academic_project_tracker

Views Guide

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of each view in the Research Project Tracker and how to use them effectively.

📊 Projects View (High-Level Project Overview)

Purpose: Manage all your research projects from a high-level perspective.

Functionality

The Projects view gives you a bird’s-eye view of all your active research initiatives. Each project acts as a container for related tasks, goals, and resources.

Key Features:

Common Use Cases:

Example Projects:

📅 Deadlines View (Deadline Tracker)

Purpose: Track all important deadlines including conferences, paper submissions, and task due dates.

Functionality

The Deadlines view consolidates all time-sensitive items in one place, ensuring you never miss an important date.

Key Features:

Customizing Conference Deadlines

The tracker comes pre-loaded with deadlines for major conferences in computer science, engineering, and related fields. You can customize this list to match your research area.

To Add a Conference Deadline:

  1. Navigate to the Deadlines view
  2. Click “Add Conference Deadline”
  3. Enter:
    • Conference name (e.g., “NeurIPS 2026”)
    • Submission deadline date
    • Notification preference (e.g., 1 week before, 1 month before)
    • Conference website URL
  4. Save

To Edit Existing Conference Deadlines:

  1. Click on any conference deadline in the list
  2. Update the information
  3. Save changes

Conference List Management:

Pro Tips:

✅ Kanban Board (Low-Level Tasks & Checklists)

Purpose: Manage day-to-day tasks and break them down into actionable checklists.

Functionality

The Kanban board provides a visual, drag-and-drop interface for managing individual tasks and their progress through your workflow.

Board Columns:

Key Features:

Task Cards

Checklists

Break complex tasks into smaller, manageable subtasks:

Example Task with Checklist:

Task: "Write Literature Review"
Checklist:
☐ Identify 20 key papers
☐ Read and annotate papers
☐ Create synthesis matrix
☐ Write first draft (2000 words)
☐ Get advisor feedback
☐ Revise and finalize

Advanced Features

Common Workflows:

  1. Daily Task Management:
    • Start your day by moving 2-3 tasks from “To Do” to “In Progress”
    • Focus on completing checklist items
    • Move completed tasks to “Done” at end of day
  2. Paper Writing:
    • Create tasks for each paper section
    • Use checklists for subsections and revision rounds
    • Link to your Overleaf or Google Docs
  3. Experiment Workflow:
    • Create tasks for experimental phases
    • Use checklists for experimental steps
    • Attach data files or analysis notebooks

Pro Tips:

🎨 Whiteboard (Brainstorming & Idea Capture)

Purpose: A free-form space for capturing ideas, brainstorming, meeting notes, and parking lot items.

Functionality

The Whiteboard is your digital scratch pad - a flexible space for capturing thoughts before they become structured tasks or projects.

Key Features:

Idea Capture

Use Cases

1. Research Ideas Repository

Capture future research directions and questions:

Organization:

2. Meeting Notes

Document discussions with advisors, collaborators, or lab meetings:

Example Meeting Note:

Meeting with Advisor - Jan 7, 2026
---
Discussed:
- Literature review progress
- Experimental design for Phase 2
- Conference submission timeline

Action Items:
→ Revise intro section [convert to task]
→ Run baseline experiments [convert to task]
→ Draft conference abstract by Friday [convert to task]

Questions for next meeting:
- Budget approval for equipment?
- Co-author expectations?

3. Parking Lot

Store ideas that aren’t ready to become tasks yet:

Benefits:

Organization Features

Boards: Create multiple whiteboards for different purposes:

Templates: Create reusable templates for common note types:

Search & Filter:

Moving from Whiteboard to Action

Converting Ideas to Tasks:

  1. Select an idea or note section
  2. Click “Convert to Task”
  3. Choose the destination project
  4. The idea becomes a structured task on your Kanban board

Converting Ideas to Projects:

  1. Select a mature idea
  2. Click “Convert to Project”
  3. Set initial properties (status, priority)
  4. Start adding related tasks

Example Workflow:

  1. 🎨 Brainstorm paper ideas in Whiteboard
  2. ⭐ Mark the most promising idea
  3. 📊 Convert to a “Conference Paper” project
  4. ✅ Break down into tasks on Kanban board
  5. 📅 Add conference deadline
  6. 🚀 Start working!

Pro Tips

🔄 Workflow: Using All Views Together

Here’s how these views work together in a typical research workflow:

1. Planning Phase

  1. Whiteboard: Brainstorm project ideas and approach
  2. Projects: Create a new project for the research initiative
  3. Deadlines: Add key milestones and conference deadlines

2. Execution Phase

  1. Kanban: Break project into actionable tasks
  2. Tasks: Work through checklists day-by-day
  3. Whiteboard: Capture insights and meeting notes

3. Review Phase

  1. Projects: Review project progress and health
  2. Deadlines: Check upcoming deadlines
  3. Whiteboard: Document lessons learned and next steps

4. Completion Phase

  1. Kanban: Move all tasks to Done
  2. Projects: Mark project as Completed
  3. Whiteboard: Archive notes and ideas for future work

🎯 Best Practices

For Graduate Students

For Faculty

For Postdocs

💡 Customization Tips

All views are customizable to match your workflow:

See CUSTOMIZATION.md for detailed customization guides.

Questions? Check the FAQ or open an issue on GitHub.

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