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The PhD Life Coach

Vikki Wright

Whether you're a PhD student or an experienced academic, life in a university can be tough. If you're feeling overwhelmed, undervalued, or out of your depth, the PhD Life Coach can help. We talk about issues that affect all academics and how we can feel better now, without having to be perfect productivity machines. We usually do this career because we love it, so let's remember what that feels like! I'm your host, Dr Vikki Wright. Join my newsletter at www.thephdlifecoach.com.

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28 episodes
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Avg 30 min
English

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S5 · E6
Monday · 26 min
5.06 How to embrace some seasonality in your work
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! As the seasons change, it can be hard to stick to your “usual” work schedule. In this episode, I argue that maybe we should change our expectations and routines in line with the season we’re entering. I talk through the changes I’m considering making in how and when and where I work as we enter winter here in the UK, and discuss the mindset and behavioural shifts needed to make that feel like a positive intentional decision. I give you some questions to consider so you can launch into your next season in a way that feels supportive and positive. If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on Why making halfassed decisions is making your PhD harder. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S5 · E5
November 2 · 21 min
5.05 How to make a Gantt chart that actually helps
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Most of us will have made a Gantt chart for an annual review or grant application and then thrown it in a drawer (physical or digital) never to be seen again! In this episode I discuss what we’re getting so wrong in the planning and implementation of our long term goals and what we can do instead. Through the metaphor of a multi day hike, we consider how we can actually make Gantt charts useful and what thoughts will help us to implement them effectively. Perfect for anyone who wishes they “could just stay on track”! If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on how and when to change your plans. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S5 · E4
October 26 · 25 min
5.04 Why imposter syndrome ruins your work life balance
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! We all know we should have time away from work yet so many of us don’t. It shocks me that people don’t get more curious about WHY intelligent, capable people don’t do things that we KNOW will help us. In this episode, I share why I think imposter syndrome has a massive impact on our ability to choose a better work life balance. A must if you are exhausted, overwhelmed and fed up of cancelling plans in order to work. If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on what (series 1) of Celebrity Traitors taught me about imposter syndrome. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S5 · E3
October 19 · 34 min
5.03 Why you’re probably setting the wrong goals
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! We all talk about goal setting, and the importance of SMART goals, and yet most of us still set goals that don’t work. Maybe we get there in the end, often in unsustainable ways, or maybe we let the goal drift and then set it again with the promise “it’ll be different this time”. In this episode, I’m going to share 10 ways I think we can design better goals, so that we set ourselves up for success. This approach underpins our quarterly goal setting process in The PhD Life Coach membership If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on Why Word Count Goals Don't Work for PhD Writing – And What to Do Instead. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S5 · E2
October 12 · 58 min
5.02 How to be more resilient with special guest Dr Sherry Hamby
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! We often think of resilience as the ability to withstand more and more stress or pressure, which never sounds like a lot of fun or very sustainable. However, as Dr Sherry Hamby explains in this episode, that’s not really what the scientific literature says about resilience. We chat about Dr Hamby’s book, Stronger Than You Think, and go through the four pillars of your resilience portfolio. By the end, you’ll identify ways you can improve your own resilience portfolio, so that you can achieve your goals and enjoy your life. If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on Nine things PhD students need to tell themselves more often. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S5 · E1
October 5 · 32 min
5.01 How to be independent when your supervisor is controlling
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Trying to be “more independent” and “driving your PhD” when your supervisor simultaneously keeps rejecting your ideas can be one of the biggest challenges in academia. In this episode I talk about why I think this situation comes about, what impact it has, and give four tangible ways that you can improve the situation for both you and your supervisor. If you liked this episode, you should check out this one on How to use your existing expertise when you feel like an imposter. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E69
September 30 · 36 min
4.69 GREATEST HITS - How to manage negative feedback
Send 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. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on What to do when you get contradictory advice **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E68
September 28 · 36 min
4.68 GREATEST HITS - Why you should notice the paradox of imposter syndrome
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Imposter syndrome often affects the most high achieving people yet it can still feel so true that you’re “not good enough” and “conning” other people into believing you’re better than you are. In this episode, I discuss a paradox that I see a lot in academics experiencing imposter syndrome - the tendency to simultaneously believe that you are an imposter AND hold yourself to higher standards than you hold other people. I’ll discuss the five past experiences that may influence why you have these paradoxical beliefs and why recognising this can be the first step to overcoming some of these imposterish thoughts. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on What the Celebrity Traitors taught me about imposter syndrome **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E67
September 23 · 35 min
4.67 GREATEST HITS - How to manage your energy
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 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 within time, but we can never manage time itself. It's the one commodity we have very little control over. But that's okay. Because actually time management is rarely the issue. Our issues are usually around energy management and focus management, yet there's much less support out there for this. So that's why I'm recording this podcast. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on doing a PhD with a chronic illness, with special guest Krystina François. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E66
September 21 · 31 min
4.66 GREATEST HITS - Why you deserve a life outside academia
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! It's so easy to believe that you don't have time for a life outside of academia. The pressure and the never-ending to-do lists mean that even having fun feels like one more thing you need to fit in. In this episode I talk about the benefits of having hobbies outside of academia, including how I found myself hanging by my ankles being rescued by people half my age. I also talk about how you can coach yourself to believe that you deserve that time to yourself. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on protecting your mental health during your PhD with Dr Marissa Edwards. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E65
September 16 · 25 min
4.65 GREATEST HITS - How to use a Do Know Don't Know list
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, 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 full professor. This idea that we don't know something and that that is a problem can really cause a lot of delays. It's a huge source of procrastination. If you've written something in your kind of task list for the day and you get to it and you're like, yeah, I'm not really sure how to do that, it's really easy to decide, oh, I'll do it later. It's really easy to put off because you're putting off something that's kind of a bit nebulous anyway. This is something I've addressed with some of my one to one clients recently, and lots of them have had success with a really specific tool that I like to call the do know don't know list, which I'm going to share with you today. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on What to do when you don’t know what 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. Please make sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E64
September 14 · 22 min
4.64 GREATEST HITS - What to do if you already feel behind
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! In this 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, and help us move towards our goals with less pain. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on How to get ahead when you’re feeling behind, with best selling author (and friend of the podcast!) Sophie Hannah. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E63
September 9 · 32 min
4.63 GREATEST HITS - Eight ways you’re secretly procrastinating
Send 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... If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on why you don’t need another planner! **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E62
September 7 · 31 min
4.62 GREATEST HITS - How to work out why you procrastinate
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Pretty much every PhD student struggles with procrastination yet the advice is often very generic. In this episode, I talk about a theoretical framework that helps us better understand why each of us, as individuals, procrastinate so that we can make more tailored plans to support ourselves. I also explain why it’s totally understandable that you procrastinate and why we know it’s a modifiable behaviour – i.e. you can change! **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E61
September 2 · 17 min
4.61 GREATEST HITS - How to Stop Wasting Time by Trying to Be Too Efficient
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! In this episode, I explain 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, I reveal why starting imperfectly is the key to progress. 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 overwhelmed by the pressure to be ‘productive’, this episode will help you work smarter — not harder. Listen now to learn how embracing imperfection can help you finish your PhD with less stress. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on How to prioritise when you have competing challenges - a coaching session with Predrag **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E60
August 31 · 30 min
4.60 GREATEST HITS - How to make your week more effective
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! If you start your weeks strong but usually end disappointed, then this episode is for you! I’m going to be sharing how everything improved for me when I separated “boss me” from “implementer me” and used that idea to understand why I felt so frustrated at the end of the week. I’ll identify the most common issues so you can see which resonate most with you and give you some specific ideas to try out this week! If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on how to plan your week (with special guest Marie). **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E59
August 26 · 12 min
4.59 GREATEST HITS - Why I’m banning highlighters
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! In this episode, I make a feisty case for why we should ban highlighters! I’ll give you four reasons they’re not helping you and tell you what you should be doing instead. Forward this to all your favourite stationery-obsessed friends! If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on Ten lessons I learned about doing PhDs by playing Stardew Valley **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E58
August 24 · 27 min
4.58 GREATEST HITS - How to take better notes
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Pretty much all PhD students have a vague (or very strong) sense that they’re not taking “good enough” notes. Yet for most of us, we’re not really clear what good enough notes would actually be like, and often have really unrealistic expectations about what function our notes should serve in the future. In this episode, I don’t give you new systems or softwares to improve your notetaking - instead, I talk about how notetaking is your first opportunity to practice being an academic who is IN the field, not just reporting ON the field. I’ll give you some specific notetaking activities to try and a pep talk on how important it is for the world to hear YOUR academic voice. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on How to use your existing expertise when you feel like an imposter. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E57
August 19 · 22 min
4.57 GREATEST HITS - Why you should never read when you're writing
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! Do you keep getting distracted when you’re writing? Settle down to actual draft something, then decide to just look something up, and then two hours later you’re still down the rabbit hole and nothing is written. If so, this episode is for you! This has blown my clients minds many times. I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t read when you’re writing and what you should do instead! If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on How to Stop Wasting Time by Trying to Be Too Efficient. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript
S4 · E56
August 17 · 41 min
4.56 GREATEST HITS - How to read academic papers more quickly
Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show! One of the most common comments I hear from PhD students is that reading always takes longer than they expect. In this episode, I share four elements that you need to take into account when deciding how much time you are going to give an article, book or other piece of writing. By being more intentional in considering these elements, you can be much more accurate in how long each piece will take to read and often read it in less time. This is crucial for anyone at any stage of their research career – not only will it help you to manage workflow and hit deadlines, it will also improve your understanding of the literature. If you liked this episode, you might also like this episode on Why I’m banning highlighters. **** 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 sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464 I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.
- Transcript

Showing 1–20 of 28 episodes