nudge.

Nudge for Researchers

Keep chapter milestones, literature review checklists, and data collection steps visible while you write. No alt-tabbing. No context switching.

The problem with research and to-do lists

You're 2,000 words into a chapter. You remember a citation you need to check. You switch to Zotero. Find the paper. Note the reference. Switch to Obsidian. Add it to your notes. Switch back to your draft. Where were you?

Research is a cascade of context switches. Literature review. Data collection. Writing. Revisions. Citations. Every switch costs momentum. Over a writing session, the mental overhead of tracking what you're supposed to be doing is as draining as the work itself.

Nudge keeps the current step visible above your writing window. No tab hunting. No search for the right note. Your next milestone sits at the top of your screen.

How researchers use Nudge

Chapter milestones

Break your dissertation or paper into chapter-level milestones. Each chapter gets a heading. Each section gets a checkbox. Nudge shows the current one. Check it off and advance to the next.

Literature review tracker

List papers to review as tasks. Mark them done as you go. Keep reading notes in the same .md file. Obsidian and Zettelkasten users can point Nudge at existing vault files.

Data collection pipeline

Track data collection steps as numbered lists. Survey sent. Responses collected. Analysis complete. Each stage visible. Nothing forgotten between meetings with your advisor.

Writing session anchor

Start a 2-hour writing block with a single objective on screen. Nudge auto-hides to a 6 px strip when your mouse moves away. Hover to check in. No break in flow.

Why Nudge fits a researcher's workflow

It reads .md files. If you use Obsidian or any markdown-based note system, Nudge integrates directly. Point it at an existing file. No import. No duplication.

Auto-hides during deep reading. When you switch to reading a paper, the HUD disappears. Hover to bring it back. No persistent visual noise.

No cloud. No privacy concerns. Research notes, unpublished data, draft manuscripts — everything stays on your machine. No server ever sees your work.

Global keyboard shortcut. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N advances to the next task without touching the mouse. Keep your hands on the keyboard.

LLM formatting assistant. Paste raw research notes into any LLM with Nudge's formatting prompt. Get structured Markdown with proper headings and task types.

Sample researcher task file

# Chapter 4: Results
## Writing Progress
[ ] Draft Section 4.1 — Participant Demographics
[ ] Create Table 4.2 — Regression Results
[ ] Write interpretation for Figure 4.3
[x] Send draft to advisor — feedback by Friday
## Analysis Pipeline
1. Import Qualtrics export
2. Clean missing values — exclude incomplete responses
3. Run hierarchical regression in R
4. Generate residual plots for assumption checks
5. Export tables to LaTeX
Script: [regression_analysis.R](scripts/ch4/regression.R)
Instrument: [Survey questionnaire](https://qualtrics.com/share/surveyId)
## Literature to Address
* Smith et al. (2024): address methodological gap in section 4.2
* Chen (2023): contradictory findings — discuss in limitations
* Lee & Park (2025): supports our direction, cite in intro
Key paper: [Smith et al. (2024)](https://doi.org/10.1000/journal.2024.001)

Keep your next research step visible. Stop context switching.

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