Strategic planning is a major theme at AACRAO. We advocate for institutional strategic planning, we offer classes and training in it, and we focus an entire conference around it.
But what about strategic doing?
On an individual level, strategic doing is about being more deliberate with your time, improving your personal productivity and efficiency in order to make the most of your work time — which will help you be able to truly enjoy your leisure time.
With so many members working from home, strategic time management may be the single most important skill any of us can hone right now. And in a recent episode of the AACRAO podcast For the Record, host Doug McKenna spoke with Heather Abbott,
Deputy Registrar, Yale Law School, about her personal research into strategies for improving time management at work.
“There isn’t only one way to work efficiently and productively,” McKenna said. “Each of us operates within a different work environment or culture, and each of us responds to different approaches differently.”
McKenna recommends experimenting to find what works best for you, and letting go of productivity methods that aren’t working for you.
In the episode, McKenna and Abbott talk tried-and-true strategies and technology tools, including:
Productivity:
Getting Things Done (via Toodledo)
Eisenhower Matrix (via Todoist)
Designing Your Life
Laura Vanderkam Before Breakfast podcast
Tools for Focusing:
Pomodoro method (via LifeHacker)
Strict Workflow
Forest
Building Habits:
Habitica
The Power of Habit
The Checklist Manifesto
Procrastination:
Swallow the frog
The Now Habit
Using Technology Thoughtfully:
Hurry Slowly podcast
Infomagical
Privacy Paradox
Honorable mentions:
Evernote
Asana
Trello
Confluence
Todoist
Workflowy
Remember the Milk
Meanwhile episode on A people (give you energy) and B people (drain your energy)
AirTable
The Sunday Meeting and Zero Inbox via
Kerry Ann Rockquemore
After action reviews via Mindtools or Toggl
Listen to their full conversation here.