Focus

My life is pretty busy, and to make it worse I tend to get interested in new things and lose interest in things pretty frequently. Focus, or lack of focus, is a big problem for me.

As I mentioned in my report card post I got a lot done last year. While I am pretty happy about that, I also get the feeling a lot of it was quite shallow. Some of it was okay, but not exactly legacy work.

This year will be different. I am going to consciously do less work, but make it count for more. To do more meaningful work, and to say no to more things. I am going to focus.

Wish me luck!

10 Jan 2011, 1:21pm
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Happy New Year (get the feeling this is a bit too late, but never mind)

How is your 2011 going so far?

I’m pretty happy, but then again I have only spent a couple of days at work so far, so we’ll see if that continues 🙂

I am hoping to make 2011 the year of balance and focus, to spend less time working but make it count for more.

What are your goals for the next twelve months?

Annual Review

I’ve been doing an annual review of the year, as well as looking ahead to 2011, and it’s been incredibly useful.

I’ve managed to do both much more, and much less, than I thought. Here is the 30-second report card:

  • (A+) presentations and general exposure a big win: I presented a LOT this year, and really enjoyed meeting people at conferences all over Japan. Hoping to continue that next year
  • (A) Cambridge English a solid satisfactory: we grew about 50% and greatly improved our programs
  • (B) university work went well: my classes need work but are improving
  • (B-) I completed all my MA assignments for the year, albeit at the bare minimum level
  • (C) I did not write nearly enough, and didn’t manage to finish a couple of really interesting projects
  • (D) my work/life balance is still completely out of whack, although I did manage to start watching my diet/exercising

How was your year? More importantly, what can it tell you about how to approach 2011?

Best practice in teaching (are we doing enough?)

A great TED talk, courtesy of Marcos Benevides’ blog.

Power Seminar in Nagoya

I went to the latest Power Seminar in Nagoya last Sunday. It was a really long day (10-19:30) and studying for so long with short breaks really took its toll, but I really enjoyed the day and got a lot out of it. There were four presenters, each presenting for 90-120 minutes on their area of expertise.

Kim Horne, on Creating a Culture of Character in the Classroom;
Kaj Schwermer, on Teaching Children with Games and Activities;
Jeffrey Scott, on Dramaturgy and the Art of Classroom Management;
and Peter Warner, on The Four Stages of the English Alphabetic Code.

Overall, it was a great and well-organised event, and well worth the time and money.

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