PhD Student Goal Setting and Planning in Uncertain Times | 12 week plan

TL;DR

In this video, Kiera discusses her plans for the next 12 weeks in terms of her PhD progress and personal goals, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing health and wellbeing during these uncertain times.

Transcript

hello everyone and welcome back to my channel if you are new here you are more than welcome my name is Kiera and I do all things PhD staying productive and things like that so if you want to see future videos be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so that you know when new videos are uploaded I started this channel as a way to work on m... Read More

Key Insights

• 🧑‍⚕️ Prioritizing health and wellbeing is crucial during uncertain times, and productivity should be secondary.
• 👻 A bullet journal can be an effective tool for planning and organizing PhD work, allowing for customization and ample writing space.
• 🥳 Following a 28-day cycle for planning can help structure research tasks and align productivity with natural hormonal fluctuations.
• ✍️ Developing transferable skills, such as teamwork, leadership, and writing, is important for personal and professional growth during a PhD.
• 💪 Engaging in webinars, presenting research, and creating YouTube videos can help improve public speaking skills and develop a strong presence in academia.
• 😫 Setting specific goals and tracking progress is essential for managing PhD work effectively and staying focused.
• 👨‍🔬 Balancing research tasks with personal commitments, such as entrepreneurship projects and career management, can enhance overall career development.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does Kiera plan to balance her PhD work with prioritizing her health and wellbeing?

Kiera recognizes that health and safety are the top priorities during these times. While she aims to continue with her research from home, she stresses the importance of not taking things too seriously and focusing on overall wellbeing.

Q: What transferable skills does Kiera hope to develop and improve during the next four weeks?

Kiera identifies teamwork and leadership, career management, entrepreneurship and innovation, and writing and publishing as transferable skills she wishes to work on. She plans to engage in entrepreneurial projects, career management activities, and academic writing to enhance these skills.

Q: How does Kiera plan to improve her public speaking skills?

Kiera mentions participating in a webinar in the doctorate study user group and presenting her research to her research cohort as opportunities to improve her public speaking skills. She also plans to create longer videos on YouTube to develop her public speaking presence.

Q: How does Kiera plan to tackle her literature review and other research-related tasks?

Kiera sets a goal to complete three sections of her literature review during the next four weeks. She also plans to work on her first main chapter of her thesis. To stay organized, she uses her bullet journal to track her progress and set goals.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Kiera explains that her 12-week plan is outlined in her research diary, which is a bullet journal format that allows for customizable spreads and ample planning space.

• She acknowledges the challenges of working from home due to the epidemic but emphasizes the significance of continuing with her research as it can be done remotely.

• Kiera discusses her approach to planning based on a 28-day cycle, focusing on different tasks such as planning, communicating, doing research, and reflecting.