Often, one of the toughest parts of grant writing is getting that first draft of the research proposal down on paper. Last year I wrote a post on “Springing out of the writing block” and the advice there is still pertinent today.

The best tip for getting past the inertia of being overwhelmed is to break down the tasks. This post includes a list of all the tasks for getting a Discovery grant proposal together. Look through the list and identify some tasks that you can accomplish. Small steps, even ones that seem trivial, are still steps toward the goal of a completed application.

Another advantage of taking the time to plan out the steps in your calendar is that you will have fewer “Ack, I still have to do xxx!” moments in the minutes/hours/days before the deadline. Taking care of these tasks earlier in the timeline will help make the grant application process a little easier to fit into your already overloaded schedule. It is worth noting that many of the required tasks take less time when you not stressed and early birds avoid the frustrations of the pre-deadline NSERC online system.

If you don’t already have a draft of your proposal in hand, take a few moments to write out the heading pieces and start outlining your grant proposal. (See this post for the required headings.) Even this small step will make the future ones a little less daunting.