Productivity

Learning to be productive is an important part of being an effective student, researcher, and worker. We should be productive so we don't waste time, so we can make progress on our work, and so we an enjoy life outside our research.

A few hallmarks of being productive (imho) include:

• Being intentional with your time. Make sure the important work gets completed.
• Being organized. Making sure you don't forget important details and information.

Productivity in Academia

NCFDD The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. It offers courses, tips, a forum, and other resources to help faculty be productive and successful.

Raul Pacheco-Vega A professor who writes on productivity in academia, especially focused on analog tools and organizing your research.

Getting Things Done

Getting things done (GTD) is one of the most popular productivity systems. It's a little old, but still influential. The system involves keeping a series of lists with various important details and tasks so you don't forget anything important.

Intentional Academia A site focused on productivity in academia, with a bent towards GTD.

Deep Work

While GTD focuses a lot on details and minutia, Deep Work by Cal Newport aims to make sure that important, meaningful work gets done. A central part of this approach is to plan your life (largely through time blocking) so that the important takes priority over the urgent. I like to block out time for important work, but I'm not so detailed that I plan everying

The Deep Life Cal's website focused on Deep Work.

Start Here - Deep Life A list of articles, videos, and audio recordings on Deep Work and the Deep Life.

Tools

There are lots of programs and websites to help keep track of your tasks. Some more complicated than others. Often paper works fine too. But having a way to track your responsibilities and work is important, since our brains can't remember everything.

Todoist

Trello

Google Tasks