Scientists with active research programs I have a question for you. I am starting sabbatical in February and I’d like to spend some time organizing my research. What are your favorite tricks, large and small, for being effective in research?
@jegpeek when I did have an active research, the most effective thing was to focus on One Thing. It especially helped to have the other people working on the project to be focused on it at the same time.
So take some time to organize and prioritize, and then pick one item and work on it either until a goal is reached, a blocker that you need help, or for a set period of time.
@crawfordsm did you do this more at the hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly level? I love being laser focused for a full afternoon, but often am managing a dozen or more research initiatives at once.
@jegpeek It depends! The longer you can go without disruption, the better. But I very much understand the needs in managing a group which are orthogonal to focused work.
If I could get 2-3 days, I found that to be a minimum as it would take me an afternoon to ramp up. Two weeks was usually ideal, but rare. I would set my out of office, let my students know how to handle emergencies, and then disconnect from work. Works really well if your collaborators can do that as well.