Project planning

It's easy to go overboard with planning, and do too much planning and not enough actual work on the thesis. Nevertheless, some level of project planning is definitely called for your project. Key points for a planning:

• Critical path: Is it clear which tasks constitute the critical path?
• Dependencies between tasks: Is it clear which tasks depend on the output of other tasks?
• Clear definition of tasks: Is it clear what a task (roughly) consists of and when a task is considered to be finished?

The above points will help you ensure your planning provides actionable guidelines (instead of rough ideas). In addition to these main points, here are some pointers that may be of use:

• Create a rough planning
  Make sure it is detailed for the coming few weeks. After that, it should be less detailed. The main line can be set, but the details will follow later.
  So: don't plan "write unit tests for class XYZ" for the last week. Instead, plan that period for testing.
• Focus on the right things
  If you're doing a research project, don't focus the planning on implementation details, focus on literature, developing theory / proofs, writing. The implementation may still be there, but it's not what the project is about.
• Add breathing space
  Projects everywhere inevitably go over time. Give yourself some time to deal with unforeseen circumstances. 10% is not a bad idea.
• Update the planning
  Update the planning about once a month. This will give you and your supervisor a clear idea of whether you are on track.
• Neither planning nor project is set in stone
  Your project may stumble upon an interesting venue for further exploration. Or a task that seemed simple, turns out to be complex. Don't worry! That's fine! Discuss this with your supervisor and adjust the planning and/or project accordingly.
• Start early with writing
  Everyone starts writing too late. Plan writing in every week, and begin in the first week with writing. Every week, add something to the report. Don't worry too much about the report becoming a hodge podge - your main goal is to give yourself sufficient information to assemble the report later.
• Keep track of time
  
  • Keep track of time spent (e.g., 37 hrs spent, of 140 hrs total)
  • Keep track of time left (e.g., this is week 3 of 11)
• Describe risks and mitigations
  Identify the problems that would halt the research in its tracks. E.g., no data available. Then discuss mitigations -- e.g., you already acquired some data from a source and can get more there. If you cannot fully exclude a risk, what's your backup strategy? Or will the project inevitably fail then?