I've been informed that I should start thinking/looking for a postdoc. I'm a bit in denial about this. It just doesn't feel like I'm close to graduating. Right now it seems like this nebulous goal. It shouldn't feel that way because I listed my aims in my proposal 2.5 years ago. I look at those aims, though, and see only 1/4 are completed. 2/4 are in progress and are closer to completion. The last 1/4 haven't even been begun and could easily be another year of experiments. So, by my calculations, I'm at least (emphasis on at least) a year out.
However, Advisor assures me that it should be more like 6-8 months. In fact, he mentions this Summer to People Who Are Not Me. These mentions tie my stomach up in knots because it seems impossible. And then I worry about not graduating if I don't make this timeline (and keep in mind that I'm only in my 5th year and the average in my program is 5.5 years). Advisor has told me that he would prefer me to graduate and he doesn't see me leaving the program without graduating. (And as Dr. Man points out, Advisor has done this before, many times, and I haven't. So, perhaps I should trust the person who has experience.)