Recommendations on Moving Your Research Projects Forward

I read very good suggestions in your blogs on how to get started with your research and keeping it on track. Below is the summary of your thoughts. My suggestion are to
1) visit with your professor(s) on a weekly basis;
2) Manage your time effectively and on a daily basis;
3) Learn how to use relevant databases, websites, and search engines effectively;
4) Learn to use RefWorks or EndNote to build your own database of articles.
5) Finally, and we have not talked about this much, adopt healthy liefstyle behaviors. Instead of going out to lunch, bring your own healthy sandwich and keep plugging along. Take an exercise break around mid-day for 30 min or so. It will keep you in much better spirits during the afternoon. Cook your own dinner on Sunday afternoon/evening. Freeze/refrigerate daily portions so you can just pop them in the microwave when you get home. This save you many hours over going out to eat or cooking each day, and you’ll like the food. It also saves you a ton of money. Stop drinking sodas, they only give you empty calories, a sugar/caffeine boost and then you crash. Drink tea instead.

Here are your suggestions

Blog 9 Summary: Research Success and Expectations
1) Early communication with advisors can be difficult. Going to your advisor with a plan and taking initiative may be one solution.
2) It’s important to have in-depth discussions with your advisor about your topic, but go prepared as best as possible. Narrow down your topics to a few that really appeal to you and you’re excited about, learn how to use databases and search engines well, and then read the relevant literature. Knowing what is relevant and what is not, can save you lots of time.
3) Set up a regular schedule of meetings with your advisors, preferably on a weekly basis especially if you are signed up for independent study, research project, or thesis/dissertation. Insist on it.
4) Get clarity on what is expected of you.
5) Daily planning and managing your time is critical to stay on track with your research. Congratulations.
6) Teaching and grading easily takes over; have to be careful in your time management and adopting efficient grading strategies.
7) Partnering with other grad students on research can be helpful
8) Make sure to live a healthy lifestyle: eat healthy and exercise. It really does help, you’ll be amazed at the amount of energy you gain.
9) Getting into research projects can be very rewarding and exciting: Discovery always is.
10) If you can get on a grant or be part of a group that applies for one, do it. It will be a helpful experience to go through that process. If the grant funds your thesis or dissertation research, even better.
11) Get started with research in your very first semester, even if it is just helping out a more senior graduate student. It would also have been helpful if you had been involved in research projects during your undergraduate years.
12) Apply for graduate scholarship and fellowship. They greatly benefit your resume/CV
13) Research usually takes more time than you think it will; it is easy to get pulled into non-productive directions as well. Keep your focus when looking for resources and don’t get distracted by other interesting topics.