Habits: How can they improve your research trajectory?

Hello Qualitative Mind,

You know when all of a sudden you start hearing about a certain thing everywhere? Well, that’s what happened to me with the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. In the two months leading up to this past New Year (2020), it seemed that James’ voice (which is incredible, by the way) and ideas were being discussed wherever my attention went. Needless to say, I bought his book and devoured it in less than 72 hours. Clear has an inspiring story, and the challenges his family overcame, not once but twice, got me hooked very early in the book.

As you could probably tell by the title, Atomic Habits is not about qualitative research but about habits that make our lives and identities. I decided to write about habits on a qualitative research blog because many people in the Quali Q community of learners struggle with the systems they have in place to collect, analyze and synthesize/write their qualitative data. This is something I read weekly on social comments and emails, and so I’ve decided to address it here.

The book discusses four laws of behaviour change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy and make it satisfying. For today’s post I will share what worked best for me (Maira) in 2019 as I finished writing my PhD thesis. The systems I implemented in 2019 (that I am determined to repeat in 2020) touch on the four laws James Clear discusses in detail in Atomic Habits, so if you want to know more be sure to pick up a copy of the book at your local library or wherever books are sold in your area.  

So, here is a description of what worked for me as I wrote the biggest document I have ever written in my life…

I went back to graduate school after being on maternity leave and medical leave with my daughter for a total of 18 months. I was very nervous about not getting my head back in the writing space and, as a result, not being able to defend my thesis in the next 6 months (the remainder of my 3-year Vanier Scholarship, so a deadline that had a financial impact on my family). A week before the beginning of the Fall Term, I sat down at my computer and established what Clear calls “implementation intentions” for my reading and writing. I decided I was going to read the literature on a certain topic (e.g., ethnicity and pregnancy outcomes) for 2 hours at my desk at university. While reading I would make extensive hand-written notes about each paper. After reading, I would take a break by walking to a close by coffee shop and grabbing my favourite flavoured coffee. My second implementation intention was: once I was back at my desk, I would write for the next two hours before my lunch break. After my lunch break, I would write for another 2 hours. The last hour of my day would be dedicated to checking my email and planning my readings for the following day.

The thing is, I put all those chunk of times in my Google calendar with reminders for each activity. I knew I needed a reward between reading and writing; hence, my walk (usually listening to a podcast) and coffee. The same thing happened during my lunch break, when I took the time to talk to friends or browse social media (or talk to friends via social). For me checking my email has always been a major distraction, and knowing that about myself was the main reason why I built in specific windows (i.e., before my reading in the morning and before finishing the day) to check my inbox.

I must say that this routine made the habit of reading papers and writing so natural and efficient. I finished my writing and thesis before my deadline and could finally relax my strict calendar. What I shared here worked for me, as a morning person and early riser, but it might not work for you. Regardless, I encourage you to find habits that might work for you or are already working for you, and to build upon them. You can set goals to become a more prolific interviewer, a more consistent reader, a more frequent author of publications or the author of a thesis. Yet, these goals need to be accompanied by systems that support you to become the person you want to be, e.g., a qualitative writer, a graduate, an evaluator, etc. As James Clear says, “Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.”

I hope you find ways, in your life and context, to establish systems that inspire you daily to be the researcher, professional and individual you aspire to be!

Talk soon,

Maira Quintanilha