Make a quick list, five things you wanted to do during your PhD, but didn’t. Perhaps you had wanted to explore a certain topic, but didn’t, or maybe you wanted to attend a conference but couldn’t.
Why not?
Examine your list and ask yourself why you didn’t get to them. What stopped you?
- Did you try but ultimately not succeed?
- Were you busy and so had to pass on the opportunity?
- Did you realise, upon exploring something, that there was more involved than you could realistically manage?
- Were you given advice that perhaps it was not a good use of your time and efforts?
If your answer is yes for any of these then there’s no real issue, is there? Your examiners might be interested in knowing why you didn’t do something. It’s useful to unpick and have clear reasons.
Remember your examiners are more likely to be interested in what you did rather than what you didn’t do. You could spend a little time asking yourself “Why not?” but it’s more useful to spend time exploring what you did.
