the encouragement lounge: August 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Solving your own computer problems -- getting unstuck

Many of my friends and colleagues become quickly paralyzed when it comes to solving problems on the computer. Whether the problem is a forgotten password or difficulty formatting a document, many of us quickly feel blocked and unable to move forward. This is no surprise as most of us did not grow up with computers and nobody ever taught us how to solve these problems.

Having worked at a technical university for awhile and being married to a geek (!!!), I have learned a number of steps that one can take to solve these sorts of problems. In order to share these steps with friends and colleagues, I wrote them out, and then a colleague at Carlow made an infographic. If you tend to get stuck while working on the computer, check out this help sheet:

Problems-solving steps for minor computer problems

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Productivity strategies

I love thinking about productivity strategies. What steps can we take, what approaches can we implement, what habits can we strive to develop, that will help us be more productive?

Natalie Houston, associate professor of English at the University of Houston, offers her five rules for maintaining a productive routine:

My Productivity Rules

What strategies do you use to increase and maintain your productivity?

Cheering you on in your work.
Harriet

Photo by HLS

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Hello and welcome! Or welcome back!

After taking the summer to work on a journal article and a few other projects (and to take some much-needed time off), I'm back to the encouragement lounge! Watch for posts 1-3 times per week. Please email me at harrietschwartz14@gmail.com if you have questions or ideas for a future post.

More soon,
Harriet

Photo by HLS of Bob's sweet ride

Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.