Shows
The PhD Life Coach3.29 How to Stop Wasting Time by Trying to Be Too EfficientSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode of The PhD Life Coach podcast, Dr Vikki Wright explains why chasing ‘perfect efficiency’ is actually making your PhD harder. Many students think that taking flawless notes or writing excellent first drafts will save time — but this mindset often leads to procrastination and stress. Instead, Vikki reveals why starting imperfectly is the key to progress. She explains that writing is part of the thinking process, reading evolves with your understanding, and connecting with others can be the most effective use of your time. If you're...
2025-03-2416 minThe PhD Life Coach3.08 How to be more patient and realistic (part of the Be Your Own Best Boss series)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you make unrealistic plans and get impatient that you’re not progressing more quickly, then this is the episode for you! I’m going to give you specific tips about how to be more realistic and more patient so that you can be a better boss to yourself! I’ll talk about when you need to be realistic and patient, what thoughts will help and what feelings, actions and results we can then generate. If you like it, check out the rest of the five part series...
2024-10-2826 minThe PhD Life Coach3.07 How (and if) to work when things feel uncertainSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!It’s a tough world at the moment. I’ve had lots of clients struggling with job insecurity, family or personal health issues, and the direct or indirect effects of all the bad stuff that’s happening in the world right now. In this podcast, I give some ideas about how you can show yourself compassion, decide what (if any) work you are capable of, and how to support yourself through these challenges times. The emphasis is always on compassion - it’s OK to find this difficul...
2024-10-2132 minThe PhD Life Coach3.06 How to inspire the next generation (with Rosa Smith from the Brilliant Club)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Do you remember what fascinated you about your PhD topic? Sometimes when we’re stuck in the middle of endless studying it can be hard to recall why we even chose this programme. This week in the podcast I’m talking to Rosa Smith from the Brilliant Club about how sharing your research with schoolkids can inspire everyone involved! Rosa talks about how the Brilliant Club works with less advantaged young people in non-selective, non-feeing paying schools in the UK and improves critical thinking skills, academic performance and...
2024-10-1439 minThe PhD Life Coach3.05 Client Q&A – getting it done when you don’t feel like itSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you struggle to get stuff done when you don’t feel like working, this episode is for you! I’m answering three questions from my listeners:Q1 How do I go from rough notes to writing sentences?Q2 How do I edit when I’m scared I’ll realise it’s rubbish? Q3 How do I get stuff done when I feel unmotivated? I’ll tell you all the ways this is totally normal AND what you can do about it! BTW Do you ever hav...
2024-10-0726 minThe PhD Life Coach3.04 How to be more strategic and ambitiousSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Sometimes in academia being “strategic” and “ambitious” can feel like criticisms – like we’re building our career at the expense of others or being too “corporate” for a university setting. In reality, being strategic and ambitious is just about deciding what contribution you want to make to the world and why. If you often underestimate yourself, or feel like however hard you work other people are progressing more quickly, then this is the perfect episode for you. It’s another in my Be Your Own Best Boss series, helping yo...
2024-09-3024 minThe PhD Life Coach3.03 How to get started on a taskSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!A lot of PhD students and academics struggle to get started on a task or believe that they can’t start until they’ve got lots of time. In this episode, I show you how to get started on a task, so that you can complete work even when you’re busy, with less drama and stress. I show you how some of your thoughts are holding you back and give you three ways to get started on your key tasks. Links I refer...
2024-09-2323 minThe PhD Life Coach3.02 How to start the academic yearSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This week, we’re talking about starting a new academic year! This is NOT about goal setting or new resolutions - instead I'm talking about three ways that you can start the year that are more positive and empowering. These are how to harness your strengths, how to predict the future (and why) and how to modify your environment to support yourself to succeed. These are inspired by my How To Start As You Mean To Go on workshop that I ran for my membership a couple of...
2024-09-1621 minThe PhD Life Coach3.01 How the PhD Life Coach can help you this yearSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!We are back for a brand new season and I want to help all of you struggling with procrastination, overwhelm, imposter syndrome, working too much, not working enough, feeling behind, having too much to do or wondering if you want to be doing this at all. In the episode I'm going to give you five FREE ways that I can help you, one nearly free way (ie someone else pays!) and then a couple of options if you're ready to work with me more closely. Check it...
2024-09-0919 minThe PhD Life Coach2.48 Why we should ask if this will make the summarySend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Sometimes we can feel like we have to do everything, that everything is urgent, and we don't even know when to start. Sometimes the best approach is to work out how to be efficient, organise ourselves and get stuff done. Other times, it's worth questioning what we're doing and whether it really matters. In this episode we're going to reflect on creating a "summary" of our careers and asking "will this make the summary?" We can use this perspective to decide what we do and how we...
2024-08-1217 minThe PhD Life Coach2.47 Nine lessons the Olympics taught me that help in academiaSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Whether you have been watching the Olympics or not, we have so much we can learn from Olympians. Don't worry - this is not going to be the usual "you've got to work harder, you've got to grind" toxic mindset. I am going to share nine lessons that you probably haven't thought about before, that you can use to help you finish your PhD and succeed in academia! YouTube link here! ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I he...
2024-08-0528 minThe PhD Life Coach2.46 How to work with the version of you who shows up (with special guest Dr Alison Miller)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Sometimes we have the best intentions for the work we're going to do, but we wake up just not feeling it. We're tired, we lack focus, we don't think we're in the right frame of mind to work. Sometimes we beat ourselves up and force ourselves to sit down and work and other times we just give up entirely. In today's episode, Dr Alison Miller, of The Academic Writers' Space, tells us why she believes we should learn to work with the version of us that shows...
2024-07-2948 minThe PhD Life Coach2.45 Why we should all be more intentional and resourceful (and how!)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!You ever feel like you get to the end of the week and you have no idea what you did, you've been busy but you definitely didn't do the things that you wanted to get done and the week just seems to have got away from you, then you are in exactly the right place. Today I'm going to be thinking about how to be more intentional so that you achieve your goals and enjoy your life and more resourceful so that you can get the support...
2024-07-2222 minThe PhD Life Coach2.44 What to do when you get contradictory adviceSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!PhD students and academics often wonder how to handle contradictory advice and how to decide what to do. In this episode I think about what makes contradictory advice feel so challenging and I give you some questions to ask yourself to help you decide what you're going to do. ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a bit less overwhelmed and thrive in academia. My weekly podcast, The PhD L...
2024-07-1540 minThe PhD Life Coach2.43 What to do when you can't judge how long things takeSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!So many people tell me they struggle to plan because things always take longer than they anticipated. They then end up not following their plan because things run over and they get disheartened. Sometimes they stop planning entirely because it feels pointless. If that sounds like you, I've got you! In this episode we'll talk about why it's hard to judge how long things take and how to get better at it, so that we can learn to plan and to stick to our plans. ****
2024-07-0823 minThe PhD Life Coach2.42 Eight ways you might be secretly procrastinatingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Procrastinating is when we scroll social media instead of working, right? No! Procrastination is anything that we do to avoid the emotions associated with doing the task we intend to do. In this episode, I will share eight things that I think are often used as procrastination and help you figure out what to do if you recognise yourself in this! I suspect we all will...****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to...
2024-07-0132 minThe PhD Life Coach2.41 Why we all need to be more encouraging and accepting of ourselvesSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This is for anyone in academia who struggles with self-criticism and judgement (ie most people!) My series "how to be a better boss to yourself" introduces 10 qualities that we need to nurture in ourselves to support ourselves to achieve our goals and enjoy our lives. In this episode I talk about being more encouraging and accepting of ourselves. We think about why it's important, how to do it, and what impact it would have in our lives! If you like this one, make sure you also catch...
2024-06-2428 minThe PhD Life Coach2.40 How to use a Do Know Don't Know listSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!One of the things I hear clients say most often is that they don't know what to do. They either don't know what decision to make in their life, they don't know how to do something, they don't know how to present their argument, how to structure their paper, they don't know which study to do, they don't know, they don't know, they don't know.It comes up all the time at every level of the academic journey, whether you're a PhD student or a...
2024-06-1727 minThe PhD Life Coach2.39 How to be your own best personal assistantSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you ever feel disorganised, chaotic or behind, then maybe you need to spend time in "personal assistant" mode! In the episode, I discuss how to help prepare for your future self, to make tasks feel easier, more organised and even more pleasant. I explain how to use this approach to be more productive and help you work more effectively - and why it can feel so good!Links How to be your own best supervisorHow to use b...
2024-06-1036 minThe PhD Life Coach2.38 Why we should all be more compassionate and curious (One of the "Be Your Own Best Boss" Series)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you beat yourself up or tell yourself that you don't know what you should do, then I am going to help you be a better boss to yourself! This is the first in a series of episodes identifying qualities that we all need to try and nurture so that we can be give ourselves the support we need to succeed and enjoy our lives. In this episode I talk about compassion and curiosity!Links- How to stop comparing yourself to others
2024-06-0328 minThe PhD Life Coach2.37 Why you should never read when you're writingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!So many of my clients this week have been struggling with writing. Now that's not unusual. But what has been unusual is how they've all identified the same issue with writing. They talked about settling down to have a block of writing where they decided what they were going to do. And started writing, and then realized there was a little detail that they couldn't remember, or an argument they wanted to check, or something they just wanted to look up.And so they'd get...
2024-05-2723 minThe PhD Life Coach2.36 What to do when you get distractedSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Do you have things on your list that you should be doing, but you're not? Are you finding yourself getting distracted by anything and everything? Whether it's distracted by doing other admin y easy tasks, whether it's getting distracted by television or social media, whether it's even getting distracted by cleaning. I'm seeing this all the time with my clients at the moment, and even experiencing it a bit myself, so let's get into it.****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life...
2024-05-2031 minThe PhD Life Coach2.35 What to do if you feel stuckSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Often as PhD students or academics, we get that feeling of being stuck and unable to do the next steps. In this episode, I coach Danielle, who struggles with feeling "stuck", making decisions about next steps and procrastination. We discuss where these problems come from and identify some steps to move forward. Ideal for anyone who feels that they are behind, overwhelmed or don't stick to their schedule. ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD s...
2024-05-1346 minThe PhD Life Coach2.34 How to manage your tasksSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This week is one of those really practical episodes where I tell you specifically how I do something - in this case, how I manage my various tasks. This isn't intended as "you have to do it like me", but more an example of how I have worked out a system that works for me and how you can do the same.****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a...
2024-05-0633 minThe PhD Life Coach2.33. Why we should think of our careers in phasesSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!So many of my PhD student and academic clients are feeling overwhelmed, overcommitted and like they have to do everything. In today's episode I talk about why we should think about our careers in phases, as a way of addressing this. We're going to think about what we mean by phases, what decisions we can make once we know what phase we're in, and how it can change the way we think and feel about ourselves and our obligations and choices.****I'm Dr Vikki...
2024-04-2934 minThe PhD Life Coach2.32 How to plan your academic writing (with special guest Jo VanEvery)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Whether you're a PhD student or an academic, it can be really hard to plan how to fit your writing into your busy schedule. In this episode we're joined by Jo VanEvery, founder of the Academic Writing Studio, to think about how to plan what writing you do when and how to prioritise it when so many things feel important. If you're watching this when it's first released, you'll also see an announcement of our new webinar! ****You can find out more about Jo...
2024-04-221h 01The PhD Life Coach2.31 How to get back into work after a breakSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!It's that time of year when academics and PhD students are coming back after Easter/Spring break and trying to get back into the swing of uni life. Whether you spent the holiday having a "real" break, catching up on work you wanted to do, organising work you wish you didn't have to do, or just procrastinating, this is the episode for you. We'll think about why feeling the dread makes it hard to get going and what you can do instead. Let's start the new term...
2024-04-1533 minThe PhD Life Coach2.30 How to break your work down into chunksSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you have items on your to do list that you aren't doing, you need this episode! We're going to talk about how to break your work down into manageable chunks. Everyone says we should do this, but no one really tells us how to do it. What is a manageable chunk anyway? How big should it be? What should that look like? What type of chunk will make it easier for us to get started? If you're procrastinating or overwhelmed by your to do list, I'm...
2024-04-0833 minThe PhD Life Coach2.29 Seven mistakes academics make and how to avoid themSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Everyone makes mistakes. It's inevitable that we're going to make mistakes. But one of the most important things is to be able to recognize what mistakes we're making, figure out why we're making them, and if appropriate, move away from that pattern of mistake. So in today's episode, I'm going to be telling you seven mistakes that I see lots of PhD students and academics making that I want you to check that you're not making too. Some of them are relevant to everybody. Some of them...
2024-04-0132 minThe PhD Life Coach2.28 How to stop comparing yourselfSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!At every stage of the academic journey, people are comparing themselves to those around them and doing it in ways that just doesn't help and where they end up feeling guilty, feeling frustrated, feeling hopeless. Whether you're a first year PhD student looking at the rest of your cohort wondering if you're doing enough or whether you're some kick ass senior professor who's smashing their career, we're still looking across to other labs going, Oh, well, they, you know, they have still got more grant income than me...
2024-03-2526 minThe PhD Life Coach2.27 How to plan when you hate planning (special coaching episode)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, you get to hear a live coaching session with Laura! Laura is a part time PhD student who has tried every planning and task management tool possible! She shares that she finds it stressful to even think about planning and is worried about how to manage the last couple of years of her research. I coach her as I would in a private coaching session and we reach some great insights about how Laura is already planning way more than she gives herself credit...
2024-03-1858 minThe PhD Life Coach2.26 How to manage your energySend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!How many times have you seen or been on a time management course? How many books and podcasts and blogs and social media posts have you seen about time management? I want you to compare that to how many times you've seen courses and support for energy management. So much less. It's so rare to see people discussing energy management compared to how often we see people talking about time management, and it just doesn't make sense because time passes. We can organize our tasks w...
2024-03-1133 minThe PhD Life Coach2.25 Five things I still struggle with that might surprise (and reassure) youSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This week in the podcast, I get real! Some of my clients have told me that they sometimes find the idea of implementing new systems intimidating and they worry they will "fail". In this episode I tell you about the things that I still struggle with and how I got to be ok with that. It's perfect for any perfectionists out there, ideal for anyone who has tried a thousand systems and now considers themselves permanently disorganised, or anyone who beats themselves up. Let me know what...
2024-03-0432 minThe PhD Life Coach2.24 How to plan using "boss mode"Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you struggle to plan your time and organise your tasks, this is the episode for you! I'll be sharing what I mean by "boss mode" and showing you how this can help you plan your tasks, stay focused, manage overwhelm and minimise procrastination. *****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a bit less overwhelmed and thrive in academia. My weekly podcast, The PhD Life Coach covers the most common i...
2024-02-2633 minThe PhD Life Coach2.23 What to do if academia feels unfair (special coaching episode)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This is the first in a series of episodes where I share a real life coaching session! In this episode, I talk with Ruth, a PhD student, who worries that succeeding in academia relies on having connections, rather than the quality of your work. She agreed to be coached for the podcast and we discuss why this bothers her, how it affects her work, and reach some conclusions that will help her move forwards. When you're listening, make sure that you relate it to your o...
2024-02-1952 minThe PhD Life Coach2.22 What to do if you want more reassuranceSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Wouldn't it be nice if sometimes someone just told us that we were doing a good job, that we were enough, that we were doing things well enough and that they were proud of us. And yet so often, that doesn't necessarily happen in academia. Lots of us feel that our supervisors could give us more reassurance, our collaborators or heads of school could give us more reassurance, and it's really hard to keep pushing yourself to work as hard as we all do, when we feel...
2024-02-1225 minThe PhD Life Coach2.31 Eight things that PhD students and academics can learn from The TraitorsSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This is the first time I have ever had to put a spoiler warning on my podcast. I'm so excited. If you have an intention to watch series two of the UK Traitors and you haven't yet seen it, please go listen to a different episode! You don't have to have watched The Traitors for this to be an immensely useful episode, but if, like me, you got a little bit obsessed with The Traitors, then you are going to love this episode Because we're g...
2024-02-0531 minThe PhD Life Coach2.20 How to improve your writing (with special guest Katy Peplin from Thrive PhD)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!How to be a better writer is one of the most common questions asked by PhD students and academics of all levels. While there are tons of useful "how to write" books on the market it can be difficult to translate this learning into actually improving your own writing. In this episode, I talk with writing coach Dr Katy Peplin about ways that you can support yourself to get better at writing and look after yourself at the same time! Hope you enjoy - there's some great...
2024-01-2945 minThe PhD Life Coach2.19 How to stop procrastinating (part 2)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Last week we talked about how to manage procrastination in the moment, using my NICE model - that's super useful but are there ways we can prevent procrastination happening so often? I think so, and in this episode I share how building a clearer relationship with your past and future self can really help! Check it out and let me know what you think. To find out more about working with me, go to www.thephdlifecoach.com ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified l...
2024-01-2221 minThe PhD Life Coach2.18 How to stop procrastinating (part 1)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!It's the biggie! Procrastination! The bane of everyone's lives and common at every level of academia. In this episode, I will help you understand why we procrastinate and then introduce a quick and easy model you can use to help you reduce your procrastination. This episode ended up being way too long, so I've split it in half and you can have the second half next week! ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to f...
2024-01-1527 minThe PhD Life Coach2.17 How the PhD Life Coach university membership supports studentsSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, I'm chatting with Tara Wittin, Head of the University of Birmingham Graduate School and Danielle, who is one of the participants in my university PhD Life Coach membership programme. We talk about how the membership works, what benefits the students get from it, and how it fits with the other student support available at the university. Whether you're a student or an academic, have a listen and hear why consistent long-term coaching support is so important for all PhD students****I'm...
2024-01-0845 minThe PhD Life Coach2.16 How to achieve your goals using the self-coaching modelSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!It's new year. We've all got goals. We've all got new year's resolutions and we all have faint memories, maybe strong memories of all the previous times that we've tried to achieve things, and it's just not worked. If that's you, if you have a long history of not achieving the things that you set out in the new year, or achieving different things, or still achieving them but beating yourselves up for all the other things you didn't do, you are in the right place. We're...
2024-01-0137 minThe PhD Life Coach2.15 Seven things we can learn from SantaSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Santa completes the biggest project of the year every single year, delivering all those presents all around the world, and I think we can learn a lot from how he does it. This is slightly tongue in cheek, but I still think there's some important lessons in here for anyone studying or working in academia!****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a bit less overwhelmed and thrive in academia...
2023-12-2526 minThe PhD Life Coach2.14 How to stop feeling guilty when you rest over the holidaySend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!I've spent so many holidays where I've kind of intended to do some work but not really planned when or what, and then didn't really feel like it at the time, so I didn't, but I felt guilty about the fact I wasn't working because really I should, in inverted commas, be working, and then I also wouldn't do any of the really fun stuff that I wanted to do either because I should be working so I shouldn't do that stuff. But then when I did...
2023-12-1836 minThe PhD Life Coach2.13 Why you should act without thinkingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!On this podcast and in my coaching sessions, I spend a lot of time talking about thoughts. Talking about how the thoughts that we have shape our feelings and actions, and how we can intentionally modify our thoughts, not to just make stuff up, but to focus on thoughts that we already believe, but that we know serve us better, in order to feel better, do the actions we intend to do and achieve our goals. So there's lots of focus on thoughts. In this e...
2023-12-1124 minThe PhD Life Coach2.12 Five things you probably need to hear right nowSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you're listening to this in real time, it's the beginning of December and we are on the final run in to the winter holidays. One of the things that has really stuck out to me recently is how many of my clients need to hear the same things. So this week I'm going to be talking about five things that I think you need to hear right now! Let's go!****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone...
2023-12-0422 minThe PhD Life Coach2.11 How to manage your emotions when everyone is stressedSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you're trying really hard to kind of look after yourself and stay on top of your own stress levels, but you're finding yourself surrounded by other people who are stressed, other people who are complaining, then this is the perfect episode for you. We are going to be thinking about how can you manage your mind when those around you are losing theirs without needing to push them out of your lives, without needing to solve their problems, how can we study our own emotions and...
2023-11-2740 minThe PhD Life Coach2.10 How to do academia with ADHD (with guest Dr Alex Conner!)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, we're going to be talking about all things ADHD with special guest Dr Alex Conner from https://www.adhdadult.uk/. So whether you have it yourself, you think you might have it, you sometimes wonder, or whether you work with, know, or love people who do have ADHD, then you are going to learn so much about how to support yourself and how to support other people. Just to give you a heads up though, before we start there's one very short m...
2023-11-2055 minThe PhD Life Coach2.9 How to network (with guest Dr Jen Polk)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Do you hear the word networking and just think that this is the most awful thing ever, or that you're really bad at it, or that you shouldn't have to do it, or it's really hard, or it's not the right time? If so, you are going to love this episode because we're going to tell you all the reasons you're wrong. I have a guest with me, Dr Jen Polk, and we are going to be talking all things networking. Find out more at www.t...
2023-11-1352 minThe PhD Life Coach2.8 How to prepare for your vivaSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Have you got your PhD viva coming up soon? Or is it something that you're already starting to dread even though it's a few years away? If so, this is the perfect episode for you. We're going to be thinking about all the stories about PhD vivas, how we can prepare for them, and how we can look after ourselves in that process. You get to decide how we do this and I'm going to help you figure out how.****I'm Dr Vikki Wright...
2023-11-0640 minThe PhD Life Coach2.7 How to plan your week (with special guest, ex client PhD student Marie!)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, an ex-client Marie is telling us about the "perfect weekly meeting" that she developed during our time coaching together. She uses this to set the tone for her week and it's really changed how she feels and how she gets stuff done. It's so much more than a to-do list, and instead really gets to the core of how to start a week with intention. Hope you find it useful! ****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I h...
2023-10-3040 minThe PhD Life Coach2.6 How to coach yourself (and why you should)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you're a regular listener, you're going to have heard me talk about self coaching, about exploring the thoughts that we have and the impact that they have on our emotions and our actions and the things that we achieve. I thought it would be really useful to have a single episode where I actually take you through the principles of self coaching, why we do it, how we do it, and how you can start incorporating it into your lives and the benefits that you might...
2023-10-2336 minThe PhD Life Coach2.5 How to shorten your written workSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Every single one of us will have written to a word count at some point in our academic careers. Often as undergraduates, the struggle is to write enough words to hit the word count, but as we get further through our academic careers, the challenge increasingly becomes to stay under the word count. So if you've ever struggled to shorten your work to meet the requirements of your submission to your degree program or to a journal, then this is the episode for you.Ironically...
2023-10-1638 minThe PhD Life Coach2.4 Nine things I learned from organising our wedding that you can apply to your PhDSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!When was the last time you learned something outside of your academic work that you then used within your academic work? I think it's time for another one of those tenuous links between two things that are seemingly unrelated, but actually are connected much more than you think. So in this episode, I'm going to be talking about nine things I learned planning my wedding that might be useful in your PhD too.You can find out more about working with me at www.thephdlifecoach...
2023-10-0934 minThe PhD Life Coach2.3 How to manage your supervisor (or boss)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Our professional relationships with the people who supervise or manage us can have huge implications for how much we achieve and how much we enjoy our academic work. Yet often we can be quite passive about it - "they are how they are" and we just have to cope with it. In this episode, I'll share some straightforward ways that you can "manage" the people above you to make it more efficient and more fun for everyone involved. If you want to get a full t...
2023-10-0225 minThe PhD Life Coach2.2 How to manage negative feedbackSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!When did you last get some negative feedback? As PhD students and academics, we get negative feedback quite often, either comments on drafts of papers, rejections from journals, applying for jobs, all sorts of things. We get bits of negative feedback and it can really hurt. So what do we do when we experience negative feedback? What do we do with the fact it hurts and how could we perhaps do something different in the future? That's what we're going to be talking about in today's podcast.
2023-09-2533 minThe PhD Life Coach2.1 What to do if you already feel behindSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Welcome to Season 2 of the PhD Life Coach! In this first episode, I talk about feeling behind! It's easy to spend a lot of time telling yourself that you're behind your own plan or you're behind other people. Neither feel good and neither help us make more progress. I'll talk through why these sort of thoughts hold us back and give some ideas about what to do instead. None of this needs us to be a super human - the tips are simple and achieveable, a...
2023-09-1820 minThe PhD Life Coach41. Seven things I've learned this year that might help you tooSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this final episode of the 2022/23 academic year, I reflect on seven things that I have learned since starting this podcast. Whether it's managing perfectionism, staying consistent or building community, there's loads that you can apply to your own journey. After this, I'll be taking a short break and returning at the beginning of September. There's 41 episodes up for you now so perhaps revisit some of the ones you've missed, or that you've found particularly useful and I'll see you next year! ****I'm Dr V...
2023-07-2421 minThe PhD Life Coach40. On Being Unreasonable in academia with guest Kirsty SedgmanSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, I welcome Kirsty Sedgman, academic and author of On Being Unreasonable. We talk about Kirsty's fascinating route into her current academic role and what encouraged her to write a book about unreasonableness. We also discuss the tricky subject of what is considered "reasonable" within academia and how we can push boundaries to create our own meaningful paths. In this episode, Kirsty Sedgman talks about her book On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the rules and making things better. She also briefly discusses her earlier w...
2023-07-171h 14The PhD Life CoachBONUS - start your day!Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Do you start your day not clear on what the priorities are and just feeling indecisive and unmotivated? We all do sometimes. What we often need in that moment is to be a bit reflective, think about what we need, get clarity on our tasks and remind ourselves why we do this. But it's so hard! When you're already in a funk, it's so difficult to regulate yourself like that. I know! I try and fail often. To support you, I've made a st...
2023-07-1309 minThe PhD Life Coach39. How to prepare for your academic summer - structure and freedomSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This is the second of a 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. In this episode I talk about another episodes of my podcast: How to use role-based time-blockingYou can find a transcript at www.thephdlifecoach.com/podcast and also find more details about working with me****I'm Dr Vikki Wr...
2023-07-1028 minThe PhD Life Coach38. How to prepare for your academic summer - acceptance and resistanceSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!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 a summer any more. This is the first in a short series of episodes considering how we can make the summer ours again and enjoy this part of the academic year. Today we're talking about the benefits of combining some "acceptance" with some "resistance" so that this doesn't feel more painful than it needs to! In this e...
2023-07-0330 minThe PhD Life Coach37. What is an academic adjacent career and why might you want one?Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!When PhD students (and even academics) think about their career options, it often gets divided into "academic" or "non-academic" careers. In this episode, my guest Holly Prescott, a careers consultant for PGRs, talks about academic adjacent careers. She explains what they involve, why people should consider them and we discuss some of the issues that sometimes hold people back from discovering, and moving into, these interest careers. In this episode, Holly talks about: - her theatre company Ottisdotter and their latest production Lady Ing...
2023-06-2653 minThe PhD Life Coach36. Why we should be more proud of ourselves (and how to do it)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Lots of people struggle to feel proud of themselves, even when on paper they look really successful. In this episode, I talk about why this is, why it can cause problems and how to develop a habit of being more proud of yourself. Find the transcript at www.thephdlifecoach.com/podcast****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a bit less overwhelmed and thrive in academia. Please make s...
2023-06-1925 minThe PhD Life Coach35. How I finished my PhD in just over two years (& why I wouldn't recommend it)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!People often ask me how to finish up a PhD quickly but not many people know that I did exactly that. In this episode, I consider why people worry about finishing quickly enough and share some reasons why it was possible in my case (sneaky preview - none of it was because I was cleverer or better than anyone else in my cohort...) I also discuss the downsides of speeding through and what I think people could do instead. This is my most personal episode so far...
2023-06-1240 minThe PhD Life Coach34. What I learned about task transitions from doing triathlons (badly)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!So many clients tell me that they struggle to transition between different types of tasks, particularly when it comes to fitting writing into their regular days. In this episode, I'm talking about my not-very-illustrious history of attempting triathlons and what I learned about "transitioning" between the different sections of the race. If we're going to time block effectively (and not just tell ourselves that it "doesn't work for us"), then we can pick up some really useful tips from triathletes to use in our every day lives.
2023-06-0527 minThe PhD Life Coach33. How to do role-based time-blockingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!You may have heard of, or even tried, time blocking before. It can be a great way to take control of your to do list and get things done, but it can also get really overwhelming. Role-based time blocking is a streamlined version, designed specifically for roles (like academic jobs) that have lots of different components. Check it out, and discover why I'm committing to NOT making a bunch of tiny personalised hats....****I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I...
2023-05-2932 minThe PhD Life Coach32. How to seek the help you needSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!It can be so hard to ask for help, especially if you believe that you don't deserve it or that you should be able to solve the problem yourself or that there's nothing anyone can do to help. In this episode, I talk through the thoughts that you can cultivate to make seeking help feel a little easier. If you'd like a transcript, or to find out more about working with me, you can go to www.thephdlifecoach.com.****I'm Dr V...
2023-05-2221 minThe PhD Life Coach31. How to spot, and stop, all-or-nothing thinkingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!If you find yourself thinking that everyone else has it together, or that you'll never finish your paper, or that you always procrastinate, this is the episode for you. These are examples of "all-or-nothing thinking" where we take a really black and white view on the world and forget to see all the shades of grey. The problem with all-or-nothing thinking is that it feels pretty rubbish, encourages us to focus on our "fails", and makes it harder to change our behaviour. In this episode, I help y...
2023-05-1528 minThe PhD Life Coach30. How to overcome imposter syndromeSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!Have you ever felt like an imposter? Worried that someone will find out that you're not good enough to be here after all? Unfortunately we know that imposter syndrome is really common in academia and can lead to reduced wellbeing and even people leaving programmes or jobs. In this episode, I share some simple tactics that everyone can use to help feel a little less like an imposter. Importantly, I also discuss how imposter syndrome is not an individual failing, but rather a result of structural issues...
2023-05-0833 minThe PhD Life Coach29. How to get more confident about teachingSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!By most people's definitions, we're experts. Whether you're a PhD student or a more senior academic, you have more expertise than most people in your subject. However, us "experts" often still lack confidence when it comes to teaching. In this episode, we think about how we can put things in perspective and develop more confidence in your teaching.If you want to find out more about working with me, check out www.thephdlifecoach.com/work-with-me You can also find a transcript at www.thephdlifecoach.com/p...
2023-05-0128 minThe PhD Life Coach28. How to stop beating yourself up and learn from past mistakes insteadSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!We all make mistakes but some of us getting stuck in them, beating ourselves up and often repeating them. In this episode, we consider how you can instead approach past mistakes with compassion and curiousity, so that we can learn from them with less judgment. So, whatever your past mistakes, this is the episode for you! In this episode I talk about a piece of work by Pragya Agarwal, the author of Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias. You can find the article here i...
2023-04-2432 minThe PhD Life Coach27. How to get into Science Communication (with The Struggling Scientists!)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!This is a bumper episode because it is a crossover with The Struggling Scientist podcast! I am joined by Susanne and Jayron, founders of The Struggling Scientists to talk about all things science communication. Susanne and Jayron will give advice about getting started in science communication and I will offer coaching tips on some of the common barriers and worries that people have about engaging with the public. You can check them out at www.thestrugglingscientists.com. In this episode I talk about a...
2023-04-171h 20The PhD Life Coach26. How to be kind to yourselfSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode I talk about how I'm being kind to myself this week and how you can too! It's short but includes some important reflections on what we need to believe in order to take decisions that are right for us in the moment. Hope that you're kind to yourself this holiday period! **Please note - for reasons that will become clear, this was recorded in a field so you can hear the wind! It's still audible but not quite as crystal clear as u...
2023-04-1010 minThe PhD Life Coach25. How to curate your PhD Life with Jamie PeiSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode we have another special guest! This time we're talking to Jamie Pei, the "messy" PhD coach about how to curate your PhD Life. We talk about what we mean by "curating" and why we mean your all elements of your life and not just your PhD. Jamie has a great perspective on how this approach puts you in the driver's seat, and enables you to guide and create the life you want. You also hear us demonstrating how little we actually know about fine...
2023-04-0348 minThe PhD Life Coach24. How Winnie the Pooh can help you manage your mindSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!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 to manage our minds. Instead we either indulge these thoughts (ie we believe them and look for evidence they're true) or we admonish ourselves for having them (ie we tell ourselves "we're our own worst enemy"). In this episode I'll give you a very...
2023-03-2725 minThe PhD Life Coach23. How to make decisions you loveSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!There are so many big decisions to make in academia, from what to research, what conferences to go to, what admin roles to do, where to submit your work, and even how long to stay in academia. Everyone is keen to give us their opinion on what we "should" do or what will be "good for our CV", but no one seems to ever help us figure out how to make our own decisions. In this episode, I share some frameworks and reflective questions that will help...
2023-03-2025 minThe PhD Life Coach22. What to do when you're feeling a bit bleurghSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!What do you do when you feel disappointed, stressed or overwhelmed? These are such common emotions in academia yet most of us don't really know how to respond to these emotions. In this episode, I'll guess what you probably do at the moment when you're experiencing an emotion you don't like, and suggest some things you do instead. Emotions are part of the human existence and we can learn how to look after ourselves a little more. In this episode I mention the emotion wheel. T...
2023-03-1326 minThe PhD Life Coach21. Why I want to coach your supervisor (and what that means for you)Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, I consider the downside of always assuming that our seniors "have it together" (whatever level of academia you're at). Often we create a story where, if they haven't replied to our email or changed their mind about our study, it means that we're not important or our study is wrong. I'll be discussing why it's almost certainly not about you and what we should do differently as a sector. If you'd like to find out more about working with me, check out w...
2023-03-0625 minThe PhD Life Coach20. What to do when you have too much to doSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, we accept a universal truth. We have too much to do. We'll explore what happens when you accept that as a fact and challenge instead the notion that we have to do it all (and especially the notion that we have to do it all this week). I teach you about boss mode and worker mode, introduce you to my plate spinning analogy, and explore how the project management triangle can be used when we're really up against it. We're also going to celebrate...
2023-02-2735 minThe PhD Life Coach19. What to do (and think) if you have a toxic relationship with your supervisorSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!In this episode, we’ll think about how to look after yourself if you think you have a toxic relationship with your supervisor. We’ll consider what that means, what effect it could have on you, and most importantly, how to manage your thoughts so that you can make decisions about this difficult situation. I’ll talk about some of the most common thoughts that I see students having and help you find some other thoughts that might help you more. If you find yourself in this situat...
2023-02-2035 minThe PhD Life Coach18. How to have a great relationship with your supervisorSend Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!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 you can improve things so much without expecting them to change at all - find out how in this episode! ***NOTE - this is NOT talking about abusive, problematic and/or unacceptable supervision. I will talk about this more next week, but the s...
2023-02-1324 min