Reflection 391

Natahsha Prakash
LSBA Tutorial II Self-Submission
April 27, 2014
J. Fall

Over the past four months, I have been working with a Computer Science professor, J. Fall, for my tutorial. The project started out as a something to look specifically at procrastination and technology, but start to shift into how we can have a positive and productive relationship with technology. My main graduation project is focused on how to make an environment, school or work, more productive. With the increasing use of technology - it was important to explore that positive element. The final result of my tutorial did shift the gears, as my attention turned from procrastination and time management into tangible productivity habits that are aided by new technology.

The bulk of my project is delivered through my blog, Uber Productivity.  I first started out looking at productivity articles that referenced bad habits, good indicators of productivity, and even changing the view so social media can be seen as a productive instrument. I discovered that the original goal of looking for specific procrastination triggers were vague and that very little was available in terms of positive relationships with technology. This allowed me to accept a challenge to discover something that isn't highly publicized. While apps are constantly throwing productivity adverts to us on a daily basis, that doesn't fix the problem - there's something bigger and I wanted to explore that opportunity.

A month after I started the course, I was on the website SkillShare where I happened to stumble upon the course 'Get Stuff Done Like a Boss: Design Your Workflow and Double Your Productivity in 21 Days' by workflow designer Tiago Forte.  The course highlighted common problems associated with productivity and how technological tools can be used to create productive work habits. The course was divided into 5 phases, and after each one I wrote a blog post to reflect on the challenges, progress, and my experience with resources.

The final section of my tutorial was to provide a workshop on my findings and to provide a resource to workshop participants. However, after feedback from students and the timing of the semester with other large university events/problems - I decided to opt away from that and to integrate those recommendations into my existing tutorial blog. With this change, I was able to go back into my posts - adding resources, elaborating on experience and providing examples so readers could 'Follow' me on my productivity/workflow designing journey. Each post allows for reflection and opinion, and as a whole the blog shows growth. The structure of the posts allow for readers to understand the basics of the concepts, as they embark on their workflows. As that development occurred, I decided to create a 'Resources' section of my blog, providing a link to online courses, application recommendations, articles, and infographics.

While my vision changed, I really enjoyed the process for my first (technically second) tutorial. The more I was able to explore, and the more I was critical to the idea of social media being a positive thing - I was able to move into a narrower scope for this tutorial. By the end I was able to accomplish more than I intended, which has given me the ability to be more 'narrowly focused' on my upcoming tutorials as I look to Communications for the concept of 'Happy People are Happy Workers,' and for Psychology, researching into the psychology of colour and the impacts of design on productivity.