Friday, April 8, 2011

Learning From Productive Faculty Members Who Manage Their Space, Time, and/or Life

Regardless of who we are, we can learn from other people. Sometimes those others are within close proximity (like when we learn from our own children or from our students) and other times, we can learn from people who are colleagues across campus or across the globe.

In this article, we will consider categories of productivity related to managing space, managing time, and managing life. Let me prompt you a bit to consider people you have observed who (at least seem to) know how to manage better than you do in these areas.

  1. Workspace - Whether it is someone's office, lab, or other workspace, there are those who seem to be organized and productive in that space. Make note of a name or two here.
  2. Family - Although it sometimes does not feel like it, an academic's life really does have parts in it other than work. Who do you know who at least appears to have their family life run in a productive manner? There may be kids involved or there may not be. You are trying to generate the names of professors (or others) who seem to have their work life in order AND they have their home life in productive order, too. Or, maybe it is someone whose worklife is in disarray but their home life has some parts that are quite productive...you can still learn from them, too.
  3. Time - Is there a faculty colleague (in your department, college, or across the country) who never seems harried due to time? This person meets deadlines, doesn't seem ruffled by an overwhelming amount of work, and is seen calmly talking to students or other colleagues on occasion - without looking at his/her watch every two seconds. Write down the name of that person because there is something to learn there!
  4. Health - We all know that if we let our health go, then our teaching, research, service, relationships, and everything else can go out the window pretty quickly. Yet....we often ignore our health and wellness. Who are some fellow faculty who seem to productively tend to their health without it becoming the primary focus of their lives?
  5. Other - You can also choose one or more additional areas where you would like to learn ways to be more productive in your career as a professor. Figure out the category and then think of the people's names who represent productivity in those categories.

Once you have this list of 5 or 10 names, now what? Well, you could follow them around day in and day out, but that would get a little creepy. Instead, contact at least one of these people each month and ask for a face to face, email, or phone interview where you could learn some of their secrets for productivity in whatever area you have categorized them. I know from experience that they will gladly share their wisdom and will be honored and maybe humbled that you have asked.

And for scores of sets of Productivity Tips for Professors like these, you're invited to join others around the globe who subscribe (free) to one of the Top Ten Productivity Tips series (info to be found at):

** http://TopTenProductivityTips.com

(c) 2010 Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. | The Ph.D. of Productivity(tm) | http://www.meggin.com

Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D. works with smart people who want to consistently keep their emphasis on excellence.

No comments:

Post a Comment