The start of the year is always a time where we plan out the next stage and think about what we want to achieve. Whether you’re just about to start your PhD, or if you’re pretty much a PhD veteran at this point, I think it’s worth having some sort of plan to look back on later in the future. Here are my tips and tricks to planning your PhD, earned from the blood, sweat and tears of my PhD journey so far! 

To effectively plan your PhD, I think it requires a varied approach. On one hand, you need to look at the big picture and always consider the endpoint (which is to finish your PhD), but on the other hand, you need to be able to hone in on a smaller scale so you are using your time effectively day to day. 

The end goal is to have enough material to write your thesis, and if you have a specific submission deadline, you need to leave yourself enough time to work on the thesis.

Use your thesis as a framework. What figures do you need? What are you trying to do with these experiments and what is the reasoning? Where is this bit of work going within your thesis? Having your thesis plan in mind will help keep you focussed as the year goes by. Granted, a thesis plan might not be possible in the early stages of your PhD and things change over time. That is completely fine but some level of structure will still help with the final product, even if it is different to what you originally envisioned. 

Use any upcoming deadlines as guidance for your work. For example, you may have reports to submit, meetings with supervisors, or presentations at lab meetings.These deadlines will give indication as to what you need to be working on in the lead up to them. Some of these are regular occurrences so they can help structure your work. Are there other broader goals you have, e.g. presenting at a specific conference or applying to go to courses? The timelines for these will also help provide structure. 

With day to day planning, I find it very helpful to plan the week, breaking down experiments step by step, then assigning specific days to each task where possible. I tend to bring a piece of paper with my tasks for the day listed into the lab and I will check them off as I go, which brings me to my next big tip: write everything down! This might be important information to reference for future experiments or your thesis. For portability, I write things down on the piece of paper I bring into the lab, then I will record that information into my lab notebook. I also think it’s very important to make a note of what you do each day and week. It can be easy to lose track of what you’ve done if you’re stuck in a particularly mundane phase of your work e.g. when you are optimising something; regular reflection helps you regain that perspective. Simply writing a bullet point list is a good way to reflect on how you’re spending your time at work. 

When it comes to planning your work day, make sure to leave time for things like data analysis, figure prep, and reading papers! I was not very good at this because I always had the urge to give myself the longest to-do list possible. I learnt my lesson when I realised that doing the experiments isn’t enough. Spending the time going through the results and understanding what the data is showing is the key thing. It beats realising that you could’ve done something ages ago if you actually sat down to evaluate the data properly instead of blindly doing experiments.

There is always something to be doing, so make good use of your dead time! Unless you’re at a really early stage where nothing is quite ready or you’re waiting around for other things, this probably applies to you. Dead time can really add up so try to make the most of it. 

I’ve been going on about planning things out, but now I will switch tack slightly. Have flexibility when planning your PhD. This will allow you to follow the data and give some leeway when things don’t go to plan (remember when all my cells got contaminated while I was growing them for a big experiment?). It’s a strange dichotomy, I know but having both a plan and flexibility means that you can make the most of the limited time you have with a PhD and you can still do robust, cool science in the meantime. In your plan, also make sure to account for time away from work. Plan time off regularly and try not to make your PhD your entire life! The time away will give you space and time to think, you’ll also be a much happier person in my opinion. 

These are all my tips for planning a PhD! The beauty of a PhD is the fact that you are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge. These are unchartered waters, so the uncertainty is also its downfall. Having both a type A style plan (daily and weekly to-do lists) and a type B style plan (flexibility in planning) is my way of helping my type A personality get through. It is a tricky balance to find but with time, you will get better at it! 

Jean