Mental health tips. . .

Don't listen to the little demon in your head that says you can't do this. You can do it, you will do it, in fact, you are doing it. If you've been accepted on a phd then your supervisor, your institution and your funding body (if you have one) all believe in you; so make sure that you remember to believe in yourself once in a while.

Your thesis does not have to be perfect, it merely has to be good enough (although this is still difficult to achieve, it is infinitiely more achievable than 'perfect')

Now if I could only follow my own advice . . .

:-)

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* Learn touch typing. That will save you lots of time, and it will also save you a lot of neck and shoulder stress.
BTW tense shoulders are one of the things that make us tired very soon. Learn to relax your shoulders at the computer !

* Keep track of everything you read, you will never know when you will desperately want to find sonmething you read months ago ! Record even the stuff that was irrevelant or useless (you can label it "trash" if you want to). That will keep you from picking up the same books again. Believe me, after a couple hundred books you lose track!
Use zotero, it's a great way to keep a reading log and a bibliography !

* Keep a PhD journal. Note what you have done each day, you to-do list, and any ideas, questions or doubts. It really helps with the focus.

* And this: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=148 ;-)

Remember if you don't work hard...you'll fail! :p

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but just found great tip fo supervisor meetings - record them on a dictaphone! I struggled through my 1st year not understanding what my sup was on about and forgetting things he told me to do. Just recorded my last one and completely helped me and my PhD has moved on leaps and bounds! I am going to record everything from now on.

Hello all,


I'll definitely second, third, fourth.... all the suggestions to keep a 'literature library' with the use of tools like Endnote, etc. By attaching documents/files to the reference of interest, as suggested by another already, a simple click makes for very easy retrieval, plus it helps to save head space when working out where the paper was initially stored on your PC/Mac.

Further, never be afraid to talk to your supervisor, or 'demand' their time if they often seem busy or have habits which see them disappearing without notice. More than often, supervisors will be happy to see you, even if they ask you to come back in 5 or 30mins. Honesty works best, when talking about progress, results/output, difficulties, etc. . Just don't fear them (even if they bite/talk your head off ;-) ).

Good Luck with the candidature!

i concur. that is a very excellent idea. a couple of weeks ago i had a phone meeting with one of my sups, about corrections and feedback on the chapter. if i hadnt recorded it, i would have forgotten most of what he said!

i also used my mobile phone to record the meeting i had with my sups when they gave me feedback on my whole thesis. you dont even have to tell them you're doing it. just hold your mobile, like most people do, and pretend you're putting it on silent or something! he he

it REALLY does help. because you do forget the stuff they tell you.

hi. eternal voyager..what is zotero?
also - PhD journal - should/can this be in paper form? or better on laptop/comptuer? should i get a filing cabinet and store hardcopies?
thanx for all ur tips. i start jan and would love to learn from others who have been there, done it, worn the t-shirt :-)

Jade, there have been some really useful threads on this topic a short while ago - if you do a search through old threads, you should find them.

thank you rubyw. still finding my way on the site. will have fun looking through old threads....lol. havnt done that so far so will start doing that as im sure lots to learn :-) its so helpful to learn all these tips. the recording? wow.. thats so good. i have bought a little recorder. will try to use it when i start. wont mention at meeting(?) dont feel theres any need to(?) that would be so good to go back over the meeting when recorded as one wouldnt miss anything important that could have been forgotten :-)

I found that starting to write as soon as you can (I started after 2 months) helps to focus your ideas and get something down on paper which will probably change hugely, but it gets the ball rolling. Gives you a bit of an early sense of accomplishment.

Also making a weekly todo list is a good way of trying to keep on track.

Adopt a pragmatic approach to the process. Treat it as a job, with realistic working hours and designated time off. You DO NOT have to be pulling in late nights and long weekends to feel you are a 'good' PhD student. Monday to Friday 9-5 works just as well. Do not get consumed by the process. oh and DON'T assume your supervisors are always right!

To Do lists and planning, as mentioned before but have:

1 for the whole year
1 for the month
1 for the week
1 for the day
possible 1 for the hour!

oooh i love lists! :-x

Be flexible as alot can go wrong (sorry to be pessimistic!) so you need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances and move forward! Keep a notebook of ideas, a lab book if you do labwork, keep your references upto date as it'll save you loads of time in the end! Use a reference manager! Establish a good relationship with your supervisor - very important as PhDs are hard enough without them adding to your problems!

I agree Sneaks...I am just wondering if anyone can suggest planning for so long - I mean a year or even a month! I cannot plan more than a week and mostly I get stick to daily plans...and hardly be strict on it as it gets changed by the end of the day. Would be great if anyone can suggest on diary or logs development...Today, I developed monthly progress of Oct to Feb and looking back to it, its nice and decided that I would develop for every month now or just update on my column format. But, wondering for any proper planning tool to keep myself in a track!! S

hmm, kinda meant, in terms of planning list for the year would be

- get literature review done by march
- finish second study


etc etc, so very broad aims of things to do. Just to make sure things are getting done, when you look back. I find the best way is a4 bits of paper on my wall - doing these things on a screen never seems real so if its sat above my monitor I start to worry and want to cross things off.