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Mark S. Reed
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The Productive Researcher Kindle Edition

by Mark Reed (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
In The Productive Researcher, Mark Reed shows researchers how they can become more productive in a fraction of their current working day. He draws on interviews with some of the world’s highest performing researchers, the literature and his own experience to identify a small number of important insights that can transform how researchers work. The book is based on an unparalleled breadth of interdisciplinary evidence that speaks directly to researchers of all disciplines and career stages. The lessons in this book will make you more productive, more satisfied with what you produce, and enable you to be happy working less, and being more.

The hardback edition has the title and design imprinted on a fabric cover, hand crafted by a book maker in Yorkshire. It contains spectacular colour photography throughout. Chapters are accompanied by close-up images of trees that build up to the forest metaphor that concludes the book. These are bookended by wide perspective canopy images that accompany the front matter (from which the cover design is derived) and concluding chapter. The overall effect is a touch and feel that makes this a book to savour.

Mark Reed is Professor of Socio-Technical Innovation at Newcastle University and Visiting Professor at Birmingham City University and the University of Leeds. He has over 140 publications that have been cited more than 10,000 times. He is author of The Research Impact Handbook, which he has used to train over 4000 researchers from more than 200 institutions in 55 countries.
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  1. Print length
    167 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    1 Oct. 2017
  5. File size
    4.2 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07642RQ6M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fast Track Impact
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 Oct. 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.2 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 167 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0993548239
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

About the author

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Mark S. Reed

Mark S. Reed

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Mark Reed works with rural communities to enhance the governance of natural and agri-food systems, and his research on impact is changing the way researchers around the world generate and share knowledge so they can change the world. He is a Professor of Rural Entrepreneurship and Director of the Thriving Natural Capital Challenge Centre at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). He runs a spin-out company, based on his research, training researchers how to embed impact in their research at: www.fasttrackimpact.com. For more information, visit www.profmarkreed.com

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
101 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful and well-written, with one review noting it's based on general tips for a productive and happy life. They appreciate its authenticity and straightforward design.

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ProductivityPacingAuthenticityDesign
36 customers mention ‘Productivity’36 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's focus on productivity, describing it as an insightful guide to being a mindful researcher that helps make research more fruitful. One customer notes how it assists in thinking about priorities.

"...of the title, and (more importantly) it is based on general tips for a productive and happy life, which here get a specific application to research...." Read more

"...This approach works well, although it must be said that you will get most out of this book if you really commit to doing the exercises, rather than..." Read more

"...There’s a re-framing of SMART goals as “Stretching, Motivational, Authentic, Regardful and Tailored” which I felt was much more motivating than the..." Read more

"...There are suggested exercises to work through to help you to identify what motivates you, to help you to recognise the positive and negative stories..." Read more

29 customers mention ‘Pacing’29 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pacing, finding it well-written, clearly presented, and pleasant to read.

"...The Productive Researcher is easy to read because it is short, because it is written in fairly informal language, and because it is well-structured...." Read more

"...Mark Reed has an engaging and readable style, and a laudable objective in helping researchers achieve more (in whatever metric they chose to measure)..." Read more

"...There’s a focus on prioritising and using your time well – that the way to feel/ be more productive is to spend less time on the things that don’t..." Read more

"...It’s a short, easy-to-read volume that is accessible and eye-opening and full of interesting anecdotes and practical tips for success...." Read more

5 customers mention ‘Authenticity’5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the authenticity of the book.

"...There is humour and self-deprecation, and honesty too: you will need the latter too, to really get the value of the approach he describes...." Read more

"...There’s a re-framing of SMART goals as “Stretching, Motivational, Authentic, Regardful and Tailored” which I felt was much more motivating than the..." Read more

"...successful but also more likely to bring a kind of success that is authentic and satisfying. Highly recommended." Read more

"...this focusing on new SMART goals which are stretching, motivational, authentic, relational and tailored...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Design’3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the design of the book, with one noting its straightforward style and another mentioning its beautiful presentation.

"...Furthermore, the book is beautifully done, I really like the cover and the design." Read more

"...It’s a delight to read because of its simplicity and clarity of expression...." Read more

"...The structure is simple, the style straightforward, and the lessons profound...." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Mr Damien J Hall
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reading this could change your life
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    It's definitely a cliché to say that. But my researching life is different since I read this book.

    Mark Reed’s book of practical tips for becoming a (more) productive researcher has two strengths which make it particularly effective. It is written with sympathy and empathy for the researchers of the title, and (more importantly) it is based on general tips for a productive and happy life, which here get a specific application to research. This aspect is crucial, because it means that the tips presented here have proved their use in other areas of life, and were only ‘waiting’ for an application to researchers specifically. Readers can therefore be sure that the book’s techniques work.

    That’s also a warning, though, in a way: this really is a self-help book, targeted at researchers. This means that researchers may find they have to ‘bear with’ feeling that there is a little too much cod psychology here. That’s a note that I wrote myself early in my reading. ‘Say yes to say no’, ‘Do less to do more’ and other phrases sound a bit glib and slogan-like. Before the end of Part One, though, I’d cottoned on to the nature of the book, so I was no longer annoyed by what I’d perceived as a lack of focus on productivity tips—but I had felt that to start with. So beware! Reading this book could change your life, professional and not, but you must give it the chance.

    The Productive Researcher is easy to read because it is short, because it is written in fairly informal language, and because it is well-structured. Part One is ‘theory’ and Part Two is ‘practice’. In Part One we are introduced to the central thesis that productivity can be a by-product of basically being happier with work-life balance, and it’s more satisfying that way. Throughout, we get examples of how it has worked in the author’s own life. Finally, a fairly short section lays out key findings from Reed’s interviews with a number of researchers who are famous in their fields for being productive. Part Two applies the ‘theory’ of Part One to practical situations in a researcher’s life: how to write a literature review in a week, how to spend less time with e-mail, meetings and social media (and yet achieve what you need), and others. The book is well-structured, with short chapters, chapter-end summaries of key points, and regular exercises to help the reader put the book’s lessons into practice. I did most of the exercises as I went along, and I can feel that my working day has been changed. For example, at one point readers are advised to do first, each morning, something that relates directly to their values (for example, something to do with research), before doing anything that they just have to do because it comes with the job (like e-mail). At the moment, doing this is giving me a real boost each day.

    The restructure of my day leads me to the limited disadvantage I found with The Productive Resarcher’s techniques. I am finding that they make me more productive, but I also feel that they work better for researchers (and others) who have a lot of control over their working day. People who have that sort of power are either senior in their field, or (in the case of academics) on research leave, so that they don’t have to deal so much with the competing demands of research and teaching and admin. I have really got a lot out of this book, because I was able to read it during my research leave, and that gave me the freedom to do the exercises and change things. I hope that the benefit will last after the end of my leave. I think so—but I’m not sure whether I would have been able to get so much out of the book, or even read it in the first place, if I hadn’t been on leave to begin with.

    Another reviewer has also criticised the book for a limited view of what ‘productivity’ is, and a bias perhaps too much in the hard sciences. It is true that papers perhaps take less time to produce in the hard sciences than they do in the arts, and that citation numbers are perhaps correspondingly higher—but I am a lecturer in the arts, and still found pertinent and useful the vast majority of the advice from the book and the experts interviewed there.

    I read the book and wrote this review entirely on my commute. In doing that, I ‘chunked the task’: fit it into smaller bits of time that I had at my disposal, and which were only suitable for certain sorts of task, as advised by an expert interviewed in the book. In this way, the review impinged on my ‘normal’ day almost not at all. Only once did I have to use any time outside my commute—as I couldn’t upload the review to Amazon from my computer on the train. I would never have thought of trying to fit the review into my commute before reading about the ‘chunking’ technique—I would have thought it was too much hassle to use my laptop on my actual lap on the Newcastle Metro—but, actually, it’s not as bad as all that. This is an example of the kind of new thinking, and the work-life change, that Prof. Reed’s book has caused for me so far. Thoroughly recommended.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • R. Foster
    5.0 out of 5 stars A great help for researchers and more
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    I've previously read Mark Reed's book "The Research Impact Handbook", so had an idea of the style of the book beforehand: a mix of self-analysis exercises, practical tips and guidance, and evidence-based discussion and anecdotes to help the reader understand the rationale behind the exercises and guidance. This approach works well, although it must be said that you will get most out of this book if you really commit to doing the exercises, rather than skimming through. As such, it is the sort of book that should be periodically re-read, and the exercises performed, in order to re-assess your progress in achieving those ever-elusive things, "productivity" and work-life balance, and re-setting where necessary.

    Mark Reed has an engaging and readable style, and a laudable objective in helping researchers achieve more (in whatever metric they chose to measure). There is humour and self-deprecation, and honesty too: you will need the latter too, to really get the value of the approach he describes. The importance of empathy, and how that affects the leadership of a team, is one of the many points that resonated with me - there may well be researchers with more papers, citations, grant money and the like, than the ten discussed in this book, but I would guess many (hopefully most) would see themselves in the characteristics of those ten. I can certainly think of a few of the leaders in my own field that fit these characteristics!

    Although obviously aimed at researchers, I think there are general principles described here that underlie "productivity" in other areas too, so non-researchers who happen across this book would do well to read it and apply it in their own circumstances. Much of the principles are based around mindfulness and understanding yourself, and your motivations, and moving from there to making changes to help you achieve your goals. In his words, Mark Reed is hoping to establish "a new way of thinking about productivity, which is less about the work you produce and more about how you produce it", with well-being as important (If not more so) as "job outputs" (papers, citations, etc., for researchers).

    There are a few minor criticisms I can make, but they are minor, so I chose to stick to five stars. As an example, I thought Figure 3 (serving as an example for mapping pathways to change) could have been explained better in the text; however, the other examples for mapping pathways described in the text helped to convey the main point, so this was not a major issue. I also thought it was slightly odd to select the ten interviewees using a productivity metric based on publications and citations, given the emphasis in the book on a different view of productivity. Having said that, it is hard to think of a suitable alternative, given some of the other measures are either hard to find (e.g., number of successful PhD students, number of research assistants successfully moving into lecturer/assistant professor roles), hard to attribute (numbers of successful PhD students and research assistants!), or fundamentally intangible (how do you measure the quality of the time you have with your young children, and weight that with more "traditional" metrics to produce an overall "productivity" measure?). Given that the ten selected had common characteristics, I still think that the principles described have the weight of successful use to back them up.

    I don't read many "self-help" books, as they often seem to follow fads and fashions, rather than rely on evidence. Having heard good things about the Research Impact Handbook, and then reading it for myself to see its value, I was prepared to make an exception for this book and was not disappointed. I have the Kindle version at the moment, but I will be getting the hardback version too, to be able to share with friends, colleagues and student researchers going forward. I will be reading it again myself, and spending more time on the exercises, in the very near future!

    In the interests of full disclosure, I heard that Mark Reed was looking for a group of people to review this book, and approached him on Twitter to offer my services. As such, I received a pre-publication copy of the e-book to read, in exchange for an honest review at launch. I have received no other inducement or compensation for this review, or any pressure or instructions of what to write or what rating to give. All words and opinions are my own.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Rachel
    5.0 out of 5 stars "Why are you a researcher?"
    Reviewed in Australia on 9 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    If you are attracted to the research you’re undertaking because it might make the world a better place, then this book is probably for you. It will help you to understand the interrelationship of priorities and values-based goals, leading you to make better decisions on how to achieve those goals. I felt empowered reading this book, it hands you back your power by showing you how to affirm your identity and values and, from that place, goals naturally become aligned with the heart.

    This book is all about changing how you think about your work, it challenges the reader to better understand what motivates them toward or against achieving their productivity goals. Through a clever re-fashioning of SMART goals, it will help you to stay true to what you really want to achieve, to get to know your strengths and how to overcome barriers. The author takes popular psychological concepts and strategies and effectively applies them to the task of researching. Through this lens, he reflects on what has worked for him and others in becoming highly productive.

    I can definitely recommend taking time out to read this short book. It is full of good ideas for being not just more productive and focused but happier, by achieving the goals you value most.
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  • Raúl
    5.0 out of 5 stars A diferent approach to productivity in research
    Reviewed in Spain on 8 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    This book is not entirely what it seems to be. You can start reading this book quickly and take useful ideas to improve your productivity in research. But as you progress through the reading process you will discover that this is not the right way. Yes, Mark gives you practical tricks and guidance. But he also asks you some self-assessment questions to which you have to devote time and energy to respond. He's trying to make you discover your motivations. And, maybe, you'll discover that your motivation is not what you believe. because you have never stopped to really think about them. This is the principal merit of the book and the main reason to read it.
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  • Steve Posner
    5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable resource full of ideas, examples, and motivational stories
    Reviewed in the United States on 5 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    As someone who does research and also regularly works with a variety of scientists to connect their research with decision-makers, I found this book to be on point and helpful. The Productive Research is a valuable resource full of ideas for how to be more effective. More importantly, though, I found that Mark’s writing style, candid sharing, and encouraging tone helped me engage in a process of testing new ideas for how to be productive and uncovering what works for me.

    The early chapters encouraged me to explore foundational questions about why I do research and what makes me passionate about the topics I study. I appreciate the personal, honest anecdotes that Mark uses to illustrate his points and ground his lessons learned in his own lived experience. He mixes specific examples from his experience with stories from other researchers. The result is evidence-based guidance for how to sharpen skills as a researcher, uncover some of the principles that can lead to productive research habits and lifestyles, and commit to lifelong learning and experimenting with how to be more effective with how we use our time.

    The book does a nice job of addressing topics at different scales. There are helpful questions interspersed throughout to motivate deep reflection on big topics like “what motivates you to do research.” And there are also specific step-by-step instructions for research-relevant tasks that Mark has found to work well for him like “how to write a literature review in a week.”

    One question that I started reading with, and kept returning to as I read: what defines a productive researcher? Mark describes a goal of doing “more and better research” and he tells stories of high levels of research achievement in terms of grant awards, publications, and citations. But I don’t think these metrics tell a complete story. I was pleased to discover that the book goes further as the author describes himself and other researchers experiencing deeper levels of personal satisfaction, confidence, personal effectiveness, and balance in work and life. This is one of the key aspects that tipped my review from 4 to 5 stars… many of the insights in this book can lead to improvements in more than just the way I engage in research.
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  • Sam Poppe
    5.0 out of 5 stars More than improving productivity - inciting inspiration! A must read for any academic!
    Reviewed in the United States on 8 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    I am a researcher myself since 5 years and a PhD student since a bit over 2 years.

    My problem: finding focus, prioritising, but more especially, sticking to those priorities over time, and as day to day business and tasks distract me from my primary goal of conducting research and digging deeper in my field, i.e. understanding how volcanic systems function.

    Solution: Mark Reed's newest book, which he gave me the opportunity to read early on, is a powerful tool for any researcher seeking for becoming more productive. Mark takes the reader along on a thought process that becomes truely more and more inspiring as you read on in the book. The writing style allows for fluent reading and focusing on thoughts of self-reflection it it is designed to incite in the reader, the researcher. As a researcher, I was forced to sit down, take a piece of paper, and, through the setting out of overarching concepts as well as hands-on exercises to reorganise my work flow and thought process, step by step increase my productivity. Probably the largest value of the book lies in the fact that Mark recognises becoming more productive in our goals takes time, as is identifying, acknowledging and tackling the flaws in our own work ethos. No big all-solving remedies, but steps in the good direction is what Mark offers.

    I think this book can truely help becoming a more productive researcher. The real power for me does not lie in the hands-on exercises, which are give or take as some you may like, and others will not be your cup of tea, but rather in the incited self reflection and exceptionally refreshing passion and inspiration that speaks from Mark's personal writing. A must have for each academic, an essential tool for supervisors desiring to turn their early career students into productive and inspired researchers!
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  • Janina Grabs
    5.0 out of 5 stars A novel take on the key to productivity in research with great take-aways and helpful examples
    Reviewed in the United States on 4 October 2017
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    "The Productive Researcher" begins in an unexpected fashion - rather than diving straight into time management strategies or detailed scheduling guidelines, Reed digs one level deeper to search for the core reasons many researchers feel they are not getting done enough - faltering motivation, self-confidence, or a misalignment of our core values and the way we seem to spend our time. At first, this entry-point into productivity threw me off a bit, but it soon became clear that Reed hit the nail on its head. As a researcher, we have unparalleled freedom in how we spend our days, while we are evaluated by metrics that are difficult to control, such as positive peer-review, accepted grant proposals, or prestigious book contracts. To thrive in such an environment is to have a strong belief in the validity and importance of one's work, combined with resilience to set-backs and presumed failures and the ability to produce more, but better, through a laser-beam focus. Getting there - mentally, emotionally, and cognitively - is the goal of Part 1 of "The Productive Researcher", and it is a great, inspiring read. Part 2 then focuses on techniques such as collaboration, prioritization, a healthy approach to perfectionism, and the avoidance of time sucks such as social media. It contains helpful examples and interviews that illustrate key insights, and - importantly - highlights productive researchers as social, enthusiastic, humble, and cheery people rather than single-minded career-driven workaholics, a refreshing change of mindset. As an early career researcher, I am not sure I would subscribe 100% to the approach of writing a literature review in a single week, but it is an interesting example of how 'conceptual saturation' may come sooner and sooner once you have acquired more experience and a greater focus of mind. Overall, "The Productive Researcher" is an entertaining, yet insightful and motivating read that should fit into every aspiring researchers' bookcase and schedule - I read it in a single night and have gleaned more take-aways as I re-read it several times afterward. Worth it!
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