Maintaining Motivation: Tips on Staying Excited about Research
In long-term projects, especially self-guided ones, it can be hard to stay motivated during the tedium of daily research. I experienced this feeling from time to time over the summer, when I was working intensively on my honors thesis. I gradually developed a useful toolbox to resort to when I felt myself becoming disenchanted with the research process or removed from my original passion. I’m hoping those sharing in this experience can learn a thing or two.
Before I share my tips, I’ll provide some background on the nature of my own research. I’m writing an honors thesis in Political Science about U.S. self-defense laws and how they may affect women defendants in homicide cases differently than men defendants, specifically women who have suffered intimate partner violence and killed their abusers. My research entails reading and documenting the outcomes of over 200 cases that have appeared in the 21st century before the 6th U.S. District Court, covering Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, in which the defendant claimed self-defense to murder charges.
I participated in a summer program that gave me the time and resources to get ahead on my thesis before senior year. Excepting a few weekly meetings, I was able to completely structure my own time and designate what I was going to accomplish on a daily basis. While I originally pursued my project because of a passion for the topic, I at times got caught in the humdrum of data collection and felt detached from the subject material. I was constantly reading homicide cases that resulted in life sentences, which felt less real with every case I read, partly erasing the gravity of what was happening. I utilized the following tips to stay impassioned about the research I chose to pursue:
1. Return to why you got interested in your research in the first place
What originally sparked your curiosity for your research project? Was it a conversation, class, documentary, or article? Whatever it was, try returning to it, and you may find yourself having a more emotional or excited response than you’ve had in your recent research. I can credit my interest in intimate partner violence and self-defense law to both a class I took my freshman year, Gender and the Law, and a chapter in a book about the criminal justice system, Just Mercy. During the summer, I rewatched a short documentary originally watched in the class, Clemency, about women who have suffered intimate partner violence and received life sentences for killing their abusers. I also keep a copy of Just Mercy readily available in case I need to revisit the same chapter that sparked such a poignant response the first time I read it.
2. Assign time to research every day
This may sound a little counterintuitive. If the research process is becoming less exciting, why would it be well-advised to mandate time for it every day? I believe part of the discouraging aspect about research is the feeling of stagnancy. I find I’m more engaged in the research process if I just feel productive, which means doing research for an assigned time block a day and doing it early. I feel great about the rest of my day if I’ve made some sort of progress on my thesis, no matter how small. This may help you get through a stalling stage of your research and onto something more exciting.
3. Connect with people who are knowledgeable about your topic
At the midpoint of my summer, when my momentum was slowing and I was seeking something to propel me forward, I scheduled a meeting with the professor of the Gender and the Law class I mentioned earlier. During our meeting, she not only validated my research topic and methodology, but also provided me with a list of leads and suggestions for sources. I left the meeting feeling refreshed and reminded that I was not the only person who cared about my research topic; other people on U of M’s campus shared my same interest and were even more knowledgeable than I was. If you’re experiencing a research rut, I think connecting with someone who is an expert, or even just shares your same passion, can remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing. This person may be a former professor as well, but it may also be a friend, classmate, coworker, or relative. Reaching out to them to chat specifically about the issue you’re investigating and getting their feedback and insight could be just what you need to get excited about your research all over again.
4. Keep a list of things to tackle
In my thesis notes, I literally keep a page titled “Things to tackle.” Such things could take the form of big questions or ideas circulating in your head, even if they’re tangential to your research. Things to tackle could look more concrete, such as a reading list. After meeting with a librarian, my thesis advisor, and my old professor, I compiled a list of all of their suggestions for things to read to learn more about the subject. Reading lists are helpful for two reasons. One, if you’re having a hard time in whatever segment of research you’re currently working on, it provides an easy way out. You can hit a pause on your current work and move on to something else intriguing on the reading list, which will not only further your knowledge on your topic, but will also be a therapeutic break from whatever you were working on. Second, a reading list makes the prospect of writing a literature review less daunting. If you constantly have a reserve of articles and other books, then you have no shortage of material to piece together your literature review with. Inevitably, sources lead to other sources through references and footnotes, so even starting small can grow your list exponentially.
