You have just started your PhD.
You have no idea what you are supposed to do, what is your "topic", or how you are supposed to start. Yet, you receive the advice..
'Create a Gantt chart for your PhD'
You Google what a Gantt chart is.
A Gantt chart is a visual way to see a timeline of events. It allows you to see the broader tasks you need to do, the dependencies between them, when they are supposed to start, and when they are expected to finish. The Gantt chart is a visual aid to support your multi-year PhD journey.
You understand what a Gantt chart is.
But how are you supposed to create this!?
To create a realistic Gantt chart for a project you need to know two main things:
How to break down the project into work packages.
How long will you need for each work package.
A work package is a fancy name for a smaller project with its own scope and deliverables. It is a part of your bigger project, a part "small enough" for you to foresee how you can accomplish it. For you to think: 'What tasks do I need to do to create this deliverable?''
Deliverable..!?
Yes, something you can write, build or present that can actually be "delivered" to someone else.
But if you are at the very beginning of your PhD, how are you supposed to know what to add in your Gantt chart?
That's where the advice fails.
The actual meaning of this advice is:
Figure out what you are supposed to be doing in the next years of your PhD.
Trying to build a Gantt chart will force you to break down the big project into smaller work packages, reflect on their dependencies, timelines and deliverables. It will force you to learn how to do a PhD.
The Gantt chart is an aid, the real goal is the learning, planning and reflection.
So, next time you hear the 'build a Gantt chart advice'. Know that the Gantt chart is not the goal, the thinking process is.
Unless you are applying for a grant proposal.. but that is a story for another day.