10 things to do the summer before you start your PhD

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So, you’re starting a PhD - congratulations!!! Now what? Here are 10 things to do the summer before you start your PhD!

Get to know your new home

In all likelihood, you’ve probably moved to a new place and a new school for your PhD, so if you are able, spend some time getting to know your new home! Get to know the area you live in, what restaurants, gyms, libraries or parks are in your area. Test out different grocery stores in your new location. If you have access, get to know your new campus - what are some good study spots and what building is your office in? Though these might seem like small things that you’ll familiarize yourself with over time, starting a PhD is hard work and you may not have time to think about what grocery store to go to once you’re swamped in readings and assignments! If you’re not yet in your new location, do some online research and create a bucket list of places to check out once you’ve moved. I always find that crowd sourced information from sites like Reddit are a good place to start.

Start browsing academic journals in your field

Although I am a huge proponent of taking the summer before your PhD to relax and take time for yourself, one thing I wish I’d spent a bit more time doing was browsing academic journals in my field! I’m not saying you need to read every word of every article or take copious notes, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to start looking at journals in your field and getting a sense of what journals are out there and what kinds of things people are researching. A good place to start is to look at the papers recently published by faculty and students in your department.

Get organized

I may be a little biased because I love to talk about organizing, but one thing that has been indispensable to me is having a strong organization system for keeping track of my assignments, deadlines, and research projects. I decided to use a very specific file naming system and use platforms like Notion and OneNote to manage different projects which has helped me keep track of notes from research meetings and allows me to revisit takeaways from classes I took years ago. Your organization system will most certainly change as you learn the expectations and workload required of your program but it’s a good idea to have a plan in place for how you will organize things before you get thrown in the deep end!

Try to make connections with other PhD students

One of the things I recommend the MOST to new PhD students is to have friends both in and outside of academia. Before I started my PhD, I was fortunate enough to work in a lab that allowed me to develop relationships with grad students and the summer before I started my program, I connected with several other PhD students through Bumble of all places! For me, having other PhD students in my life (even if they are not in my specific program) has been hugely beneficial to my mental health. Even if they aren’t in my department, they understand what it is like to be a PhD student, experience the same milestones, and are a great support system that is especially important when you need someone who understands the academic environment.

Keep your connections outside of your PhD program

Related to the one above - I also recommend making plans to keep and maintain your relationships with people outside of your program, especially with friends who are around the same age or stage in life! A PhD can be a pretty all consuming endeavor and it’s important to have people outside of your PhD life who can remind you that there is more to life than academia :)

Find a hobby or a passion project

It doesn’t have to be high-stakes hobby or project - just something that will help to take your mind off of your studies when you want to take a break. I think this advice applies to anyone in the work world, too. As much as you might love what you do on a day to day basis, it’s important to engage in activities outside of work that either bring you joy or develop a passion that you’re not able to engage in your everyday work. For me, this has always been on the creative side - I love to decorate my apartment, try out new make-up looks, paint, or knit. These are all more creative hobbies that I don’t actively use in my day to day job as a PhD student so it’s nice to be able to take time to remind myself that I am more than my PhD.

Establish healthy habits

It’s a hell of a lot harder to start a habit than it is to maintain an existing one - so establish those healthy habits now!! I started exercising daily about 2 years before I started my PhD and every day I still think to myself how grateful I am to have this habit so deeply ingrained in my brain. Getting into the habit of working out every day was such a struggle for me (a kid who hated gym class with a fiery passion) but now that it has become a habit, I miss it on the days that I don’t incorporate some movement into my day - even on the busy days when I’m overwhelmed by PhD things. This has also helped me tremendously on a health and productivity level because I get sick less often and feel more a wake during the day. I am a big, big, big believer that y ou cannot be productivity without taking care of your well-being first so take some time during the summer to tackle those healthy habits you want to develop so you can continue the easier work of maintaining them throughout your program.

Determine what you are and are not willing to give up for your PhD

Throughout your PhD there will be a lot of people - in academia and outside of academia - who will tell you how you should live, how you should work, and what they view as the best (or only) way to do a PhD. Remember that those people are not you. You are the only one who can determine what you are and are not willing to give up during your PhD and your academic career. As a long-time migraine sufferer, I decided decades ago that no matter how busy things were for me at work or in school, no amount of work would surpass the importance of sleep and exercise for me. People have told me that if I’m not working 80 hours a week on my PhD then it’s not enough or that I might have to give up having a social life or having a family in order to pursue an academic career. Maybe that’s true for some people, but it may not be true for you. Before you start, determine what you are and are not willing to give up for your PhD and for you own mental well-being.

Write yourself a reminder of why you are going for a PhD

There are going to be A LOT of moments where you wonder to yourself “why the heck did I want a PhD in the first place?” I’ve found that it’s really helpful to have a little note to myself of why I started it in the first place, what I wanted to accomplish, and what I wanted to do out in the world with my degree. No one else in the world has to know or see this reminder so write it for you and only you so that future you can revisit the excitement of starting a PhD.

Celebrate!

Academia is a world full of criticism, so take every moment you can to celebrate your accomplishments. You were accepted to a program and you deserve to be there! So celebrate that this summer - because you’ve achieved something great and have so many great things to look forward to! 🙂

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Top 7 Tech Recommendations for Grad Students | PhD & Productivity

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Outside of the obvious computer or laptop, it can be difficult to figure what tech you might need for grad school. Here I've done a little round-up of the technology that has made a huge difference in my experience as a grad student so that you can decide for yourself what to get if you're new to grad school or even if you're just looking to upgrade your work life! I hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave a comment down below if you have any questions!

iPad and Apple Pencil

I've been a longtime fan of the iPad but when I added the apple pencil to the mix during grad school, it was a game-changer. I've already written about this couple of times so clearly I cannot hype up the iPad + Apple pencil combination enough! In grad school, especially if you are in a research-focused master’s or in a PhD program, you will read a million and a half journal articles. If you don't have some kind of tablet device to put those papers on, you're likely printing them out or reading them on your computer. For me, the table and pencil experience mimics that of real pencil and paper but better. I love being able to highlight and take notes as I normally would but also be able to easily erase and move notes around. When you're in grad school, efficiency is the key to work-life balance and my iPad + Apple Pencil has truly made my life a TON easier.

My iPad Set-up

• 12.9 inch iPad Pro, 256 GB

• Apple Pencil 2

• Apple Pencil case

• Thin case from Amazon

• Matte screen protector

P.S. If you're curious about how I use my iPad for grad school check out these two other posts: How I use my iPad for Grad School and What's on my iPad: Grad Student Edition

Noise-canceling Headphones

After my iPad, my Bose noise-canceling headphones come in a very close second for my MVP grad school tech accessory. I am someone who needs peace to be able to focus on difficult reading and writing tasks. Since grad school is 99.9% reading and writing, noise-canceling headphones have been crucial to my productivity because they block out a lot of the random noises here and there that might break my focus. Much of grad school life is spent in public spaces like shared offices, labs, libraries, and campus buildings but my noise-canceling headphones truly make me feel like I'm in my own little bubble which allows me to focus better on the work in front of me. During COVID times, I've found that my noise-canceling headphones also help to drown out noises at home, too, like neighbors walking around upstairs or police sirens outside. My favorite noise-canceling headphones are my Airpods Pro and Bose QuietComfort. They've both been in my life for a couple of years and are still functioning seamlessly.

Hard Drive(s)

Before starting grad school I had absolutely no clue how quickly my computer storage would fill up but a couple of months in, my computer was running so slow that I had to do a complete overhaul of how I store and manage my files. Although a single data or word file is quite small, when you add that up over the course of a semester and then multiply that by about 100 versions of every paper or article you've ever submitted, it all adds up quickly. I currently own two hard drives, one from Seagate and one from WD, because I have an intense paranoia that one of them will fail on me. Considering I don't store all of my files on my computer because it slows my computer's performance down, depending on one hard drive was too precarious for my psyche so I opted for two hard drives in case one fails and a cloud drive service to back it up even further. I'm not perfect by any means (I frequently forget to back up my devices for a year at a time) but when I do decide to back things up, I make sure to back it up in multiple places 😜

Cloud Drive Service

As I mentioned, I also depend on a cloud drive service to back up my files. I primarily use google drive because I prefer the interface and I receive free unlimited storage through my university. If cloud storage system is provided by your university (which it probably is!) take advantage of that ASAP! Pretty much every researcher I've ever worked with uses a cloud drive service because it's easy to share files and folders with other people on the same project and it allows you to back up your research files in multiple places automatically. I use google's backup and sync function as well which means that every time I make a change to a document, if it lives in my google drive, it's automatically updated and I can access the updated version across all of my devices. This makes things so much easier and more importantly, gives me peace of mind that if any of my devices does ever break down that my files will still be safe elsewhere

External Monitor, Mouse, and Keyboard

I used to work on huge external monitors when I was a corporate recruiter but, realistically? I probably could've survived on a simple laptop screen. For grad school though? An external monitor is absolutely essential for me. Okay, okay maybe not absolutely but depending on the task it can make me 10 times more productive. If you've never analyzed data before, having external monitors are crucial because you usually need to have your code, your data, your ouput, and a couple of google pages up all at the same time which is damn near impossible on a tiny laptop screen. Even if you aren't analyzing data, you're likely writing papers for classes or for publication and when it comes to academic papers you're most likely referencing a million and a half other papers that will need to be accessible - and one tiny laptop monitor just isn't going to cut it. Along with that, it's helpful to have both an external mouse and keyboard so that you can most efficiently use your external monitor rather than having to use your laptop.

You don't have to be as extra as me, but I've always found myself to be most productive when I'm able to use a mouse so I make sure to have a couple floating around my home and school offices so that I am always making the most of my time rather than being slowed down by my macbook's trackpad. They're helpful whether you're on the go or you're just working at home. Personally, I have an older apple magic keyboard and apple magic mouse but actually much prefer the two non-apple mice I have - one battery powered one from logitech and another rechargeable one from amazon

Smart Watch

This isn't a must-have necessarily but I've found my smartwatch extremely helpful in everyday grad school life. I have the 3rd generation apple watch and have had it since the beginning of graduate school. Primarily, I use it to keep track of my calendar and health - both really important in grad school - but now I also use it display the weather right on my wrist and as a timer for my pomodoros. Most recently, I've been experiencing some anxiety and have been using the "breathe" watch face which shows an animation that guides you through deep breaths. I take advantage of this watch face right before I teach my class to prepare myself and love that it's so accessible and reminds me to take a moment to breathe.

Aaaaaall the adapters

This probably applies to everyone, but especially if you are a mac user like myself, I highly recommend getting like every adapter under the sun. Although I love my MacBook pro, since it only has an USBC port, giving presentations, teaching classes, and connecting to external monitors or USB drives is a massive pain in the butt. Many universities have places where you can borrow adapters, but their availability may be questionable and you do not want to be stuck in a position where you have to give a presentation but you don't have the right adapters for whatever AV system is available in the room. I've saved my own butt a number of times by throwing all of my adapters in my bag before heading out the door. It's a bit of an annoyance to have to get all of these adapters, but definitely worth it in the long run. If you have MacBook pro like I do, I recommend getting a USBC to HDMI converter, a USB to USBC one, and one of these all-in-one hubs that covers the rest of your bases. It may feel unnecessary at first, but I promise that having these around will make your life much, much easier.

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Notability vs. Goodnotes for Grad Students | What's the Best Notetaking App for Grad School?

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click or purchase a product through these links I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support of my blog!

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I'm now into my 3rd year of graduate school and honestly think to myself every day - what the heck would I do without my iPad?! BUT my iPad would be nothing without the slew of notetaking apps that have been my daily companions throughout my PhD program.

Here is my current iPad set-up:

My iPad Set-up

• 12.9 inch iPad Pro, 256 GB

• Apple Pencil 2

• Apple Pencil case

• Thin case from Amazon

• Matte screen protector

I've talked about How I use my iPad and what kinds of apps I use as a PhD student, but today I thought I'd do a deep dive on the two most popular note-taking apps, Notability and Goodnotes, and what you can expect out of each of them! I use both Notability and Goodnotes daily, so I think a case can be made for each of them!

Notability ($8.99)

Notability is a note-taking app that, for me, primarily functions as a PDF reader with a crazy sophisticated note-taking component attached to it. You can write, draw, highlight, insert a post-it note, type text, add an image, or even insert audio as you are taking notes. Although you can certainly use it without the PDF reading component and just use it as a blank page to take notes, I think notability is most powerful when you're using it with lecture slides or an article that you need to read for class.

Of all the apps on my iPad, for my PhD, I use notability the most by a landslide. I started using it at the beginning of my grad school career to download all of my readings so I could highlight, write, annotate etc all over the PDFs and not have to print out a mountain of paper every single week. Even though I'm no longer taking classes as a dissertator, I'm still reading tons of papers for my own research so notability is an app I use daily!

Organization: One of the key differences between notability and goodnotes is the way notes are organized. Notability is organized in more of a traditional "computer-y" style. You can organize your notes by subject, then group those subjects into dividers, and color code them to your heart's content! I have to admit that this isn't my favorite organization style. I don't find it very intuitive and it feels less like taking notes in a notebook and more like a collection of computer files. This is why I treat notability more as a PDF reader where it houses my library of annotated articles and books.

Use Cases:

• Reading and annotating articles: This is the most obvious use case, but it should not be underestimated! I've been in grad school seminars where other students have printed out all of the readings and highlighted and written on paper. While there's nothing wrong with this, it's time-consuming, isn't great for the planet, and isn't easily accessible if you want to search for a certain note from your readings. For me, buying an iPad just to take notes on academic readings has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

• Taking notes and recording audio during classes: I think this is truly where I fell in love with Notability. You can also download lecture slides and take notes on them in real-time during lecture. On top of that, you can also record audio and take notes at the same time. Notability's audio feature has allowed me to record entire lectures via audio and it syncs with my written notes to show me at what point in the audio I took which notes.

• Document scanning and taking notes on books: Depending on your field of study, you might be reading entire books for your classes rather than journal articles. I read a mix of both for my research and notability has been a game-changer in this area because I can check out books from the library, use the document scanning feature on Notability to scan important pages, and then annotate them without destroying a precious library book :)

Where Notability Wins: Notability definitely wins when it comes to being able to annotate. There's truly no comparison. The one thing that is common to nearly all grad school experiences is that you are constantly reading A LOT - and when you're reading hundreds upon hundreds of pages of research content each week, being able to highlight and write all over your readings is truly a godsend. Plus, I feel like the longer I've had it, the more uses I seem to find for it!

Goodnotes ($7.99)

Goodnotes is the most common note-taking app pitted against Notability - and while they have many similar functions, Goodnotes' organization system is slightly different than Notability's which means it may be better for you if you are someone who prefers to have things organized by notebook rather than by file. With Goonotes, you can also upload files, annotate files, insert images, etc. In essence, Goodnotes can do everything that Notability can do, but is organized slightly differently which can make a huge difference if you are someone (like me!) who has very strong preferences for how things are organized!

Organization: I have always been an avid notebook, planner, and journal user so I find that Goodnotes is a much better replacement for that due to its notebook based organization system. In Goodnotes, you can actually create a notebook OR a document and then you can nest those notebooks or documents within folders. While the document storing on Goodnotes is fine, it is definitely more catered to the notebook system because you can create a cover for each notebook that is visible when you open the folder. In addition to that, Goodnotes offers a whole host of built-in templates like different notebook paper, graph paper, and planner pages.

Use Cases:

• Planner: I have been an avid planner addict for years and purchasing Goodnotes, it has become the home of my digital planner where I use daily, weekly, and monthly spreads to plan out my teaching, research, and dissertation-related responsibilities. I love having a digital planner because you can pick templates that work best for you and switch between templates if you have a busier vs. more relaxed day.

• Goal Setting: Like I said... I am a big planner nerd 😅 so I've gotten into the habit of doing all of these goal setting worksheets and planning goals at a weekly and monthly level. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - but Goodnotes has always been the home for my goal-setting planner because I can collect different goal setting templates and fill them out all in one place!

• Notebook - Like I mentioned before, Goodnotes has essentially eliminated the need for all of the notebooks I had floating around my home before! If there are any thoughts or to do's I want to jot down quickly, I'll jot them in a catchall notebook on Goodnotes so I can re-visit and even search for them later.

• Scrapbook/bulletin board: In my free time I enjoy doing crafts or DIY projects and I've found Goodnotes to be the perfect fit for planning out those projects. For example, I'm currently loving making my own polymer clay earrings and to plan this project out, I've collected photos of my favorite designs and put them all together in a scrapbook style Goodnotes notebook where I take inspiration from my favorite designs and make them my own.

• Doodles, illustrations, coloring: I also find that Goodnotes is a great place for me to collect simple coloring pages and create simple doodles and illustrations. It's definitely no Procreate, but if I'm just designing my own sticker for my planner - it does the trick!

Where Goodnotes Wins: More flexibility and as a notebook replacement. If you're looking for a true notebook replacement, Goodnotes is where it's at. You can choose notebook paper templates that work best for you and replace just about any type of paper based notebook in a way that is easy to understand and user friendly. It also has a lot more flexibility when it comes to how you want to organize your notebooks - which allows for a more free flowing, creative application.

The Lowdown on Both: Syncing & Cost

The downside is that they both cost money - something that isn't true of all notetakings apps- and I know that with the low stipends given to most grad students, an expensive app may not be in the cards. The good news for both Goodnotes and Notability is that they are one-time purchases (not subscriptions) so once you buy it, it's yours to keep. The bad news is that if you want it to sync across your different devices (e.g., your Mac) you will need to buy the Mac version of the app. If you buy the iPad version of Goodnotes or Notability, you can automatically download it to your iPhone, but if you want it to sync to your Mac, it requires a separate Mac app.

I wrestled with buying the Mac app in addition to both iPad apps but in the end, I think it was well worth it. I use both apps daily and when I'm writing notes on my iPad but then want to switch to typing up a summary on my laptop, it's nice to be able to swing around to my laptop and have it available there as well. For me, paying for both the iPad and Mac versions of both apps has been WELL worth it because of how much headache and trouble they've saved me.

Another downside I wanted to point out for both apps is that syncing your notes across both apps is not always a seamless process. I have had issues with both apps not syncing and needing to troubleshoot the apps by updating them, deleting them, redownloading them, forcing it to sync over and over again - you know the drill. 80% of the time the syncs work well, but that remaining 20% of the time is frustrating AF. If you choose only to have the apps on your iPad though - which is still GREAT - then you'll never run into this problem 😝

It's common for students to either use Notability OR Goodnotes - but not necessarily both. I use both apps but for slightly different purposes and have found that both apps bring a whole lot of value to my PhD and personal life. Whichever notetaking app you choose, I think, largely depends on how you plan on using the app and what your personal notetaking style is like. I hope this deep dive was helpful! If you have any other questions, drop me a comment below and I'd be happy to help!

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