• Read every single day and make it a primary activity. Decide on a time-span (e.g. 1-2 hours at a time) and one clear task (e.g. to read one particular chapter in a book or one paper). Stop afterwards and turn to something else. Identify places and times during your workday when you read best and make it a habit: Read in the morning when you commute to your institute, or read before starting your lab work, read in the canteen before lunch, or hide in the library in the afternoon, where you’re completely undisturbed. Find out what works best for you and stick with that!

4. Shed your “I’ll-go-it-alone-attitude”

You’ve taken on a difficult project and not every PhD makes it to the finish line. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to think that you can or have to do this on your own. PhDs often seem to think that those around them expect them to know everything. That is wrong.

PhD students who adapt an ‘I’ll-go-it-alone’-attitude, often isolate themselves. That has consequences, both social and intellectual:

• They concoct their projects in their own chamber, without much exchange with peers which may lead them to develop far-fetched ideas that are not in line with mainstream trends in their discipline, marginalising themselves. They may have flaws built into their research methods that go uncovered for a long time and are difficult to rectify later on. 
• They do not search for or receive regular feedback. So when they finally have to present their ideas or work, they often get much harsher criticism. Since they’re not used to being critiqued,  and because the problems might be serious at this point, it will hurt even more.  

• Resist any temptation to isolate yourself, but try instead to develop a broad network for support. Expose yourself to scholarly debate and scrutiny right from the start of your PhD. Simply put yourself out there at the beginning – you’ve got nothing to lose. 
• It’s too early, I can’t discuss my ideas
• I can’t show my work yet
• I’m not ready
• I’m not smart enough, or I don’t know enough to participate
• The feedback you’ll receive on each occasion will help you to grow. Every little remark from colleagues will help you to reflect on your work and improve it. The quality of your PhD will tremendously benefit from this. It’ll also prevent you from making bigger mistakes or going off on a direction that is not worthwhile. 
• supervisors
• graduate school coordinators
• PhD students, who started together with you
• more advanced PhD students & postdocs
• senior colleagues in your work-group or institute
• international scholars or teachers that you get to know over time as you attend scientific events. 

5. Grow thick skin

Academia is not an environment for the faint-hearted, but an extremely competitive surrounding, where everyone has to fight for their space, jobs, funding or a better place in rankings. After months of hard work, your papers can still be rejected, your proposal goes unfunded, and your best ideas dismantled by your colleagues. You’ll discover that you’ve made a huge mistake in your data-collection that renders weeks of work useless and you’ve no idea how to make up for that! It is also  normal that even the nicest team or cosiest workplace can feel hostile at times. Especially because this is your project and your work, every rejection, setback or failure hits you personally! 

You’ll have your ego bruised more than once, and likely a few setbacks that may feel like more than you can handle. There will be days when you don’t want to show up at the institute anymore, and moments  you’ll be tempted to quit. Those that are overly sensitive often struggle in an academic environment and mental health issues among PhD students is a well-documented and rampant problem. For more information, see “Being a PhD student shouldn’t be bad for your health”  Nature (vol. 569, p. 307) . 

• You can’t avoid every disaster during a PhD, but developing the ability to pick yourself up again after a major setback is a must. Getting your act together and moving on is part of the journey and those who master it will be the successful ones in the end.
• Try to keep things in perspective – you may have been criticised, or failed, were wrong or forgot something, but instead of dwelling on that (and increasing your misery) look on the ‘bright side of life’! Ask yourself positive questions, like what have you achieved recently, what went well, what you succeeded with? 
• Don’t build your entire personality of ‘who you are’ into this PhD. This is your job right now and a big part of your life, but never let it become the entire you! 
• Find a way to disengage. Literally unplugging and not thinking about your PhD, your team, your institute for a time helps! Make sure you have other activities to look forward to in the evenings and on the weekends. Coming back the next morning or at the start of a new week relaxed and with a fresh mindset will help to avoid mistakes, as well as not take things too  seriously when they occur.   
• Support from your network (see point 4.) but also friends, family and loved ones works wonders! They’ll keep up your motivation and show you that there is a life beyond the PhD. 

Conclusion:

We’re really not trying to scare you, but as they say “truth hurts”. There are a lot of common mistakes we see people making at the beginning of their PhD that can snowball into a lot of stress, wasted time and missed opportunities! We do not want your PhD experience to be anything like this – we thought we’d better give you some tough love now! It is essential to start your PhD off on the right foot and avoid the traps that so often befall young researchers with seemingly endless time on their hands. We hope you can learn from our five tips to keep your work on track, your motivation high and your attitude solid. A PhD can be a beautiful thing. Most importantly, we urge you not to forget to….

…enjoy the ride!

This should actually be the sixth point on our list. When we think back to our PhD years, we remember it as a very happy time in our lives! Most days, we were thrilled to come to the institute, and see what  exciting experience lay in store! It’s a time of discovery, where you make connections socially and intellectually at your own institute, but also at national or international scientific events. The highs of this time by far outweighed the lows we had to endure! It will all be worth it in the end when you’re holding your doctor’s degree in hand!

Do you have any personal tips for new PhDs? What advice would you give to PhD students who just started? Share your ideas with us on Facebook or drop us a note at [email protected] . 

Related resources:

• Smart Academics Blog #2: So you want to finish your PhD on time?
• Smart Academics Blog #4: How to make time for research?  
• Smart Academics Blog #5: How to get started with writing papers?
• Smart Academics Blog #46: What makes PhD students succeed?
• Smart Academics Blog #47: Plan your project – save your PhD!
• Smart Academics Blog #112: PhD project-planning quick-start
• Expert guide “5 reasons why PhD students delay & how-to avoid”
• Expert guide: “How to boost your productivity as a researcher”
• Expert guide “5 Strategies to Avoid Initial Paper Rejection”
• TRESS ACADEMIC course: Completing your PhD successfully on time
• Nature (2019): “Being a PhD student shouldn’t be bad for your health”. Vol. 569, p. 307.  

More information: 

Do you want to complete your PhD successfully? If so, please sign up to receive our free guides.  

(c) 2019 Tress Academic

Photographs by Jon Tyson, Dollar Gill & Franck at unsplash.com

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A Guide to Your First Week as A PhD Student

• By Zebastian D.
• November 23, 2019

It will typically take you at least three years to complete your PhD, which equates to 156 weeks! In this time you’ll have many ups, some downs and hopefully some fun too! Within the first few months, you’ll be getting your teeth into your project and your days will be filled with paper reading sessions, experiments, meetings with colleagues and collaborators and many more things. But how should you spend your first week as a PhD student? Here’s my guide to help you get started on your journey:

1. Make Your Workspace Your Own

Whilst your work environment will depend on your chosen university and research group, you will need to set up a comfortable workspace for yourself. This might be at a dedicated desk space alongside other students in the group or an office space at home. Either way, make sure you spend some time making your space a place where you want to work; find a comfortable chair that’s ergonomic and will be gentle on your back after hours of writing. A lamp with a soft light for focused work is a great tool as is a calendar for planning your days, weeks and months.

2. Get All the Forms Sorted

Before starting your PhD and in the early stages, you’re likely to receive many pieces of paperwork that need to be processed. These may range from ensuring the university has your correct bank details for making stipend payments, to getting your email address and university logins established. These have to be done so try to prioritise this paperwork in your first week.

3. Make Sure Your Access Cards Work

After registering with the university, you’ll receive your student ID card. Make sure that this card allows you access to all the buildings across the university that you will need to use, including the library and any labs you’ll be working in. Additionally, find out what the department’s rules are for building access out of normal office hours and ensure your card will work at these times. You’ll likely have some downtime during your first week as a PhD student, try to use this time to explore as much of your new working environment as possible.

4. Get to Know the Admin Staff

You’ll get to know your supervisor(s) very well over the course of your PhD but also make friends with the admin staff in your department. They’ll often be able to help you navigate the complex paperwork questions that will come your way and also how best to make use of the resources available to you as a student.

5. Start Reading Papers

You may still be waiting to have your first proper meeting with your supervisor(s), where you’ll discuss and craft the direction of your research project so you need to approach this meeting with some background knowledge fresh in your mind. A simple search on ResearchGate , Google Scholar or PubMed can help you find some relevant papers to read. It’s also a good idea to be familiar with your supervisor’s recent publications.

6. Meet Your Supervisor(s)

During your first week as a PhD student, it would be ideal to set up a meeting with your supervisor(s). Some supervisors prefer planned meetings scheduled in the diary regularly whilst others will leave it to you to reach out to them as and when needed. Early within your PhD you are unlikely to know their preference, which is even more of a reason to meet them during your first week so you can establish a clear means and frequency of communication.

7. Get to Know Others in Your Research Group

A PhD is a large body of independent work, but that doesn’t mean that you should spend three years in isolation! You’ll likely be surrounded by other students at various stages in their PhD journeys and it can be a substantial help to have colleagues to bounce ideas off of, or just to vent to! You’ll all be going through similar experiences – remind each other to enjoy life outside of research too!

Once you are ready to start your work, check out my tips for new PhD students to make sure you continue to use your time effectively and set yourself up for a successful programme.

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Twenty Best Books for Researchers

Are you looking for an inspiring read, and that can benefit your career as a researcher? For those of you who follow my blog, you may have noticed from  my Goodreads profile , that I am an avid reader. I read both fiction and non-fiction, and of course,  I actively work towards keeping up with the scientific output in my field .

Needless to tell you, my love for the written word is large. Therefore, it is my pleasure today to share with you a list of twenty books that I recommend for researchers:

1.  Building a Successful Career in Scientific Research: A Guide for PhD Students and Postdocs by Phil Dee

Phil Dee wrote about life as a scientist since 2000 as a columnist for Science's Next Wave. This book is a fast and entertaining read, that focuses on tips and quick wins to help you move your career forward.

2.  Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

Part memoir, part non-fiction book about trees - this book gives you an insight in the life and work of Hope Jahren. Especially if you carry out experimental work, this book is for you. Dr. Jahren built up a lab three times, resettling at universities as her career meandered - and there is both tons of honesty and wisdom in this book.

3.  On Writing: A memoir of the craft by Stephen King

On Writing is a classic read about writing. Combined with the memoir of one of the most successful authors, there is plenty of advice about writing and how to develop your writing in this book. The good, the bad, and the ugly of writing all are part of this book. Entertaining and insightful.

4.  Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson is an incredibly gifted biography writer. Besides Einstein's biography, I've read Franklin's and Jobs' biographies, and the ease with which Isaacson finds the right voice for each different book is impressive. Aside from the quality of this writing, there is also the topic: the life and work of Einstein, one of the most iconic scientists ever to live. A must-read for every scientist.

5.  An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

Who's not fascinated by astronauts? Their combination of scientific savvy and pioneering spirit make many children and adults wonder what it is like to be an astronaut. Col. Hadfield talks about his adventures as an astronaut (he has logged close to 4000 hours in space), but also leaves plenty of space for reflection and advice for life on earth.

6.  So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport

Regardless of your career choice, So Good They Can't Ignore You is splendid advice on how to build up a solid career (the short answer: do the work, do all the hard work). Since Cal Newport is an academic himself, there are plenty of examples from academia on successful careers of researchers, and which choices were crucial for their success.

7.  168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam

I'm a huge fan of Laura Vanderkam's method of analyzing time based on chunks of 168 hours (one week). I, too, think of my time in chunks of a week, and plan all my activities on a weekly basis, using a weekly template. 168 hours is about more than just time management. Some of her advice may not be suited for those of us with low incomes (hiring services, for example), but the general idea of how to track your time and then optimize the way you spend it, is universally applicable.

8.  The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else by Daniel Coyle

Daniel Coyle asked himself what it really takes to get good at something. Your first reaction could be: you have to practice. But the way in which you practice, with deep concentration, called "deliberate practice" is what really moves skill forward. The main idea of applying deliberate practice is valid for all fields: whether you want to learn to play the violin, or learn to code software. If you want insight in how you develop skills, this book is for you.

9.  Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby

An inspiring read consisting of short profiles of 52 female scientists that did breakthrough research, but that are generally not very well-known. I recommend this book for both men and women: not just to learn about the contributions of women in science and inspire aspiring female scientists, but also to learn about the significant contributions these women made.

10.  A Scholar's Guide to Getting Published in English: Critical Choices and Practical Strategies by Mary Jane Curry, Theresa Lillis

If English is not your native language, this book will help you reflect upon your use of language for your academic work. Through this reflection, you will be able to improve your English academic writing. This book is not so much of a how-to guide, or a language course - it assumes you manage the level of academic English required to publish. The interesting element of this book is its reflection on our use of language: when do we publish in our native language, and when do we select English?

11.  Open Up Study Skills: The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research by Marian Petre, Gordon Rugg

This book covers all the things you want somebody to tell you when you start an academic career, but that nobody ever bothered telling you. Reading this book feels like sitting down for a cup of coffee with a senior PhD student or a post-doc, and learning all the ins and outs of life in academia. If you are a PhD student, I highly recommend you read this book.

12.  Mastering Your Phd: Survival And Success In The Doctoral Years And Beyond by Patricia Gosling, Lambertus D. Noordam

The first book I ever read about doing research, and I still recommend it to every first year PhD student. While the chapters are rather short, this book gives an excellent introduction into PhD research, and all the steps you can expect to go through. In my first year, we all received this book as a welcome gift at university, and it helped me shape my expectations and planning.

13.  Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman

The autobiography of Richard Feynman is a joy to read. Not only does he combine observations about how to do research when you are stuck (start with something, do something, and eventually your ideas will move forward), he also describes his endless curiosity (which takes us along with him through the world of science, strip clubs, and playing bongo in Brazil), and the depression he felt after working on nuclear weapons. If your friends and family think your choice for a career in science is boring, this book may convince them of the opposite.

14.  Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg talks about her career, how she combines everything (marriage, motherhood, career), and her insights and advice on the challenges women face on the workfloor. While not immediately dealing with academic positions, there is plenty advice for young female researchers in this book who want to lean in to their careers.

15.  The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte

The most powerful way to share data and research insights with the rest of the world is through visuals. Tufte teaches you how to show data in the clearest way. If you never took a class that used this book (or any other book by Edward Tufte), you should order all four Tufte books, and read them. Your presentations, posters, and figures in written documents will improve significantly.

16.  Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

It's not a secret that academia has relatively more introverts than other workplaces. Still, extroverted is the norm in our society. Susan Cain explores introversion, its advantages, and gives advice on how introverts can honor themselves in their work and careers, and take advantage of their typical traits.

17.  Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life by Tom Rath

While I didn't find new ideas in this book when I read it, Are You Fully Charged is a good introduction to the basic concepts of improving your health and well-being. If you currently are not taking proper care of yourself, pick up this book for a brief introduction on how to do better in this regard. Yes, you probably know that you should exercise, eat, and sleep. This book can serve as good reminder on why taking care of yourself is important, and give you practical advice. It's a nice and easy read, too.

18.  Focus: A Simplicity Manifesto in the Age of Distraction by Leo Babauta

Finding yourself often distracted during work? Is the internet always calling for your attention? This book is dedicated to focus: how to find more focus, how to cultivate your focus, and how to get rid of distractions that stand between you and your focus.

19.  The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat by Dave Tomar

If you are teaching, you probably should read this book. The writing is not excellent (even though the author spent years writing the essays and homeworks of lazy students), but the information in this book is important. As a teacher, you need to be aware of the entire academic shadow industry out there, and see how you can tailor your assignments so that you don't leave much space for cheating.

20.  Debunking Handbook by John Cook

If your cousin announces over the Christmas dinner that vaccinations are harmful, or your neighbor laughs at your hybrid car because climate change is a hoax, don't get upset about their lack of insight in scientific research. Instead, download this book - it is a freely available guide that teaches you how to debunk the broscience out there.

Bonus: The PhD e-book: Top PhD Advice from Start to Finish

AcademicTransfer and PhD Talk worked together on this e-book to give you a short guide full of information for your PhD, and with practical information for those of you who move to the Netherlands for their PhD studies.

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Wednesday, may 18, 2011, books that should be read before starting a ph.d. in economics.

• The evolution of cooperation , by Robert M. Axelrod
• Good capitalism, bad capitalism, and the economics of growth and prosperity by William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm
• A splendid exchange: How trade shaped the world by William J. Bernstein
• The elusive quest for growth by William Russell Easterly
• Invisible engines: How software platforms drive innovation and transform industries by David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee
• The ascent of money by Niall Ferguson
• Economic gangsters: Corruption, violence and the poverty of nations by Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel
• Capitalism and freedom by Milton Friedman
• The great crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
• The age of uncertainty by John Kenneth Galbraith
• Exit, voice, loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman
• Development, geography and economic theory by Paul Krugman
• More money than God: Hedge funds and the making of a new elite by Sebastian Mallaby
• Reinventing the bazaar: A natural history of markets by John McMillan
• Readings in applied microeconomics: The power of the market edited by Craig Newmark
• From the corn laws to free trade: Interests, ideas and institutions in historical perspective by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey
• Seeing like a State by James C. Scott
• The company of strangers by Paul Seabright
• Information rules: A strategic guide to the network economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian

24 comments:

Excellent list, Ajay - and it has some recommendations that I'm going to add to my collection right away. I'd say adding the Wealth of Nations is always a good idea, while Faultlines by Raghuram Rajan is a recent, relevant addition. And here's something from deep left field: "The Little Book of Economics" by Greg Ip. I think it should be on there for two reasons: 1) It explains how economics works in the real world, something that you can lose sight of very quickly indeed in the PhD Land 2)Economists (and PhD's in particular) need to learn how to write in a version of English that remains accessible to a layman. Not all the time, perhaps, but at least some of the time! I'm a PhD student, by the way, so that list is a very welcome gift indeed!

How about "New Ideas from Dead Economists : An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought by Buchholz, Todd G." ?

Hey, saying a hello to you after a couple of decades since we last interacted ... :)

I was half expecting that the books I loved, adored wouldn't be here, as preparing for PhD is normally a very "serious" job. But boy was I surprised, when I saw, Niall Ferguson's tour de force: Ascent of Money. Friedman's : Capitalism and Freedom is an equal must have, must read. A very "hatke" book, with a huge amount of focus on speculation,and yet the phenomenon of "voting with feet", destruction of institutions under socialistic principles etc, can be gleaned from Jim Rogers Investment Biker. Soham

i am saddened to know that phd in economics is mostly about tools.those who want to solve equations and get a thrill from cracking PDEs should go for hard sciences.econometricians just add to the pretense of knowledge. i would make Hayek's speech on the Pretense of Knowledge mandatory -especially for those potentianlly seeking jobs as policymakers.should keep them grounded. in my view,economists should only be explainers of economic phenomenon.when they try to get into policymaking -mostly with no experience of running a real life business -they are invariably displaying false knowledge. btw,too much JK Galbraith for my liking.why include people who dont understand the market process.these are exactly the people who we dont want graduating out of universities

Thanks Ajay for this compact selection.Have only read ' Ascent of Money' from this collection.The list is excellent but sticks to the 'straight and narrow'. Freakonomics and The Black Swan are my suggestions to this list.

Dsylexic: Even if the ideas of JK Galbraith are not agreeable his prose is a thing of beauty. Amar

Extremely useful list even for someone who is not really pursuing a Doctorate. Thank you for sharing.

Hello Sir, While I am not an economist, as someone who is passionate about environment, I often wonder why no one talks about British economist E.F. Schumacher and his classic book, "Small is Beautiful". What do you think of that book? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Beautiful list. 'More money than God'...I am not sure. If I could I might replace it with 'Inside The House of Money'by Steven Drobny

The Worldly Philosophers by Heilbroner

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

amar, i agree. galbraith is a worsmith.but i thought the purpose was to educate a PhD student on economics-the stuff that matters beyond the tools they will become masters of. if great prose was the real concern, i really wouldnt go beyond the classics.i'd start with chaucer and end with lewis carroll :-)

also,btw. Economics in one lesson, by Henry Hazlitt. and ANY work by Bastiat.Bastiat beats Milton friedman hands down in his beautiful explanation of the "unseen" that must be accounted for when discussing effects of economic policies.bastiat has probably been the best communicator of free market economics.

Nice list. Most of the books mentioned here can be consumed even by an inquisitive layman! It's not a PhD reading list per se. I've been told that the Eco PhD is a highly math intensive, technical slogathon. This perception often deters several students who like Eco (but from a relatively less rigorous math background) from even contemplating Eco PhD. I wonder if you can provide a reading list for such students! After all, Eco PhD is not about being a "public intellectual". No point being very well read in general, but unable to understand the math jargon without which all academic literature will sound Greek and Latin!

Thanks for the list. I'm an engineer who has in the last year developed interest in economics. This list would give me plenty to study. Thanks a lot. Regards Nikhil Mahen

Hi Ajay, Would be great if you can also prepare a list of books for people who do not want to go for PhD, but, want to understand the basics on what models work and appreciate the nuances to implement in day to day business settings. sj

Hi Ajay, The history of economic thought is a must read, I think. For, without having an idea of the growth of our discipline, one does not know the credibility of what one bases knowledge upon. The recommended books are (1) History of Economic Analysis, Joseph Schumpeter (2) The Wealth of Ideas, Alessandro Roncaglia Regards, Alex

Alex, I personally don't agree. Most of what we used to think about economics, in previous years, has proved to be wrong. Why waste time studying it? I'm all for studying economic history. It's really very important to have a sense of the world, from the industrial revolution onwards. Economic history is our dataset about the world - it is crucial for any economist to have a grip of the broad facts. I disagree with the economics programs which have downplayed economic history. But studying Marx today? No, it's a waste of time. Reading about the Cambridge/Cambridge debates today? No, it's a waste of time. I happen to know some of this stuff, by virtue of being old, and it contributes nothing to my thinking today.

"Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to continue always a child" (Cicero).

The distinction that I use is: It is very interesting and important to know what has been transated in former times (as in history), but it's not interesting or important to know about our mistaken attempts at figuring it out (think phlogiston, ether or epicycles).

I have entered late here, but the distinction drawn here is very wise. In fact, this distinction was discussed several times by Einstein.

The great crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith is a great book. Thanks for such a nice list of books. Thank You again.

Any suggestions on reviving those mathematical concepts to understand economics?

Please note: Comments are moderated. Only civilised conversation is permitted on this blog. Criticism is perfectly okay; uncivilised language is not. We delete any comment which is spam, has personal attacks against anyone, or uses foul language. We delete any comment which does not contribute to the intellectual discussion about the blog article in question. LaTeX mathematics works. This means that if you want to say $10 you have to say \$10.

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19 books to read before doing your PhD in Economics

Planning to do a PhD. in Economics? Here’s a list of must reads before you choose to embark on it.

Suppose a young person is going to start a PhD in economics. What essential readings would you recommend prior to this?

In my opinion, the PhD in economics involves a heavy emphasis on tools. But the story isn’t told, about why we are building these tools. The intuition isn’t built, about the world out there that we seek to model. I always joke that economics students who are clueless about reality are like a child studying projectile motion without having ever thrown something into the air.

So I thought it’s useful to pick a set of books that touch on the great themes of the world, often going into troublesome terrain that the models aren’t very good at, so as to lay a foundation of background knowledge and historical knowledge which can pave the way to usefully assimilating what’s taught in the economics PhD. Of course, they should be books that are fun to read and un-putdownable.

Here’s my suggested compact checklist of books worth reading. Please do suggest books, and disagree with this list, in the comments to this post.

The evolution of cooperation , by Robert M. Axelrod

Good capitalism, bad capitalism, and the economics of growth and prosperity by William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm

A splendid exchange: How trade shaped the world by William J. Bernstein

88The elusive quest for growth by William Russell Easterly

Invisible engines: How software platforms drive innovation and transform industries by David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu and Richard Schmalensee

The ascent of money by Niall Ferguson

Economic gangsters: Corruption, violence and the poverty of nations by Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel

Capitalism and freedom by Milton Friedman

The great crash of 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith

The age of uncertainty by John Kenneth Galbraith

Exit, voice, loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman

Development, geography and economic theory by Paul Krugman

More money than God: Hedge funds and the making of a new elite by Sebastian Mallaby

Reinventing the bazaar: A natural history of markets by John McMillan

Readings in applied microeconomics: The power of the market edited by Craig Newmark

From the corn laws to free trade: Interests, ideas and institutions in historical perspective by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Seeing like a State by James C. Scott

The company of strangers by Paul Seabright

Information rules: A strategic guide to the network economy by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian

Ajay Shah studied at IIT, Bombay and USC, Los Angeles. He has held positions at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research and the Ministry of Finance, and now works at NIPFP where he co-leads the NIPFP-DEA Research Programme. His research interests include policy issues on Indian economic growth, open economy macroeconomics, public finance, financial economics and pensions. [email protected]</a> http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah</a> http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.com</a> see more

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• 12 March 2024

Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Innovation in PhD education has not reached how doctoral degrees are assessed. Credit: Dan Dunkley/Science Photo Library

Research and teaching in today’s universities are unrecognizable compared with what they were in the early nineteenth century, when Germany and later France gave the world the modern research doctorate. And yet significant aspects of the process of acquiring and assessing a doctorate have remained remarkably constant. A minimum of three years of independent study mentored by a single individual culminates in the production of the doctoral thesis — often a magisterial, book-length piece of work that is assessed in an oral examination by a few senior academic researchers. In an age in which there is much research-informed innovation in teaching and learning, the assessment of the doctoral thesis represents a curious throwback that is seemingly impervious to meaningful reform.

But reform is needed. Some doctoral candidates perceive the current assessment system to lack transparency, and examiners report concerns of falling standards ( G. Houston A Study of the PhD Examination: Process, Attributes and Outcomes . PhD thesis, Oxford Univ.; 2018 ). Making the qualification more structured would help — and, equally importantly, would bring the assessment of PhD education in line with education across the board. PhD candidates with experience of modern assessment methods will become better researchers, wherever they work. Indeed, most will not be working in universities: the majority of PhD holders find employment outside academia.

Collection: Career resources for PhD students

It’s not that PhD training is completely stuck in the nineteenth century. Today’s doctoral candidates can choose from a range of pathways. Professional doctorates, often used in engineering, are jointly supervised by an employer and an academic, and are aimed at solving industry-based problems. Another innovation is PhD by publication, in which, instead of a final thesis on one or more research questions, the criterion for an award is a minimum number of papers published or accepted for publication. In some countries, doctoral students are increasingly being trained in cohorts, with the aim of providing a less isolating experience than that offered by the conventional supervisor–student relationship. PhD candidates are also encouraged to acquire transferable skills — for example, in data analysis, public engagement, project management or business, economics and finance. The value of such training would be even greater if these skills were to be formally assessed alongside a dissertation rather than seen as optional.

And yet, most PhDs are still assessed after the production of a final dissertation, according to a format that, at its core, has not changed for at least half a century, as speakers and delegates noted at an event in London last month on PhD assessment, organized by the Society for Research in Higher Educatio n. Innovations in assessment that are common at other levels of education are struggling to find their way into the conventional doctoral programme.

Take the concept of learning objectives. Intended to aid consistency, fairness and transparency, learning objectives are a summary of what a student is expected to know and how they will be assessed, and are given at the start of a course of study. Part of the ambition is also to help tutors to keep track of their students’ learning and take remedial action before it is too late.

PhD training is no longer fit for purpose — it needs reform now

Formative assessment is another practice that has yet to find its way into PhD assessment consistently. Here, a tutor evaluates a student’s progress at the mid-point of a course and gives feedback or guidance on what students need to do to improve ahead of their final, or summative, assessment. It is not that these methods are absent from modern PhDs; a conscientious supervisor will not leave candidates to sink or swim until the last day. But at many institutions, such approaches are not required of PhD supervisors.

Part of the difficulty is that PhD training is carried out in research departments by people who do not need to have teaching qualifications or awareness of innovations based on education research. Supervisors shouldn’t just be experts in their field, they should also know how best to convey that subject knowledge — along with knowledge of research methods — to their students.

It is probably not possible for universities to require all doctoral supervisors to have teaching qualifications. But there are smaller changes that can be made. At a minimum, doctoral supervisors should take the time to engage with the research that exists in the field of PhD education, and how it can apply to their interactions with students.

There can be no one-size-fits-all solution to improving how a PhD is assessed, because different subjects often have bespoke needs and practices ( P. Denicolo Qual. Assur. Educ. 11 , 84–91; 2003 ). But supervisors and representatives of individual subject communities must continue to discuss what is most appropriate for their disciplines.

All things considered, there is benefit to adopting a more structured approach to PhD assessment. It is high time that PhD education caught up with changes that are now mainstream at most other levels of education. That must start with a closer partnership between education researchers, PhD supervisors and organizers of doctoral-training programmes in universities. This partnership will benefit everyone — PhD supervisors and doctoral students coming into the research workforce, whether in universities or elsewhere.

Education and training in research has entered many secondary schools, along with undergraduate teaching, which is a good thing. In the spirit of mutual learning, research doctoral supervisors, too, will benefit by going back to school.

Nature 627 , 244 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00718-0

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Tom Hanks Reviews a Tale Told by a Typewriter

A boy’s mother is missing. Her Olivetti was the last one to see her before she disappeared.

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By Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks, the actor, producer, director and typewriter enthusiast, is also the author of the story collection “Uncommon Type” and the novel “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.”

OLIVETTI, by Allie Millington

Typewriters — the manually powered writing machines once made by Remington, Underwood and Royal — are wondrous things.

To see their magic in action, try this trick: Set a typewriter out on a table with a sheet of paper pre-rolled into its carriage, and wait. Nearly every child, and many adults, will be drawn to the beauty and specificity of the machine. They will just have to type something. A thought. A complaint. A poem. A wish.

The keys, knobs and levers of typewriters were made to do one thing, and one thing only: draw out words we each carry within us that have the potential to create meaning, achieve permanence.

In her debut novel, Allie Millington takes such magic a step further. Her titular character, a midcentury Lettera 22 (called Olivetti, after the company that made him), is a sentient if stationary being who — like so many teddy bears, action figures and sock puppets in children’s literature and pop culture — can worry, remember, love and fear. Olivetti lives, which is a boon to the Brindle family, particularly their quietly troubled 12-year-old, Ernest.

Good lord, what 12-year-old boy isn’t troubled? Ernest’s parents have been sending him to a therapist whom he calls Dr. Round-a-bout, because the doctor’s questions go in circles: “And how do you think you feel about how you think about how you’re feeling?” His place in the family pecking order (third of the four kids) means his problems tend to be noted as afterthoughts. And his habit of isolating himself (on the roof of their apartment building with his thick, red Oxford English Dictionary, which he reads entry by entry: “Apologize. Apology. Apoplexy. Apostle. Apostrophe” ) is dismissed as antisocial behavior. Why can’t he be enthralled with his phone like his siblings?

Ernest is the Brindle most burdened by cares and worries, not the least of which is “Everything That Happened,” a phrase he hears constantly from the adults in his life. (“Everything That Happened” is shorthand for an all-too-common family crisis that has already visited the Brindles.)

Then, when his mother, Beatrice Brindle, doesn’t come home one afternoon, having vanished for no apparent reason, Ernest’s life is thrown into a new, disturbing chaos: MISSING posters; visits with the police; his frazzled father’s attempts to deal with way too much; his siblings’ squawking and fighting; conversations with the building’s Brazilian super, the local librarian and the owner of the corner pawnshop.

The solid and pragmatic Quinn, daughter of the pawnshop’s owner, is a welcome helpmate, and foil, for Ernest. She’s a different kind of 12-year-old, a girl who has made peace with her own “Everything That Happened.”

The novel is narrated, in alternating chapters, by Olivetti and Ernest. The Lettera 22 takes the lead, introducing himself and steering the first three chapters.

Olivetti has resided with the Brindles (“a copper-colored family with eyes as rich as ink”), he tells us, ever since Beatrice pulled him from a cardboard box and set him on her desk. For years, she has been recording her hopes and dreams on the vintage machine. “Her Tapestries , she called them, not just because of the way she tried to weave her words into something beautiful and bigger, but because of all the noise we made together. Tap, tap, tap. ”

Olivetti remembers every word she has typed. How could a typewriter forget what the human heart pours into its workings?

Beatrice turned to Olivetti as one does to the perfect friend, who knows that listening is often the best thing a friend can do, even if that friend is a writing mechanism made in Italy in 1950. As such, Olivetti was the last one to see Beatrice before she disappeared.

Millington captures the essence of why typewriters are such extraordinary creations, and why everyone should have one: Olivetti takes no side, shakes no finger. (A typewriter simply reflects what you put into it.) And he cares.

So when Ernest tracks down Olivetti, inexplicably pawned by Beatrice for $126 (remember that amount), and begins tearfully typing on him, desperate to communicate with her , Olivetti does the unthinkable: He types back. “Do not be alarmed. … I am Olivetti. … I can help you.”

By communicating with a human being, he breaks the prime rule of all typewriters, to the horror of his pawnshop pal, Remi, a 1947 Remington Deluxe Model 5. “But some humans,” Olivetti assures us, “are worth breaking the rules for.”

Millington’s writing does us a great favor. Her Olivetti is neither an automaton nor a pushover — there is a painful and problematic crisis in the house he has called home and his voice drives the action with compassion. Ernest speaks with a confusion and simmering panic recognizable to anyone who was once 12, loved their mother deeply and feared for her life.

The conclusion is nearly impossible to divine and yet so perfect it includes that most tactile of memories: a 12-hour family road trip, covering a distance of, well, $126.

What comes after that exemplifies the best of Millington’s literary imagination. The Brindles will go on confronting “Everything,” with hope, gusto and all the unity they can muster. They will set the family table for seven, with a place for Olivetti; put paper in his carriage, and wait.

OLIVETTI | By Allie Millington | (Ages 8 to 12) | Feiwel & Friends | 256 pp. | $17.99

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