Back to Details

phd-quarterly-planner

Compare original and translation side by side

🇺🇸

Original

English
🇨🇳

Translation

Chinese

PhD Quarterly Planner

博士生季度规划工具

Purpose

目标

Help the user translate long-term research ambitions ("I want to publish a NeurIPS paper", "I want to finish the thesis chapter on X") into a realistic 3-month plan they can actually execute. This skill is based on the strategic research framework in the New Researcher Handbook (Long-term Vision → 3-Year Plan → Quarterly Goals → Weekly Targets) and explicitly accounts for the planning fallacy — the well-documented tendency to underestimate how long research takes.
A good quarterly plan is not a wish list. It's a commitment that the user has mentally and calendar-checked against what's actually possible in 12-13 weeks.
帮助用户将长期研究愿景（如“我想在NeurIPS上发表论文”“我想完成关于X的论文章节”）转化为切实可行的3个月执行计划。此技能基于《New Researcher Handbook》中的战略研究框架（长期愿景→3年规划→季度目标→每周任务），并明确考虑了规划谬误——一种已被充分记录的、低估研究耗时的倾向。
一份优质的季度计划不是愿望清单，而是用户结合实际情况，在心理和日程上都已确认可在12-13周内完成的承诺。

When to Use

使用场景

  • At the start of a natural boundary (beginning of a semester, start of a calendar quarter, return from a break)
  • When the user wants to reset after a period of drift
  • Before/after major deadlines, to decide what comes next
  • When the user has a new project idea and is considering committing to it
  • 在自然周期的起始阶段（学期开始、日历季度起始、假期结束返回时）
  • 用户在一段迷茫期后想要重新规划时
  • 重大截止日期前后，需要决定下一步方向时
  • 用户有新的项目想法，正在考虑是否投入时

The Planning Workflow

规划流程

Stage 1: Review Before You Plan (if applicable)

阶段1：规划前先回顾（如适用）

If the user has used this skill before, read the previous quarter's plan first (from the log location described below). Don't skip this step. The first question should always be: "Let's look at last quarter. What did you actually complete vs. what you planned?"
Help the user identify:
  • Which goals got done, fully or partially
  • Which goals were dropped (and why — scope creep, shifted priorities, or just underestimation?)
  • What their personal time multiplier was this quarter (if they planned for X work and actually did Y, the multiplier is X/Y)
If this is the first use, skip to Stage 2.
如果用户之前使用过此技能，请先阅读上一季度的计划（从下方描述的日志位置获取）。请勿跳过此步骤。第一个问题永远应该是：“我们先来看看上一季度。你实际完成的与计划的有哪些差异？”
帮助用户梳理：
  • 哪些目标已全部或部分完成
  • 哪些目标被搁置（原因是什么——范围蔓延、优先级转移，还是单纯低估了耗时？）
  • 本季度的个人时间系数是多少（如果计划完成X工作量，实际完成了Y，系数即为X/Y）
如果是首次使用，请直接跳至阶段2。

Stage 2: Reconnect to the Long-Term Arc

阶段2：重新关联长期规划

Ask:
  • "Where are you in your PhD timeline?" (Year 1 / 2 / 3 / 4+)
  • "What's the big-picture arc you're working toward?" (First paper? Qualifying exam? Thesis proposal? Job market?)
  • "What needs to be true by the end of your PhD for you to feel it was a success?"
The point is not to produce a grand statement. It's to make sure the quarter's plan actually serves the 3-year plan, rather than being a disconnected sprint.
询问：
  • “你处于PhD学业的哪个阶段？”（第1/2/3/4+年）
  • “你正在推进的整体规划是什么？”（第一篇论文？资格考试？论文开题？求职？）
  • “PhD结束时，你认为怎样才算成功？”
这一步不是为了得出宏大的宣言，而是确保本季度计划切实服务于3年规划，而非孤立的冲刺。

Stage 3: Inventory the Quarter's Constraints

阶段3：梳理本季度的约束条件

Get real about what's actually available:
  • How many weeks is this quarter?
  • How many of those weeks are compromised? (conferences, travel, classes, TA duties, family commitments, holidays)
  • What are the fixed external deadlines this quarter? (paper submissions, grant deadlines, quals)
  • Realistically, how many "clean research weeks" does that leave?
This number is almost always smaller than the user initially thinks. A "3-month quarter" often contains 6-8 actually-productive weeks once you subtract everything.
客观评估实际可用的时间：
  • 本季度共有多少周？
  • 其中有多少周会被占用？（会议、出差、课程、助教工作、家庭事务、假期）
  • 本季度有哪些固定的外部截止日期？（论文提交、基金申请截止、资格考试）
  • 实际上，这还剩下多少个可专注研究的完整周？
这个数字几乎总是比用户最初预估的要小。扣除所有事务后，“3个月的季度”通常只剩下6-8个真正高效的研究周。

Stage 4: Draft Candidate Goals

阶段4：草拟候选目标

Ask the user to propose goals at three levels. Resist the temptation to skip straight to tasks.
Tier 1 — Primary Goal (1 goal only): The one thing that, if completed this quarter, would make the quarter a success. Must be concrete. "Make progress on the contrastive learning project" is not concrete. "Complete the main experiments and have a draft of the methods section for the contrastive learning paper" is concrete.
Tier 2 — Secondary Goals (1-2 goals): Meaningful but not essential. These get dropped first if Tier 1 is under threat.
Tier 3 — Background Maintenance (optional): Things that keep the ecosystem healthy — reading groups, advisor relationship, lab citizenship, skill development. Usually just named, not aggressively planned.
请用户提出三个层级的目标。切勿直接跳过目标环节进入任务规划。
一级——核心目标（仅1个）： 本季度完成后即可定义为成功的那一件事。必须具体。“在对比学习项目上取得进展”不够具体。“完成对比学习论文的主要实验，并写出方法部分的初稿”才是具体的目标。
二级——次要目标（1-2个）： 有意义但非必需的目标。当核心目标进度受威胁时，这些目标应首先被搁置。
三级——基础维护（可选）： 维持研究生态健康的事务——读书会、与导师的关系、实验室职责、技能提升。通常只需列出，无需严格规划。

Stage 5: Stress-Test the Plan

阶段5：压力测试计划

This is the most important stage. Walk through each primary and secondary goal and ask:
  • "If you had to break this goal into 3-5 concrete deliverables spaced across the quarter, what would they be?"
  • "What's the first deliverable you'd need this month to know you're on track?"
  • "What's the riskiest assumption here? What could make this goal impossible?"
  • "If the planning fallacy applies and this takes 1.5-2x as long as you think — is the goal still feasible this quarter?"
If a goal fails the stress test (too many prerequisites uncertain, too many person-weeks needed, too many dependencies on others), flag it and suggest either (a) moving it to next quarter or (b) reducing scope.
这是最重要的阶段。逐一梳理核心和次要目标，并询问：
  • “如果要将这个目标拆解为3-5个分散在本季度的具体交付成果，会是什么？”
  • “为确保进度正常，本月你需要完成的首个交付成果是什么？”
  • “这里最具风险的假设是什么？什么会导致这个目标无法实现？”
  • “如果规划谬误生效，实际耗时是你预估的1.5-2倍——这个目标在本季度仍可行吗？”
如果某个目标未通过压力测试（前置条件过多不确定、需要的人周数过多、对他人依赖过多），请标记出来，并建议要么（a）推迟到下一季度，要么（b）缩小范围。

Stage 6: Check Alignment with Advisor

阶段6：与导师确认对齐

Before finalizing:
  • "Has your advisor seen and signed off on these priorities?"
  • "If not — is it because you haven't asked, or because you're avoiding the conversation?"
If the user hasn't synced with their advisor, strongly suggest doing so before committing to the plan. A plan the advisor hasn't endorsed is fragile.
最终确定前：
  • “你的导师已经看过并认可这些优先级了吗？”
  • “如果没有——是因为你还没问，还是在回避沟通？”
如果用户尚未与导师同步，强烈建议在确定计划前先沟通。未得到导师认可的计划是脆弱的。

Stage 7: Produce the Plan Artifact

阶段7：生成计划文件

Save the plan to 
~/phd-log/plans/YYYY-QN.md
(for example 
2026-Q2.md
). Use this structure:
markdown
undefined
将计划保存至
~/phd-log/plans/YYYY-QN.md
（例如
2026-Q2.md
）。使用以下结构：
markdown
undefined

Quarterly Plan: YYYY QN (Weeks X-Y)

Quarterly Plan: YYYY QN (Weeks X-Y)

Context

Context

  • PhD year: N
  • Long-term arc: [one sentence]
  • PhD year: N
  • Long-term arc: [one sentence]

Quarter Constraints

Quarter Constraints

  • Clean research weeks available: [number]
  • Fixed deadlines: [list]
  • Known disruptions: [list]
  • Clean research weeks available: [number]
  • Fixed deadlines: [list]
  • Known disruptions: [list]

Tier 1 — Primary Goal

Tier 1 — Primary Goal

Goal: [single concrete goal]
Monthly milestones:
  • Month 1: [deliverable]
  • Month 2: [deliverable]
  • Month 3: [deliverable]
Riskiest assumption: [what could kill this]
Goal: [single concrete goal]
Monthly milestones:
  • Month 1: [deliverable]
  • Month 2: [deliverable]
  • Month 3: [deliverable]
Riskiest assumption: [what could kill this]

Tier 2 — Secondary Goals

Tier 2 — Secondary Goals

  • [goal + brief milestones]
  • [goal + brief milestones]

Tier 3 — Background

Tier 3 — Background

  • [items to maintain, lightly]
  • [items to maintain, lightly]

Explicitly Deferred

Explicitly Deferred

  • [things the user considered but is consciously NOT doing this quarter]
  • [things the user considered but is consciously NOT doing this quarter]

Advisor alignment

Advisor alignment

  • Last synced: [date]
  • Advisor's stated priorities: [what they said, if anything]
  • Last synced: [date]
  • Advisor's stated priorities: [what they said, if anything]

Review scheduled

Review scheduled

  • Mid-quarter check-in: [date]
  • End-of-quarter review: [date]

The "Explicitly Deferred" section matters. Naming what you're *not* doing is as valuable as naming what you *are* doing.
  • Mid-quarter check-in: [date]
  • End-of-quarter review: [date]

“明确推迟事项”部分至关重要。明确列出**不**要做的事，与列出要做的事同样有价值。

Mid-Quarter Check-in

季度中期检查

If the user invokes this skill in the middle of a quarter (not at the start), treat it as a check-in rather than a new plan. Read the existing plan file and ask:
  • Are the Tier 1 milestones on track?
  • Has anything fundamentally changed (new results, advisor redirecting, external deadline moved)?
  • Should the plan be edited, or is a mid-course correction needed?
Edit the plan file in place, marking changes with a dated amendment note at the top.
如果用户在季度中期（而非起始阶段）调用此技能，则将其视为进度检查而非新计划制定。读取现有计划文件并询问：
  • 一级目标的里程碑是否按计划推进？
  • 是否发生了根本性变化（新的研究结果、导师调整方向、外部截止日期变更）？
  • 是否需要修改计划，或是进行中期调整？
直接编辑现有计划文件，并在顶部添加带日期的修订说明。

Tone and Posture

语气与姿态

  • Be realistic-leaning-conservative, not ambitious-cheerleader. The user likely already has too many goals; your job is often to help them cut.
  • Never just validate a plan that's clearly too ambitious. "That sounds great!" when the user is planning 3 major projects in a quarter is a disservice.
  • When the user resists cutting goals, ask: "If you had to pick just one of these to definitely finish, which would it be?" The answer usually reveals what actually matters.
  • Don't confuse "ambitious" with "unrealistic." Ambition is fine; overcommitment is not.
  • 保持现实偏保守，而非盲目乐观。用户可能已经有太多目标；你的工作往往是帮助他们精简。
  • 绝不要直接认可明显过于宏大的计划。当用户计划在一个季度内完成3个重大项目时，说“听起来很棒！”是一种不负责任的行为。
  • 当用户抗拒精简目标时，询问：“如果必须只选一个确保完成的目标，你会选哪一个？”答案通常会揭示真正重要的事。
  • 不要混淆“有抱负”和“不切实际”。有抱负是好事；过度承诺则不然。

What Not to Do

禁忌事项

  • Don't let the user skip Stage 3 (constraint inventory). Planning without knowing how many weeks are real is fantasy.
  • Don't accept vague goals. Push for "by the end of this quarter, I will have [concrete artifact]" formulation.
  • Don't produce a 30-item plan. If there are more than ~5 concrete items, something is wrong.
  • Don't forget to read prior quarters' plans. The biggest insight often comes from noticing patterns across quarters (e.g., "you've tried to finish this project three quarters in a row — something deeper is going on").
  • 不要让用户跳过阶段3（约束条件梳理）。不了解实际可用周数的规划只是空想。
  • 不要接受模糊的目标。要求用户采用“到本季度末，我将完成[具体成果]”的表述。
  • 不要制定包含30项内容的计划。如果具体项目超过约5个，一定存在问题。
  • 不要忘记阅读过往季度的计划。最大的洞察往往来自发现跨季度的模式（例如“你已经连续三个季度尝试完成这个项目——背后可能有更深层的问题”）。