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Catch Up, 8th December 2014

Hello! How are you doing? This is the last catch up post for this year, although on 31st December I plan to share a “year in review” post that will summarise what I’ve done this year, some of the most-read posts I’ve written and other projects I’ve been involved with. And on the 1st of January I currently plan to talk about my goals and big projects for the year ahead!

The last few weeks have been good, a mix of working from home – which is lovely because I get to play with my daughter more – and workshops in Sheffield. I’m at Liverpool for most of this week, and starting to plan ahead for January’s workshops. I’ve also been doing a fair bit of writing too!

On This Blog

I’ve shared a couple of posts on creative thinking, and also two posts on the Viva Survivors Podcast – one of how I make it and the other a kind of past/present/future post. I answered two common questions about the viva: “can I make notes?” and “how can I avoid nerves?” And last Wednesday I shared a post that has been bubbling up from the back of my mind for a long time; the more I think about it the more I am sure that the perfect video game to capture what the PhD is all about is The Last Of Us. No, really.

Meanwhile, elsewhere

The Amazing History Of The To-Do List – And How To Write One That Actually Works – my friend Chris sent this article my way (thanks Chris!) after my recent posts on to do lists and related things. A neat article plus lots of interesting tips.

knowledge | experience | creativity – a really nice picture. Click it, see it, get it!

Post-submission thoughts 2: Viewing leisure as yet just another “to do list” item – Eljee Javier shares some reflections on work and life balancing.

How To Write A Thriller – this is a great essay, over 50 years old, by Ian Fleming; writing a thriller and writing a thesis might be very different things, but still there was a lot in this that made me smile. Worth a read!

Viva Survivors Podcast, Episode 31 – last Monday I shared my conversation with Dr Katy Vigurs about her PhD and viva experiences…

Viva Survivors Podcast, Episode 32 – …and on Thursday I posted the latest episode, where I talk to Dr Katy Shaw about being a thesis examiner.

Looking Ahead

This week I have my last workshop delivery before Christmas, a First Year Development Workshop at the University of Liverpool. I’m trying to get as much writing done at the moment so that I can maintain my publishing schedule through December and the first week of January. On the blog this week I’ll be sharing a creative thinking post tomorrow and a book review on Wednesday. On Thursday I’ll be making an announcement which I am really excited about (hint: it’s about my next book!).

In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing ideas about finishing things before a break, and before and after Christmas I’ll have a couple of posts about supervisors…sort of!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

PS – please take a look at my Patreon campaign for the Viva Survivors Podcast!