Are You Productive, or Just Busy?

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As one participant at the recent Preparing Future Faculty conference [2] had heard from her faculty mentor, "Everyone is busy. Not everyone is productive." What can you do to make sure you fall into the latter category? The conference session on Strategies, Tools and Resources for Productivity focused on developing habits while in graduate school that will lead to greater success as a faculty member.

At the session, I presented research [3] showing that success in most endeavors begins with creating the right habits so that you are consistently making progress toward your goals. For college faculty, one crucial habit to develop is regular writing. But knowing this fact does not always mean acting upon it. Developing a new habit requires creating the right environment for it to grow (a regular trigger, engaging in the desired behavior, and a "reward" or sense of accountability for completing the behavior [4]), and much of the discussion at the conference session was about how to nurture the environment for regular writing.

If you read on, you can see the Prezi [5] presentation from the session and learn more about resources for productivity.

In addition to research on "quick starters," and their writing habits, the presentation highlighted

the research on developing mentoring networks [6] (as opposed to relying on a single mentor)
the importance of integrating one's scholarship and teaching
strategies for incorporating active learning in your courses to minimize course preparation time and maximize student learning [7]
apps, websites, and technologies [8] that can help you fight the lure of the internet

Rachel Niemer

Assistant Director, CRLT

Presentation

Strategies, Tools and Resources for Productivity [9] on Prezi [10]

Additional Resources

If you are interested in learning more about developing the behaviors and habits of mind that increase your chances of success in academia, check out the Profhacker Blog in the Chronicle of Higher Education [11] or any one of the following books.

[12] [13] [14] [15]

Submitted by rkniemer on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 4:26pm

PFF [16]

Promoting Excellence & Innovation in Teaching & Learning at U-M

Founded in 1962, the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) at the University of Michigan was the first teaching center in the country. CRLT partners with U-M faculty, graduate students, and administrators to promote a university culture that values and rewards teaching, respects and supports individual differences among learners, and encourages the creation of learning environments in which diverse students can learn and excel.

Resources and Links

Links:
[1] http://www.crlt.umich.edu/sites/default/files/clock-clip-art-9_1.jpg
[2] http://crlt.umich.edu/gsis/onedayPFFagenda_12
[3] https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=robert%20boice%20quick%20starters&oq=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=80ef5323c76d6b79&bpcl=35466521&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&biw=1236&bih=683
[4] http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mT09LNONJGDSX/ref=ent_fb_link
[5] http://www.prezi.com
[6] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/CHNG.39.6.58-C4
[7] http://dl2af5jf3e.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=M&aulast=Prince&atitle=Does+active+learning+work%3F+A+review+of+the+research&title=Journal+of+Engineering&volume=93&date=2004&spage=223&issn=1069-4730
[8] http://www.crlt.umich.edu/sites/default/files/resource_files/RKN_PFFConf_2012_Productivity_Handout_resources.pdf
[9] http://prezi.com/tpzmysekxhnj/strategies-tools-and-resources-for-productivity/
[10] http://prezi.com
[11] http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/
[12] http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/005848232
[13] http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/005546969
[14] http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/011192520
[15] http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/011371273
[16] http://www.crlt.umich.edu/category/tags/pff