## 1.1. Plan ahead

“If you fail to plain, you plan to fail” is a nice piece of advice on project management that you can use in your own research project. A GANNT chart (not an acronym but named after Henry Gannt), helps you plan your work. You can use the example below as a template, and modify it to your situation. The chart is based on a typical master thesis. Obviously you will need more time for a dissertation.

- Start with a list of tasks that you will need to complete for your research. The example below includes only the most common elements of a single study. A pilot survey or experiment is not included. Also note that the schedule does not include a break.
- For each task, estimate how much time you will need to complete it. Add time for potential delays. Remember Hofstadter’s law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law (Hofstadter, 1999, p. 152).

- If you are collecting new data yourself, calculate a delay for this task. Data collection typically takes longer than you would expect. If you are planning to conduct personal interviews, plan more time than you would think is required to line up people. Also come up with a plan B – what you will do if your research strategy fails.
- Order the tasks chronologically. In a given week, you may work at several tasks.
- Also indicate deadlines: in the chart five submission dates (marked with an S) are included.

When you start your day, look at the chart and see whether you are still on schedule. You can color the bars differently to indicate your progress. In the example, completed tasks are colored black. The vertical line indicates TODAY. At the end of week 3, the student in the example has submitted her research question to her supervisor and revised it in response to the feedback she has received; she has written about half of her background section – the arguments about societal relevance do not yet form a tightly written paragraph and the scientific relevance paragraph is still missing; she is about halfway with her literature review; and finally, she has not yet begun to formulate hypotheses. You can see a small delay here. It is wise to plan some time for potential delays.

Keeping track of your progress will help you recognize delays early on, so you can adapt your schedule if necessary, and inform your supervisor that you will not be able to make a deadline. At this stage, the delay is not a cause for much concern.