Getting Things Done, part I

Of late I have been considering various time management systems. 

I found this article helpful as a beginning. This article contains a review of several systems.

The most popular system in the business world appears to be "Getting Things Done" by  David Allen. It seems to rely on a few general principles. For starters, do a "brain dump." Get everything you know you need to do on a piece of paper. Then, design a system to input these to-dos. From here on out, do anything you can to enter any task that you need to accomplish into the system so that it does not get forgotten. Within your system, you need to be constantly assessing how much time that you are spending on particular tasks, making sure you are living out of your priorities (focusing on the "important" before the "urgent"), and constantly identify the "next step" of any task.

I'll let you know what I figure out. 

What I'm reading now: Daily Rituals

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work 

Mason Currey's blog turned beautiful-little-hardback is a fun and easy summer read. It contains 166 brief bios of artists and their daily rituals: what time they wake up, how they get into the vibe, when and what they eat, and how they relax. The book's small size and brief sections make it an ideal book for the metro, the beach or the backyard.

Some artists (or "Writers, composers, painters, choreographers, playwrights, poets, philosophers, sculptors, filmmakers, and scientists" ) cannot accomplish anything after noon, others do not rise until then. Some are high maintenance (Mahler), others discreet (Austen). Arthur Miller has no routine at all. He explains his experience of inspiration as baffling: "The only image I can think of is a man walking around with an iron rod in his hand during a lightening storm" (p.56).

The most interesting part of savoring this little book, however, is not hearing the routines of the rich, famous, dead, talented or pampered. It is reflecting on one's own routine and how well it serves one's needs. Even a casual perusal of these brief vignettes will force the reader to think about which times of day (if any) bring a special inspiration or work ethic. It is only logical to then assess whether one is taking the necessary steps to defend and guard that time. It is this exercise that makes this an ideal book for academics and anyone whose professional or personal goals call for creation. I highly recommend it.

Today in the Times... An education editorial

Today, the Times editorial board suggested that the American system of education overtests its students and undertrains its teachers. 

Most will agree with the assessment that the current model of education puts too much emphasis on testing student performance, but I think teachers in Ohio and New York would balk at the assessment that teachers are undertrained. In these and some other states, potential teachers are subject to a litany of trainings and certifications, (unless of course, they are affiliated with Teach for America, in which case they are welcomed with open arms after very little preparation). The NYT editorial makes no mention of the great variation in teacher preparation between states, and does not suggest if any of the individual states' models might be an appropriate one for the wider system. 

Instead, the editorial suggests looking to Finland as a model, where it is highly competitive to get a job as a teacher and where teacher training is free and supported by a stipend. Additionally, in the Finnish system, students must pass only one standardized test in their career, there is a lower teacher-student ration, and they pay experienced teachers more. It seems likely this editorial is in response to a book, popular in DC, called Finnish Lessons: What can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?  For more on the Finnish model, see this article in the Guardian.

What is surprising about the editorial, is its endorsement of the Common Core as a means of moving away from memorization toward critical thinking and writing.  I guess I'll have to give the Common Core another look.