How to Measure Your Progress During Grad School: A Neuroscience Student’s Guide
Author: Katy Celina Sandoval, PhD(c), MSc
Evaluating progress in grad school is notoriously difficult. Our projects are long-term, experiments often need to be repeated (sometimes more times than we’d like to admit), and even when you finally collect “enough” data, the next hurdle is analysis, writing, and publishing. But is it really ever finished? There always seems like there’s more to do, another figure to perfect, another analysis to run...
As I’m working on my own PhD thesis, I realize that I’ve often caught myself thinking:
- Am I doing enough?
- Why do I feel so tired every day but still feel like I’m not moving forward?
- How do I even know if I’m making progress?
The truth is that many graduate students feel this way. We measure ourselves against the next milestone, but the milestones in grad school can be months or even years apart. Without smaller checkpoints, it’s easy to feel stuck.
So, how can you track your progress when everything feels so slow? Here’s a list of strategies that have helped me and I hope they can help you too!
1. Track Process, Not Just Outcomes
Grad school tends to focus a lot on deliverables (e.g. finished experiments, papers, presentations) but the process is where most of the real work happens. Try tracking:
- Hours spent learning a new analysis or technique
- Time troubleshooting protocols
- The number of papers you’ve read this week
- Notes from lab meetings where you contributed (you should always take notes in meetings!)
These “process” wins are just as valuable as the finished products.
I use the Simple Time Tracker app on my Android phone (for iPhone users, an option is Clockify). The app lets you create tasks and start tracking with a single tap. I use it to monitor how I spent my time each week, helping me optimize my work hours and have informed discussions with my supervisor how to be more efficient. I also track my extracurricular activities and breaks to get a full picture of my schedule.
2. Celebrate Incremental Wins
Finished your first pilot study? Learned a new software platform? Made a beautiful figure? Your code worked? These may seem like small steps, but they are significant. Progress in research isn’t a straight line; it’s built from these small victories.
Start a “Done” list instead of just a to-do list. By the end of the month, you’ll be surprised how much you’ve actually completed.
I’ve only recently started doing this, and it has helped me feel a sense of accomplishment. Even if I know there’s still more writing or analysis to do, I celebrate when I complete the goals I set for that week. Anything that comes up unexpectedly (e.g. new results, new analyses, new ideas) becomes a new goal for the following week.
3. Create Visual Markers of Progress
Seeing your progress helps you feel your progress.
- Track experiments on a whiteboard or Gantt chart
- Use progress bars for chapters or papers
- Keep a reading list and cross off each paper you’ve tackled
These visual cues reinforce that you are moving forward, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
4. Check in with Your Goals Regularly
Set monthly or quarterly goals that you can actually reach. Long-term goals like “publish paper” or “finish thesis” are important, but short-term goals like “finish this analysis” or “meet with supervisor to plan next steps” are how you get there.
Revisit your goals every few weeks to reflect:
- What did I complete?
- What got delayed, and why?
- How am I pacing?
Annual progress reports are great for this. I recommend writing progress summaries at the end of each semester, as this will save you time when the report is due and help you track your growth more consistently.
5. Track Personal Growth
Grad school isn’t just about experiments, it’s about who you become as a scientist.
Consider tracking:
- New techniques you’ve learned
- Conferences you’ve attended
- Talks you’ve given
- Mentoring or collaboration experience
- Skills like time management or project planning
These are valuable forms of progress that contribute to your future career. I always made sure to include them in my progress report when submitting to my committee members because I believe it is important to highlight growth beyond the lab bench.
6. Recognize Emotional Labour and Persistence
Sometimes, showing up is the win.
- Showing up to the lab after a failed experiment
- Showing up to write when you feel stuck
- Showing up to a meeting to advocate for your ideas
Grad school is mentally and emotionally demanding. Persistence is progress. Count it. Reach out to others for help and support. Sometimes all you need is to get the feelings out of your head to make room for new ideas and motivation. Grad school is hard, but you’re not meant to do it alone, and it can take a community to succeed!
7. Build a Support System for Accountability
Having peers, mentors, or even writing groups can help you regularly reflect on your progress.
- Monthly check-ins with lab mates
- Peer writing sessions
- Sharing wins and challenges with your supervisor
These systems not only keep you accountable but also remind you that you’re not doing this alone.
8. Apply to Things!
Apply to awards, scholarships, workshops, and side jobs.
- This gives you reasons to regularly update your CV and reflect on your progress
- Application statements force you to think about what you’ve accomplished, what skills you’ve developed, and what you want to work on next
Every time I applied to something new, I always felt relieved to see just how much I had done, it’s an instant perspective shift!
9. Present at Conferences
Putting together a conference abstract helps you see where you are in your project.
- Posters help you develop visuals you can reuse for future presentations and progress reports
Each year I presented at a conference, I could see how my story was getting clearer and my results more solid. This was a powerful way to see that I was moving forward.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re not doing enough because the finish lines in grad school are so far apart. But progress isn’t just about the big milestones, it’s about the steady, imperfect, and persistent work you’re doing every day.
And if you genuinely feel like you’re not moving forward, it’s okay to pause and re-evaluate how you’re spending your time. Re-prioritizing is a valuable skill to develop during grad school, too.
I hope this helps you see your own journey with more compassion and perspective.
If you’ve been asking yourself, Am I moving forward? The answer is probably yes. You are doing more than you think!