Organizational/Productivity Problems in Grad School

[entangled]

Hello, 

 

I am looking to create a series of videos for productivity/organizational tips using Evernote. If you are unfamiliar with Evernote, it is a free, cross-platform app. It is MASSIVELY powerful and flexible. It has been a trememdous help for me in my organization and productivity as a grad student and an academic.

 

Throughout my research and experimentation, I think I have come up with a pretty good SYSTEM, and how to incorporate Evernote, alongside some other free tools, to be productive and organized. 

 

Most of the tips/help that I've come across will share specific features of various tools and softwares. I find that to be unhelpful at times because tools are useless if one does not have a way of using them properly. So I want to take a problem-focused approach where rather than focusing on what Evernote CAN do, I want to focus on what problems YOU have, and how Evernote can solve them.

 

I also think identifying problems and ways to optimize productivity is the first step in creating any system to make life easier. So if you have never actually sat down to think about where/how you can improve organization/productivity as an academic, this may be a good exercise regardless. 

 

Here some prompts to generate response... and feel free to comment more specific details on where you feel unorganized in your work and/or life as a graduate student

 

"I wish I had a better system for ___"

"I wish ___ was more organized "

"I wish I could find ____ better"

"I wish I could remember ____ better"

"I wish I could track ____ better"

"I wish all my ___ was in a central location"

"I wish doing ___ was simpler"

... and so on

 

Let me know what problems you face, and what things you wish you could improve on organizational/productivity wise. 

 

Thanks!

[sharonnyc]

Great idea!  I like evernote but one of my biggest problems that I haven't figured out a good way for evernote to help me with is things I am waiting for other people on.  Sometimes I send an email to someone to deal with something and I haven't come up with a good "tickler" system to ensure I follow up if I don't get a response.