“What’s your work set-up like?” Photo Credit: Cecilia Guan
So your research project is finally underway: now what? For me, the natural next step is to get organized. I have compiled some of my favorite tips and tools for managing any type of project. For context, I am a visual learner who likes seeing the big picture and then structuring sub-components from there. Although these techniques work for me, my main mission is to help you think through what kinds of organizational frameworks apply to your situation, and if there is technology out there that can facilitate the way you work.
First and foremost, I suggest nailing down what your overarching organization system is. What I mean by this is understanding where all your deadlines and tasks are being tracked. Do you utilize a calendar, agenda book, to-do list, etc.? Are these tools physical or digital? Do you use a combination of tools? For example, I use my Google Calendar as a high-level overview of day-to-day events (e.g. class schedule, meetings): I can easily see my free blocks and assess how dense my upcoming schedule will be. Simultaneously, I use a bullet journal that I have customized to be my day-to-day agenda and task tracker for specific deadlines and items. Your organization system is the foundation for your project because it enables you to gauge your workload and, thus, allocate your time.
One supplement to your core organization system could be a workspace tool. Big projects are really just the end product of a long series of mini tasks. You could track these mini tasks in a multitude of ways, including in your calendar. My preference is to use apps like Notion or Trello that allow me to view my entire project scope and define tasks from there. These tools are like a notes app on steroids: they are extremely versatile platforms that allow you to customize pages with a variety of templates and blocks (e.g. tables, galleries, kanban boards, images, links). Want to have a page dedicated to places around Columbia to study at? Have a page with a table block to act as a checklist for where you have studied at, a gallery block to add photos of each area, and a nested series of pages for each of your reviews. Want to keep track of the tasks you need to do for a project? Use a kanban board to write out each task you need to complete, create column labels (e.g. in progress, done), and move the task to its appropriate category.. The opportunities are limitless!
An excellent citations manager is essential for any project that requires handling many sources. Not only is citing your work extremely important, but the process is also so simple. Zotero is a free, comprehensive citation tool that once downloaded, stores all your project resources and citations. What sets it apart from other trackers is its Chrome and Google documents capabilities. Instead of manually typing in all your citations, the Zotero Chrome extension can save items directly from Chrome tabs, automatically extracting the key citation
information (e.g. author, publisher) from your online resources. On the other hand, the Google Docs add-on can directly insert properly formatted citations and footnotes into your working document. And when you are done with citations, Zotero can instantly generate the appropriate bibliography (based on what you cited) or reference list (all the resources you stored for that particular project). No need to try your luck with EasyBib or its ilk, Zotero is an exceptional tool that can do it all.
If you are like me, you probably have a billion different tabs open at all times. Viewing everything at once helps me conceptualize what resources I will need to look in order to accomplish a particular assignment. Thus, a tab manager tool has changed my life because I can save, group, and close/open browser tabs with very little effort. Chrome extensions, such as Workona or TooManyTabs, enable you to organize relevant tabs. Google Chrome also has a built-in tab groups function that allows you to easily hide and unhide tabs based on what group they are a part of. Gone are the days of clicking on every tab in your browser to locate that one piece of information.
Contrary to popular belief, procrastination ≠ laziness. Rather, avoiding work may be a product of feeling overwhelmed by the task(s) ahead. In addition to the aforementioned tools, I like using study timers to give myself that push when I am feeling unmotivated. Typically, I follow The Pomodoro Technique, a well-known time management technique where you work for 25 minutes, rest for 5 minutes, repeat two additional times, and then rest for 15 minutes. Although you do not need to follow this exact ratio between study/downtime, I find that an external timer helps me limit distractions and maintain focus. You can use your phone’s timer, and I also recommend apps like Flora or Forest for a gamified experience.
Happy project organizing!