Some people find themselves unable to find a rhythm in their work ethic which leads to the completion of the dissertation.
Many students find that they are able to avoid quicksand along the doctoral journey.
Course completion and prelims are not major obstacles to overcome. However, proposals and dissertations can be more challenging. For whatever the reason, people can find themselves enrolling in dissertation hours without making any progress. If you can answer that question, you are ready to start planning backwards. Most doctoral students use a goal of one page per day or five pages per weekend.