What 40 Books Taught Me About Doing a PhD

During the first year of my PhD program, I read nearly forty books about how to navigate doctoral research. This essay distills the most valuable lessons they offered—about writing, ambiguity, rejection, mentorship, and the psychological realities of research. It’s less a guide to “doing a PhD” and more a reflection on what the process actually teaches you once you’re inside it.

Exercise

This text explores the fundamental principles of strength training, emphasizing the importance of focusing on compound lifts, progressively increasing weights, and maintaining simplicity in your approach. It draws inspiration from Milo of Croton's method, illustrating how progressive overload drives muscle growth and strength development. Key metrics, such as aiming for a total lift of 500kg across Squats, Bench Press, and Deadlifts, are discussed, along with optimal rep and set ranges for muscle development. The text also highlights the significance of proper technique, balanced muscle training, and the role of nutrition and recovery in achieving fitness goals. By understanding that muscle engagement is more critical than just lifting heavier weights, you can enhance your training effectiveness and overall strength.

Science of Successful Learning

This text discusses the importance of spaced repetition as a long-term growth tactic for learning, emphasizing that it is the way our brains are hardwired to learn efficiently. It highlights how learning is critical for our survival and explores the relationship between studying, memory, and living better. The text also delves into the challenges posed by the forgetting curve and suggests effective strategies for combatting it, such as spaced repetition, active recall, associations, and desirable difficulty.

MediTEAte

This article highlights the underappreciated capabilities of the iPhone Shortcuts app, showcasing its potential for personalized automation. The author shares examples of creatively designed shortcuts, such as using NFC tags for household tasks or automating the retrieval of price history for Amazon items. A specific shortcut called "MediTEAte" is detailed, demonstrating how it integrates with the Forest pomodoro timer app and iPhone's background sounds to facilitate a focused meditation session with a single tap on the home screen.

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The author is making a conscious decision to shift from passive consumption of various content to actively directing their own knowledge consumption. They express a desire to move away from the accumulation of knowledge for its own sake and instead focus on deploying their existing knowledge. The decision is influenced by five years of experience and a realization that living in the moment and being prepared for any circumstance based on past learning is a priority, leading to a shift towards knowledge creation in 2024 and beyond.