Busy Does Not Equal Productive

In Busy is not the point from Seth Godin's Blog, Seth Godin states,

“Points for successful prioritization. Points for efficiency and productivity. Points for doing work that matters.”

That is my problem. I’m so overwhelmed by all that I have to do that I feel paralyzed and can’t move. I guess that inaction is a survival mode that my body goes into when I feel overwhelmed with the need to act.

We have three big trips planned and they occur one right after the other. That means that I need to basically plan and pack for all three trips at the same time. Now is the time for my lists. As you recall, I’m a BIG list maker! I can’t live without my lists and then the list of lists that I have made. They keep me sane. I know you think this is crazy but it works for me. I think.

I have a list of all the things I need to pack and each trip has a different list. I have a camping list, a cruise list, and a road trip list.

Then I have a list of things that I need to do before we do any trip.

I also have a list of things to do while we are traveling.

Then I have to go through the list of things to do and prioritize them. Of course, they all seem like something that I need to do right now but I try to number them in importance.

I also keep a bullet journal and list the things I need to do today. The joy of checking each one off gives me a sense of accomplishment and keeps me from being depressed when I feel overwhelmed.

When I think of all that I need to do, I just keep reminding myself about the saying that asks,  “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

When I’m on a difficult hike, I remind myself that I just need to take one step at a time.

When I look at my weight loss, I remind myself that it is just one pound at a time.

When I’m writing a post for this blog, I remind myself that it is just one word at a time.

When I look at things in this way, I feel a heavy burden lift off my shoulders and everything seems possible.

I need to give my students the same encouragement. I need to help them and encourage them with one word at a time, one gesture at a time, one smile at a time, and one hope at a time.

How do you tackle difficult things? Please share.

Photo by mauro mora on Unsplash

Getting Things Done

In Procrastination - is there a cure? From  Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson asks,

“Any suggestions on how to eliminate the "squirrel" quality of the Internet and actually get work accomplished?”

Recently I started to do bullet journaling. I’m getting back to writing things on paper with pencil (or pen). I have watched some YouTube videos on bullet journaling and gotten a lot of great ideas: How to Bullet Journal and Bullet Journal Flip Through and  The more I do it, the more evolved it becomes. I started several things and have customized them to fit my needs. Some things I’ve done away with because it didn’t help me.

At first I tried to make it like a calendar and found myself just making a prettier paper copy of my Google calendar. That didn’t help me the way I wanted it to. I wanted something useful that was meaningful and help me be more productive.

Every morning I start the day’s journaling. I write the day and date as well as the weather forecast. (I like to look back at these figures). Then I start listing the things that I want to accomplish for the day including events listed on my google calendar. I have also color coded them so it is easy to see at a glance. I have several categories: chores, events, gardening, crafting, and travel. Everything I do pretty much fits into one of those categories.

Also included each month is a chart of daily activities that I repeat each day. I color in the box when I accomplish it and I like to look back and see how the chart is filled in.

When I see an inspirational quote, I write it in the daily page. I am enjoying writing in cursive again for a change of pace.

I have also started doing monthly doodles which is dragging me outside my box. While it is fun, it is also hard for me so I enjoy the challenge.

I have added a page for books that I want to read, craft projects that I want to make, and

I also add some doodles if I have the time because it makes me smile.

Now, all of this is to say, that it has really helped me get things accomplished. I like checking off the things that are finished. I use an arrow to move things forward if needed. Instead of being overwhelmed by the big picture, I look what is needed to be accomplished immediately.

Now when I finish what I need to do, I don’t feel guilty for doing fun things I want to do. I’m able to enjoy what I’m doing without thinking about what I need to finish.

I’ve been doing this for 2 months now and I’m still enjoying it so I will continue.

This would be great to get students to do also. It might encourage their creative side as well as helping them be more productive. It is important that they know there is no right or wrong way to do this but it is important that they find a way for it to be useful and meaningful.

Do you do bullet journaling? If so, what do you include in it? Please share. 

My Use of Social Media

In 5 Ways To Use Social Media as Time Saver at Work from Lisa Nielsen: The Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielsen shares,

“While for some social media has the unfortunate reputation of being a time waster, it can be used as a tool to increase efficiency and support learning for self and others.”

I hear a lot of people resistant to social media saying all the negative things about it. I bet the people with horse and buggies said the same thing when the automobile came out.  People with kerosene lanterns probably said the same things about electricity. But eventually, people get used to it and it becomes the norm.

Social media is like anything else in our lives and if abused, it can have a negative effect on anyone’s life. But if used in a way that it helps you, it can have a positive effect on anyone’s life.

Here are the social media I use daily and how it helps me:

Google Calendar – I can put events on the calendar and since I share it with my husband, he can access the calendar on his laptop. I also can access it on my phone and my iPad if I need to add things to it while I’m not at home.

My Blog – I write on my blog every Monday through Friday and have been doing this for almost eight years now. I hope that some of the things I share will help new and struggling teachers.

Facebook – I have grouped people into several groups and can click on specific groups for messages that I want to share or read. I can share links to educational posts with other educators and knitting links with fellow fiber crafters. This helps me stay focused on one topic rather than reading all of them in a linear fashion and having to switch my brain into different gears constantly.

Feedly – This is where I group all the blogs that I read. I then put them in different groups and like Facebook, I can read all of one topic at a time rather than having to switch gears for each different post. This also helps me know when a blog has been updated so I don’t miss anything.

Ravelry – This is a social media group for fiber crafters. I found a group that mixes special educators and knitting and crochet so both hobbies are combined!

Twitter and Plurk – I can post one message and it goes to both places. I like to share links this way and I also find many useful resources this way.

What social media do you use and how does it help you? Please share.

Image: 'Social Media ROI' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32119772@N03/3598356119
Found on flickrcc.net

Wasting Time

In 5 Ways You Waste Time and How to Stop by Laurie Gerber, she talks about different ways people waste time and I found it interesting that I don’t do too many of them. I do have trouble asking for help though.

This made me think about my students and how they waste time. I have been known to tell them to stop wasting time. But do they understand what they are doing and why they should stop? Even if they know what they are doing wrong, do they know how to change their behavior? Too many times I have told them to stop their current behavior but I don’t give them ways to change what they are doing.

I have had students who are quite creative and find ways to avoid doing their work. If they took all that time and energy they use in avoidance and applied it to actually working, they would get more things done.

For 2 days, I observed one of my students and wrote down all of the things he did to avoid completing his assignment. On the third day, I had him sit near me to do his assignment and he wasn’t allowed to do anything else until it was done. I kept track of the time it took to do the work which usually is about 30-40 minutes. On the fourth day, I met with him and showed him the things he did the first 2 days and then compared it to actually getting the work done. No one had every showed him this before and I could see the “light bulb” come on. I explained to him that the key word was “Procrastination.”

Now that we could identify his behavior, when I saw it begin, I would pull him aside. Then we would talk about the assignment and what troubled him. Talking about his concerns helped bring them out so we could get them out of the way. When he felt better about dealing with his concerns, he was able to start and complete his assignment.

Sometimes I waste time because I am just not in the mood to do a particular thing. In the morning, I jot down some things that need to be done and then I do them in certain order. Some days I do the most important first. But if there is no set priority, I try to do the thing I dread first and get it out of the way.

I try to get my students to make a list of the assignments that they need to do. Then I help them choose the order. By giving them some control over their actions, students seem to respond more positively to the assignments and complete them faster.

I take a break between assignments. By planning a set break (5 or 10 minutes); this keeps me from getting sidetracked from what I need to do. Once my break is over, I continue on with the list. I try to encourage my students to do the same. When they turn in one thing, I give them a 5 minute break. When it is over, I let them know it is time to get back to work.

I also like to reward myself with something when I accomplish my list. I love knitting and spinning so I use them as a reward. I try to give my students encouragement when they are able to cross off everything from their list. This might be a library pass or computer time.

How do you waste time and how do you overcome this behavior? Please share.

Image: 'Me In Time'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25704219@N04/3821120232

Keep It Simple

I don’t know who invented the acronym KISS meaning “Keep It Simple, Stupid” (I like to change the last S to Silly because it sounds nicer) but I really need to keep reminding myself of this. When I read the post, Simplicity In Life: Tying Up Loose Ends And Eliminating Stress

from So You Want To Teach? by Joel, it brought the reminder up front again. He states,

“Whatever the case, we all have unfinished business in our lives. These things can cause incredible amounts of stress when we think about them. They can cause even more when we ignore them for a while hoping they’ll go away. But they rarely do.”

Sometimes I over-think something until I am making no sense at all. It doesn’t matter if my problem is about education or about knitting. When I get bogged down with thinking, my brain seems to shut down. I can only imagine what this is like for my students who do not have all the life experience that I have (at this ripe old age!).

Many times I have to let the problem go and move on to something else. Moving away from the problem helps the solution come into focus. Sometimes I might even have to sleep on it. When I relax, the solution may slip into my brain more easily. But how many times have I told my students that they have to keep at the problem until they solve it? How many times do I expect my students to complete an assignment without caring that they have hit a road block. Somehow in my lessons, I need to incorporate possible down time for this possible situation. This may be a vital skill they learn that they can use later in their lives. By insisting that they solve the problems right now, I build up a level of frustration and possibly a feeling of failure where they just give up. I want to bolster them up to where they feel capable of solving problems and may even come up with a solution that I had not thought of.

Sometimes it just helps to talk about it. When I have a problem, I sometimes record my problem as if I’m telling someone a story. Then I can listen to it the next day and try to see it from a different perspective. When I do this, the solution may be so obvious that I am surprised I didn’t see it so clearly the first time.

I need to encourage my students to seek out others for assistance. That is the real world. When I have a problem on my job, the boss doesn’t say that I need to figure out what I need all by myself and to not ask anyone else for help. Instead, the boss expects me to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. That is why it is important to teach our students collaboration. They don’t automatically know how to work with others. It is not instinct. Students need to learn “collaboration etiquette.” They need to learn how to work with others, ask the right questions and to give credit to the ones who helped. I really don’t like working with others who take all the credit for the work when I may have been instrumental in getting the job done. When I feel like that, I usually don’t try to help that person again. These are things that I need to teach my students.

Sometimes, to be successful, it only takes a KISS (Keep It Simple, Silly!)

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'one blue marble'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53611153@N00/322424756 by: darwin Bell

Action Doesn’t Mean Production

I saw a great quote in the article Activity versus productivity in the use of technology in the classroom from Kobus van Wyk by kvanwyk. He used the quote,

“Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what’s the point? - Rick Warren”

This reminded me of a time when I rode a bicycle on a muddy patch. I was peddling really hard and my wheels were spinning but I was getting nowhere. It also brought back a memory of going to a Mexican restaurant with some friends. After waiting about 30 minutes for our food, we noticed that there were a lot of servers putting lots of chips and salsa on tables but no food was coming out of the kitchen. In both instances there was a lot of activity but very little productivity.

I think this quote applies to administrators, teachers, students, and parents and we need to really take this to heart. So, I decided to write a little note to each.

Dear Administrators –
*Please don’t ask me to fill out reports when you can get the information right off of the computer.
*Please don’t ask me to attend a meeting to get information that could have been shared in an email, a wiki, or a blogpost.
*Please don’t make me in charge of something just to make me feel good.
*Please don’t ask us to do something and then not follow through or provide support so that we just forget about it later.

Dear Teachers –
*Please don’t give worksheets to kids just to keep them busy so you can get other things done (they really know what you are doing).
*Please don’t give them assignments that don’t have any relevance to real life.
*Please don’t give them busy work to do with the substitute because the kids usually don’t do it and it causes behavior problems. (the subs hate this as much as the students.)
*Please don’t go to meetings without sharing ideas/giving input/ sharing the work load and expect to accomplish anything.

Dear Students –
*Please don’t think that cleaning out your book bag shows the teacher that you are really trying to pass the class.
*Please don’t think that by drawing, doodling, writing notes to friends constitutes “doing your work.”
*Please don’t talk about the latest TV shows/movies/gossip in small groups and think that the group work will get done all by itself.

Dear Parents-
*Please don’t write me notes and ask me to work with your child on something specific without checking that your child is also doing what is necessary to meet me halfway.
*Please don’t send a note asking me to contact you and then not give correct contact information or go out of town for 2 weeks.
*Please don’t ask to set up a meeting to discuss your child and then forget about showing up.
*Please don’t come to a meeting to discuss your child and then only speak about your hard day, your other children, your problems and anything else but your child.

I admit that I like to see action but only if it results in production of some sort. I am not a big fan of busy work just for the sake of doing something. This helps in making the classroom a successful environment.

What would you like to put in any of these letters? Feel free to add them in the comments below.

Original image: 'SPLASH!' http://www.flickr.com/photos/77319680@N00/85856739 by: Breno Peck