Social media has moved way past something only tech early adopters, or “the kids today,” are using. These tools are quick and easy ways everyone can find out what is going on in your communities (the profession, your organization, your school, your town, the library community you serve, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans…we’re not judging).
But you want to be sure you are not wasting your time on it. Social media does not generally have associated financial costs, but for most library people time is your most valuable resource. And, you want to be sure you are not violating any rules of your parent organization (town, university, school, corporation, etc.). Continue reading Getting Started with Social Media!→
Interested in continuing education? Do you work with kids, and want to build skills? At CMLE, we support that! So we are passing on this survey to you. Take a couple of minutes to fill it out (no need to be a member), and share your ideas with the profession!
From the Association for Library Service to Children:
The ALSC Education Committee invites your feedback on how ALSC’s online continuing education programs can best support you and your professional goals.
Please consider taking a few minutes to contribute to the 2017 ALSC Continuing Education Needs Assessment survey. Responses are requested by February 24, 2017. The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/17CEneeds.
We know December is still several weeks away, but it is such a busy time of year, we wanted to let you know about this event so you can mark your calendars now!
We decided to make the Monthly Topic for December Stress Management. This is because the end of the year can be a stressful time in libraries. There is so much going on, and everyone else is busy and stressed so they are not helping to calm things down!
But this is not just a seasonal issue. Mary’s research into stress in libraries has shown there is a LOT of stress happening in libraries all over the place – probably including yours! Library people have been embarrassed to admit being stressed at work, even though we have plenty of stressors – but it has not been discussed often enough.
So in this seminar we will look at some common stressors in libraries, and identify some strategies for addressing them. And we will work through some skills for personal relaxation, to help us survive the end of the year chaos, then take our new skills of stress management into the new year!
We will offer this seminar twice in-person on Tuesday, December 6: from noon to 1:30, and again from 4:30 to 6:00. You are invited to attend either in-person session (they are identical). Feel free to bring your food! We will provide beverages. Web material will be available for members unable to attend.
Have you ever started a job and had no idea what you were supposed to do? Have you tried to hire someone, and realized you have no good direction on where to start finding a qualified replacement?
Where are the pens kept? How do you file a report? Who does the scheduling? When everything is new and different, even the most basic things are a challenge. And when an employee is trying to get through the basics, s/he is not focusing in on getting to the important parts of the job.
Every job should have some level of succession planning in place. Employees may move, get promoted, or abruptly depart from their jobs for all kinds of reasons, either permanently or temporarily. Having some basic procedures to help the next person will make the transition easier on everyone. For most jobs in the library this can be fairly minimal. It is a good idea to have everyone make some notes about their work and the things they do each day, each week, or annually. (Sometimes this request stirs up fears in employees that they are going to be replaced. Managers: be quick to reassure them this is not the case!) These will be useful if an employee has to be out of work for a couple of weeks, or if they win the lottery and depart without notice. (Who could blame them??) Continue reading Planning for your successor (Hiring series #4)→
“Work simply. Live fully.” This week CMLE focuses on the following work productivity tip from Work Simply, Carson Tate’s popular book. At CMLE, we’ve boiled down Tate’s wealth of knowledge from Work Simply to a few key points; please see the book for more detail and resources. At the bottom, see links to earlier tips in the series! Let’s all be our best selves….
This week’s activity: Consolidate your to-do lists into one Master Task List
To get all your to-dos in one place, first you need to perform a “brain dump,” in which you think about everything you need to get done, both at work and in your personal life. In Work Simply, Carson Tate describes this process as “Turning your brain upside down and emptying its contents.” Then, if you have noticed that your list contains more projects than simple tasks, work to create attainable next steps that aren’t so overwhelming. Finally, keep this list in one place for easy and constant reference.
Recently, you discovered your Productivity Style with a simple assessment.
Find your Productivity Style for some personalized tools to manage your Master List:
Prioritizer: Try using ruled or lined paper. Some apps that may be useful to you include iDoneThis, which sends out e-mail reminders asking what tasks you have completed.
Planner: You may like using calendars, or Outlook’s task manager. Also try out Wunderlist, an app that allows you to keep all your to-dos in one place, and includes due dates and reminders.
Arranger: Try using Stickies, or the app Carrot, which takes a to-do list to the next level – earn points for completing tasks and get praised (or scolded!) for how many tasks you complete.
Visualizer: Whiteboards or unlined notebooks may work well for you, or try Personal Brain, a mind-mapping tool that works on both PCs and Macs, which links ideas, documents, and sites based on the way you think.
Social media has moved way past something only tech early adopters, or “the kids today,” are using. These tools are quick and easy ways everyone can find out what is going on in your communities (the profession, your organization, your school, your town, the library community you serve, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans…we’re not judging).
