Non-academic preparations

If you are preparing for the PhD, then there are a lot of things you need to. There is a pile of articles already there on the web, but I'll try to cover a few of the practical and non-academic things which they might have missed. This short article will try to include those.

• Prepare for the daily Household Chores

Most of the students, especially if they are coming from the Asian countries, are privileged to have families and female members taking for their day-to-day things. Apart from that it's easier to get the Helper to support you in managing your house. It is not possible in most of the western countries. You would manage everything by yourself. This 'Everything' sometimes may go beyond your imagination. Purchasing groceries, maintaining the stock of everything, doing repairs, cleaning up regularly and whatnot. The best thing would be going somewhere are stay for a couple of weeks without any help. It will be perfect preparation.

• Learn to manage without much of the social interactions

South Asian countries have close holds, and you are allowed to enter in anybody's personal space without much of the botheration. It can lead to an elongated debate if we start discussing whether its right or wrong. But this is how we are grown and living for years. Most of us don't find anything wrong in it (unless they stayed in any western country for some time). That lead to another challenge; you won't find anybody to talk to that easily. You won't even know who lives next door for months (in the worst case for years). Prepare your mind to face any of those. You need to take the initiative and establish connects. It will be useful if you can initiate dialogue even before coming here. It will give a few people to start with.

• Read, read and read

PhD is all about reading, preparing notes and reading again. It will be great if you can get into that habit even before starting the PhD. Start reading something immediately. Initially, it hardly matters whether readings are connected to your area of research or not. Over the long run, I suggest read both types of books and papers. Academic texts will give depth, which will contribute to your studies. A general reading will develop the habit of reading for fun. It will help in surviving in a lonely environment. I am not sure about you, but it helped me with my IELTS and also for improving my vocabulary.

• Improve your health before travelling

It is very important before moving to any place. Any new country will have its weather. Your body needs time to cope with it. Therefore, make sure that you are physically fit before you travel. Sometimes, treatment takes months, and consequently, it will be beneficial to start working on it at least six months before. Get all your precautionary health check-ups done. It will surely hint some deficiencies (they are meant for generating business). Don't ignore the slightest symptoms. Its the way your body communicates with you about the difficulties it's facing. Talk to your family physicians and look for suggestions. Get the prescriptions and carry medicines if required. (You must carry general medicines anyways.)

• Get into a healthy routine

It will be useful to have a healthy routine in your home country. Jet lags give you opportunities to redefine all your habits, starting from sleep to working hours. It is advised to have a healthy routine before jet lags messing everything for you. It will be easier to assemble your day back. Good routine can mean anything like morning yoga, good jog, gym, enough sleep or just timely eating.

• Meditate and look for peace of mind

You will need a lot of inner strength to sustain the challenges your PhD going to put you in. You can take a few meditation sessions beforehand. Visit some gurus, babas or sadgurus or shri shri shri. Ignore the religious and spiritual disagreements. Look it purely from the psychological perspectives. There are plenty of them, and you will easily find somebody who suits your taste. It should help you get up in the morning with new hope and should motivate to walk the extra mile. At the same time, after day-long hard work, it should give sound sleep without getting irritated.

• Prepare your bags beforehand

Start purchasing things from the angle that you will be staying in foreign countries. You should be able to use all those equipment there as well. Look for better quality and robust options which will sustain for long. You will not be in a position to get alternatives during your studies. Don't wait till the end for shopping. Your pockets will so deep by then that you will start ticking things off. It will be better to purchase it beforehand, try out and look for alternatives in time if it doesn't work.

• Prepare detailed budget

This is something you must start doing at least a year before. Prepare details budget which will include tuition fees, VISA fees, travel expenses, and living expenses. Don't ignore things like stationary, commute, entertainment and recreation. Feel free to over-estimate a few items. Its always good to have more financial arrangements than you require. You can look for the scholarships, funding and sponsor accordingly. In the worst case, you keep saving for the same.