SMARTCUT #5: Build Positive Habits

One of my favourite non-fiction books is Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit. He highlights that nearly 40% of the actions we perform each day are habits. This allows the brain to save valuable energy because tasks are done on autopilot, giving us a framework or scaffolding to build our day around.

Once you find the tools that work for you (Smartcut #4), the challenging part is then to use them consistently, which brings us to the fifth Smartcut: BUILD POSITIVE HABITS. Identify where you can link new habitual behaviours to existing ones to give yourself the best chance of success and avoid slipping back to the default.

While the training that Professor Dan Allwood and I provide is ostensibly about improving academic writing and navigating the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding process, a big part of what we do is actually helping participants recognise the bad habits and unhelpful mindsets they need to replace. At the same time, we also identify the positive behaviours and attitudes that will help them achieve their goals.

Although this quote is often attributed to Aristotle, it’s apparently author Will Durant who wrote it. Regardless of who gets the credit, it’s true: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”.

There are so many seemingly tiny habits that can help us save time and make our lives a little bit easier. A few habits for academics and researchers to consider include:

• Plan ahead: This is a simple way to improve your writing, whether it’s for a conference, journal, or a grant proposal. Give yourself enough time to get feedback from others, edit the document, and have it proofread.
  
  
• Schedule EVERYTHING: Related to the habit above, actually put everything you’re planning to do in your calendar. You may be surprised how quickly your time fills up (meaning it’s time to adopt the habit of delegation and/or saying no). Or you could find that having a set deadline makes it easier to focus and avoid procrastination. At the very least, it should prevent deadlines from sneaking up on you!
  
  
• File Naming Conventions: Notes for New Project. Interview Transcript. Proposal Thoughts. Imprecisely named files can be difficult to find if we haven’t used them for a few months, let alone when we’re sharing files with a team. Can they figure out the right document without needing to open it? Deciding on set naming conventions from the start can save time for both your future self and your colleagues.