Most people are using problem-solving skills on the daily basis, no matter whether they are trying to solve a technical problem, or scientific puzzle, navigate barriers on their PhD journey, or they just experience a range of practical worries in personal life. But how effective are you at tackling your practical worries and challenges in your life? Many PhD students engage in procrastination with their tasks as they want to avoid unpleasant aspects of their PhD and focus on more pleasurable parts (such as Netflix). However, this in turn results in the piling of your practical worries (tasks), whilst at the same time, you become overwhelmed when attempting to tackle these, because of the sheer number of tasks on your plate.

Here’s the thing: the better your problem-solving skills are - the better (and easier!) your life will be (both professionally and personally). In this workshop, which will be supported by a qualified and licenced low-intensity psychological wellbeing practitioner, you will learn what practical worry is, why people avoid doing tasks and engage in procrastination, what problem-solving strategies exist for overcoming your challenges, and how you can use problem-solving strategy to understand your problem, find a solution and create an action plan for tackling it. Finally, you will be learning the importance of reflection and learning from your problem-solving attempts, which are invaluable for future problem-solving. By the end of this workshop, you will be provided with practical strategies, and resources, which will enable you to take proactively problem solve your practical worries and challenges. There will be no need to disclose private or confidential information; we will just be discussing a practice which you can apply in your own time.