Research toolkit
How to motivate yourself when writing a research article?
How to motivate yourself when writing a research article. Two habits a working academic uses when the writing feels stuck and the deadline is real.
Become the Motivated Academic
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Latest on the blog
Are Hidden Feelings of Fraudulence Stealing Your Confidence in Academia? How to Finally Overcome Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome in academia hits hardest before a viva or a submission. Here is the framework a working professor uses, and how to start applying it today.
Productivity
7 Bad Habits Ruining Your Academic Success and How to Overcome Them
Seven bad habits that quietly stall academic careers. A working professor’s list of what to break this term, and the small habit to replace each one with.
Productivity
How to overcome writer’s block in your PhD?
How to overcome writer’s block in your PhD. A working professor’s framework for getting words on the page when the next chapter feels impossible.
Motivation
How to overcome the challenges of finding funding?
How to find research funding as an early-career academic. A working professor’s playbook covering UK and EU schemes, fellowship logic, and reviewer priorities.
Research toolkit
15 best brainstorming tools to generate amazing research ideas
15 best brainstorming tools to generate new research ideas. A working academic’s shortlist for getting from a blank page to a defensible research question.
Research toolkit
7 simple steps to efficient research design with example
How to design a research project in seven steps, with a worked example. A working academic’s guide to structuring research before you write a single chapter.
Academic Writing
Why using a research paper writing service can destroy your academic career?
Why using a research paper writing service can destroy an academic career. A working professor’s case against outsourcing the one skill that defines your work.
Motivation
Who is a Motivated Academic? The Manifesto 2021
Who is a Motivated Academic? The 2021 manifesto behind the brand now reaching a 60,000-strong academic audience on LinkedIn — what it stands for and serves.
Research toolkit
How to write an outstanding abstract for your research paper?
How to write an outstanding abstract for your research paper. A working academic and journal editor’s step-by-step process, plus a worked example to adapt.
Productivity
How to develop good habits for a successful academic career in 5 easy steps?
How to develop good habits for a successful academic career. A working professor’s five-step process for the small daily moves that compound across a career.
Productivity
What are SMART goals and how to use them in your research?
What are SMART goals and how do they work in a research project? A working academic’s guide to setting research goals that hold up under PhD-level uncertainty.
Productivity
How to come up with new research ideas in 5 easy steps?
How to come up with new research ideas in five steps. A working professor’s process for getting from a vague hunch to a fundable, publishable research question.
Productivity
Quality over quantity: the golden balance between quality and quantity in academic publishing
Quality over quantity in academic publishing. A working academic’s case for fewer, stronger papers and what it does to your hiring and grant prospects.
Wellbeing
How to deal with a negative environment?
How to deal with a negative academic environment. A working professor on what you can change, what you cannot, and the third option most academics miss.
Motivation
How to deal with rejection in 5 easy steps?
How to deal with rejection in academia in five steps. A working professor’s honest framework for paper rejections, grant declines and bigger career setbacks.
Productivity
Publish or perish: did we get lost in the pursuit of academic success?
Publish or perish: did academia lose its way chasing success? A working professor’s honest reflection on the system, what it rewards, and what it costs.
