Fantastic Task Manager App for the iPhone

I think I may have found the perfect task manager program for my iPhone.   It’s called “Remember the Milk”  (RTM) http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ With my former phone, the Palm Centro, the only option I was aware of was the Outlook Tasks feature which I found completely useless.  So I was left using my calendar and the “Notes” program.  The Notes program helped but it left much to be desired.  With RTM, I can set tasks for specific days and set due times.  I can postpone tasks.  If a task does not get done on the day it is due, it shows up for the next day and every day that it remains undone.  I can set sound notifications for when tasks are due.  I can classify tasks however I want them classified.  For instant, I have categories for “Personal,” “Work Tasks” and “Work Projects.”  Keeping these separate or combining them is a key feature for me; one that I was not able to do with Notes.  There are a host of other features as well.  Unlike the thousands of free apps out there, this app cost $25 per year, but you can use it free for two weeks.  After two weeks of using it, I was hooked and coughed up the $25.  I’ve found this program to be the best task/time management tool since being able to sync my Outlook calendar with my phone.  If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend trying it out for two weeks.

New Time Management System

It’s been a while since I last posted.  That is because I’ve had to rethink how I complete tasks.  In my last post, I wrote about all of the projects I have going on and how busy that will keep me.  Not long after that post I hit a wall.  It dawned on me that I was multitasking and task switching on a large scale.  While I was making progress on several fronts, that progress was very slow and nothing was really being completed.  So one day I decided that I needed to make a list of the things (larger projects) I need to accomplish and focus on one at a time instead of bouncing around from one to another.  My first goal was to finish updating the list of AtoZ records in EBSCO AtoZ (at least the ones I have now; there will be more to come later).  I expected that to take me months, but I did it in three days.  Of course it was 3 days with my head stuck in a spreadsheet and web browser which almost drove me mad; but it has been completed.  Second, I created a summary of the student survey that I conducted last week.  Next, I finished updating my paper for the ASEE conference and uploaded the final draft yesterday.  Today, I start preparing for my IOLUG conference presentation.  My next major project will not begin until this one is complete.  Of course there will be other projects and tasks that will interrupt this process…students needing help, a variety of requests from my boss, and bibliographic instruction classes to prepare for to name just a few, but I think I have come up with a good time management  /project management system that will work well for me.  So far the results have been excellent.

New Quarter – Tons of Work Ahead

We begin our Spring Quarter at Rose-Hulman today and what a way to start it.  I started with an 8 AM lightening round orientation for a senior design class.  I was given 15 minutes and had to speak fast and to the point.  While it was the quickest class I’ve even done, it certainly helped to wake me up.  Now I am ready to take on the day, the week, and the new quarter.  We’ve got our work cut out for us.  We’ll have training for our new ILS system (Millennium by Innovative) which will be implemented this summer.  We are right now planning for events for National Library Week in April.  We are doing some party on the last day of the week but are also going to do one of those “READ” poster campaigns.  I got it started by creating one of myself.  We will be doing some major weeding of the collection to make room for possible library “modifications.”  We are moving forward with our library liaison program with each of the departments.  I am not sure how that will go, but it’s definitely a worthwhile experiment.  I hope to complete scanning all of the Modulus yearbooks and finally be done with that.  That all depends on how many hours my student worker can work.  There are about 15 more books to do.  I will evaluating some EBSCO products.  I am about to submit a final draft of an ASEE conference paper that has been “accepted pending changes.”  I have to help plan for the IOLUG (Indiana Online Users Group) spring meeting.  I will be presenting on using mobile devices to access commercial databases.  I am getting an iPhone tomorrow to begin planning for that.  I will also have to plan for the ASEE conference in June.  And of course, I will have to continue to update those AtoZ records.  OK, now I’ve scared the crap out of myself writing all that down.  Time get to work.  CHOP CHOP!

TONIGHT: PBS FrontLine: Digital Nation

This looks like an excellent program on how the digital world and the real world converge.  Looks like it will be a great program; don’t miss it!   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/

Nickel & Dimed on Time

http://thisthatotherthing.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/nickel-dimed-on-time
You’ve heard the term Nickel & Dimed regarding money before.  Well, this week I have been nickel & dimed on time.  That is how my week went.  These are the weeks that will try the souls of a small college librarian.  I set an agenda for the week and by Thursday it’s in shambles and my nerves are shot.  Throughout the week, emails flowed in about anything and everything.  Some needed immediate attention, some broke me away from what I was working on.  I was flooded with phone calls by vendors checking up on me to make sure I am satisfied with their service, by vendors asking how  trials to databases were going, trials they set up for me and I wasn’t even aware of, or any number of other types of phone calls.  By Thursday afternoon, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going.

The problem is partly mine for not managing all this incommoding stimuli properly.  My week started out productive and on the right track.  But during all that time, all these little things started creeping in piling up and by Thursday had multiplied like a disease.  So Thursday afternoon, I updated my list of projects being worked on, and created a list things that needed attention.  Today, I addressed those things and moved on.  In order to do that, I had to shut down Outlook and focus on whatever task I was working on.  Now obviously things will come up that need immediate attention.  But what I need to be better about is shutting out the incoming stimuli by shutting down Outlook, ignoring out of state phone calls, and then making time to check it all out and make a list of things to do for a convenient time.  If I can perfect that technique, I shall surely be more successful.  In my previous post on The Small College Librarian – Part 3 – Multitasking, I addressed the negative types of multitasking and task switching.  My focus was on self sabotaging activity like checking email, news websites, etc.  But work related stimuli, managed improperly, can be just as a destructive.

The Small College Librarian – Part 3 – Multitasking

The Small College Librarian – Part 1 – Introduction

The Small College Librarian – Part 2 – So Many Jobs, So Little Time

This brings us to multitasking and task switching.  Working at a small college library with only four staff members, it is unavoidable.  But does it have to control us or can we assert a certain level of control over it?  Let me first start by saying that if you want a job where you can start one project or task and continue on that task undisturbed until it is complete, then this is not the job for you.  In fact, there are very few professional jobs that can say that.  But for librarians, this can be downright daunting if not handled properly.  First, even at times when you are completely zoned in on a project and an able to block out thoughts of other projects, the inevitable distractions such as a phone call or a student needing reference assistance will disrupt that progress.  A second type of challenge is one where you may have multiple projects in the works that may tempt you to drift off to one of these projects because you feel a sense of urgency.  The third type is the most destructive and that is multitasking when you do not have to.  This would include bouncing from a project to checking email, to checking news websites or RSS feeds, or whatever shiny object out there that catches your attention.  The third type is also the most avoidable.

What comes with the territory?
•    Being responsible for the job of several librarians (reference, library instruction, collection development, electronic resource management, etc).
•    Disruptions (from library staff, students, faculty, vendors)
•    Working on professional development / self education with very little time to do so

The self sabotage activities that can be avoided or managed
•    Excessive task switching
•    Checking email too often or allowing Outlook’s notifications draw your attention
•    Checking various sites throughout the day (news websites, facebook,  twitter, etc.
•    Electronic devices such as cell phones, pda, etc.
•    Spending too much time on any one major area of your job

I am not an expert on the benefits or the perils of multitasking, but I have learned a few things.
First, it is important to set goals and objectives for yourself, both professionally and with what you are doing for your organization.  Without a clear path as to where you want to be in a month, year, two years or longer, you will find yourself bouncing from one uncompleted project to another or end up with a series of unrelated projects that do not add up to much.  These goals and objectives should be in line with the goals and objectives of your library.
Second, devise a time management strategy that will allow you to divide up your time in such a way that each area will gain the proper amount of attention.  Some areas will require more time than others.  Be flexible and be willing to make adjustments as you go along.  Be mindful of areas that are easy to neglect and schedule time for them.  For instance, collection development can be an easy target to keep pushing down the priority chain to the point of where it never gets done.  This kind of mistake will catch up with you soon or later.  Also, be willing to delegate work to others if you are in a position to do so.  You should make lists on what you want to accomplish over periods of time such as per month, per week, and per day.  It’s OK to plan more than what is possible to accomplish, but be reasonable in what you can expect to do, prioritize your activities and don’t stress about what you were not able to accomplish as long as it’s a lower priority.

Third, your time management schedule should reflect two things, 1) the times of day when you have long stretches of time where you are not usually interrupted, and 2) the times of day that your mind is at its sharpest.  If you are sharp in the morning, then that might be a good time to work on that grant proposal which requires high cognitive and analytical skills.  If you are more tired in the afternoon and your mind wanders, that might be a good time to do some cataloguing.  The key is to maximize your time based on the flow of your work day and your body cycles.

One of the trickiest parts of balancing multiple projects is that often times we are unable to move on something because we are awaiting information from others such as call backs, email responses, or others to contribute their part of a job.  Don’t obsess too much over this, but keep these loose ends on your radar and schedule times to follow up.  Make use of something like Outlook’s calendar and set alerts to follow up on a bunch of loose ends at specific times.

Forth, AVOID TIME WASTERS. It should go without saying that work time should be used for work related activity only.  But in the digital world, which is where librarians spend most of their time, the lines between the professional and person can blur.  Who can say they have never checked or responded to personal email while at work?  Who can say they have never looked at a news website or checked in on a social networking website while at work?  I would guess very few of us.  But this could be a deal breaker when it comes to accomplishing goals or not accomplishing them.  Not only does outside activity take time to do, but the task switching involved can derail a project being worked on or it can derail an entire day.  Studies have shown that this type of multitasking and task switching saps our ability to do any one particular job well.  It also slows us down.  If you are working on updating catalog records while also listening to the news, responding to incoming emails as they arrive, or checking your twitter feeds, your cataloging activity will go much slower and you will be more likely to make mistakes.  Self control over time management and avoiding self-sabotaging is important.   It is also important to not allow technology to control us.  If you need to have Outlook open for calendar reminders or quick access to contacts, set the email reminders to minimal setting so they are not constantly popping up notifications and beeping at you every time a new email comes in.  If shutting it down completely at times is an option, than that can help as well.  Likewise, if you are someone who gets numerous personal phone calls or text messages throughout the day, try to minimize those distractions as well.

Finally, flexibility is not only a virtue, it’s a necessity.  Be aggressive in your goals, but go easy on yourself.  Remember that you are not working at a large university and are not expected to be a specialist.  Depending on how thinly your staff is stretched, you may not be able to tackle every task or part of your job at the highest level that you would like.  A day with high reference demand may derail your day’s goal to accomplish a particular task such as updating catalog records.  But remember that it is our user community that we are there to serve and should be our number one priority.  Take pride in a good days work.  Then at the end of the day, go home, leave the job behind, and enjoy your personal life.

Multitasking is the brain seeking novelty

There is multitasking and there multitasking!  The former is what I do throughout the day, balancing various duties that must be done, website updates, reference assistance, library instruction, resource evaluation, etc.  I can’t do all of my duties every day, that would be impossible.  So I try to focus on specific ones and occasionally I get pulled away to attend to something unplanned such as a database bill that needs to be paid, or answer a phone call by a vendor.  The latter form of multitasking I am referring to is the dangerous kind.  It’s the kind that will pull me in several different directions, or as some have called “task switching.”  It’s checking email every few minutes or updates on my favorite news website when I am working on updating EBSCO AtoZ records or creating a LibGuide.  It’s having my phone attached to me all day buzzing me about appointments coming up, or text messages from friends, and phone calls from anyone and everyone.  It’s the kind of thing that can completely destroy my agenda for a week, month, or year if I don’t keep it in check.  I read a fascinating blog post today by a neuroscientist who suggests that multitasking and our attachment to our smart phone and other forms of technology has much to do with the brain’s craving for novelty.  He says that dopamine is more of a “gimme more” neurotransmitter than it is a “feel good” neurotransmitter like many believe.  It is like an addictive drug that keeps us coming back for more.  Furthermore, he states that like drug cravings, we can lessen that impulse to keep going back to these various stimuli by giving ourselves little vacations from them, thus allowing us to go back to living a “normal life.”  I often find myself needing to do this.  I will shut down Outlook for a good portion of the day to avoid distractions.  Or I may shut my cell phone off while at home and keep the computer off for several evenings so that I can simply “be home” and enjoy it.  I highly recommend reading the article for further information.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-poldrack/multitasking-the-brain-se_b_334674.html

But I would like to reflect for a moment on attractions to Web 2.0 technologies.  Having jumped headlong into Library 2.0 implementation for my library in the past year, I have found myself constantly experimenting with different platforms.  I find that I get excited about something different and use it extensively, then I move onto something else.  For me, it has become somewhat of a drug.  Some technologies have stuck while some I have let fall by the wayside.  I think what is important is to stay focused on a set of goals and objective and apply these tools as a means to accomplish these goals and not a means in themselves. I am very interested in hearing from other librarians, especially Web 2.0 junkies like myself, who may have some thoughts on this topic.