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I *love* this idea - and had to share it with you!
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Clipboard Project Management
By Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD
My friend and frequent co-author David Brunsma is the most productive person I know, a great parent, and always generous in pulling me out of my sinking feeling. Several years ago, he shared with me his strategy (the BRQ) for organizing research and writing projects during mid-semester craziness.
The BRQ is a visual flow chart of research and writing projects. The system is simple and requires only a free wall space, a bulletin board, and 6-10 "bulldog clips" (they look like the clips at the top of a clip board). David hung a huge bulletin board on the wall in his office. Next he printed the numbers 1 - 9 and tacked them up in order with one nail below each number. On the nail, he hung all materials related to a specific research project by a single bulldog clip.
On the front of each clipped packet, he placed a cover sheet outlining the tasks that needed to be done to complete the project and its due date (in large bold print).
What I love about this system is that it FORCES ME TO:
I was able to finish by mapping my first three projects onto my calendar for this week.
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Clipboard Project Management
By Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD
My friend and frequent co-author David Brunsma is the most productive person I know, a great parent, and always generous in pulling me out of my sinking feeling. Several years ago, he shared with me his strategy (the BRQ) for organizing research and writing projects during mid-semester craziness.
The BRQ is a visual flow chart of research and writing projects. The system is simple and requires only a free wall space, a bulletin board, and 6-10 "bulldog clips" (they look like the clips at the top of a clip board). David hung a huge bulletin board on the wall in his office. Next he printed the numbers 1 - 9 and tacked them up in order with one nail below each number. On the nail, he hung all materials related to a specific research project by a single bulldog clip.
On the front of each clipped packet, he placed a cover sheet outlining the tasks that needed to be done to complete the project and its due date (in large bold print).
What I love about this system is that it FORCES ME TO:
- gather all the paperwork related to a project in one place,
- get the paperwork off of my floor/desk/chair/etc...
- break my projects down into smaller series of tasks
- physically prioritize the projects in a queue from most important to least important.
- face the reality of everything I have to do each time I walk in the room, and
- say "NO" to every extra request that crosses my path because it's clear I have no extra time!
I was able to finish by mapping my first three projects onto my calendar for this week.