The write stuff
Procrastination gets you far, says Matthew Partridge. All the way to deadline time.
Writing is an unavoidable part of research. If you’re considering a career at the lab bench, be prepared: there’s a lot of it. From meticulously keeping lab notes to drafting detailed reports and journal papers, writing is written into every stage of the research process. But if the sheer volume of it sounds daunting, don’t worry – you’ll fit right in.
Researchers are terrible at getting writing done.
I can confidently say that right now, researchers around the world are reading these words while thinking, somewhere deep in the back of their minds: “I should be writing.” I’m in that same group. Even as I write, I’m thinking: “I should be writing that paper I’ve been promising to finish for two years.” There’s always writing to do, and as researchers, we are experts at putting it off.
It all starts innocently enough, with thoughts like: “I should wait until after X to start.” This is a direct result of deadline overconfidence, where the vast expanse of time between being given the task and its deadline makes the work feel like a mere blip – a rounding error of time. And if the work is just a blip, why start now?
You might think the solution is tighter deadlines to provide more realistic motivation. Unfortunately, this just shifts the problem to deadline fatalism. If the deadline seems impossible, why bother rushing? You’re already doomed, so why not be doomed at a more relaxed pace – one that fits around your other, equally doomed projects?
Eventually, a researcher might finally sit down to write and be productive… but what if they could be more productive?
Both of these issues are exacerbated by journals and conferences setting submission deadlines that are often absurdly far in the future. (I recently received a reminder to submit a 100-word abstract for a conference in December 2025.)
On top of that, these deadlines are rarely as firm as they seem. The so-called ‘hard’ deadlines are about as hard as agar, with extensions granted to the extensions of the extensions.
Eventually, a researcher might finally sit down to write and be productive… but what if they could be more productive? Writing is difficult, after all, and requires the perfect setup: research notes, hot drinks, snacks, ideal lighting, an ergonomic chair position, and just the right playlist.
Starting to write is one thing, but if you don’t have all these elements perfectly arranged, your productivity will suffer. Surely, it makes sense to invest some time getting everything just right before starting – because then you’ll write so much faster and easily make up the lost time.
And so begins the spiral of productive procrastination, which often only ends with panic, acceptance and, finally, actual writing. I’ve heard many researchers claim they work better under pressure. Perhaps they’re telling the truth – I couldn’t say.
I’ve only ever seen their work when it’s been fuelled by caffeine and sheer panic. For all I know, if they started writing well ahead of time, their output would be truly terrible, and the only real improvement would be to their blood pressure.
One day, I’d love to know the answer. But not today. This article was written just a few hours before the magazine went to print, so it’s high blood pressure and panic all the way for me.
Dr Matthew Partridge is a researcher, cartoonist and writer who runs the outreach blog errantscience.com and is editor of our sister title, Lab Horizons
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