# Plan a research paper with milestones up to the due date

A backward-planned schedule from topic to final draft, with small weekly milestones that fit your other classes.

- Topic: Productivity & Planning
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Research, Education, Write, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/plan-a-research-paper-with-milestones-up-to-the-due-date

## Prompt

```text
Help me plan my research paper so I'm not writing it all the night before.

**Assignment and requirements:** [TOPIC OR PROMPT, LENGTH, NUMBER OF SOURCES, CITATION STYLE]
**Due date (and any checkpoint dates set by my teacher):** [DATES]
**Today's date:** [DATE]
**Where I am now:** [no topic yet / have a topic / have sources / have a draft]
**Time I realistically have each week:** [e.g. "about 4 hours, mostly weekends"]
**Other big deadlines in this period:** [EXAMS, OTHER PAPERS, WORK SHIFTS]

Plan backward from the due date through these stages: choose and narrow topic, find sources, read and take notes, working thesis, outline, first draft, revision, citations and formatting, final proofread.

Rules:
- Break each stage into tasks of 30-90 minutes.
- Leave a buffer of at least 2 days before the deadline.
- Avoid stacking big tasks on days I've said are busy.
- Flag early if the timeline is too tight and suggest what to ask my teacher.

Return:
1. A table: Date or week | Task | Time needed | Done when... (a clear finish line).
2. The 3 dates I must not miss.
3. A short what-to-do-if-I-fall-behind plan.
```

## What to fill in

- TOPIC OR PROMPT, LENGTH, NUMBER OF SOURCES, CITATION STYLE
- DATES
- DATE
- no topic yet / have a topic / have sources / have a draft
- e.g. "about 4 hours, mostly weekends"
- EXAMS, OTHER PAPERS, WORK SHIFTS

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.