Practice productive procrastination
Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 05:26AM … have a lot of projects going at once so you can bounce between them. When you get sick of one project, move over to another, and when you’re sick of that one, move back to the one you left. Practice productive procrastination. Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative (Workman, 2012)
It's not good manners, I know, but I tend to eat the food on my plate one type at a time. I finish all the potatoes, then all the meat, then all the veggies. Unless, of course, it's hotdish.
But I don't do that with projects.
I always have at least a few projects on my radar. This month, for example, I am working on:
- 3 or 4 blog posts
- two books* (1:1 and libraries; creativity)
- two columns
- a journal article
- five workshops, new and updated
- my 2013 taxes (whoopee)
- reading two books - one for fun, one for professional information
- research on travel to Ethiopia
- other stuff that flits across my mind
I usually work on one project for a while, get tired of it, and move to another one - starting the day with the project I find most challenging. I've always wondered if I should be more focused. Work on something until its finished, then start the next thing.
Now, thanks to Kleon, I know that I am practicing "productive procrastination." It works for me. Keeps me, at least to some degree, away from the lure of Facebook, Twitter, e-mail ...
Should we be encouraging student to practice productive procrastination as well? Should kids be working on math in our English class when they get tired of reading their novel? Could they read that novel during social studies? Are we allowing kids to choose better options than Twitter?
*Actually I can't stand to think about a "book" as a project - I look at book chapters or even sub-chapters as projects. I call it writing a book one blog post at a time.
Reader Comments (3)
Doug,
I completely agree that having multiple projects going makes it easy to switch to another when bored and still feel productive. My question, and it's come up for me day after day after day in my new job as SLMS (first time in this job), is HOW to keep the to-do lists for the tasks/assignments/projects organized. I am struggling with finding time in my job to create/write/prep lesson plans AND catalog/process books AND do book promotion AND collaborate with teachers AND learn the high school research requirements and get ready to teach those, too, AND do a decent job of selecting/deselecting for the library AND compare prices on databases, etc., and the list goes on and on. Today I wanted to add, "Write proposal to present at conference" and I completely came unglued because I don't even know *where* to write that to-do! I have all these files on my desk that I try to shuffle papers and reminder notes into, but then if they get buried (they always do) things slip off the radar. Any advice for a newbie on how to manage the multiple roles as an SLMS in a PK- 12 school?
This is exactly why I loved teaching a special ed self contained class. I taught 4 subjects to my students over 4 periods a day. I would have a weekly assignment sheet with all of their assignments for each subject and each day. This allowed me to individualize the lessons and sometimes students with the same assignment could work as a group. It also allowed students the flexibility to work on the assignment that they wanted to do first. I was able to help students who needed help and those waiting could start on an assignment that didn't require my help. Students remain engaged instead of bored waiting for help. Some students liked to start on the hardest subject for them and get it out of the way. Others liked to do the easiest and leave the hardest for last. Sometimes I could let students who already completed an assignment help others who were working on it. I love having many options throughout the day for myself so why wouldn't I allow my students to have the same flexibility? Thanks for a great post!
Hi Pam,
Here is an old column that explains my view of job prioritization:
http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/how-we-spend-our-days.html
I hope it helps,
Doug
Pat,
You've taken this post to a whole new and useful level for teachers. Thank you!
Doug