Productivity: Web 2.0 style

I have to make a confession about an obsession. I am obsessed with productivity. Our department collaboratively writes a quarterly report (once monthly) on the activities of the department, including individual works. Sometimes I wonder how some of my colleagues manage to accomplish all that they do! I find that I’m a bit overwhelmed at times. I’m an odd duck about technology; a split personality embracing emerging technology one day and threatening to chain myself to the print reference collection another day.

My latest battle is with my agenda. I recognize that technology can help us to increase productivity, but sometimes it only complicates things. It seems that I am one of a very few who still use the paper agenda/journal to keep track of my busy life. I actually have a Google Calendar account that I’ve used, but ultimately the print agenda is the one that has a final say. There have been times that I’ve forgotten my agenda at work and having my schedule online to review over the weekend would have been wonderful, but I’m still tied to lugging that agenda around and writing (not typing) my schedule into it. I might revisit the Google Calender again because it really does appear that resistance is futile in this area. I’ll try a month with only using the Google Calendar and see what dire consequences ensue!

Another tool I found that assists in my productivity is the electronic post-it notes. It is a free software download that allows you to type up notes on your computer desktop and print them out. I do my weekly to-do lists Monday mornings and print them out. I also have electronic post-its for on the fly things to do, reminders, little notes etc. The official software is available at the Post-It Note site for purchase. The purchase version has more features (such as the ability to categorize notes, setting alarm reminders etc.), but I find the free version adequate for what I’m doing. Once everything has been cleared from the note, I usually trash the note. Often I have more than 1 Post-It note floating around on my desktop to remind me of yet another matter to attend to. 

I’m always curious to know what other tools/technologies librarians are using to manage information and their workload.

The File is Returned

The file has been in my possession now for about 2 weeks. I have not looked at it yet, but I have about a month to look at it and revise it. The chair of the tenure committee met with me a few weeks ago and we went over the file and the committee’s suggestions for changes. I have to make some changes to my CV (mostly grammatical) and add some more “evidence” of my work in the area of collections. I think the recommended changes were reasonable, but I think someone on the committee went a bit overboard with suggestions for periods and other punctuation marks (LOL)! In my opinion, the experience of having your file criticized (albeit constructively) wasn’t as terrifying as it seem a few months ago. Time has really flown by and I honestly don’t believe that I can put the same amount of energy in revising the file as I did originally in the summer. To tell you the truth, I’m a bit resentful of the deadline being in the middle of the busiest time of the year, but this forces me not to take the process too seriously. In theory, I don’t have to revise my file at all since it is only a “suggestion” from the committee, but knowing me I will be spending another Saturday in my office long after the reference desk is closed, to work on this. In the meanwhile, the file is lying on a stack of papers beckoning me to look at it. While I am working at my computer, I can feel its presence bearing down on me and silently calling me to it. I try to ignore it and so far, I’ve succeeded, but I will try to resist opening up that can of worm until I have hours upon hours of time to devote to it. I give myself one more week to ignore it and then I’m toast!