It’s not QUITE back to school season, but depending on where you live, it may be closer than you think! In today’s episode, I interview Sarah McConnell, a professor of anatomy and histology for undergrads, graduate students and med students. Professor Sarah McConnell shares own current planner peace lineup and functional system, and then provides some fantastic tips for others in academic, from using templates to leaving helpful breadcrumbs so that each year builds on past experience without friction.
Planner Sarah mentions: Proaction Planner
BLP Review of Proaction Planner
Professor Sarah can be found at LInkedIn here and has graciously agreed to answer any questions!
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6 Comments
I’ve also run into frustration wanting to use templates in Outlook. I got around this by making different signatures, each one a different template. Then you just insert whichever one fits the message.
I was wondering if instead of a list of stuff to grab going out the door, would it make sense to have a bag with stuff Sarah M need to go out the door (laser pointer, duplicate water bottle, pens, etc) so she’s grabbing the bag and laptop? Sometimes having duplicates (water bottle for desk, home, and lecture bag) can be really helpful to avoid having to remember to grab all the things.
ooh yes another great option!!
Really enjoyed this one, lots of great ideas thanks!
Thinking about protocols and breadcrumbs… I have a technical task I only do once a year. To help me remember, I both schedule it a year out every year when I complete it and I copy the instructions into the meeting/event. This saves so much time the next year!
Especially as a teacher, I loved this episode and how realistic Sarah’s ideas are (like with the Pomodoro technique being applied to our own attention spans, not just following it to a T).
Sarah M. – I’d love to see a visual of your lecture tracking spreadsheet. I teach the same lessons each year (and twice a day to my two sets of fifth grade homerooms), so I’d love to do something like this to track notes on each class, reflections, and things to remember for the next year. If there’s a way to share a visual, I would so appreciate it! Thanks!