You could do the reverse, timeboxing it. Goal being to avoid spending excessive time on the task. Having a well defined amount of time for a research task make

You could do the reverse, timeboxing it. Goal being to avoid spending excessive time on the task. Having a well defined amount of time for a research task makes sense, the business decides how much they want to spend. I'm against estimating every task, but I definitely provide a ballpark idea when a project will be delivered. Keeping a research task in check is important for myself too, otherwise I can go on for weeks.