As a child, jugglers really fascinated me. They throw and catch clubs, balls and fire torches as if it is the most natural thing to do. Even now I will stop and watch if I spot a juggler. I can still follow a juggler with 3 balls, but I am…
Vraagverlegenheid, a great Dutch word that entails the following according to Researchers of the University of Leiden: a person experiencing possible obstacles and reluctance when asking for help. Many PhD students suffer from this ‘not daring to ask syndrome’ and have the idea that I should be able to do…
Creating tables and graphs; I don’t know many people who think that this is a cause for great joy. For most, it leads to a lot of frustration, stress and cursing. So I have a couple of free programs for you, recommended by PhD students, which will considerably simplify creating…
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor, pianist and influential music teacher. One of her famous sayings is without discipline there can be no freedom. One way to explain this is by making choices – disciplining yourself – you eliminate making more decisions. This creates a lot of space. So,…
What can you always do, without preparation, without needing special materials, that costs as much time as you spend on it and that provides you and your PhD with so many benefits? Exactly: walking! It is the best present you can give yourself. A daily walk. I already wrote about…
Do you feel you can only write in long, uninterrupted blocks of time? Or once you have finished all your other tasks, cleared your desk, or when you finally have a whole day, a whole evening or perhaps once you have time for 5 days straight? Because that is the…
