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Hey friends,
8 years ago I caught myself doing something that looked like work:
25 tabs open.
Some articles bookmarked
A google doc with lots of ideas
And setting up reminders in my calendar
I felt productive. The problem?
I hadn't actually done any research.
No experiment
No analysis
No writing.
I was doing my PhD next to my full time job so I had to be more efficient
I was stuck in what I now call research mode.
Or, more accurately...
planning mode.
If you're doing a PhD, you've probably experienced it too.
You convince yourself that just one more paper will give you enough confidence to start writing.
Or that you need to finish reading everything before analyzing your data.
Or that you'll begin your manuscript once you've found the "perfect" reference
The problem is that planning feels productive
But planning alone doesn't move your research forward
At some point, you have to start
Here are a few signs you might be stuck in planning mode.
1. You're reading more than you're creating
Reading is essential
It's how we learn.
But reading eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns.
I've seen researchers read hundreds of papers before writing their first paragraph
Ironically, writing is often what reveals what you still need to read
Instead of asking:
"What else should I read?"
Try asking:
"What can I write today?"
Even if it's only 150 words.
2. You're searching for the perfect paper
Moving from databases databases
You search.
Then refine the search
Then change the keywords
Then search again
An hour later, you've downloaded another twenty PDFs
Most of which you'll never open.
Instead, give yourself a limit.
Spend 30 minutes searching.
Then spend an hour reading.
Then spend another hour writing.
Research should move forward in cycles, not endless searches.
3. You're constantly improving your research plan
Your proposal has reached version 12
Your conceptual framework looks beautiful
Your methodology diagram is color coded.
But you still haven't collected your first data point.
Planning matters.
But eventually the data become your best teacher.
Real research is messy
Your questions evolve.
Your methods change
Your assumptions get challenged.
But that only happens once you begin.
4. You're spending more time choosing tools than using them
Should you use EndNote or RefWorks?
NVivo or Atlas.ti?
Python or R?
ChatGPT or Claude?
These are useful questions.
But they're rarely the reason research gets delayed
No software will write your thesis
No AI tool will think critically for you
Tools should support your workflow, not become the workflow.
Sometimes a blank Word document is all you really need
5. You're waiting for the perfect moment
"I'll start after the conference."
"I'll write once teaching finishes."
"I'll begin next Monday."
"I'll work properly once I have a full day during Summer."
The perfect day almost never comes
Research happens in small pieces:
One paragraph, one figure, one analysis or one difficult email.
Those small actions compound faster than perfect plans.
One habit has helped me more than almost anything else.
Every morning, I ask myself one question:
"What is the one thing that will move my research forward today?"
Not ten things
One thing.
Sometimes it's writing the introduction
Sometimes it's cleaning a dataset
Sometimes it's submitting a paper that's been sitting on my desktop for weeks.
Once that task is done, everything else feels easier
Because progress creates motivation.
Not the other way around.
One thing I've learned over the years is that researchers rarely get stuck because they don't know enough.
They get stuck because they believe they need to know everything before they begin.
You don't
Your first draft won't be your final draft.
Your first analysis won't be your final analysis
Your first idea probably won't be your final contribution.
Research is iterative.
Every experiment teaches you something
Every manuscript improves through revision
Every paper starts as an imperfect first draft.
The researchers who publish the most aren't necessarily the smartest
They're often the ones who spend less time waiting and more time doing
So here's a small challenge for this week:
Close your literature database
Close the X tabs open in 2 different browsers
Close ChatGPT.
Ask yourself:
What's one task that would genuinely move my research forward today?
Then spend just 25 uninterrupted minutes working on it.
No multitasking
No perfect planning
Just good progress.
You might be surprised how much momentum a single focused session can create
Well, that's all for this week.
What's one research task you've been postponing that you're finally going to tackle this week?
tell me what you think. I read every response
See you next week,
Jamal