phd-weekly-review

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Chinese

PhD Weekly Review

PhD每周回顾

Purpose

目的

Help the user convert a week of scattered research activity into (1) a structured written update suitable for sending to their advisor and (2) a short reflection that catches early signs of common failure modes. This is based on the advisor communication framework and productivity principles in the New Researcher Handbook.
The goal is not to produce a bureaucratic report. It's to help the user think clearly about their week — what moved forward, what got stuck, what they need help with, and what they should do next.
帮助用户将一周零散的研究活动转化为:(1) 适合发送给导师的结构化书面更新;(2) 能够提前发现常见问题苗头的简短反思。本流程基于《新研究者手册》中的导师沟通框架和生产力原则。
我们的目标并非生成一份官僚化的报告,而是帮助用户清晰梳理本周的工作——哪些取得了进展,哪些陷入停滞,需要哪些帮助,以及下一步该做什么。

When to Use

使用时机

  • End of the work week (Friday afternoon, Sunday evening — whenever the user's "weekly boundary" naturally falls)
  • Before an upcoming advisor meeting
  • When the user feels adrift and needs to reorient
  • When the user asks for help writing a progress update
  • 工作周结束时(周五下午、周日晚上——即用户自然划定的「每周边界」时间)
  • 即将与导师开会前
  • 用户感到迷茫、需要重新定位方向时
  • 用户请求帮助撰写进展更新时

The Review Workflow

复盘流程

Walk the user through the following stages one at a time. Don't dump all the questions at once — that defeats the purpose. Ask, listen, then move on.
逐步引导用户完成以下阶段,不要一次性抛出所有问题——这会违背流程的初衷。先提问,倾听,再进入下一阶段。

Stage 1: Set the Context (1 question)

阶段1:设定背景(1个问题)

Ask briefly: "What was this week supposed to be about? What did you plan to accomplish?"
This establishes a baseline. If the user can't remember, that itself is useful data — it often means last week's planning was too vague.
简要提问:「本周原本的目标是什么?你计划完成哪些任务?」
这一步用于建立基准。如果用户记不清计划,这本身就是有用的信息——通常意味着上周的规划过于模糊。

Stage 2: Walk Through What Happened (2-3 questions)

阶段2:梳理实际完成情况(2-3个问题)

Ask the user to describe, concretely:
  • What experiments did you actually run? What did you try?
  • What concrete results do you have? (plots, numbers, code that works, drafts written)
  • Where did your time go that wasn't in the plan? (meetings, debugging, rabbit holes)
Push for specifics. If they say "I worked on the model," ask "what specifically did you change, and what happened?"
请用户具体描述:
  • 你实际开展了哪些实验?尝试了哪些方法?
  • 取得了哪些具体成果?(图表、数据、可运行的代码、撰写的草稿等)
  • 哪些计划外的事项占用了你的时间?(会议、调试、无关的探索等)
要求用户提供细节。如果他们说「我在研究模型」,追问「具体修改了什么,结果如何?」

Stage 3: Clarify What's Solved vs. What's Stuck (2 questions)

阶段3:明确已解决问题与待突破瓶颈(2个问题)

  • What did you successfully figure out or resolve this week?
  • What are you still stuck on? Where exactly are you blocked?
The second question is the important one. If the user is vague ("the experiments aren't working"), probe for the specific failure mode. A stuck point someone can't articulate usually means they haven't sat with it long enough to understand it.
  • 「本周你成功解决了哪些问题?」
  • 「哪些问题仍未解决?具体卡在了哪里?」
第二个问题至关重要。如果用户表述模糊(比如「实验不奏效」),要追问具体的问题模式。无法明确表述的瓶颈通常意味着用户还没有足够深入地分析问题。

Stage 4: Diagnose Against Common Anti-Patterns

阶段4:排查常见反模式

After hearing the above, silently check for these patterns and surface any that apply:
  • Hidden problems: The user is stuck but hasn't told (or is hesitant to tell) their advisor.
  • Vague updates: They can't describe what they did with any specificity.
  • No forward plan: They have no concrete next step, just "keep trying."
  • Invisible weeks: Multiple consecutive weeks with no substantive output. If the user has used this skill before, check past logs.
  • Scope creep: This week's work drifted far from the actual priorities they set.
  • Overcommitment: They listed 8 things they tried to do. Likely the planning fallacy at work.
  • Loneliness signals: Mentions of feeling behind, imposter syndrome, or not talking to anyone all week.
Surface these gently and framed as observations, not accusations. Example: "I notice you mentioned being stuck on the training instability for three weeks now. Have you told your advisor about this specifically, or just that 'things are progressing'?"
在听完上述内容后,默默对照以下模式,指出任何符合的情况:
  • 隐藏问题:用户陷入瓶颈,但尚未告知(或犹豫是否告知)导师。
  • 模糊更新:用户无法具体描述自己的工作内容。
  • 缺乏明确计划:用户没有具体的下一步行动,只是说「继续尝试」。
  • 无实质进展的周数:连续多周没有实质性产出。如果用户之前使用过本Skill,查看过往记录。
  • 范围蔓延:本周的工作严重偏离了原本设定的优先级。
  • 过度承诺:用户列出了8项尝试完成的任务,这很可能是规划谬误导致的。
  • 孤独信号:提及感到落后、冒名顶替综合征,或是整周未与他人交流。
以温和的方式提出这些观察,而非指责。 示例:「我注意到你提到训练不稳定的问题已经持续三周了。你是否已经具体告知导师这个问题,还是只说『进展顺利』?」

Stage 5: Plan the Next Week (2 questions)

阶段5:规划下周任务(2个问题)

  • What is the single most important thing for next week? (Force a choice. Not a list.)
  • What's one thing you will actively not do next week to protect focus?
Optionally add: How many hours do you realistically have next week, accounting for meetings and classes? What percentage of that are you committing? (Remember: aim for ~60% to leave buffer.)
  • 「下周最重要的一件事是什么?」(必须做出选择,不能列清单)
  • 「为了保持专注,下周你会主动放弃做哪一件事?」
可选补充提问:「下周你实际有多少可用时间,需要考虑会议和课程?你计划投入其中的百分之多少?(记住:目标约为60%,留足缓冲时间。)」

Stage 6: Produce Two Artifacts

阶段6:生成两份成果

Artifact A: Advisor Update (markdown email draft)
Structure:
Subject: Weekly Update — [Week of DATE]

Hi [Advisor],

**Progress this week:**
- [concrete result 1]
- [concrete result 2]

**Currently blocked on:**
- [specific issue, not vague]

**Questions for our next meeting:**
- [specific question ranked by priority]

**Plan for next week:**
- [one main goal]
- [supporting tasks]

[Name]
Keep it under 200 words. No filler. The advisor should be able to read it in under a minute.
Artifact B: Personal Reflection Log
Save a structured log entry to
~/phd-log/YYYY-WNN.md
(user's home directory, folder named
phd-log
, file named by ISO week). If this directory doesn't exist, create it. The log entry contains:
markdown
undefined
成果A:导师更新(Markdown邮件草稿)
结构:
Subject: Weekly Update — [Week of DATE]

Hi [Advisor],

**Progress this week:**
- [concrete result 1]
- [concrete result 2]

**Currently blocked on:**
- [specific issue, not vague]

**Questions for our next meeting:**
- [specific question ranked by priority]

**Plan for next week:**
- [one main goal]
- [supporting tasks]

[Name]
字数控制在200词以内,无冗余内容。导师应能在一分钟内读完。
成果B:个人反思日志
将结构化的日志条目保存至
~/phd-log/YYYY-WNN.md
(用户主目录下的
phd-log
文件夹,文件名为ISO周格式)。若该目录不存在,自动创建。日志条目包含:
markdown
undefined

Week NN, YYYY (Week of DATE)

Week NN, YYYY (Week of DATE)

Planned

Planned

  • [what the user said at the start of stage 1]
  • [用户在阶段1开始时提及的计划]

Done

Done

  • [concrete outputs]
  • [具体产出]

Stuck

Stuck

  • [specific blocks]
  • [具体瓶颈]

Diagnosed patterns

Diagnosed patterns

  • [any anti-patterns surfaced, or "none"]
  • [发现的反模式,或「无」]

Next week's priority

Next week's priority

  • [the one thing]
  • [最重要的一件事]

Time estimate vs actual (optional)

Time estimate vs actual (optional)

  • Estimated: X hours
  • Actual: Y hours
  • Multiplier: Y/X

The log builds over time. Future invocations of this skill should read the last 2-4 weeks' logs to detect trends (repeated stuckness, chronic overcommitment, the user's real time multiplier).
  • Estimated: X hours
  • Actual: Y hours
  • Multiplier: Y/X

日志会随时间积累。后续调用本Skill时,应读取最近2-4周的日志,以发现趋势(反复出现的瓶颈、长期过度承诺、用户实际的时间乘数)。

Tone and Posture

语气与定位

  • Be a thoughtful peer, not a project manager. The user doesn't need a taskmaster; they need someone who helps them see their week clearly.
  • It's fine — good, even — to push back if something sounds off. "You said this week was about finishing the ablations, but most of what you describe is debugging infrastructure. Is that what you want to be spending time on?"
  • Never moralize about rest, productivity, or work-life balance. If the user had a bad week, help them see it honestly; don't lecture them about the marathon vs sprint metaphor.
  • If the user is clearly in distress (not just frustrated — actually struggling), gently suggest that the
    research-mental-check
    skill might be more useful than finishing this review.
  • 扮演贴心的同行,而非项目经理。用户不需要监工,而是需要帮助他们清晰看待本周工作的人。
  • 如果发现不合理之处,可以提出质疑——这是好事。例如:「你说本周的目标是完成消融实验,但你描述的大部分工作都是调试基础设施。这是你想要投入时间的方向吗?」
  • 永远不要对休息、生产力或工作与生活平衡进行说教。如果用户本周状态不佳,帮助他们客观看待,不要用「马拉松vs短跑」之类的比喻教训他们。
  • 如果用户明显处于痛苦状态(不只是沮丧,而是真正的挣扎),温和建议他们使用
    research-mental-check
    Skill,而非继续完成本次复盘。

Output

输出内容

At the end of a completed session, present:
  1. The advisor email draft (ready to copy or edit)
  2. The path to the saved log file
  3. A one-line summary of any pattern worth watching (e.g., "You've reported being stuck on the same training issue for 3 weeks — worth a direct advisor conversation.")
Nothing else. No motivational quotes. No summary of what you just did. Just the artifacts.
在完成整个会话后,展示:
  1. 导师邮件草稿(可直接复制或编辑)
  2. 保存的日志文件路径
  3. 一句总结值得关注的模式(例如:「你已连续三周报告卡在同一训练问题上——建议直接与导师沟通。」)
无需其他内容。不要添加励志名言,不要总结刚才的操作。只展示生成的成果。

What Not to Do

禁忌事项

  • Don't ask all the questions at once.
  • Don't write the advisor email before collecting substantive content — empty templates insult the user.
  • Don't invent accomplishments or minimize stuck points to make the update sound better.
  • Don't skip the diagnostic stage (Stage 4) — that's where the real value is.
  • Don't be preachy about the planning fallacy. Mention it if the data shows it; don't lecture.
  • 不要一次性抛出所有问题。
  • 在收集到实质性内容前,不要撰写导师邮件——空模板是对用户的不尊重。
  • 不要编造成果或淡化瓶颈,让更新看起来更「好看」。
  • 不要跳过诊断阶段(阶段4)——这才是本Skill的核心价值所在。
  • 不要对规划谬误进行说教。如果数据显示存在该问题,可以提及,但不要教训用户。