Life of E's

Can you be damaged by working in a toxic academic environment? As you’re answering this question, know that by toxic, I don’t mean chemicals, asbestos, and the like. Toxic, as we will use it in this article, is defined as hostile, stress-filled, mean-spirited, cold, exclusionary places. If you have never been to a college or [...]

Tags: Productivity, work, work environment

You will be faced with censorship – if not this week, this month, or this year – then sometime during your teaching career. Depending on what subject or grade level you teach, you may have to deal with an individual concern regarding something in your curriculum or you may have to address an entire semi- [...]

Tags: censorship, challenges, school, Teaching

Sane and sensible people strategically survey a situation before making their choices.  If you have any hope of creating a sane and sensible schedule, you need to survey the situation before putting your schedule together. Once you have surveyed the situation, then you can make choices based on what you see.  Let’s use a metaphor [...]

Tags: calendar, meetings, planner, scheduling, time management, work

Writers love to have techniques that will support their writing. What are your favorite ones? Here are seven of mine. Read about writing. Many writers write eloquently and inspiringly about writing. Runners read about running. Gardeners read about gardening. Teachers read about teaching. Why shouldn’t you read about writing? Put yourself in the most positive space [...]

Tags: Productivity, techniques, tips, writing

Should you pay attention to your spiritual energy? Does that matter when you are trying to keep a positive mental outlook? Here are seven sentence prompts. To take an assessment of what you want to keep and what you want to lose in your life, complete each of the sentence starters. Use as few or [...]

Tags: energy, producitvity, spiritualism

Do you ever spend time worry about the future? Is this the best use of your time and energy resources? Now before I go any further, I want to make “pre-statement” to the rest of what I am going to write so as to provide some context, which (I hope) prevents readers from misunderstanding the [...]

Tags: stress, the future, worrying

No one ever plans to be sick. No one ever thinks he or she will need to cancel class, appointments, or other commitments. But… it happens. Here are ten productive ways to be ready “just in case.” When you record an appointment in your planner (either paper or electronic), include the person’s email address and [...]

Tags: class, college, feeling sick, Professors, Teaching

Productivity is a constant goal of nearly all professionals. And yet… most people are still far from being productive (even if they are VERY BUSY!). Most of us are not looking to be busier, but rather we are looking to be getting more of the right work done. Here are some books that I think [...]

Tags: Books, Productivity, productivity books

Have you ever thought (or experienced) the following scenario (or some semblance of it)?  The places we live and work are sometimes obstacles to our living and working. My office has tissue paper walls – I hear EVERYTHING that goes on around me. There is no privacy and no uninterrupted time. This is often due [...]

Tags: distractions, Productivity, work, work environment

Al Gini noted that the word ‘power’ comes from the Latin posse: to do, to be able, to change, to influence or effect. He says that ‘To have power is to possess the capacity to control or direct change. All forms of leadership must make use of power. The central issue of power in leadership is [...]

Tags: employers, leadership, power