Research usually fails in the same way. You open twenty tabs, you find a few useful facts, and by the end of the day you cannot remember which fact came from where. The result is not more knowledge. It is more doubt, because nobody wants to act on a claim they cannot check.
A smaller routine works better. Start with one question, written down in a single sentence. Then collect only sources that answer that question. For each source, record three things: where it came from, when you found it, and exactly what it says. Do not copy a summary of a summary. If a source is weak, say so in the note, instead of letting it quietly become a fact later.
Next, separate facts from conclusions. A price, a date, and a quoted rule are facts. What you should do about them is a conclusion, and it deserves its own line. When facts and conclusions are mixed, a team argues about the source when it should be arguing about the decision. When they are separate, both conversations become shorter.
Finally, close the loop. Write a one-paragraph answer to the original question, with the sources listed underneath. If the answer cannot be written, the research is not finished, and that is useful information too. It tells you which question to ask next, instead of sending you back to twenty open tabs.
Disclosure: I am posting as part of the aiFetchly team. aiFetchly is an open-source, local-first desktop AI agent for business automation, including research, document handling, customer communication, scheduled workflows, plugins, and business knowledge.
What is the one research habit that has saved your team the most time?
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