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.

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.

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 felt that you have too many threads open in your research work, and you cannot seem to make substantial progress in any of them? You are not alone. After closing the long series of posts on “happiness in the lab”, a bit of a lighter read this week. In this post I give very short advice that you can use as a “mantra” for this and the coming weeks, somewhat related to staying productive – but with a twist.

This is one of the most basic, flexible and effective productivity techniques, which I’ve been using for many years. I know many PhD students and academics that swear by it, but I am still surprised by others who do not know about it. In this post I come back to its origins, how to do it, and how I have combined it with other routines to keep me on track. Essential in this age of smartphones, social media and other constant distractions!