Being the “cognitive athletes” they are, PhD students (and researchers) should take rest very seriously, to perform at their best. Yet, not all breaks are created equal: timing and other factors affect their effectiveness. Continuing previous dives into chronobiology and taking holidays, this post goes over evidence-based tips and tricks to make your breaks the most restorative and energizing.

Aside from PhD students’ own motivational factors (e.g., how much progress they perceive, or how exhausted they are), the support they receive from supervisors is another key aspect related to doctoral completion. In the continuation of last week’s “study report”, we discuss how different kinds of supervisor support relate to those motivational factors and, eventually, the finishing of the doctorate. We will also see how supervisors could foster these motivational aspects and help their students complete the PhD.

Many factors seem to play out into whether we complete our PhD, or drop out of it. Some of them are external and largely uncontrollable (like financial or family problems), while others relate to our thesis project and motivation. In this new type of blog post (the “study report”), I dive into the results of a recent research study that defines five types of doctoral students, in terms of their motivational profile.

In a previous post, I mentioned that uncomfortable emotions (like guilt, anxiety or indecision) are one of the most common obstacles to productivity that our PhD students report. In preparation for a longer series of posts on “emotional first aid for the PhD”, I have found a short mental exercise that has helped me face those difficult emotions lately. Here it is, in the form of a card-based “Monday Mantra”.

As we saw in a recent post, “task conflict” is a common productivity challenge of doctoral students. As PhD students, we often have to juggle different identities, priorities, jobs, projects… along with doing the thesis itself. Yet, so often, it is the thesis-related tasks that keep getting pushed back. In this post, I will go over tips, practices and techniques that might be useful if you find yourself struggling with this particular challenge in your PhD.

Do you ever feel, during your PhD, that you are not “productive enough”? Guess what, you are not alone. In this post, I share the three most frequently-appearing productivity problems voiced in doctoral workshops we have run in Estonia and Spain. I hope this shows PhD students that they are not alone… and gives PhD supervisors hints about the hurdles their students often face (whether they mention them explicitly or not). Also, I will give a couple of simple rules to know if these are a problem for you particularly.

We know that steady everyday progress is a crucial factor in finishing a PhD. In previous posts, we have seen productivity techniques to support us in taking more of these daily steps. Yet, a lot of walking does not necessarily get us anywhere. We need to know that we are actually getting past key reference points, closer to our final destination. In this post, I propose a diagramming exercise to map out key obstacles, milestones and the “everyday fuel” that propels us past them in our journey towards PhD completion.

When we are writing a research paper, we need to find long stretches of focused time to get that writing done. Yet, even if we find them, can we really sustain intense focus during two or more hours? Today’s post looks at a research-backed and often overlooked tool in our productivity toolbox: the micro-break. To top it up, I provide two “monday mantras” to make your micro-breaks even more effective.

Have you ever felt, after lunch, that your mind cannot focus? or that, later on, writing suddenly feels effortless? If you have noticed trends in when these experiences happen, you have stumbled into the importance of chronobiology for your productivity. In this and following posts, I provide advice on how to organize your research work, based on chronobiology research. Today, circadian rhythms – i.e., when to do what during the day.

Have you ever had this feeling, while writing, that your prose is leading nowhere? that right now it would be a great moment to defreeze the fridge? to check your phone, because someone may have texted? In this post, I offer a simple exercise to use next time these internal interruptions assail you during writing.

Have you ever spent hours providing feedback over a colleague’s (or a student’s) paper? And have you ever found afterwards that many of your carefully-crafted, thoughtful comments had been ignored? In this “quickie” post for supervisors (or for anyone giving internal feedback), I share a small trick that I use lately to avoid these situations… and get better outcomes for everyone involved.

Just a quick update about what’s been going on lately at the ‘A Happy PhD’ headquarters. Expect a change of pace in the next weeks: shorter, more regular posts, our new ‘Twitter Tuesdays’, and much more!