You can't do it all. Being strategic means sometimes saying NO. If you say yes to one opportunity it means there will be less time for something else. You can't do it all.

Reactive: responding to everything that comes along; emails, interruptions, distractions. Proactive: spend a bit of time working out your priorities for the day and make a bit of time to work towards them.

This is Paul's fountain pen. His parents gave it to him when he started his PhD. This is a useless present. Nobody writes a PhD with a fountain pen. #PhDchat #PhDforum #ECRchat #postdoc #acwri #AcademicChatter

Jessie is formatting her document (again). She thinks she is writing. Jessie is wrong. She is procrastinating. #PhDchat #PhDforum #acwri #ECRchat #postdoc

#MentalHealth tip: We have no idea what is going on in other people's lives. Bear this in mind when you're: Tempted to judge Providing feedback Frustrated by someone's behaviours. If you walked a mile in their shoes you might see things differently. #PhDchat #PhDforum

We tend to think of courage as dramatic acts of bravery. But every day there are little moments of courage. Pressing SEND. Risking making a mistake. Saying NO. #PhDchat #ECRchat #PhDforum

Competing in the Suffering Olympics. But why? @workchronicles

If you are a giver, remember to learn your limits - because the takers don't have any.

PhD students often tell me they have no idea how their research is going. You could ask your supervisor: Am I on track? Is this where I should be by now? How do you think I’m going? How do you think the research is going? Supervisors often assume you know. You have to ask.

Thinking of doing a PhD? My number one piece of advice is spend time finding a supervisor that you can work with.This will be the most important decision in your whole PhD. If you find someone you can work with, it will be fine. If you can't work with them, it will be miserable.

Ah! The element of surprise.

This might sound familiar to many grad students. Learning how to avoid bumping into your supervisor.

Finding your voice in research? #academic #science #edchat #HigherEd #University #phdchat #acwri #writing

A famous poem by Tom Wayman that expresses the teacher's frustration when someone turns up late and asks "Did I miss anything?" www.tomwayman.com/did-i-miss-a...

Sometimes you hear people say there is no such thing as a stupid question. But there certainly is an annoying one. When someone turns up at a workshop an hour late and asks "Did I miss anything?" #PhDchat #PhDforum #academicchatter

Too busy to attend the workshop on time management? Working harder is not always the solution. Sometimes you have to do things differently.

Starting a PhD soon? You probably feel you know nothing. That's OK. Everyone else feels the same. Ask lots of questions. #PhDchat #PHDForum

#PhDSupervisors You might think that you are very accessible. You might intend to be very accessible. But because you're very busy you might not be that accessible.

We tend to compare the insides of ourselves with the outsides of others. Blog about comparisons. buff.ly/2IsW1r3 Social media amplifies this as all we see are other people's highlights reel. #impostersyndrome #PhDchat #ECRchat #PhDforum

Thinking of doing a #PhD? A mature PhD student showed me their screen saver. It said: You're not too old and It's not too late. Stop wondering about might have beens. Jump in and give it a go. #PhDchat #PhDForum

#StayWellinResearch 8. Supervisor - Choose wisely The supervisor role is vital in research because it is often just you and them. Sometimes there isn’t anybody else involved so there’s no one else to talk to when things go wrong. From: 52 Ways to Stay Well buff.ly/2UnQkDn

My #1 piece of advice for prospective research students and research supervisors? Choose in haste. Repent in leisure. Both parties should put some work into the choice. For everyone's sake. #PhDchat #ECRchat #postdoc #PhDforum

Krystyna read a post that said Feng Shui can increase your productivity. It said bad energy flows lead to blockages. As a researcher she was a bit sceptical. So she spent the afternoon reading the research literature on Feng Shui. It didn't improve her productivity.

Last night Edwin woke up with a great new insight that solved the research problem he was struggling with. He wrote it on the scrap of paper. Now he can't find a scrap of paper. Edwin was dreaming. There is no scrap of paper and there was no insight. Poor Edwin.

The human brain is a wonderful thing. It starts working the moment you are born and keeps on going right up until you stand up to talk in front of a group of people! George Jessel #PhDchat #ECRchat

Remember not all tasks are equal. Some are more important than others. What are your vital few and the trivial many? Focus on the vital few.

At what point do you need to stop exploring and start exploiting? It's fun to open up new lines of enquiry, to read more articles, to gather more data. But if you want to finish something, at some point you have to stop exploring and exploit what you have. #PhDchat #ECRchat

Have a cooling off period before you say yes to requests. eg Let me get back to you about it From: buff.ly/3vYLul2

How are things? Busy. Very busy. Everyone is very busy. Not necessarily effective. But very busy. @lianaflinck

And everyone is after your attention.

I sometimes get asked to reduce the workshop duration. Of course, but we might have to leave out some of the detail.

Make a fresh start. Close all the tabs!

All that extra effort might be making it worse! Sometimes you just have to let it go. #Perfectionism

I didn’t think I was a bully until I heard how I spoke to myself. I think I owe myself an apology. Most of us would never speak to other people the way we speak to ourselves. We criticise, blame and bully ourselves. Be a bit kinder. Be a friend to yourself.

Phrases to make people feel inadequate. #PhD #PhDsupervisor

This is Clive. He’s a Vice-chancellor. Clive has a big office. And a DOOR. Clive is very important. He’s just sent out an email telling staff that the new Open Plan office layout will be good for productivity. This is not true. That’s why Clive’s office has a door.

Zoe read a book about decluttering. It said if something doesn't bring you joy, you should throw it out. Zoe looked at her discussion chapter. It didn't being her joy so she threw it out. Zoe still doesn't feel joy. She should throw out the decluttering book.

A #3MT presentation is not a very short conference presentation. It is something completely different. In fact many of the things you learned for conference presentations you need to unlearn for 3MT. It's different from normal.

Some tools to help prepare for the #3MT. Download for free from: buff.ly/2YXCjLO Look and learn Practice chart Feedback format Judges form Content checklist ANTs and MATHs From: Preparing for the #3MT - everything you need to know. buff.ly/2HQaXQw

Preparing for the #3MT? Here's a form to prompt people on the type of feedback that would be useful. Download for free from: buff.ly/2YXCjLO

Preparing for the #3MT? Here's a content checklist. Download for free from: buff.ly/2YXCjLO

If you're getting vague feedback like this from your PhD supervisor, you need to ask more specific questions.

Doing a #PhD and doing research can have a big impact on your family and friends. They give up time with you. They listen to you when you moan. They pretend they're interested when you go on and on about your research. Let them know that you appreciate their support.

Questions not to ask a PhD student: When will you graduate? How is your thesis going? Has your paper got published yet? What year are you in? What will you do after your PhD?

Are you even good enough to have imposter syndrome!

If you are using AI to help create your work, and then presenting it to your PhD supervisor as though it's all your own work, there is a problem. You need to be transparent with your supervisor.

#PhD Supervisors You should probably assume that your PhD students are using AI in some form. So you need to have a discussion about what you think is appropriate use.

#PresentingOnLine People's attention span is very short when on-line. You can assume most people are multi-tasking. So you need to break up the formats with interactions and changes of pace. Use breakout rooms. Get people to respond to questions in the chat box.

#PresentingOnLine No seeing your audience can be good and bad. Good: maybe less anxious Bad: no feedback or energy So you have to act as if you were presenting to a real audience. Or use little Lego characters to remind you to speak to the people.

#PresentingOnLine What can go wrong? Half way through your presentation the battery in your mouse will die. (Today's problem). So have some spare batteries around.