PhDwell 🌿

PhDwell

🌿 Today ·

Guest mode

What's in Today?
😊 Morning check-in: log your mood, stress and energy to start the day 😴 Sleep: track how well you rested last night and how it shapes your mood, stress and energy 🎓 Thesis intention: plan when and what you'll work on in your thesis today, one small step at a time 🌙 Evening check-in: appears in the afternoon so you can reflect on your wins, gratitude and connection

Why track this?
Your mood, stress, energy, sleep and social connection are deeply connected: bad sleep tends to spike stress, and feeling isolated often drags energy down. In the moment it's hard to see these patterns, but over a week they become visible. Taking 30 seconds to check in each morning builds a picture of your rhythms, so you can make better decisions about when to push, when to rest, and when to reach out.

Morning Check-In

How are you doing today?

Mood 🙂

Bad5/10Good

Stress 😤

Not stressed5/10Very stressed

Energy 🙂

Low5/10High

How did you sleep?

Your thesis today

one small intention, tap to open

▼

📊 Week

What's in Week?
📈 Averages: your mood, stress and energy across the week at a glance 😴 Sleep & connection: how rest and social contact have shaped your week 📊 Charts: visual trends so you can spot patterns over time 🏆 Wins: a collection of things that went well this week 🎓 Thesis overview: track where you are on your PhD journey

No check-ins yet this week. Your first entry will appear here. Head to Today to get started 🌿

🎯 Productivity

What's in Productivity?
📝 Tasks: plan your day and week with Eisenhower or Aims 🍅 Pomodoro: 25-minute focus sessions with a distraction pad 🎵 Music: your saved focus tracks by task type 📋 Meeting prep: prepare and structure your next meeting

🔔 Sound on Test sound

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

🧠 Justine's tip: park your thoughts
"When I started doing this, I noticed that almost everything I wanted to stop my work for was not actually urgent. My brain was just looking for an escape. Write distracting thoughts here instead of acting on them. After your session, look at the list. You will see that most things could wait. Over time, this really builds your focus muscle."

Two tools, same goal. Pick the one that works for your brain.

Not everything is equally important. Use this matrix to decide what actually needs your attention. Tasks that feel urgent are not always important. 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.

A good meeting with your supervisor(s) starts before you walk in. Take 10 minutes to write down what you want to walk out with, and turn it into a short agenda. Send it about one week before the meeting, together with anything you'd like them to read. Your supervisor(s) can prepare, and the meeting becomes yours. Afterwards, send a short summary of what you discussed and agreed, so everyone is on the same page.

You lead the meeting. Research on supervision conversations shows that when PhD candidates lead the conversation, it supports their growth into independent researchers. An agenda is the simplest way to take the lead.

Quality matters more than quantity. In a global survey of almost 3,800 PhD candidates, how often they met their supervisor mattered less than the quality of the guidance they received. A prepared meeting is a better meeting.

An agenda helps when you actually use it. Meeting research finds that using an agenda and keeping an eye on time go together with meetings people find effective and less draining. That is why you can add minutes to each point. Put the most important point first, so it never gets squeezed out at the end.

Say what you need out loud. PhD candidates and supervisors rarely make their expectations explicit, and mismatched expectations can slow progress. Writing down what you want from the meeting, and afterwards what you agreed, makes those expectations visible for everyone.

Why send it a week before? A week gives your supervisor(s) time to read your draft and think about your questions, instead of reacting on the spot. That leaves the meeting itself for talking things through. In a Dutch study, students found feedback that was discussed with them more useful than written comments alone. Sending your agenda early is common advice in supervision guides, even though it has not been tested in trials.

Send the discussed points afterwards. The real progress happens after the meeting. A review of almost 200 publications found that what you do with feedback matters most. So right after the meeting, note what was decided and your next steps, and send them to your supervisor(s). It takes a few minutes and helps avoid misunderstandings about who does what.

Based on: Zackariasson & Magnusson (2024); Li et al. (2026); Leach et al. (2009); Hirva et al. (2026); Baydarova et al. (2021); Agricola et al. (2019); Winstone et al. (2016).

Meeting prep

Who is it with?

Date

Time

What do I want to walk out with?

Agenda (most important point first)

Anything specific I want feedback or a decision on? (optional)

Notes / things to prepare (optional, only for you)

Supervisor email(s) (optional, for sending)

I sent the agenda and documents to my supervisor(s), ideally a week before

Saved meeting prep

🎵 "Music can really make an impact on your focus. Sometimes you have to try a few things to find your beat, but when you do, it is a game changer." Justine · the two tracks below are her personal picks for deep work

🌱 Wellbeing

What's in Wellbeing?
🫁 Breathe: guided breathing exercises for stress and calm 💛 Impostor: tools to work through self-doubt and build confidence 🛡️ Boundaries: choose your own limits, find the words to say no, and check in with yourself 💚 Support: professional help, self-help and resources for your mental health

–

Ready

Use this when stress feels high, before a meeting, or when you need a quick reset.

Duration

Try 2–5 minutes · breathe through your nose if you can

Quick start

Before a supervisor meeting

Box breathing: inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4.

2 min

When you're stuck

Long exhale: inhale 4, exhale 8. Activates your rest response.

3 min

End of day wind-down

Slow rhythmic: inhale 5, exhale 7. Helps your mind close the day.

4 min

🌱

Seedling

0 breathing sessions completed

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

Many of us want to do it all, and do it all perfectly: the thesis, the extra project, the sports, the social life. But a PhD has no natural end, and neither does ambition. Setting boundaries is not a weakness. It is what keeps you going for the full journey.

Pause before you answer

Signs you might need a boundary

🙋 You say yes when you mean no

🌙 Work spills into time you meant to keep free

🏃 You go to sports or social plans even when you're exhausted

😔 You feel guilty when you rest

🔍 Everything has to be perfect, even the small things

Boundaries look different for everyone. Some people love working in the evening, others need it free. What matters is that you choose.

My boundaries

Pick up to three that matter to you, or write your own. You'll get a short question about them in your evening check-in.

My stop time (optional)

When do you usually want to stop working? If you start a 🍅 Pomodoro after this time, PhDwell will gently check in with you. Nothing else happens, and you can always keep going. Leave it empty if you like working late.

Say it kindly

Finding the words is often the hardest part. Pick a situation and how you want to answer.

The situation

Your answer

When it's too much

Boundaries help, but they don't replace professional support. If things feel heavy for a while, please reach out.

Sometimes we just feel stuck, overwhelmed, and need some more professional support. Luckily the UMCG and RUG have some excellent people to help. You can find some links to them below. Reach out when you need a bit of extra support. They have heard similar stories before. It is normal, and it is good to seek help sometimes.

University support

🧠 PhD counselling at the RUG 🎓 RUG PhD Support: courses and workshops 🌱 E-health self-help modules for when you're going through a difficult time (login required)

For the everyday ups and downs, here are some things that help me recharge. They are not a replacement for professional support, but a small way to look after yourself in between.

Meditations & movement

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop.

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

Online resources

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

🤝 Connections

A PhD can feel lonely. But Groningen has a lot to offer. Here are some ways to connect.

🌱 One small connection today

Small moments of contact add up. Pick one small thing for today, and tick it off when it's done.

Your connection week

🎓 PhD community in Groningen

Meet other PhD candidates from your own and other faculties.

📅 PhD Day Groningen: a yearly day of workshops and networking 🧭 Career Perspectives Series: courses and workshops with PhDs from other faculties 👥 PhD student organisations

✍️ Write together

Writing alone can feel lonely. Writing next to others, even in silence, makes it easier to start and to keep going. Why not start a small writing group with PhDs from your department, or beyond?

A simple format (about 2 hours)

Say hello and share what you will work on (10 min)
Write in silence for 25 minutes (you can use the 🍅 Pomodoro in Productivity)
Take a 5 minute break, then repeat two or three times
End by sharing how it went (5 min)

Book a room in your faculty, meet in the University Library, or do it online. GOPHER or your PhD council may help you spread the word.

📝 RUG Writing Centre: free one-on-one writing coaching

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 🏸 ACLO: the university sports centre (check if your contract gives access)

🧗 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

🌍 New in Groningen?

🏠 International Welcome Center North: practical help and events for internationals 🤝 Making friends in Groningen: the city's own overview

🗺️ Timeline

Plan your PhD in one place. Fill in your PhD period, then add your Big Stones: papers, chapters, your defence, or any major goal. Each stone appears as a bar on the timeline. You can drag a bar to shift its dates, or drag the right edge to change the deadline. Use the ✏️ button on a stone to edit it, and the status buttons to track where things stand.

📅 Your PhD period

Started

Expected end

Timeline

Drag a bar to move it · drag the right edge to resize

Your Big Stones