HOT TOPIC: Working Smarter
Volume 3, Issue 33 - May 6, 2007"In my varied professional roles, peers often ask questions such as “How do you do it all?” and “Don’t you ever sleep?” I am usually caught off-guard and stop short in knowing how to respond without coming off sounding obvious. How do you tell people that it’s not a matter of working longer hours or trying harder to get more done, it’s about using your time and talents efficiently? Starting in the classroom and evolving as a consultant and administrator I learned to work smarter, not harder.
In today’s information-driven world, this concept is more important than ever. Educators are busy enough teaching children. Add to that the inundation of data, news and research that bombards us on a daily basis and we can’t afford to work at a traditional pace. We need to be able to multitask, prioritize, problem solve and produce at rates that were unthinkable forty years ago.
Luckily the Information Age also affords us an ever-changing collection of new tools to help us work efficiently and effectively. Ten years ago we thought word processing, spreadsheets and databases were the answer. Next handheld computing was going to do the trick. Since then, blogging, podcasting and social networking have improved the potential for collaboration across distances. Every time we turn around there seems to be a new generation of tools that supplants the previous set of solutions.
In fact there is currently such a proliferation of new tools that I wanted to dedicate an issue to new digital services that may not have caught your attention. Among this weeks offerings are everything from free video services to free Office-compatible document tools, video-based email, and planning, collaboration and brainstorming tools – all online and all free.
It is my hope that as your school year comes down the homestretch and summer arrives, you will have the time and interest to explore these tools and incorporate them into your work habits as you gear up for the Fall. Don’t wonder why certain colleagues seem to get more done in less time. You can do it too. The key is to work smarter, not harder!"
