How To Grad School

✌️Re-Introduction Post!

I'm Sarah Davis (she/they) and I founded How To Grad School in 2020 to help grad students improve their learning and well-being by using effective self-regulated learning strategies.

I live with my family, including my dog Tiller, on Vancouver Island, BC, on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen Peoples and the WSANEC and Esquimalt nations.

I'm more comfortable behind the camera and love incorporating the views from hikes around Vancouver Island on the How To Grad School social media accounts.

In my free time, I love playing hockey, paddleboarding, hiking, snorkelling, spending time with family and friends, laughing, reading, and going for walks with my dog around our neighbourhood.

In the last year, I've been playing A LOT of Zelda (both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom).

During my PhD, I co-founded an improv group with an incredible group of improvisers that performed for two years.

This year, I have a goal to read 20 books by Indigenous authors.

My favourite ongoing podcast is Ask Ronna, and my two favourite podcast series are Finding Cleo and The Outlaw Ocean.

Thanks for reading -- mlet me know about yourself and why you follow this account in the comments!

I'm going to be taking a break for the rest of December and into January.

When I finished my PhD in 2020, I promised myself I would never again skip regular breaks to "just write one more page" or "finish that manuscript I didn't get to all semester" or so on and so on.

In the last three years, I've kept that promise to myself and by taking regular, scheduled breaks throughout the year, I remember that PhD student who was working her way toward burnout.

I hope you will also be enjoying some very well-deserved time off over the next couple of weeks.

There will be a few changes coming to How To Grad School starting in January 2024, and I look forward to sharing these changes with you soon.

Check out how embracing your emotions, rather than just pushing them away and ignoring them, can actually increase your motivation!

Without a doubt, the main reason why I finished my PhD is due to the unconditional support of my peers, colleagues, friends, family, and community.

By surrounding myself with people who supported me through the thick and thin of my PhD, I found strength and support.

Who are the people who are always there for you as a grad student?

Who are these people for you as a grad student?

Sometimes they are fellow grad students or colleagues, other times they are your family and community.

Whoever they are, make sure you surround yourself with people who care about you.

You deserve it.

Do you believe that you can be successful in grad school? Spending some time examining exactly how you feel about yourself can determine if your beliefs are negatively impacting your motivation as a grad student.

Sometimes telling the difference between when something is working and when something isn't working is too challenging so we keep plodding ahead.

However, taking the time to reflect and monitor your progress can prevent a lot of stress and overwhelm, especially when you are writing your thesis or dissertation.

Getting help from a peer or colleague can give you that valuable perspective. This is what we work on building in The Club, our online monthly program that you can join anytime.

Curious about how The Club can help? Reach out for more information any time: [email protected]

We've worked with grad students who didn't think they deserved to be treated well or take the time to make sure they were valued.

Here's your reminder that no matter where you are in your grad program, you deserve to be treated with kindness, respect, and care.

If you're having trouble staying motivated at this point in the semester in grad school, check out our blog post that talks about attribution control. Knowing who you think is responsible for your successes and/or failures can help you stay motivated when things get challenging.

Where are your favourite places to study or work as a grad student?

I often switched up the places I worked when I felt like I needed a change of scenery.

I worked in coffee shops, the public library, the university library, my research lab, my kitchen table, an out-of-the-way computer lab, and many other places during grad school.

Environmental restructuring can be a great way to mix it up if you find you're in a slump. Read more about this on our blog: www.howtogradschool.com/blog

Do you think that being in grad school is helping you lead an interesting life?

Often we focus on the outcome of grad school as the interesting part, but I bet there are things you're doing now that a younger version of yourself would have been in awe of.

In one of our blog posts, we talk about self-limiting as a motivational strategy. Want to learn more? Check out our link in bio to access the blog and our other blog posts.

Self-talk can be tricky in grad school, especially because things can move quickly and you often don't have the time to celebrate the small wins because the next task appears almost immediately.

Taking time to reflect on how you talk to yourself, especially in those tough moments, can help you be more motivated and confident.

If you're interested in learning more, check out our blog where we discuss several motivation strategies relating to self-talk.

When I was in the dredges of writing (and rewriting and editing and writing and rewriting) my dissertation, it was really hard to see the process as a reward.

Flash forward a few years later, and now it's easy to see that the process of writing my dissertation was a reward. I learned so many invaluable skills that I use everyday in my post-PhD life.

Keeping a notebook that I wrote in for 10 minutes every day before writing my dissertation helped me see that this was a process that would have an end at some point.

What are you doing to help see the day-to-day aspect of grad school as part of the journey?

Now that you're a month or so into the semester, check out our blog post on environmental restructuring to learn about how to tailor your work environment so you can get your work done, and stay focused and on task.

Our interest in grad school can vary based on the topic, the professor, our classmates, the environment, and so many other factors.

However, increasing your interest is one way you can regulate your motivation in grad school. Head to www.howtogradschool.com/blog to read all about it or check out the link in our bio.

One of the biggest misconceptions (and perhaps most harmful) in grad school is that if you mess up, it means you aren't cut out for grad school.

I vehemently disagree. Making mistakes means you learning AND progressing. The culture in academia just doesn't recognize this most of the time.

Join The Club so you can get help and support bouncing back from your mistakes and leverage these mistakes to excel.

You can join anytime but if you sign up by September 30th you'll save 50% off our monthly fee and pay only $10 a month!