Month: April 2011

Research Time Planner (as GANTT)

I am still developing the column headings for the planner that I presented yesterday, and while this is certainly beyond what The Clockwork Muse discusses, I think that having a project plan that includes all of the main elements that will take time in the doctoral thesis process (I am a project manager, after all), may help to add a bit of realization. For example, I have heard many people say, “write each day,” but that necessitates a constant reading and processing and organizing, none of which are readily accounted for in the time established for “writing each day.” The comments I received have been very helpful in moving this along . . .

I only have so much time, so need to organize it as well as I can. With this said, here are my revised column headings:

Section Length
(pages)		 Literature
(search, read, process)		 Research Steps
(organize, interview, transcribe, etc.)		 Writing
(pages per day)		 Time
(days)		 Deadline

I really welcome more feedback on this. While I so value a GANTT chart, I know the thesis has quiet components (writing, thinking, etc.) that may easily be neglected if they are not literally listed and considered; thus this focus on various specific chunks, that while they are not always as clearly identified as being distinct, need to be accounted for.

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2011-04-29

  • Here I thought I was to catch up on email + dive into my research, and I realize my funk has been sociomusical disconnectedness #phdchat #
  • "Can you hear me, major Tom?" Yes, Bowie still haunts us today. #
  • Goodness, what is TweetDeck doing? Just discovered a number of Mentions I have not acknowledged. Alas. #
  • Thinking of doing a top 10 of my favorite songs. May be useful to explore them a bit; wondering about potential themes? #
  • Goodness, can I really be 2 days behind on Twitter? Too dated to reply? Oh, bollocks, why not? #
  • I never realized how funny some of the lyrics are in Naughty By Nature's O.P.P.; the song still feels fresh. #
  • I am trying to get caught up; have had the hardest time since I returned from the UK / Ireland. Not sure why such a challenge this trip. #
  • I am developing a Research Time Commitment Planner http://bit.ly/iMkP8g and welcome feedback #phdchat #
  • Where did today go? #

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Research Time Commitment Planner

Thinking a little more deeply about scheduling and managing time for writing my doctoral thesis, as a continuation of my post yesterday about The Clockwork Muse, I am wondering how to also build in the time for reading and doing the research / transcription itself. While there is a great amount of time that is needed for the writing of the thesis, there is also a lot of time that needs to be allocated for the other elements of the research, and I am trying to organize my life for the next year overall.

Let me explain what I am thinking. As per Zerubavel’s suggested writing outline (pg. 76-77), these are the column headings for the time estimates for writing: 

Section Length
(pages)		 Pace
(pages per day)		 Time
(days)		 Deadline

I think this is very helpful; as writing is clearly a tremendous time commitment. However, I think that considering writing alone may be a bit decieving for the amount of work involved in the next year or so. Thus, this is how I am thinking about creating a master time commitment list, including both writing as well as the research itself that proceeds and happens throughout the writing: 

Section Literature
(search and read)		 Research
(specify)		 Transcription Length
(pages)		 Pace
(pages per day)		 Time
(days)		 Deadline

I welcome some thoughts about this . . .