‘You have exactly one year to finish your thesis.’ This remark or any remark about time will send most PhD students into a frenzy. How come? Uncertainty The main reason is uncertainty about what needs to be done to reach the end product. Often this seems an incomprehensible mountain without…
Many PhD students don’t work, they overwork. Because they have the idea that working more is better, they work so long and hard that they don’t work effectively anymore. And ‘overworking’ kills creativity and you really need creativity. Imagine this: everybody is like a fishing pond full of creative ideas.…
There is a really big mistake that PhD students make while working on their thesis. One that causes you to become exhausted and more stressed. And that mistake is maybe not so obvious but has a lot of impacts. What is it? STOP IN TIME I know that getting started…
A while ago my colleague Daan Andriessen brought the ‘Swales three move model for introductions’ to my attention. Very practical, because a well-written introduction can help you in producing a well-written article. Therefore I would like to introduce you to the ‘3 moves’, this is the version of James Luberda.…
PhD students who know me a little longer or have worked with me intensively know that I am a great believer in walking half an hour every day. For many different reasons. You won’t be surprised if I tell you that I spend many of my holidays walking. I came…
There are days that your writing just doesn’t work out. Everything seems to distract you. Everything seems better than writing. One you have one of those days, there is help. Quite drastic help, I must admit, but still. For some of you it might be a solution. What am I…
