RESEARCH ACCELERATOR

What's coming up

A three-day retreat, two hands-on masterclasses, and time set aside to think about your next quarter.

Here's what's in the diary over the next few months. Every one of these is included when you join, and it's all there to dip into in whatever way works for you.

See the plans View the retreat timetable

The November retreat

Four times a year we clear three days and research together. It's the thing members tell us they look forward to most.

Next up · 20–22 November

Taming Your To-Do List

Friday 20 – Sunday 22 November 2026 · Online · Virtual Research Retreat

If your to-do list feels like it never gets shorter, you're not doing it wrong. You're up against a fixed amount of time and an unlimited number of things that feel important. This retreat is a practical, kind space to work out what actually deserves a place on your list, make peace with everything that doesn't fit, and build a system you actually trust.

Across the three days there are six themed sessions with Lyn, woven around generous stretches of co-working, guided morning meditations, proper breaks, and an evening session for night owls and those in other time zones.

Friday

The Impossible List — a fixed amount of time and an unlimited number of things that feel important, and what actually deserves a place on your list. Then an afternoon session on whose list it actually is, once you take out the obligations, habits and other people's priorities.

Saturday

Getting It Out of Your Head — half the stress of a long list is carrying it around in your head, so we'll look at getting your tasks somewhere reliable, whether that's a task manager, a pen and paper system, or a mix of both. Then an afternoon session on what kind of list-keeper you actually are.

Sunday

Eating the Frog, Simply — picking the one task that matters most each day, and building a system light enough to survive Tuesday. Then a final session shaping that into something simple enough to actually stick.

Alongside the sessions: three-hour Shut Up & Research blocks each morning, quieter Focus Lounge blocks each afternoon, and The Night Shift on Friday and Saturday evenings. Members often tell us the weekend turns out to be far more restorative than they expected, and that they get more done than they would have at their desk alone.

Come for all three days, or drop in for an hour here and there around everything else. There's no expectation you'll attend everything, and everything that's taught is recorded.

Join before 20 November See the full timetable

Masterclasses

Two hours with Lyn, practical and hands-on. Join in as much as you feel like on the day, or simply settle in and listen.

Masterclass

Mind Your Methods

Thursday 24 September · 10am–12 noon NZST

Few parts of a qualitative write-up carry as much weight, or cause as much quiet dread, as the methods section. Get it right and your reader trusts everything that follows. Get it wrong and even strong findings start to wobble.

We'll work on writing a methods section that's clear, credible and genuinely aligned with your research design, whether it's for a thesis, an article, a report or a grant application. Short teaching segments are paired with hands-on work, including a session where we critique some real methods sections together and talk through how to justify your choices without sounding defensive.

For anyone writing up qualitative research — mid-candidature, preparing a paper, or returning to writing after your PhD.

Masterclass

Canva for Researchers

Tuesday 27 October · 10am–12 noon NZDT

A well-designed poster or a clean set of slides makes your research feel instantly more credible, and you don't need to be a designer to get there. With the right tool and a few simple principles, it's well within reach of anyone.

This session skips the feature tour and focuses on the handful of things researchers actually need: conference posters that read from across the room, slides people can take in, a simple diagram for a paper, and the few design basics that quietly make everything look tidier. We'll also cover exporting properly, so your work looks right in print as well as on screen. You'll build something as we go, at whatever pace suits you, and leave with a poster, a slide template or a figure you can use straight away.

For anyone who wants their research to look as good as it reads. No design experience needed.

Quarterly planning

Four times a year we stop, take stock, and work out what the next three months can realistically hold.

Planning session

Planning the next quarter

Monday 26 October · 2–4pm NZDT

Two hours to step back from the day-to-day, reflect honestly on how the last three months have actually gone, and decide what can feasibly be achieved in the quarter ahead. Lyn sets it up and then it's mostly quiet working time, with the group planning alongside each other and a chance to talk things over along the way.

Most people come away with a shorter, more realistic task list and a much clearer sense of where their energy should be going. It's a good place to think about pacing — planning a quarter you can sustain, rather than one that runs you flat by December.

This one isn't recorded, as it's mostly co-working. If you can't make it live, all the planning resources are on the Research Accelerator website, so you can work through it in your own time.

And the weeks in between

The big events are the highlights, but there's a quiet everyday rhythm too. It's there whenever you want it, and just as fine to ignore for a fortnight when life is full.

Also on the calendar, every week

  • Daily Shut Up & Research co-working sessions, hosted by members across a range of time zones
  • Shut Up & Organise with Lyn each weekday morning — 30 minutes to start the day pointed in the right direction
  • A structured Weekly Review session, and an informal Productivity Chat
  • A monthly live Q&A with Lyn, for whatever you're stuck on

Most members settle into one or two things that suit them, and leave the rest sitting there for a week when they need it.

How to join these events

These sessions aren't sold individually. There's no one-off ticket for the retreat or the masterclasses, and that's a deliberate choice. Research methods training is usually sold as one-off workshops at a price that puts it well out of reach for a lot of the people who most need it.

Putting everything into one membership instead is what keeps it affordable. A full year of retreats, masterclasses and planning sessions costs less than you'd typically pay to attend a single day of training elsewhere.

Joining is straightforward. You pay once, for either 3 months or 12 months, and everything on this page is included for as long as you're in. No per-event charges, no add-ons, nothing else to buy.

And nothing you have to keep up with. It's all simply there for the weeks you want it.

CONNECT or PLUS
To be there live

Either plan gets you into everything on this page as it happens — the retreat weekend, both masterclasses, and quarterly planning — along with the daily co-working, weekly reviews and monthly Q&As with Lyn.

The difference between them is the course library. CONNECT includes 15 of our most popular courses; the PLUS plan opens up the complete 200+ hour library alongside everything live.

LITE
To watch the recordings

Every masterclass and retreat webinar is recorded and added to the course library, so you can work through them whenever it suits — at 6am, in a spare half hour, or three months later.

You won't be in the room for the live sessions or the co-working. But if solo and self-paced is genuinely how you prefer to learn, the teaching is all there.

Not sure yet? There's a free 3-month plan with 15 of our most popular courses, so you can have a look around before committing to anything.

The retreat is coming up fast

Join before Friday 20 November and the whole weekend is included, along with everything else on this page. Come to as much or as little of it as you have room for.

See the plans

3-month and 12-month options · Free plan available · All prices in NZD