The PhD Life Coach

Send 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 acc...

Send 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...

Send 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...

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 e...

Send 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 w...

Send 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....

Send 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 anyon...

Send 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...

Send 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...

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...

Send 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 i...

Send 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 typ...

Send 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...

Send 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...

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...

Send 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 mana...

Send 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...

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...

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 h...

Send 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...

Send 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 i...

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 ab...

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 kn...

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...

Send 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 availa...