Productivity is an issue that PhD students often struggle with and this week’s episode offers lots of practical advice to help you through! 

 

Dr Kate Litterer is a Productivity Coach, independent scholar, and author who lives outside Boston, Massachusetts in the U.S.  Kate received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and her Master's degree and Doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  

 

In this episode we talk about Kate’s journey through an MFA; into a PhD; and then on to developing her own coaching business.

 

Kate reflects on her work with “dissertators” (love that word!) and particularly focuses on how she helps people with goal setting.

 

She talks abouts how goals need to be both actionable and achievable and she outlines her own “Goldilocks” method for goal setting!

 

Kate emphasizes the importance of checking-in with yourself - especially your body - in terms of how you are feeling about the work you are doing and the magic of setting intentions.

 

We discuss productivity as a political issue and the importance of challenging work-a-holism culture.

 

We finish with Kate’s top tip of working with a ‘must do’ list rather than a ‘to do’ list.  

 

You can contact Kate here:

Website: thetendingyear.com

Instagram: @thetendingyear  

 

You can get your hands on her book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tend-Holistic-Guide-Intentional-Productivity/dp/1735802204

 

Don’t forget that you can sign up to receive “Notes from the Life Raft” a really useful email to support and inspire you on your PhD journey.  Just click here: https://mailchi.mp/f2dce91955c6/notes-from-the-life-raft