The confluence of distraction and a rapid change in today’s digital environment can result in confusion and frustration. We’ll focus on limiting distraction and choosing tools and workflows that will help you do more with less effort. The foundation will be a quick overview of digital productivity patterns (pomodoro, GTD, etc.). From there, we’ll move into successful patterns for getting work done in key workplace applications.

Audience

Faculty who feel like there must be better ways to do things given all the technology we have access to.

Learning Outcomes

• Install extensions in your browser to help reduce distraction and create useful workflows
• Build snippets and organizational patterns in your email application
• Explore web-based workflow builders like IFTTT
• Manipulate text and learn several key shortcuts in your spreadsheet application
• Determine when to use particular applications to your advantage

External Resources

• IFTTT - Connect web-based applications in all kinds of interesting ways
• Life Hacker - A site dedicated to productivity of all types

Presenter: Thomas Woodward, MA, VCU ALTLab