A perfect plan rarely exists. Flexibility is your secret weapon. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

Feeling stuck means you’re working on something important.
Keep going. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

Here's a #PhDDailyThought for you: Writing bad sentences is part of writing good ones.
Don’t edit while you write. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Your brain isn’t broken — it’s tired.
Rest isn’t optional, it’s essential. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

Every “small win” counts.
Sometimes the smallest steps are the hardest. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

The hardest part isn’t the research.
It’s learning to be patient with yourself. This morning’s #PhDDailyThought. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Morning #PhDDailyThought: You’re allowed to ask for help — even if you’re afraid it makes you look weak. It doesn’t. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

You’re not doing this alone.
Even if it feels like it. There’s a whole quiet army of #PhD students out there — just like you. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

A #PhD won’t give you confidence. But it will teach you how to move forward without it. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

Finishing your PhD won’t fix your self-worth.
Start working on that now. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Your work matters. But your wellbeing matters more. This morning’s #PhDDailyThought. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

The people who say “just write” have probably never stared at a cursor for 3 hours. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

#PhDDailyThought: Progress isn’t always visible. Sometimes it’s just showing up — again and again — even when it feels pointless. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Advice for early-stage #PhD students:
Document everything.
You’ll thank yourself later. #PhDDailyThought #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Progress isn’t always visible.
Sometimes it’s just showing up — again and again — even when it feels pointless. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #PhDDailyThought

One of the bravest things you can say during your PhD:
"I don’t know." #PhDDailyThought #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

That slow realisation that the end of the #PhD journey is in sight.

A supervisor can make or break your PhD.
But we rarely talk about the emotional labour of managing that relationship. #PhDDailyThought #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

You can feel behind in your #PhD even when you're ahead. Here's today's #PhDDailyThought: 
Imposter syndrome doesn’t care about your word count. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

If you're writing your dissertation and thinking,
"This is obvious — everyone knows this" — that means you're starting to understand it. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Breakthroughs rarely come from pushing harder.
They come when you step back.
Rest is part of the process. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

We talk a lot about productivity in #academia.
We don’t talk enough about loneliness. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

The right support doesn’t make your #PhD easy.
It makes it doable. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

Your thesis isn’t your legacy.
You are. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

You won’t remember most of the papers you read.
However, you’ll remember who made you feel like you could keep going. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: You don’t need to prove your worth to your supervisor.
Or to your committee.
You already belong. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: A lot of feedback in academia isn’t actually helpful.
It’s vague.
It’s rushed.
And it’s more about the reviewer than the work. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Writing your thesis means wrestling your thoughts onto a blank page — daily.
It won’t feel elegant.
It will feel like survival. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: A lot of #PhD advice skips over the hard parts. But what if you're not thriving? What if you're barely holding on? #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Feeling like a fraud doesn’t mean you are one.
It means you’re in a system that rewards overconfidence and punishes vulnerability. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Dear #PhD student:
You’re allowed to take a break before you break. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: You can work 60 hours a week and still feel like you’re falling behind.
That’s not a time management issue.
That’s a productivity myth. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Many #PhD students aren’t procrastinating because they don’t care.
They’re procrastinating because they care too much. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Your future self doesn’t need perfect.
It needs progress. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: Half of your thesis will be written with a voice in your head saying:
"This is terrible."
Write anyway. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: The scariest moment in a #PhD?
Not starting.
It’s realizing how far in you are, and still feeling lost. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: No one sees the 4-hour panic before you finally hit “submit”. 
Just the screenshot that says: "Chapter done". 
Be kind to yourself. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought: You’re not lazy.
You’re overwhelmed.
There’s a difference. #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky

This morning’s #PhDDailyThought:  A #PhD doesn’t teach you to be confident.
 It teaches you to keep going despite not feeling confident at all.   #AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky #phdpeople

What if you didn’t have to figure out your PhD alone? Not just the writing, but the structure, the confidence, the feedback, the momentum. We’ve spent months building something that does exactly that. All-in-one support, designed by people who’ve been there. Get early access here: zurl.co/mFE5p

You’re human. You will get it wrong. Don’t let your inner critic run your #PhD.

No one actually knows what they’re doing. Most people are improvising and hoping they don’t get caught.

Other people’s #PhD journeys look better from the outside because you’re not seeing the mess. Boasts hide failure. Progress posts hide panic. Don’t measure yourself against a curated feed.

A #PhD isn’t a test of genius. It’s a test of how many times you can fail, recover, and keep going. Every breakthrough is surrounded by a graveyard of abandoned drafts and wrong turns.

Most PhD “support” is crisis-driven — offered only when students are already burned out or ready to quit. Many institutions aren't there when students need them.  My view: support should be structural, embedded in the daily rhythm of #phd research, so burnout never takes root.

Half of the #PhD is learning *how* to write. The other half is learning how to still write when you fall out of love with what you’re writing.

On the #phd journey, “independence” often means “we’ll leave you to figure it out, but we’ll still judge you for doing it wrong.”

Today we hosted a writing retreat for #phdstudents and it got me thinking: how many of you have these kind of full day writing retreats provided by their universities? Comment below. I’d love to hear. (I suspect it’s pretty rare?)

Ten years ago I was doing my #PhD. I was so isolated, convinced I didn't have what it takes and that there was something wrong with me. Since then, I've worked with thousands of #phdstudents and seen how common those feelings are. You're not alone. You do have what it takes. You will get there.

For years, we’ve helped #PhDstudents find momentum through writing. But writing is only part of the journey. The isolation. The doubt. The endless second-guessing.  So… we’ve been building something new. It’s launching later this month. More info & early access here: zurl.co/FZjWx