Work away from the computer.

Think more, write less.

Can you visualize what's happening?

What's a simpler task to try?

Why do you expect it to work?

State your assumptions.

Plot the progress.

What would you tell your student to do?

Shrink your world.

They can wait.

Put on some music.

Go for a walk.

Explain it to someone.

Make what you have to do, work for what you want to do.

Know what you want to do.

What is the smallest amount of progress you can make?

Focus on the big picture. Forget the details.

The paper is the product.

Separation of concerns.

Ideas are cheap.

Pauca sed matura.

Test all the components carefully.

Retrace your steps more carefully.

There are always mistakes left to find.

Imagine both outcomes in detail.

What will we learn if it doesn't work?

Skip intermediate steps.

Find an intermediate step to your goal.

Have dessert before dinner.

Have dinner before dessert.

Make a better benchmark instead of a better tool.

Make a better tool instead of a better method.

The world doesn't need more papers.

If the deadline was tomorrow, how would you finish it?

Minimum viable paper.

Say no more often.

There's always more literature research to be done.

See if it works before you see if someone's done it already.

Wait until you're curious enough to find out.

Save the perfectionism for when you know what you're doing.

Prefer pen and paper.

Start with something that works.

If you do the work for them, you rob them of the opportunity to learn.

If you do the work for them, they can focus on learning what's important.

It's time to be honest with yourself.

Put off everything that can be put off.

Eat the frog.

Write down what you've learned so far.

Go back to the literature.

Work for only 10 minutes.

Lie down on the floor.

Work in a different place.

Prioritize sleep.

Have lunch in the park.

Ask for help.

Visualize the time you have left.

Invest time in finding the problem.

Less multitasking.

Somebody has to put the hours in.

Pick your battles.

Start by recording the problem.

Disambiguate.

Explain it to yourself.

Restate what is agreed.

Invest in what compounds.

Plan for somebody else to check your work.

Commit more time, so you can do it properly.

Take a deep breath with your eyes closed.

Make a plan first.

Don't say no right away.

Don't say yes right away.

Don't explain. Only provide the foundation.

Your idea works.

Ditch it and move on.

Have more ideas than projects.

Go for a walk and don't turn back until your perspective has changed.

Write down your findings.

Your code has a bug.

Clear your whiteboard.

Clean your desk.

Inbox zero.

Ignore your email.

Don't give advice.

Do not rely on your genius.

Do a sanity check.

Eat some sugar.

Not a sprint, but a marathon.

Not a marathon, but a sprint.

Invest or ignore.

Resist promotion.

Does it feel simple yet?

It may be wishful thinking.

Wait until you can hold it in no longer.

Own your work.

Work for a fixed amount of time.

Find the story.

Not all rules are important.

There are shortcuts everywhere.

Analyze quantitatively.

Analyze qualitatively.

There is always a page limit.

Find hidden talent.

Reduce to a toy problem

What would you do if it didn't need to be a publication?

Ask more questions.

Ask for help.

You can either do too much or too little.

Plan your holidays early.

Choose your unit of composition.

Put it on the back burner.

Make time to strategize.

Don't hold it sacred.

Be patient with yourself.

Work it out before looking it up.

Start specific. Then abstract.

What is the easiest problem you cannot solve?

Guess what they mean.

From the start, or not at all.

They can sort it out without you.

Don't stop when the proof is complete.

Discipline is not about willpower.

Change the container.

Find out who you are and do it on purpose.
—Dolly Parton

Move too fast, and retrace your steps.

Reading rots the mind.

Are you running, swimming or surfing?