Ten things I’ve learned about learning a new skill (especially if you are rubbish at it to start with)

When you start a PhD, you are doing something you’ve been practicing for a long time, studying, and you’ve … More

Green dense forest with a rough path into the distance on the left side

5 situations when ‘Planning by Chatting’ is an effective technique

I’m currently setting up a Learning Hub for La Trobe to bring together all the learning support across 6 campuses, … More

Bridge across water with mountain range in background, next to lighthouse, sunset orange sky

Talking across disciplines

Is your work ‘interdisciplinary’? (Or maybe it is ‘cross-disciplinary’ or ‘multi-disciplinary’.) Or is the purpose of your work to take … More

What is knowledge and how do I contribute to it?

This is, perhaps, one of the biggest questions for many PhD candidates. Candidates know they need to make an ‘original … More

Turn your notes into writing using the Cornell Method SECOND EDITION

In 2012, I wrote a post for The Thesis Whisperer blog on the Cornell Method of note taking and how … More

Turning your research questions into a thesis

A typical aspect of early drafts of writing by doctoral candidates is the way they are focused on defining their … More

But what if I don’t wanna?

One of the biggest challenges for PhD candidates, and any writer, is motivation. There is little external motivation beyond ‘getting … More

To-do lists that actually work

I’m not actually much of a fan of to do lists. They aren’t actually much use, in my view, at … More

So here are the 5 biggest reading mistake I see—and how to avoid them.

Often we think we’ve learned to read by the time we were about eight. We know that we have to continue … More

The Blossoming-Fledgling Researcher Recommends the Writing Cycle

Mickey over at The Blossoming-Fledgling Researcher blog shows her own annotation process for taking notes in books and reducing distractions. It looks … More