--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The secret to doing good research is…" description: "\"“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours”\" — Michael Lewis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg" --- # The secret to doing good research is always to be a little… ![“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours” quote by Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg) > ““The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours”” [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Good research often comes from having spare time to explore without pressure. **In simple terms:** Research thrives with some idle time. Key Takeaway Allow periods of low pressure for creative work. Themes research creativity productivity leisure Mood inspirational pragmatic Type professional motivational When to use this quote - business article - advice column - essay Key Concepts underemployment exploration idea generation Questions to Reflect On - How does downtime spark insight? - What balance of work and leisure yields best results? A Different Perspective May not apply to all fields. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Doing good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-good/) [Good Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-research-1526159/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Little Underemployed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-underemployed-1526158/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Research Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research-little-1526160/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Tversky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tversky-196061/) [Underemployed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underemployed/) [Underemployed Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underemployed-waste-1526161/) ## Related quotes > [“Crucial decisions are made, today as thousands of years ago, in terms of the intuitive guesses and preferences of a few men in positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/crucial-decisions-are-made-today-as-thousands-of-years-ago-in-terms/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“The smaller the sample size, the more likely that it is unrepresentative of the wider population..."people can be taught the correct rule, perhaps even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-smaller-the-sample-size-the-more-likely-that-it-is/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [ “Stories people told themselves were biased by the availability of the material used to construct them...what people remember about the past, \[Kahneman and Tversky\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/stories-people-told-themselves-were-biased-by-the-availability-of-the/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“After seeing a movie that dramatizes nuclear war, they worried more about nuclear war; indeed, they felt that it was more likely to happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/after-seeing-a-movie-that-dramatizes-nuclear-war-they-worried-more/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“They would learn to evaluate a decision not by its outcomes--whether it turned out to be right or wrong--but by the process that led…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/they-would-learn-to-evaluate-a-decision-not-by-its-outcomes-whether/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [All good research-whether for science or for a book-is a form of obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roach/all-good-research-whether-for-science-or-for-a-book-is-a-form-of/) [Mary Roach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roach/) > [It would encourage young researchers if we can show that there is a big return for good research.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasuku-honjo/it-would-encourage-young-researchers-if-we-can-show-that-there-is-a/) [Tasuku Honjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasuku-honjo/) > [We need to put our good research, our good work, our principles into actionable items whenever we can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-lagarde/we-need-to-put-our-good-research-our-good-work-our-principles-into/) [Christine Lagarde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-lagarde/) > [If you want to do good research, it's important not to know too much. This almost sounds contradictory but really if you know too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivar-giaever/if-you-want-to-do-good-research-it-s-important-not-to-know-too-much/) [Ivar Giaever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivar-giaever/) > [I have to do more close research and fact checking for the science fiction. This is not however to say that writing good fantasy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-zettel/i-have-to-do-more-close-research-and-fact-checking-for-the-science/) [Sarah Zettel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-zettel/) > [Eighty-three percent of our students are Pell Grant-eligible, which means, by and large, that their families have a dysfunctional relationship with wealth and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sorrell/eighty-three-percent-of-our-students-are-pell-grant-eligible-which/) [Michael Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sorrell/) > [“Ofer Sharone, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, says some of these new services create wonderful opportunities for the underemployed and long-term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ofer-sharone-a-professor-at-mit-s-sloan-school-of-management-says/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ This \[Gang of Eight bill (S.744)\] is far, far too many low-skilled workers that are going to take jobs and pull down wages of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-sessions/this-gang-of-eight-bill-s-744-is-far-far-too-many-low-skilled-workers/) [Jeff Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-sessions/) > [“But the economy's out of control. Money just doesn't need human beings anymore. Most of us only get in the way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/but-the-economy-s-out-of-control-money-just-doesn-t-need-human-beings/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [Millions of Americans are either underemployed or unemployed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-diaz-balart/millions-of-americans-are-either-underemployed-or-unemployed/) [Mario Diaz-Balart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-diaz-balart/) ## More by Michael Lewis > [“Crucial decisions are made, today as thousands of years ago, in terms of the intuitive guesses and preferences of a few men in positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/crucial-decisions-are-made-today-as-thousands-of-years-ago-in-terms/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“You saw someone who reminded you of you, and then you looked for the reasons why you liked him. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/you-saw-someone-who-reminded-you-of-you-and-then-you-looked-for-the/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“At other places management says, ‘Well, gee, fellas, do we really want to bet the ranch on this deal?’ Lewie was not only willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/at-other-places-management-says-well-gee-fellas-do-we-really-want-to/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“BILLY WOULD SAY later that his wife left him because she was unnerved by his intensity—that she could even see it in his hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/billy-would-say-later-that-his-wife-left-him-because-she-was-unnerved/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“The great thing about baseball players, from the point of view of personal hygiene, is how seldom they break a sweat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-great-thing-about-baseball-players-from-the-point-of-view-of/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [There was but one question he left unasked, and it vibrated between his lines: if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/there-was-but-one-question-he-left-unasked-and-it-vibrated-between/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“The author refers to a player's affected nonchalance and comments he is, "too young to realize you are what you pretend to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-author-refers-to-a-player-s-affected-nonchalance-and-comments-he/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/a-banking-system-is-an-act-of-faith-it-survives-only-for-as-long-as/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [Some coaches believed they could judge a player's performance simply by watching it. In this they were deeply mistaken. The naked eye was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/some-coaches-believed-they-could-judge-a-player-s-performance-simply/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“No longer were the prices of ordinary mortgage bonds allowed to roam inefficiently, for they were now linked to the CMO market, in much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/no-longer-were-the-prices-of-ordinary-mortgage-bonds-allowed-to-roam/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“The difference between Strauss and Ranieri?” says one trader still at Salomon. “That’s easy. Strauss wouldn’t stoop to use the men’s room on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-difference-between-strauss-and-ranieri-says-one-trader-still-at/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“The only inexplicable aspect of the process was that economic theory (which is, after all, what economics students were supposed to know) served almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-only-inexplicable-aspect-of-the-process-was-that-economic-theory/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“It's not easy to stand apart from mass hysteria - to believe that most of what's in the financial news is wrong, to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/it-s-not-easy-to-stand-apart-from-mass-hysteria-to-believe-that-most/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“Dont worry about where i am , i'll let you know when i get there .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/dont-worry-about-where-i-am-i-ll-let-you-know-when-i-get-there/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [“Someone out there was using the fact that stock market orders arrived at different times at different exchanges to front-run orders from one market…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/someone-out-there-was-using-the-fact-that-stock-market-orders-arrived/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) [Explore all 398 Michael Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) ## More Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) [Andrei Amalrik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-amalrik/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) [Christoph Niemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christoph-niemann/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-always-to-be-a-little/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-always-to-be-a-little/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/michael-lewis-705_creativity_the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-alw_133639.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able…” — Michael Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michael Lewis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The secret to doing good research...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-always-to-be-a-little/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-secret-to-doing-good-research-is-always-to-be-a-little/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```