At Blue Lab Coats, DrdrA has a post encouraging struggling young faculty members and giving advice on how to score a grant. First, she says to get organized: look up the grant deadlines for NIH, NSF, and foundations and make a list. Then, inventory he work you have going on in your lab and prioritize it from ready-to-go to needs-more-time. Once that's done, combine the two lists and hang it up. "Having a firm set of deadlines that you hold yourself to is really important.