I get a kick out of those memes that are like – here’s how it started, here’s how it’s going. This isn’t completely accurate, but I’ve come a long way!
How it started | How it’s going  |
Early Days
I first began serious experimentation with productivity systems when I was in graduate school. As a doctoral student working on my thesis, I had a large, daunting project ahead of me, lots of time, and little guidance as to how to get things done. One professor’s advice was – lock yourself in a room with granola bars and wine and just write. I didn’t like that advice!!
I remember experimenting with different time management techniques, and changing it up every year or so. I don’t remember specifics beyond that!
I kept experimenting with this as a junior faculty member. One system I had for several years was a word document with a table in it, and each cell of the table represented a different category of work or project. For example, teaching SOC 100 or working on a research paper. The word document was a bit clunky, but I used it for years.Â
Training and Inspiration
Over time I got some training and read some books. One of the earliest trainings I participated in was an online summer writing workshop for academic women led by Cathy Mazak in 2019. Through this workshop I learned about trello (the software I use for task management), what time of day I can focus best, and ideal schedules. Trello in particular was a game-changer for me.Â
I don’t remember how I first heard of “getting things done” (GTD) by David Allen but the big ideas and some of the specific practices have been very helpful.
What makes up my productivity system in summer 2024? By system I mean how I organize the work, not the work itself.Â
- Trello as a task manager
- Google calendar for appointments
- Note-taking app – I have both a personal and a professional “second brain”. I use google keep for both.
- A weekly paper calendar for time blocking
- Weekly planning meeting. Check out this blog post
- A monthly paper planner for longer-term planning
- Spreadsheets to keep track of goals and yearly/monthly/weekly checklists. (I wonder if there is a way to streamline this or integrate with another tool)
- Cloud storage for digital files, videos, photos (I use google drive)
- At home I use physical files to sort mail.
Links:
To learn more about Cathy Mazak, now scholar’s voice: https://scholarsvoice.org/blog/
What is GTD? I think this website explains it well: https://hamberg.no/gtd