Dear readers, it is a gloomy Wednesday morning here, so I thought we could all use a little inspiration for getting things done (especially as tomorrow is a holiday). With that in mind, I have a very short post on productivity, ending with an awesome video (courtesy of Hanna who wonderfully alerted me to its presence).

Do like Post-it notes? I happen to love them, as can be easily deduced from a quick look around my office. It should come as no surprise that I’m quite partial to this article, “If it won’t fit on a post-it, It Won’t Fit in Your Day” on managing your to-do list and getting things done. This is especially helpful for those of us who try to cram way too much into one day and feel a bit stressed when we don’t accomplish the 23rd item on our task list for the day. So say it with me, “Post-it to-do lists for the win!”

One of my favorite non-library blogs is WebWorkerDaily. I highly recommend subscribing to the feed if you don’t already. One of the recent posts is especially pertinent to any discussion about productivity: Top 3 Productivity Pitfalls Disguised as Work-Boosting Tools. I know for those among us that love what we do (and are probably slightly Type A by nature) could definitely do with taking at least some time off on the weekends from work. Give yourself permission to relax a bit and you’ll probably be more productive when you get back to work. Another tip: get over the myth of multi-tasking and just focus on one task at a time–you’ll get your work done faster.

Finally, not a tip on productivity, but just basic inspiration, check out John’s blog post over at Ink and Vellum on Getting back into Research Mode. (And, by the way, isn’t that a great name for a blog?) It’s a lovely post on the transitions John’s made from researching in the humanities to researching in the LIS field and a great read for those of us who are constantly researching and writing in this profession. And personally, I can definitely relate to needing to change my perceptions of research and translate my research skills when I began in the LIS/archives field; however, I came from a biological sciences background and not the humanities. Luckily, our field and profession is so interdisciplinary and broad that I think it is only strengthened by those of us coming from non-social science backgrounds who have chosen to apply our research skills to LIS/archival research.

Feel inspired to get up, get your Post-it to-do list finished, and start a research project? Or do you just really want that third cup of coffee? No worries, either way, let’s end with this fantastic trailer from TRON Legacy:

Have a great rest of your week and I’ll be back on Friday with some technology fun for the library.