Hi All,

I am in my first year of my PhD. My PhD is lab based with one project involving collection of samples.

When I started I had it all planned-when I would complete my literature review, experiments write-up etc. But I have found that things did not quite work out as planned - my projects got bigger and more complicated than initially planned.

I would appreciate any advice from the forum about how to organise the remaining two years to maximise my chances of finishing on time.

Thanks.

I have the same problem although in my third year! I try to either alternate my days e.g. 1 day reading/writing, 1 day practical stuff, or do practical stuff during the day and do writing for 1 hour in the evening - which means at the end of the week I have done 7 hours of reading/writing, which is not great, but better than none.

That's the way it goes I'm afraid - things take longer than planned, work become more complicated, research changes. Then there's the blind alleys to go down which waste time, the mistakes and the rewrites! All part of the process...I can't tell you how to structure your year, but you need to make another plan. If you have some idea of milestones and what you're working towards, that will help you keep on track. So, plan the next 2 years, then break down the tasks for the next academic year, then do monthly targets and so on. It seems few people get done in 3 years - this is a slow process and it takes as long as it takes!

Thanks. It is very reassuring to know that I am not experiencing anything dramatically differently from what would be considered normal.

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Yep, all perfectly normal! Once you start doing conference papers and additional non-thesis related academic activities, these also throw the time line out. So you need to be a bit flexible, and just go with what's happening, but try and stick to your broad plan.

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In order to feel less stress and a sense of accomplishment, you must focus on only one task at a time. To do otherwise will cause you stress and frustration. Focus on each task, and put on blinders toward every other demand on your time. Do not let anything interrupt you until each task is finished, and do not leave any part of each task unfinished so that it will come up again after you have gone on to other tasks.


*edited my mods*

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