Doing Research? How to remain motivated while doing it?

Are you currently pursuing research and finding it very difficult? While research is a hard, tedious, and often isolated endeavor, here are some ways to keep up your spirit and remain motivated through the process-.

Pick a topic that interests you

This is extremely important. If you do not like your topic, and your topic doesn’t inspire you or induce your curiosity and amazement, your research will never happen. Despite the academic emphasis on objectivity, you must remember, that your topic is yours. Your research is a culmination of your hard work and your ideas. Embrace it! The topic is what will fuel your motivation.

Have a proper schedule

Research can be a lot of things to do together in one go. The best way to deal with it is to maintain a proper disciplined schedule. Buying a planner, and writing your daily goals is the ideal way to do this.

Divide time between work and fun

While research is hectic, and will involve a lot of unconventional work hours, in instances of fieldwork or going to the archive, make sure that you create enough time for you to also have fun. Therefore, divide your time between the work you do and other things. This way you can be more productive and avoid procrastination owing to an endless amount of time, and your work will slow down, and eventually, you will be burnt out. If you keep enough time for recreation, whether it is watching films, plays, going out with friends, or reading a book, make sure you take out time for yourself.

Get a side job

This is a suggestion for people who also want to earn money on the side. Scholarships are usually meager. In this world, where the pressure to earn is immense, sometimes, while researching one can wonder, if they should not be doing a job instead. Having a small source of income on the side therefore can be immensely beneficial. It will help you earn also, working will give you a proper sense of schedule and then you can be financially stable and also do research.

Remember that everything is a learning experience

Don’t be daunted if you find it difficult to find your material to work on in archives. It is there, even if in snippets. Remember, every source is important. Going through catalogs also gives an idea of what all is out there which will help you with research in the future.