How to build an economic model in your spare time?

You may not want to be an economist, but it is still worth the while going through the key learnings in the paper How to build an economic model in your spare time? by Hal R Varian. Here he summarises the steps as follows:

Look for ideas in the world, not journals.
First make your model as simple as possible, then generalize it.
Look at the literature later, not sooner.
Model your paper after your seminar
Stop when you have made your point.

Worth reading, especially the third point! An while I am at it, I am surprised at the dearth of instructive material on the know-how to critically read a social science research paper.