PhDwell 🌿

PhDwell

🌿 Today —

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🌿 "One step at a time"

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Morning Check-In

How are you doing today?

Mood 🙂

Bad5/10Good

Stress 😤

Not stressed5/10Very stressed

Energy 🙂

Low5/10High

How did you sleep?

What's on your mind today?

Your thesis today

one small intention — tap to open

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📊 Week

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🎯 Focus

🔔 Sound on

Focus for 25 minutes, rest for 5. After 4 sessions, take a longer break. One tomato at a time 🍅

Not everything is equally important. Use this matrix to decide what actually needs your attention today. Tasks that feel urgent are not always important — and the most important work is often the least urgent.

Do First

Urgent + Important

e.g. Submit abstract, fix analysis error

Schedule

Important + Not urgent

e.g. Write chapter 2, read key papers

Delegate

Urgent + Not important

e.g. Reply to admin email, book room

Eliminate

Not urgent + Not important

e.g. Reorganise folders for the fifth time

To Sort

Most PhD progress happens in the Schedule quadrant — Important but not urgent. Protect that time.

10–30 minutes of preparation can make all the difference. You've got this.

New meeting

Meeting title

Who is it with?

Date

Time

Goals for this meeting

Most important to get out of it

Ideal outcome for everyone

What should your supervisor understand by the end?

Feedback you're hoping for

Decision needed from them

Agenda items

Notes / things to prepare

Past meetings

🌱 Wellbeing

🌱

Seedling

0 breathing sessions completed

Before a supervisor meeting

Box breathing — inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4. Supervisor meetings can feel high-stakes. Two minutes of box breathing will calm your nervous system before you walk in.

2 minutes

When you're stuck

Long exhale — inhale 4, exhale 8. Stuck for more than an hour? Your brain is full. This breathing pattern activates your rest response and helps you think more clearly.

3 minutes

End of day wind-down

Slow rhythmic — inhale 5, exhale 7. Transitioning out of work mode is one of the hardest things about a PhD. This helps your mind close the day.

4 minutes

Almost every PhD student feels like an impostor at some point — and I can tell you from personal experience that I felt this way at many points in my own life and PhD journey.

What really helped me was writing down everything I had already achieved. When I did, I realised I was not doing too badly at all. And I can assure you: doing this more and more often will genuinely change the way you think. Once you start truly believing that you are doing a good job — and you are — everything starts to feel a little lighter.

My achievements

Look how far you've already come

Evidence I belong here

Your reasons, in your own words

A letter from someone who believes in you

Words to come back to

Meditations & movement

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop. Here are some of Justine's personal favourites.

🧘Meditation & affirmations→ 🧘Guided meditation→ 😴Yoga Nidra — full body relaxation→ 🌊Daily Calm meditations→ 🧘Yoga with Boho Beautiful→ 🧘Yoga with Tim Senesi→

Books

📚The Art of Happiness — Dalai Lama

📚Supercommunicator — Charles Duhigg

📚Ikigai — García & Miralles

📚The Science of Happiness — Stefan Klein

📚21 Days to Unlock Affirmations — Louise Hay

📚Energize — Simon Alexander Ong

Online resources

🌐Free mindfulness course (with certificate)→ 🎙️The Happiness Lab podcast — Laurie Santos→ 📋Stress management guide→

📍 Groningen

A PhD can feel lonely. But Groningen has a lot to offer — here are some ways to connect and get support.

University support

🧠 PhD counselling at the RUG 👥 PhD student organisations 💬 Peer Group Coaching (Intervision)

Social & community

These are some great ways to meet people who are also open to new connections.

🗓️ Meetup.com — social events 🎨 USVA — drawing, improv, music courses

🧗 Sports clubs — climbing, dancing, tennis, fight sports

🎲 Board game nights — Groningen has several clubs

🗣️ Language exchange groups — great if you're new to the city

As a PhD student it can be hard to meet people outside of your department. The activities above are specifically good because they are regular, they require you to show up consistently, and they naturally create bonds over time. Board game nights, sports clubs and language exchanges are especially good for this.