When Is Enough, Enough? Setting Timelines for Your Final Year

#1 What is your golden thread?

When it comes to deciding if you've done enough, you have to start looking at your thesis as a complete entity. This is known as the ever-elusive-but-crucial ‘golden thread’. What is the golden thread that runs through your research pulling each separate study together? Does it tell a clear story to your reader? Does it read as a complete piece of work? Once you find your story, you can identify if there are any gaping holes in it.  

You also need to think back over the work that you have done during your PhD. Does this story represent the work you've been doing for the last few years? Does it show all your techniques and skills? Chat with your supervisor to see if you both think the thesis is a complete set of work. If so, then you've probably done enough.

#2 What is realistic for you to complete?

With science, there is always more you could do. But this doesn't mean you have to do it. The questions that come out of your work can be future directions you mention in your discussion. They could be a future project for someone else, or you (if you're lucky in securing a postdoc!!). Knowing the difference between a future direction and something you need to do in your PhD comes back to the golden thread . . . and a bit of realism. Is this future direction a small addition that would tell a more complete story, or is it opening a can of worms that amounts to another PhD? Be realistic with the projects you are imaging up and whether you really have the time/energy/funding to go down that particular rabbit hole.

#3 What deadlines do you need to get this done by?

Something you also have to be realistic about is timelines. As I've spoken about before, everything in research takes twice as long as you think it will. This counts for writing too! If you know when you want to finish, work backwards and set yourself deadlines for submitting drafts of each chapter to your supervisors to help keep you on track. Be kind to yourself with these deadlines and know that timelines can (and sometimes have to) change.

The transition from researching to writing up is a key marker in the PhD timeline and it can be hard to know when to make that step. Talk to your supervisor about your PhD storyline and start planning out your thesis to identify any holes that might need filling. As someone who apparently loves to create side projects for herself, just be careful you aren't opening a can of worms when doing ‘one last thing’!!

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