Tag: productivity

  • Of Project Managers and Academic Work

    No sooner had I realised that a doctoral degree had a lot of work than I decided to go into the strange land of project managers. I obviously did not know what counted as a good one. So I gave a few things a good try. Here goes my grand evaluation of apps and websites:

    Trello was my first attempt. I had tried it before and thought that it was one of those neat Kanban things that simply work well. Alas, it was a little too neat. I am one of those people who does need a lot more motivation. And while Trello works for a lot of people, I simply started creating cards and re-organizing them to suit my procrastinating. I did not get a lot done. My issue with Trello is that it lets you customize innumerable number of cards and keeping track of them, while adding tasks and lists and descriptions just becomes too tedious. Also, because of the neat Kanban system, it does not tell me, “WORK ON THIS FIRST, YOU DUMMY!” I realised I needed something waaay more simple… which is nice because on 14th Nov, The Verge said,

    Basecamp has a free version now.

    Basecamp made things a lot simpler. One can create To-Do lists that independently work [I often use lists like, “Reading List November” or “Reading List December”]. But what has worked for me is the limitation of things. Basecamp Personal lets you start only three projects, so there is some amount of focus that one needs. It also prompts you questions that you can customize; I have decided that I need a very basic “What are you going to do this week?”-sort of question because I get a bit lazy without stuff like that. It also has a dedicated tab for Files and Documents which is neat. Most of all, Basecamp’s site design has definitely played its part in convincing me. I have felt good about this for the last week.

    And while online things are fine, I do appreciate a good paper version of everything. The Moleskine Pro Notebook has seemed like a good idea for that. Since I will have many “projects” and tasks in my head, keeping a notebook that is separate from my other notes (German notes, notes notes, etc.) and only dedicated to research stuff has made me feel more confident that I will be able to manage my workload. It has numbered pages and to-do sections which makes my project look/seem way more organized than it is in my head anyway.

    I am curious about what do academics really use to manage projects and tasks… Turns out quite a few people use Trello. But for now, Trello has become something I use only because it is easy to create a page where everyone can contribute to a list of events, CfPs, et al. I am less certain of its productivity quotient.

    Now for the recommendations:

    Podcast

    Long Read: How liberalism became ‘the god that failed’ in eastern Europe

  • Choosing a Notes app

    This year (2019) was supposed to be a year of action. I wanted to do things. Not that I was not doing things before but this year just happens to be one of those years when things could make or break. And to make myself more productive, I took the whole thing head-on. I had to write more. From writing proposals, to writing papers, to simply keeping track of my own weekly to-dos, this year I decided to use all the things I could to become more of a writing creature. Given the magnitude of the task, the right tool was required. No more Google Keep and OneNote. Evernote lost my trust after all the security breaches (the most recent one in June 2019) and their odd updates since last year. So here are the apps/tools I used and an evaluation of the things after almost 7 months of 2019:

    NOTION

    I started using Notion last year when I saw their gorgeous website. While I started to work/note/do everything in the Notion app, I realised that it was too much of a hassle. I mean, I am sure Notion works like a charm for some people and I understand why: it is customizable, it includes Kanban, Calendar, Notes and literally every thing you might want to extract out of it. And that – I found – was also the problem. The truth is, when I am writing, I just want to write. And this led me to two different apps…

    STANDARD NOTES

    I love Standard Notes. I love the fact that they are pro-privacy and that if you are not a “PRO” user, you do not get a lesser app. You – in fact – receive an app which is just as secure and simple to use. I have – however – upgraded my app to an Extended User account but that is because I find the app’s convenience and malleability not a distraction. On the contrary, this app is one of the best and most secure apps I have ever used.

    WRITEMONKEY

    Writemonkey is Standard Notes’ more quirky cousin. Writemonkey is the app I use when I just have to write. The app has additions like “sound effects” and has many many good extensions. And I find the full screen effect calming almost. This app lets you set Pomodoro timing slots. I could go on. Basically, if Standard Notes is the app I use to make everything searchable and to file my notes for a seminar, Writemonkey is the notes app I use for writing a piece of fiction.

    … and the one I have found myself using a lot surprisingly,

    NOTEPAD

    There is nothing more simple than writing your ToDo list in a .txt file on your desktop and updating it every day or week. The idea came from an academic saying on a blog I follow that he simply uses a Word doc. to list his goals and track his writing/research. Since then, I thought, why not make it simpler? If there is one Notes app that has helped me get organized this year, this would be this one. Just the simplicity of it is amazing.