Follow nothing but your passion. If you are not motivated by your project, do yourself a favor and seek immediate change.
Everybody loves low-hanging fruit. Fly as high as possible so that you can see fruits others don’t see, or fruits that are low to you but high to others.
You may find a high-hanging fruit reachable from a different angle.
Say no to a hundred opportunities to ensure the success of one.
Productive people work on several projects simultaneously and employ multiple approaches in the same project in parallel, not in serial.
You may get a quick paper if everything go as planned, but you can grow faster by learning from failure.
Prepare detailed and well-organized documentation so that others can easily follow and appreciate your work.
Volunteer work is an easy way to win friends and build collaborations.