Smart Self-Care Programme

Hello you!

Would you like to join the Smart Self-Care and Personal Growth Programme?

You need to figure out a way to get through your PhD to share your research with the world
You want to bring your whole self to your work but you are feeling a bit depleted and out of control
You love learning – someone so smart shouldn’t need help with self-care, right?

Wrong!

What would it feel like to show up fully for your research?
Do you need emotional, cognitive, physical and practical support to make sure you are doing your PhD in the best frame of mind? (Hint: we all do)
Would you like to regularly meet with a like-minded group of people, to keep you on track with implementing your smart self-care?

Without you, your work is non-existent. You owe it to yourself and the world to make sure you are in the best possible form when doing your work.

Self-care is a phrase that is commonly discussed but advice rarely extends beyond
meditating, taking a bath or going for a walk. And yet, exercising these tips didn't
scratch the surface for me personally when I did my Master’s and PhD.

Don’t get me wrong, meditation, hot baths and other well-being rituals can be
powerful. But there are additional tools for self-care that need sharing - as different things work for different people.

Everyone needs support and it is a mark of strength to acknowledge this. If you value taking a pre-emptive approach to burn out and regularly checking in with yourself and others on your well-being then the Smart Self-Care Programme is for you.

What is the Smart Self-Care and Personal Growth Programme?

Life is hard to manage at the best of times, but throw a PhD or other huge projects into the mix and then you can feel a bit off kilter. The Smart Self-Care Programme teaches you how to manage your self, your time, your knowledge acquisition, your planning and processes, your work, your relationships, your motivation and your flow, all within an existential psychological framework.

It will teach you how to track your existential quandaries and experience the dynamism of the 8 tensions as a source of energy and zest. People track steps and eating habits. Why not existential quandaries?

At school, no-one ever taught you study skills, which is the one thing you actually need to learn; master that and then you can learn anything. Similarly, academics traditionally don’t speak openly about skills you need to manage your self in order to manage your PhD. You are the greatest asset of your work. Keep yourself re-invigorated the smart way.

What’s involved?

The programme is for ten months. We start with a one-to-one welcome and orientation Zoom call. You then engage with the introductory module where we understand the existential psychological framework and key principles, and then each month, we go deep on one of the Eight Tensions.
You get sent a pre-recorded video to watch explaining both sides of the tension.
You also get sent exercises you can complete to help you figure out where you
are on the existential quandary and how you can move to where you want to
be.
You can discuss your answers to these exercises in our private Slack group. At
the end of our examination of the eight tensions there is a ‘tying it all together’
module.
Twice a month we have a Zoom group coaching call to discuss the month’s tension, our take on it and to set intentions, with a focus on practical steps we
can take to get there. There are two days to choose from – Tuesdays 2.30pm-
3.30pm or Wednesdays 2-3pm UK time. The two dates per month will be sent to you in advance. You are welcome to attend both or to pick one or another.
You also get four one-to-one half hour coaching sessions with me, which you can book in at any point over the ten months. I suggest booking in a session after every two tensions.
Each participant gets an Eight Tensions tracker e-journal to track their existential quandaries which we discuss in the group and one to one coaching.

Who can join?

Smart self-care and personal growth is open to all academics in the broadest sense at any stage of their journey, including Masters and PhD students, researchers, lecturers and life-long learners.

Who am I?

I am Dr Natalie Lancer, Chartered Psychologist, writer, public speaker and coach. I have published several articles on the Eight Tensions Framework – the core of the Smart Self-Care Programme. I am the Secretary of the Coaching Division of the British Psychological Society. I will be your coach over the next 12 months to help you implement Smart Self-Care and personal growth.

More information

You are welcome to book a 15 minute no-obligation call with me to check this Programme is right for you. Click below to book