.jpg)
The PhD Life Coach
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.
Episodes
192 episodes
4.53 GREATEST HITS - How Winnie the Pooh can help you manage your mind
In this episode we think about our own inner dialogue. How do you speak to yourself? Are you critical? Quick to judgment? Pessimisitic? Put yourself under pressure? All of these things are so common in academia yet we never really get shown how...
.jpg)
4.52 GREATEST HITS - How to be your own best supervisor
There is no voice you hear more often than the voice inside your head, yet we often spend very little time thinking about HOW we speak to ourselves and the effect it has. When did you last call yourself useless? Lazy? Stupid? In this episode we...
4.51 GREATEST HITS - How to prepare for a difficult meeting
If you put off having difficult conversations or get frazzled just thinking about it, then you need to bookmark this episode! I am going to give you my three step process for preparing for a difficult meeting. You’ll learn how to manage your ow...
4.50 GREATEST HITS - How to have a great relationship with your supervisor
In this episode I discuss five ways that you can improve your relationship with your PhD supervisor. This relationship is one of the most important aspects of your research experience yet we so often leave it to chance. The good news is that yo...
4.49 GREATEST HITS - What to do if you’re lonely in academia
This is the second episode this week focused on community and relationships. Loneliness in academia is so common yet so rarely talked about. In this episode I’m going to get honest about some of my experiences of loneliness, share why I think a...
4.48 GREATEST HITS - How to build your own academic community
This week we’re thinking about community and relationships! So many people feel isolated in academic and like they "should" have more of a community than they do. In this episode, I talk about the benefits of having a community inside and outsi...
4.47 GREATEST HITS - How to prepare for your academic summer - structure and freedom
This is the second of my two part series about thriving in our academic summer. This time we consider the balance between structure and freedom and how to plan a summer that meets all of our needs. I chose these episodes for my greatest hits be...
4.46 GREATEST HITS - How to prepare for your academic summer - acceptance and resistance
This is the first of my 24 favourite episodes, repeated for you this summer! The summer period can be particularly stressful for academics, whether it's because you miss the structure of "normal" term or because you don't feel like you even GET...
4.45 Some common misconceptions about self improvement - and what to do instead
We often assume that the route to achieving our goals is to “improve” ourselves in some way and so we search podcasts (like mine!), YouTube, or wherever for advice and tips. The trouble is, there’s a lot of misconceptions about what self-improv...
4.44 How to do a PhD later in life (a double coaching episode)
Whether you are doing your PhD later in life, you supervise older PhD students, or you’re younger and sometimes feel like you’re not ready for academia, then this episode is for you. You’ll hear me coach Louise and Kath, who are doing their PhD...
4.43 How I made an idiot of myself (circa 2011)
I was bored, feeling imperfect, and came up with the idea to share with you some of my idiocies from the depths of my academic career! I was very active on Facebook in the early to mid years of being an academic and apparently had no shame - in...
4.42 How to plan time off when you’re busy
It’s coming to a time of year where you might be planning some time away from work, whether that’s a full holiday, a clear weekend, or even just not working in the evenings if you usually do. The trouble is, we’ve all also got a thousand things...
4.41 What to do if you fail an annual review or milestone
This episode is for anyone who either has failed a key milestone, or is worried about failing a milestone, or who knows someone who has failed a milestone. This can feel like a massive problem and often makes us doubt whether we can even achiev...
4.40 Why you should body double and how to do it well
Body doubling is where you get in a room or virtual space with another person, with the intention of getting something done in a way that is more productive or pleasant than doing it alone. Originally developed by the disabled community, and es...
4.39 Nine things I learned about academia from watching reality competition shows
If you think you would do better work if you had more time, or you wonder whether to push back against or accept feedback, or you get envious of the success of others, then this is a great episode for you! Having spent more time than I like to ...
4.38 How to get through the next steps post-thesis submission (A double coaching episode!)
Handing in our thesis can be such a pivotal moment that we can forget there is more to do afterwards! In this double coaching episode, I chat with Lekhana and Lena who are both post-submission about the new challenges that they are facing. Lekh...
4.37 How do I stop beating myself up in hindsight
It’s so easy to look back and beat yourself up about things you feel you “should” have done earlier, differently or not at all. That can lead to a spiral of self-criticism that’s not only unfair to past us, but that also makes it really difficu...
4.36 How do I know if my work is good enough
“Is my work good enough” is the million dollar question running through most PhD students’ (and many academics’) mind! In a sector famous for high, yet very poorly defined, standards, it’s no wonder many of us spend a lot of time worrying about...
4.35 What to do when you don’t stick to your systems
So many people set up new to-do list systems, or decide to time block, or come to one of my workshops about how to review your week, and then don’t stick to the system. We then often beat ourselves up, declare it a fail, and never go back to it...
4.34 How to understand your own procrastination (a special coaching episode)
If you think you are the only person in academia struggling with procrastination, then you need today’s episode! Hear from Susie and Zareen, two students in my PhD Life Coach membership, as we discuss hiding from the big scary thing, never feel...
4.33 How to cope in academia with menstrual dysfunction (a double coaching episode!)
In the second of my April coaching series, we hear from Til and Alex who both experience pre-menstrual dysfunction that impacts their ability to work on their PhDs. We discuss how they’re affected (including how it exacerbates their ADHD) and c...
4.32 How to do tasks you’ve been putting off (a special double coaching episode!)
This is the first in a series of live coaching episodes, where I work with students currently in The PhD Life Coach membership on issues that affect their academic lives. This week we’re starting with an old favourite - procrastination! Thoko a...
4.31 How to get going on work without external accountability
One of the hardest things in academia is the lack of accountability for the most “important” work. We know we must write, but there’s rarely external deadlines and so many other things feel more urgent. One of the PhD Life Coach membership stud...
4.30 How to write when you’re confused
Writing can feel like you’re banging your head against a wall sometimes. Trying to craft sentences, when you’re not entirely sure where you’re going, and then spending hours working and ending up with nothing to show for it. In this episode I u...
4.29 Why you shouldn’t wait for a polished draft
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 dec...