Manage your research projects with efficient tools
To keep track of your research projects, experimental tasks and application deadlines, you probably use an efficient project management system to make the most of your time in the lab. These systems look different to everyone. I’m sure you already adapted your favourite project management tool to your liking, focus and deadlines.
But what do you do before a task becomes part of your project management workflow? Where do you keep ideas, links to articles, quick notes and smaller tasks that are not part of any of your big research projects? How do you make sure all your stocks are complete and ideas from that brief conversation during your coffee break are captured? Where did you save the link to that paper you need to check out when you found it?
David Allen, inventor of the “Getting Things Done”-Principle explains, that unclarified thoughts and unmade decisions will stay on your mind until you’ve come to a conclusion and identified an action. Your brain keeps pressuring you about that untaken next step. And this only adds more mental work to your already busy days.
As you may know from experience, our brains can memorise only so many things at a time. Our brains are great at solving puzzles – like research questions – doing actual mental work. But when the brain is already occupied with memorising stuff, it has less capacity for actual brain work and creative scientific tasks.
Enter an Intray for project management to free up your brain space and focus on what truly matters.
Mental unload: the Intray for project management
In his book “Getting Things Done”, David Allen discusses that for your brain to do actual problem-solving work and get into a state of “mind like water”, you need to get all your incompletes and all the “stuff” OUT of the brain. And IN into an Intray.
This means that all things which are incomplete and require you to decide on a potential action should go into an Intray – a place for later processing. These items are the thoughts, ideas, tiny tasks or articles which occupy your mind. They are these nagging things that pop up every once in a while reminding you that they need to be processed.
Hence, by externalising these items, you will free up mental space for more important problem-solving processes. This allows you to focus on the actual task that you’re on. It also means fewer distractions during writing projects, experimental setups and lab meetings.
I have been using an Intray ever since I read about that concept by David Allen and it helped me with my projects and tasks. Whenever I have an idea, a task or come across an article or note, I add it to my Intray.
When I later go back to it (you should not leave anything in the Intray for too long!), I decide what to do with that item. For example, I will elaborate on the item and add it to an existing project, create a new task out of it since it requires more time, save it to my library to read later or deal with it at that moment. Independent of what the ultimate fate of the item is: between the moment I wrote it down and the moment I dealt with it, the item is not on my mind. Hence, I can focus on whatever I am doing in the meantime.
And this is the beauty of the Intray.
Using the Sunny Intray in Notion to organise your research projects
As a huge fan of Notion, I have my digital Intray set up in this project management system. Whenever I have a thought, while at the laptop or with my phone nearby, I jot it down on a quick note so it waits for me until I deal with it. Here, I want to share with you the Free Sunny Intray that you can duplicate and set up for yourself in Notion.
The Sunny Intray allows you to jot down your thoughts, tasks and ideas and save them for you to get back to later. After you processed the item, you can delete, delegate or archive it freeing up your digital and mental space. By connecting your web browser to your Sunny Intray, you can even quickly save articles, links or other online content that you will need for later.
Unload your mind with a digital Intray
As we have seen here, using an external Intray allows you to focus on what really matters. With an Intray, you take care of your tasks, ideas and links, while also organising your research projects, writing assignments and professional development.
By using Notion as your digital Intray, you are relying on an efficient and versatile tool for your project management. With custom databases, engaging overviews and flexible workspaces, I hope you will enjoy project organisation just as much as I do by now.
Get your free Sunny Intray and manage your research projects.