Getting Started-Getting Things Done

It's tough being an information systems professor in the 21st century. It's hard to keep up with the technology; it's hard to get things done. I spent 16 years in industry before I became an "academic" (my PhD is in business and I have an MBA) so I keep one eye on what's going on in the "real world" and what's going on in the "ivory tower."

To keep up with the latest research and teaching I visit the ISWorld web site and I'm on the ISWorld list. It's not the answer but it is an answer.

To really get things done is much harder. I read Getting Things Done by David Allen about two years ago, and I've attended his seminar-twice! I was catching up on podcasts yesterday and I heard David say in a interview with Merlin Mann of 43 Folders that it takes TWO YEARS to really get it right, so that was somewhat encouraging.

What's the problem? Or as a woman I used to work with at Equitable Life used to say, "What's the real problem?" We like to blame information overload but really it's analysis paralysis. And believe me I know this first hand-I think of all the psychic energy I waste reading e-mail and trying to figure out "what to do " with the 9 million notes I get each day.

So I'll try to share here how I get anything done-if I do. Here's what I'm trying to get done: prepare for my classes (I teach a freshman introduction to computers and a doctoral introduction to systems analysis and design), co-direct our faculty development center, write a section of a university self-study report with a colleague, work with colleagues to direct our faculty council, edit a paper with a student on doing business in virtual worlds, prepare a presentation for a conference next month-and that's just this week!

Stay tuned, and please, share your survival tips!