You got into academia because you were excited by ideas. Particular ideas. Stuff you read made you think “But what about …” Or “I wonder if …” You do research to answer those questions and contribute to the conversations that inspired them.

Have you lost that excitement?

All research goes in phases. Sometimes you do have to push through the boring bits to get back to the exciting part. But you can also lose the excitement by worrying too much about what others expect of you.

Maybe you accepted an offer to write a chapter for a book that is related to your interests but not in your main area.

Or you saw a funding opportunity and came up with a proposal that met the funder’s objectives. Something you could do well, but not something that really excited you.

Or maybe you just doubt that the work that really excites you is going to get you tenure, funding, or whatever it is you need.

You now have deadlines and obligations but the research involved feels like it is taking you away from your real research.

Make sure you do the stuff that excites you

Deadlines and obligations are important. But focusing exclusively on stuff that doesn’t excite you can make you less productive. Don’t make the projects that you are really excited about wait until you’ve finished those obligation projects. You don’t have to give it most of your time, but give your favourite project some time. Even if that project doesn’t have funding or isn’t at the stage where it will result in a “product” any time soon.

Working on your favourite project will energize you

You will be reminded that you love your job. Everyone performs better when they are doing things they love and are good at.

Taking that excitement and energy back to the obligation projects will move them along more quickly. Stopping work on a particular project when it is starting to drain your energy will make your average productivity go up. It’s simple arithmetic. If you take out the lowest numbers, the average goes up. And your productivity is lower when you are dragging yourself through something.

Don’t stop an obligation project indefinitely

You aren’t putting it on a shelf to come back to “some day”. You are limiting the time you devote to this particular project in order to give time to other projects. Scheduling time, even 15 minutes a day 2 days a week, will mean the project keeps moving forward.

Because you are also spending time on your favourite project, you won’t be spending those 15 minute sessions grumbling about how you really want to be doing something else. A better frame of mind and constant work leads to higher productivity.

Be picky about new obligations

New opportunities arise all the time. You don’t need to say “Yes” to everything. If an opportunity feels like it is taking you away from the research that excites you, just say “No”.

Spending time on your favourite project enables you to create opportunities that are more in line with your primary interests. You can even delay decisions about publications until you’ve advanced your exciting research to a point where you have something to say and you are clearer about who needs to hear it.

This post was edited June 15, 2015 to add links to posts published later and an image.