Hack Your Teaching Life: Digital Tools and Strategies for Getting Things Done Wendy Stephens AETC June 13, 2017  

Technology is supposed to make everything easier, right Technology is supposed to make everything easier, right? This session will share a range of successful approaches for the management of time, projects, and devices. From small shifts to potentially life-transforming technologies, find new ways to sort, batch, and automate the tasks that keep draining your time and energy.

20,000 feet areas of responsibility 10,000 feet current projects 50,000+ feet        life              40,000 feet        3-5 years             30,000 feet        1-2 years                                     20,000 feet        areas of responsibility                           10,000 feet      current projects                               runway      current actions  

mind like water

David Allen, “the Henry Ford of the digital age” Getting Things Done David Allen, “the Henry Ford of the digital age” “get things out of your head and into a trusted system” All the inputs you collect represent an action or a project (group of actions). 300-400 times a day you will be confronted with new information you must decide upon. Deal with these items early, quickly, and regularly. It may initially take you as long as 40 seconds to process an email, a memo, or an addition to your schedule. Make it your goal to get to 10 seconds.

GTD principles Always have a collection tool close by. Only use your inboxes as inboxes – don’t use your desk, house, or car. Decide on what will become of material items immediately.

GTD principles Complete projects that will require two minutes or less as soon as they present themselves if you ever plan to do them at all. Don’t allow paper and notes to sit unprocessed. Review your lists and folders as often as required to keep your head empty.

more GTD strategies lists -- use online list generators like Remember the Milk (RTM) or Google Tasks (in Calendar) or the iOS App Clear to create your own personalized list which you can adapt and duplicate as required keyboard shortcuts open document/folders 43 folders labels

email: getting to zero Develop a system. The best ones are either very specific (files or tags like “AETC 2017" rather than "Technology" or "Professional Development") or very general, like the Lifehacker "trusted trio:" follow up, archive, hold. David Allen suggests folders should exist for themes, topics, or persons.

email: getting to zero Never leave a read email in your inbox. You probably sort through your postal mail over a wastepaper basket. You should scan your inbox with your finger on delete.

email: getting to zero Emptying the inbox does not imply that the work is done, but rather the "next action" has been taken. Each message remaining in your inbox becomes a psychic burden, generating stress.

email: getting to zero Consider having different email accounts for commercial transactions and a separate account for websites requiring registration, or use the “+” trick in gmail wstephens+library@gmail.com

email: getting to zero There are two sorts of email accounts: finite space (Microsoft Sharepoint) requiring more maintenance and virtually unlimited memory (gmail, yahoo, hotmail). In some ways, cheap memory is a curse, because it enables you to save everything.

email: getting to zero Use the "search" feature within your email program. If you have built a system of redundant folders, or nested folders, it may be the most efficient way to get to the information you are looking for.

email: getting to zero Build time to maintain your inbox into your schedule. Frequency depends upon the volume of communication, but David Allen believes twice a day is adequate for most people. Of course, you may want to review your inbox for new messages more frequently.

email: getting to zero Strange but true: Handling your messages more promptly will, paradoxically, allow you to go longer without checking for new messages.

Capture Clarify Organize Reflect Engage

Other time management strategies Share browser settings across machines

Other time management strategies Calendar

Other time management strategies Repeat

Other time management strategies Use reminders

Feedly PRO

Pebble watch

Google Keep Browser, iOS app

Calendars iOS app

Clear iOS app

Zamzar

KeepVid