.....and that's good! It means I can be public about the process from the very beginning, and that includes sharing notes. I really like Kindle books because I can highlight and then access those highlights via the Kindle Notebook (I've found that people often don't know about that; just go to read.amazon.com/kp/notebook and be amazed).
What I'm going to be doing here at the blog is sharing some notes that leap out at me when I go back and read through the highlights I've made in a book. Since this is all about trying to be super-productive in writing this book, I decided to start with Bonni Stachowiak's brand-new book, which I read as soon as the ebook became available: The Productive Online and Offline Professor: A Practical Guide (Amazon). One of the best parts of the book is all about PKM: personal knowledge mastery/management, so it was super-useful to think about that as I am about to embark on this big project. The book is WONDERFUL: well organized, inspiring, and one of my favorite parts is a "take action" checklist that totally resonates with me; that's how I do my classes too: a big long list of things students might choose to do in any given week. I'm pretty sure those kinds of checklists would not fit in the scope of the Hopkins book, but then it just becomes something I can put online as a supplement, right?
So, here are some really great quotes that I'm snagging here (sometimes from Bonni and sometimes people whose work she quotes in the book)... also, a big shout-out for the excellent foreword by Robert Talbert.
These notes are not meant to represent the structure of the book in any comprehensive way; this is just what jumped out as useful/inspiring to me for my own purposes. There is a detailed table of contents that gives very accurate description of the book.
~ ~ ~
We also share ways we can improve our productivity so we can have more peace in our lives and be even more present for our students. [opening to Bonni's podcast episodes]
Being present for our students (online or face-to-face) is vital to our effectiveness as educators.
"I don’t know if it’s time management so much as it is a presence management issue." [statement from study participant; see Whalen in bib]
Pursuing enhanced productivity is not a solo journey.
We need to be careful not to overemphasize making things faster if we are pursuing unproductive or unhealthy aims.
Institutions’ financial challenges can quickly be translated into so-called solutions of implementing larger class sizes, asking faculty to perform administrative tasks outside the scope of their functional roles, and increasing the use of the contingent workforce.
Productivity is about reducing the friction in our systems such that we have more capability for attending to the people we care most about.
We are at our most productive when we can leverage our strengths in our work.
"Productivity practices are predicated on grappling with constant scarcity. Not enough time. Not enough control. Not enough perspective. Not organized enough. Not reliable enough. Not [fill in the blank] enough" [see Robinson in bib]
Most of us have built productivity systems that regularly misinform us about where things stand, or what requires our attention.
It will help you truly adopt what you are reading if you pause along the way and identify steps you want to take to improve your systems. [I love the way Bonni has built taking action into the book!]
The trouble with feeling overwhelmed is that it can prevent us from taking any action at all.
Spend some time reflecting on the meaning and purpose of productivity. If you can achieve “maximum” productivity, what will that free you from and what will you be able to focus more on?
“The mind is for having ideas, not holding them” [Allen, GTD]
"Productivity practices are predicated on grappling with constant scarcity. Not enough time. Not enough control. Not enough perspective. Not organized enough. Not reliable enough. Not [fill in the blank] enough" [see Robinson in bib]
Most of us have built productivity systems that regularly misinform us about where things stand, or what requires our attention.
It will help you truly adopt what you are reading if you pause along the way and identify steps you want to take to improve your systems. [I love the way Bonni has built taking action into the book!]
The trouble with feeling overwhelmed is that it can prevent us from taking any action at all.
Spend some time reflecting on the meaning and purpose of productivity. If you can achieve “maximum” productivity, what will that free you from and what will you be able to focus more on?
“The mind is for having ideas, not holding them” [Allen, GTD]
“We are naturally creative beings, invested in our existence to list, grow, express, and expand. The challenge is not to be creative—it is to eliminate the barriers to the natural flow of our creative energies” [Allen, GTD]
A helpful practice can be to identify three to five next actions that, at a minimum, will be completed during a given day. [there was some Gonzalez blog post about this method; need to go find that]
our calendars should be trustworthy, as well, and reflect only specific commitments we have made that need to occur at a particular time and in a designated place
Robert Talbert (personal communication) explains that he has divided the work of various tools as follows: Anything that has a grade associated with it goes in the LMS, files all go inside Google Drive, and everything else goes in Slack.
That particular strength of Slack can also be a weakness. The way in which Slack makes communication easier can also mean that a flurry of messages can come within the various channels.
A PKM system becomes personal when we include resources that will be relevant because of our strengths, our interests, and our motivations.
We create our PKM process by continually reflecting on what is most relevant for our current state and what is emerging as more important as we grow and develop in new areas.
Information is made up of data and context and can be easily reproduced. Knowledge is information that has become most useful to us and allows for learning to take place.
Once a PKM has been established, we continually go through the process of seeking, sensing, and sharing without ever reaching a finish line.
"If you only seek information, you are just a consumer. If you seek and share, then you are a re-broadcaster, adding little value. If you seek and make sense of information, without sharing, you are missing out on opportunities to learn and connect." [Jarche]
"When you work out loud, you feel good and empowered at the same time. ... When you do that—when you work in a more open, connected way—you can build a purposeful network that makes you more effective and provides access to more opportunities." [see Stepper in bibliography]
“Teaching is a creative process, and if you’re not creating, you’re doing it wrong” [Doug McKee]
BATCH PROCESSING. One practice that can slow us down in our work is shifting from one task to the next without regard to the way in which we might group our tasks for greater efficiency.
We create our PKM process by continually reflecting on what is most relevant for our current state and what is emerging as more important as we grow and develop in new areas.
Information is made up of data and context and can be easily reproduced. Knowledge is information that has become most useful to us and allows for learning to take place.
Once a PKM has been established, we continually go through the process of seeking, sensing, and sharing without ever reaching a finish line.
"If you only seek information, you are just a consumer. If you seek and share, then you are a re-broadcaster, adding little value. If you seek and make sense of information, without sharing, you are missing out on opportunities to learn and connect." [Jarche]
"When you work out loud, you feel good and empowered at the same time. ... When you do that—when you work in a more open, connected way—you can build a purposeful network that makes you more effective and provides access to more opportunities." [see Stepper in bibliography]
“Teaching is a creative process, and if you’re not creating, you’re doing it wrong” [Doug McKee]
BATCH PROCESSING. One practice that can slow us down in our work is shifting from one task to the next without regard to the way in which we might group our tasks for greater efficiency.
It makes sense to pick up all the items you need, rather than having to go back and forth between your home and the store until you remember and pick up everything you need. [grocery shopping analogy]
Read-Do: Read each step of the task, and then perform them in order, checking them off as you go, like following a recipe.
Do-Confirm: Perform steps of the task from memory until you reach a defined pause point, when you go through the checklist and confirm that each step has been completed.
[two kinds of checklists; see Houston in bib for more on this + Gawande]
I have a form that I ask students to fill out when they are requesting a reference for applying to an academic program or are asking me for a letter of recommendation. [OMG: I MUST DO THIS!]
specifications grading approach their assignments in a binary way. Students either met the expectations or they did not.
[some of my distributed content stuff got a mention here: yay playlists!]
All the places to which the syllabus has been distributed are difficult to track down to provide an updated file. It can also be challenging to determine whether someone is referencing the most current version. ... Instead of relying on sending out the actual file to the various recipients or posting it on an LMS, it is far more effective to post or send a link to the file after it has been posted on a cloud storage system.
"The kind of teacher you will become is directly related to the kind of teachers you associate with ... Avoid people who are unhappy and disgruntled about the possibilities for transforming education. They are the enemy of the spirit of the teacher." [Emdin]
Although we may not always have the luxury of choosing who we collaborate with in our work, we can select where we direct our attention.
"Crazy-busy is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us ... It’s like those moving walkways at the airport— you’ve got to really pay attention when you get off them, because it’s disorienting. And when you’re standing still, you become very acutely aware of how you feel and what’s going on in your surroundings." [Brene Brown, 2012]
Read-Do: Read each step of the task, and then perform them in order, checking them off as you go, like following a recipe.
Do-Confirm: Perform steps of the task from memory until you reach a defined pause point, when you go through the checklist and confirm that each step has been completed.
[two kinds of checklists; see Houston in bib for more on this + Gawande]
I have a form that I ask students to fill out when they are requesting a reference for applying to an academic program or are asking me for a letter of recommendation. [OMG: I MUST DO THIS!]
specifications grading approach their assignments in a binary way. Students either met the expectations or they did not.
[some of my distributed content stuff got a mention here: yay playlists!]
All the places to which the syllabus has been distributed are difficult to track down to provide an updated file. It can also be challenging to determine whether someone is referencing the most current version. ... Instead of relying on sending out the actual file to the various recipients or posting it on an LMS, it is far more effective to post or send a link to the file after it has been posted on a cloud storage system.
"The kind of teacher you will become is directly related to the kind of teachers you associate with ... Avoid people who are unhappy and disgruntled about the possibilities for transforming education. They are the enemy of the spirit of the teacher." [Emdin]
Although we may not always have the luxury of choosing who we collaborate with in our work, we can select where we direct our attention.
"Crazy-busy is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we’re feeling and what we really need can’t catch up with us ... It’s like those moving walkways at the airport— you’ve got to really pay attention when you get off them, because it’s disorienting. And when you’re standing still, you become very acutely aware of how you feel and what’s going on in your surroundings." [Brene Brown, 2012]
