Do you check your daily to‑do list at the end of the day? If not, you probably should. Yet, this healthy habit can lead to an increasing sense of dissatisfaction and/or shame, as we are prone to plan more tasks than we are realistically able to execute (due to a very human bias). Do we have to choose between productive habits and a positive self‑image? This post introduces a “mantra question” I am using lately to maintain focus during daily reviews.

After a long hiatus for personal reasons, we are back in business! Continuing from our last post from 2021, here I highlight one of the blog’s big foci for this starting year: the “big PhD questions”. The post goes over what Google has to say about this (!) and asks for your ideas and opinions on what big questions about the doctorate we should investigate next at the “A Happy PhD” blog.

If you are reading this, chances are that you have already decided to do a PhD. Yet, you may know someone who is considering a doctoral degree (or you may be offering such a position as a supervisor to prospective students). This post is for them. In this new type of post, we will look at big questions facing any PhD student. Today, we analyze the question that precedes all the other big PhD questions: “should I do a PhD?”. Below, I offer a couple of quick, simple ways to look at this important life decision, and a list of 10 factors to consider when offered (or seeking) a PhD position.