James Gosling says, “Only solve the problems you need to solve.”

My research supervisor told me that my only mission is to turn in a
good thesis at the end of two years. Okay, and do well in my courses.
That’s all he’s asking for. =)

It helps that I actually enjoy looking for funding and thinking of
useful projects, but if push comes to shove, I should focus on
something I can write and finish than just on something that’s
well-funded.

I’m not even writing a Ph.D. dissertation, just a master’s thesis.
Master’s theses are much shorter than Ph.D. dissertations. I can get
away without inventing a whole new field, for example. =)

Thanks to Luis Fernandes for the tip!