For Academictransfer: Avoid These X Mistakes During Your Ph.D.

This post is purpose of the serial for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resources for all inquiry positions inward the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored past times AcademicTransfer, together with tailored to those of you lot interested inward pursuing a inquiry seat inward the Netherlands.

If these posts heighten your involvement inward working equally a researcher inward the Netherlands, fifty-fifty amend - together with experience costless to burn downwardly away whatever questions you lot powerfulness take away keep on this topic!

For the lastly few years, I've been consistently giving you lot my best advice. Today, I volition orbit you lot a listing of what non to create during your PhD years. Without me blabbering away amongst also much of an introduction, hither are the 10 mistakes you lot should avoid when doing your PhD:

1. Start inquiry without reading
When you lot start your PhD, you lot may live really eager to start working correct away. While you lot may demand to start working inward the lab really presently afterward starting because of projection deadlines, you lot demand to start reading at the starting fourth dimension equally good to acquire a amend agreement of what lies behind your observations inward the laboratory. Your literature review is the footing of how you lot volition phrase together with tackle your inquiry question. Pay due attending to the foundation of your operate earlier you lot start edifice your inquiry castle.

2. Stop reading afterward finishing the literature review
Once you lot finished your literature review, you lot may experience similar you lot are "done" amongst the reading purpose of your research. Spoiler alert: you're never done reading. As a researchers, you lot demand to drib dead along upward amongst the literature constantly. Set aside fourth dimension on a weekly footing to read novel papers, or to read classic/historical papers you lot missed when you lot did your literature review. Use this textile to update your literature review until the terminal version of your dissertation is ready. And earlier your defense, delve into the literature again, hence that you lot tin present your commission members that your cognition on your inquiry topic is up-to-date together with that you lot knwo their operate really good too.

3. Avoid all "extra" work
You are non traveling to conferences together with presenting your operate because writing a conference newspaper is non a graduation requirement. You don't volunteer for extra operate for committees inside your academy or of professional person organizations. You turn down all invitations to review papers. While I'm non an advocate for overloading you lot amongst work, you lot should consider opportunities carefully. For example, writing a conference paper tin live a skillful initiatory of all stride earlier writing a magazine paper. Presenting at conferences together with other events helps you lot grow equally a speaker, together with replying questions during the Q&A prepares you lot for your defense.

4. Isolate yourself equally a researcher
You don't verbalize well-nigh your inquiry to the senior PhD students together with post-docs. You don´t inquire your supervisor for assistance when you lot experience stuck. You don´t heed to the input of the laboratory staff on your examine setup. You are a consummate solo thespian inward your research. Unfortunately, inquiry is a collaborative effort. Work inward a team, together with acquire from those roughly you. Ask for assistance together with advice - there's no shame inward hollo for for help.

5. Isolate yourself socially
You consume tiffin behind your computer. Your friends haven't seen you lot inward months. At night, you lot lookout adult man Buzzfeed videos on your phone. Your mood levels are subarctic. Maybe you lot don´t fifty-fifty drib dead to campus anymore merely prefer to "work from home". Sounds familiar? Break out of your estrus together with brand certain you lot rekindle your friendships together with operate relationships. Even better: laid goals for your relationships amongst others, and add together events to your planner (I learned this from Laura Vanderkam's 2018 mass "Off the Clock" together with straight off laid goals for work, self, together with relationships to residuum these aspects of my life).

6. Procrastinate
OK, nosotros all procrastinate. I dear watching truthful cat pictures on Twitter together with reading random Wikipedia entries. But, when you lot can't acquire whatever operate done because you lot are procrastinating to a greater extent than than anything else, you lot demand to take away keep action. You demand to take away keep a conversation amongst yourself well-nigh why you lot are non getting to your work. Is the business ahead seemingly also complex? Split it upward into smaller, actionable items, together with brand lists together with a planning. Do you lot take away keep difficulties staying concentrated? Remove distractions together with attempt the Pomodoro technique. Do you lot take away keep something inward your personal life that throws you lot off balance? Deal amongst it initiatory of all together with and hence acquire dorsum to work.

7. Work without documenting your work
You desire to operate fast together with don't desire to acquire writing to deadening you lot downwardly - hence you lot create all your calculations without documenting the references you lot used, the steps you lot followed, together with the iterative changes your procedures went through. Big mistake. Document everything you lot do. If possible, inquire for a reckoner amongst two screens: i covert for doing your calculations, together with i covert inward which you lot write downwardly what you lot take away keep been doing. Don't read without taking notes. Add a "version management" tab to your spreadsheets to log changes to your calculation sheets.

8. Work without a planning
You don't know where inquiry volition live leading you, hence you lot don't demand a planning. Maybe you lot operate based on what comes into your electronic mail inbox. When you lot operate similar this, it's slow to lose rail of your priorities. Make a listing amongst your goals together with priorities, together with allocate your fourth dimension accordingly. I'm a big advocate of setting milestones during the PhD, together with planning at multiple levels (entire PhD trajectory, per year, per semester, per month, per week, together with per day). I utilisation a combination of lists inward Todoist, planning together with a weekly template inward Google Calendar, together with a Bullet Journal to write downwardly my priorities together with reverberate on my progress.

9. Have the incorrect motivation
Your goal inward life is to acquire a professor hence you lot demand that PhD. Or, your goal inward life is to brand a lot of money, hence you lot demand the Dr. title. If you lot take away keep the wrong motivation for doing your PhD, you lot volition dread the journey. If you lot don't similar what you're doing, together with hence something is wrong. Try to discovery what motivates you lot to acquire to operate every workday - volition your inquiry mayhap take away keep an comport on on society? Whose lives volition improve thank you lot to your work? How create you lot experience inward the lab? If you lot actually regret your decision, don't attempt to drag yourself through the side past times side 3 or iv years, merely run across if you lot tin modify project, topic, university, or fifty-fifty quit altogether if you lot acquire that inquiry is non for you.

10. Forget well-nigh self-care
You demand to acquire through that PhD, whatever it takes. Well - it may take away keep your wellness (physical and/or mental), together with and hence you lot won't live able to complete maybe. So prioritize self-care, fifty-fifty when you lot experience you lot don't deserve it. Schedule fourth dimension to unwind together with create what energizes you. Take proper attention of yourself past times getting plenty sleep, movement, together with salubrious food.