PhD Quarterly Planner

Purpose

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.

When to Use

• 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

The Planning Workflow

Stage 1: Review Before You Plan (if applicable)