Article publié pour la première fois le 01/07/2025
In the fast-paced, detail-rich world of research administration, it’s easy to move from one task to the next without pausing to reflect on why we do what we do. We are the people behind the proposals, the compliance reviews, the budget justifications, and the progress reports. Our work creates the structure that allows research to thrive. But even in a mission-driven environment, the day-to-day can become reactive, draining, or disconnected from our inner sense of purpose.
That’s where a simple idea has made a meaningful difference for me: a weekly Purpose Checklist. It’s a tool I’ve begun using in a small section of my planner—a half-page of lined space that used to go underutilized. With the help of AI, I turned that space into a personal checkpoint—something grounded in my core values, yet refreshingly easy to maintain.
What Is a Purpose Checklist?
A Purpose Checklist is a short list of intentional, values-driven micro-actions that you commit to each week. These aren’t goals in the traditional sense. They’re not about achievement or productivity for its own sake. Instead, they’re small ways to affirm the values that matter most to you—values like curiosity, creativity, integrity, growth, and connection.
What makes the checklist powerful is how lightweight it is. Each action can be completed in just a few minutes. They’re realistic even during a packed week, but they offer an important emotional return: they help you feel aligned. They help you feel like yourself, even in the midst of complexity.
Using AI to Personalize the Process
If you’re not sure where to begin, you don’t have to start from scratch. Tools like ChatGPT can be used to generate your own customized list of values-aligned micro-actions.
To begin, make a list of your personal or professional values. For me, that included things like inquisitiveness, creativity, clarity, fairness, trustworthiness, and making a difference. Then, prompt the AI with something like: “Give me one small action for each of these values—something quick and doable during a workweek, at home or in the office.”
The result was a long, inspiring list of low-effort yet deeply meaningful actions. These became the foundation for my weekly checklist. Now, each Monday, I scan the list and choose three to five micro-actions that feel relevant to the week ahead. I write them in my planner and check them off as I go. It’s become a ritual—simple, purposeful, and grounding.
An Example You Can Try
Here’s a sample of what that list looks like. Each line begins with a core value and ends with one corresponding action. These aren’t lofty aspirations—they’re things you can actually do in the course of a normal day.
- Curiosity: Google a question that’s been in your head
- Creativity: Doodle in the margin of a meeting note
- Integrity: Follow through on a small promise
- Connection: Send a short message of encouragement to someone
- Stillness: Sit in silence for one minute before starting your day
- Clarity: Reword a confusing sentence in an email or document
- Innovation: Try one new shortcut or tool feature
- Resilience: Break a daunting task into one tiny first step
Each week, I pick a handful of these based on what I want to cultivate or remember. Some weeks I lean into growth and learning. Other weeks I focus on calm, clarity, and connection. The practice adjusts as I do—but the checklist format keeps it actionable.
Why This Matters in Research Administration
Purpose can feel like a lofty or abstract idea—but for those of us in research administration, it’s already embedded in the work we support. Our challenge isn’t that we lack purpose—it’s that we need reminders of it. We need to bring our values into the foreground of our own experience, not just the institution’s mission statement.
This practice helps me stay grounded in what matters, even when I’m in the middle of an inbox firestorm or deep in the weeds of grant cycles. It gives me a way to reconnect to myself as a thoughtful, creative, and values-driven professional—one small action at a time.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need more time to be more purposeful.
You just need to bring more of yourself to the time you already have.
A Purpose Checklist is a low-lift, high-impact way to do that. Whether you use it in a paper planner, a digital note, or a recurring calendar invite, it can help you stay emotionally aligned while doing some of the most quietly powerful work in science and scholarship.
And with AI to help generate or refresh your list? It becomes even easier to stay close to your “why.”
If you try this strategy—or create your own version—I’d love to hear how it works for you.
