Logan Voss
No matter where you are in your career, there’s always room for improvement. Analyzing the way you work makes it easier to identify your own strengths and weaknesses. From there, you can look for ways to improve your practices and make yourself a more efficient, productive, and successful professional. In the world of research, a few tips and ideas can improve your work and make your life easier. Continue on your way to success with these simple yet effective habits that will make you a better researcher.
Start Early
Starting early will always benefit you. Procrastination can be tempting, especially when you have multiple responsibilities to manage. However, time goes by faster than you think. Starting early helps you avoid end-of-project stress and the rushed work that can come from it. Even if your deadline is months away, taking those initial steps will help you keep your project on track and give you enough time to produce your best work.
Organize Everything
Thorough, precise, and consistent organization makes every aspect of your professional life more manageable. Organize your projects by keeping a planner that details meetings and deadlines. Organize your workplace by using clever storage solutions and cleaning up after yourself. Most importantly, organize your research notebook with clear formatting, a table of contents, and other best practices. These and other organization practices are excellent habits that will make you a better researcher. Even more importantly, they’ll help you manage your work and make your days far less stressful.
Seek Out Feedback
No one can achieve excellence entirely on their own. Even if you work alone most of the time, accepting feedback and constructive criticism from others can help you improve. This is a crucial part of reviewing your performance, establishing goals, and giving yourself the necessary tools to go above and beyond your current capabilities. Opinions from your colleagues and peers, instructions from supervisors, and even reviews from clients and other third parties can help you identify what needs work and what you can do to be better. Make a habit of asking for feedback and taking criticism gracefully so that you can continuously improve your work and become the best possible version of yourself.
