A community of doers who want to leave academia
Leaving academia does not make you a failure; it should be the best decision you ever make and the beginning of an exciting new chapter in your life
We know Academia in 2022 is a bad deal
- We make sure we are fairly paid on our next job
- We know 'interesting problems' and 'smart people' are not exclusive to Academia
We are aware
- We study social skills together
- We take steps to be free of the academic mindset
We are makers
- We study what's useful and valuable
- and try to make more of these things (in our next job)
We read (only) useful books
- Books that promise an outcome and deliver it
- Books that contain solutions to problems we may have (don't reinvent the wheel)
We connect
- We reach for people we can help (those who try to solve a problem we no longer have)
- We reach for people who can help us (a potential future employer or coworker)
Who is 'us'?
Postdocs
u/focault
"I have moved cities twice, leaving friends and family behind to chase the dream of academic success"
Burned-out academics
u/professorbix
"The constant pressure, even post tenure, gets to me. I work every weekend and holiday."
People with a bias for action
u/slashdash
"I'm building a habit of applying for non-academic jobs and I'm on a 21-day streak"
It took me two years to drop the academic mindset and adopt a more flexible one where I can add value to different domains. UnstuckPhD exists to make sure you don't need to consume such a long time buried in self-doubt
02. ACCOUNTABILITY
Partner up with a peer that is going through the same experience; get support when you are faltering, and post your wins! Peer support (and pressure) helps you realize whether you are making progress towards your outcome: leaving academia and getting a better life-defining setting (job or project you love)
03. SELF-DEVELOPMENT
With all those paper deadlines, you probably have no time to read and work on your self-development. Yet you understand it's necessary to manage the identity change that will break you free of the current loop: push for yet another grant, without really working on what makes you happy
04. SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
Do you feel that someone else has a strong say on how you live your life? Would you like to feel more agency on life-changing decisions like where you live, what you work on, and for how long?
Sign up to our community and start moving towards a calmer life on your terms
The community grows through events; once we meet you on videoconference you will get invited to the forum/chat software.
We do this so that we have real people who are motivated to change and help each other
