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Whether you're a PhD student or an experienced academic, life in a university can be tough. If you're feeling overwhelmed, undervalued, or out of your depth, the PhD Life Coach can help. We talk about issues that affect all academics and how we can feel better now, without having to be perfect productivity machines. We usually do this career because we love it, so let's remember what that feels like! I'm your host, Dr Vikki Wright. Join my newsletter at www.thephdlifecoach.com.
168 Episodes
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Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! One of the most annoying phrases I hear is “my supervisor only gives feedback on polished drafts”. This is usually accompanied by stories of wasting weeks stressing about whether the work is polished enough, only for the supervisor to later declare it “missing the point” or other such criticisms. In this episode I discuss (ok, I rant about) why waiting for a polished draft is a fundamentally flawed policy and what we should do instead....
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Lots of people struggle to get work done because they feel like they’re always interrupted, whether that’s by colleagues, friends or family. In this episode I discuss how we can explore this with curiosity, and give some tangible tips about how to reduce the likelihood of interruptions as well as reducing the impact on your work. There’s some hard truths in here too, so be ready to get called out (in a loving and compassionate way as u...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! It’s easy to feel like our academic work has taken up permanent residence in our brains! Recently a member told me they woke up thinking about their PhD, went to bed thinking about it, and were fed up of not thinking about anything else. In the episode, I help you work out whether it’s a problem that you’re thinking about your work and, if you think it is, you’ll get some concrete advice about how to nudge your brain away from the topi...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Lots of PhD students and academics feel unable to make decisions about their time management because of a series of beliefs that feel very true. They simultaneously tell themselves “I can’t fit in writing during the day because I have other commitments” AND “I can’t write more in the evenings and weekends because I’m tired” AND “I can’t reduce my commitments during the day because they’re fixed” AND “I have to (and should be able to) f...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! If you are stuck on a difficult task, then this is the episode for you! So often we get caught up on a task that we’re finding difficult, and then we struggle to see a way forward. Unfortunately we often then start making it mean something about ourselves - that we’re not good enough to be able to do the task, or that other people would find it easy, or that it “should” be achievable and it’s a problem that it’s not. In this episode we...
1Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! In this coaching episode, podcast listener Claire is exploring career options, but worries she lacks the lateral thinking skills to come up with possible ideas. I am not a career coach, but we use this example as an opportunity to explore how limiting beliefs can prevent you finding solutions and how there are many routes to creative ideas. Listen in as we discuss her situation and identify a path forward. If you want to be on the podc...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! If you end the week somehow having been busy but not having done the things you intended, then this episode is for you. I’m going to help you make more intentional decisions about how to deal with tasks that land in your lap during the week, so that you can feel more in control and accomplished. I’ll also share why adding tasks to your to do list retrospectively can be a great strategy for your motivation, organisation, and future deve...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Do you have a piece of work that is taking way longer than intended? This episode will help you figure out why AND what to do about it. When things take longer than we thought they would, it throws off our schedule and other tasks, and can lead to us spiralling into a panic. Often we feel like we can’t stop long enough to decide what to do - we “just” need to get it done. In this episode I’ll explain why it’s not that easy, and I’ll gi...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Everyone I know in academia somehow simultaneously believes that they’re working far too much AND that they’re not working enough to get it all done. That leads to a horrible situation where we feel unsatisfied and exhausted, and we often don’t get to enjoy our downtime because we feel guilty too. In this episode, I answer a very common question - how much should I be working - with a more nuanced answer than you will get from most peo...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! A critical inner voice is one of the most common and difficult experience as a PhD student or academic. In this episode, you get to hear me coaching TWO of my current students in the PhD Life Coach membership, who are both part time PhD students while holding down demanding careers in our National Health Service. It runs like one of our group coaching sessions, where they each get coached AND hear each other get coached on self-talk, p...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! It’s a time of year where lots of people are setting goals, worrying about which goals to set, and then beating themselves up if they don’t meet them. In this episode, I answer a question I was asked about how to set goals when you’re not sure they’re possible. I share five ways to evaluate big audacious goals to see if they could be a good fit for you and then share two skills that you’ll need to develop in order to pursue a goal that...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! I really wanted to cut down how much I use my phone and I bought a Brick! This episode is my honest review of the experience so far, and includes some evidence-based advice about what you can and can’t expect from a product like this. I take you through my ups and downs and the behaviour change approaches that I have applied to my Brick strategy. A must for all habitual phone users! {PS this is NOT sponsored by Brick and I bought my ow...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! We hear so much about people leaving academia at the moment and it’s easy to make assumptions about people’s reasoning. I realised when talking with a one-to-one client that my story is not necessarily a typical one, but it could be one that it is interesting for people to hear. So, in today’s episode, I share my reasoning for leaving academia. I don’t do so in an attempt to encourage others to do the same, and while telling my story, ...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Imposter syndrome often affects the most high achieving people yet it can still feel so true that you’re “not good enough” and “conning” other people into believing you’re better than you are. In this episode, I discuss a paradox that I see a lot in academics experiencing imposter syndrome - the tendency to simultaneously believe that you are an imposter AND hold yourself to higher standards than you hold other people. I’ll discuss the...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! One of the most paralysing thoughts in academia is “I don’t know what to do”. Whether it’s about your next career move or how to analyse your data or what argument you want to emphasise, we can get stuck in the “don’t knows” for weeks or months. In this episode I help you break “I don’t know” down into “I can find out”, “I can’t know”, and “I get to decide”, so that you can plan a route forwards. Perfect for anyone who is bored of feel...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Short one this week - I am using a current example from my own life to talk you through how to look after yourself when it all goes wrong. I talk through how I decided what work I am and am not going to do, and how I am looking after myself in the process. It’s short and the audio will be less crisp as I’m recording on my phone but I think it will be useful for many of you. **** I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified lif...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! We’ve talked before about celebrating tiny wins, so now we’re talking about big wins. If you feel uncomfortable celebrating papers being accepted, finishing your PhD or getting a job, or any of the other big objective successes, then you’re not alone. In this episode we’ll talk about why this can feel so uncomfortable, how we can expand our definition of “celebration” and how we can ensure that we recognise and remember these imp...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! THIS EPISODE CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS!! Imposter syndrome is top of my mind at the moment because it’s the focus of my membership this quarter. I’m also utterly obsessed with The Traitors and have been loving the UK Celebrity Traitors which just finished. If you want to hear how the final five (and the winner in particular) made me reflect on imposter syndrome, and hear my tenuous links to an academic context, then check out this epis...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! This week I’m confessing my dirty secrets. Have a listen and compare your screen time to mine! I talk through why I’m unhappy with my current phone usage, why I’m not beating myself and what I’m doing instead. If you’ve ever felt like you can only change by “being more disciplined” or “criticising yourself into wanting it enough” then this is an important episode for you. I might not have a success to report back yet in terms of reduci...
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! If you’re bored of reading people’s “I’m happy to announce…” posts on LinkedIn, where they only seem to celebrate big wins like “I got a new job” or “my paper’s published”, then this episode is for you. I’ll tell you why big wins aren’t as motivating as they could be, why we should look out for tiny wins, and why sometimes the sillier the win, the better! Join my tiny win revolution and share your silliest wins today! Post on LinkedIn ...
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