I am tasked with spending some time thinking about what being more intentional in two or three areas looks like to me and the impact it will have on me being a leader. I decided to do some Googling to get my brain thinking about what being intentional is. The first thing I noticed was that being intentional was a popular concept related to the New Year. There were numerous articles on it! The first article I read was written by a mom with three children. In it she talks about being intentional from a “family life” view point but the concepts are the same: limit your scope; develop a detailed plan; get support from those around you; and most importantly don’t let one slip up derail you. In this article she creates a detailed chore list. She limits her scope to “small chores” but they have a big impact. It is all those little things that drag her down and make her feel overwhelmed. She comments, “if life makes sense, I am more likely to engage with real people and feel like living!” How can I apply this to my work life? Well for starters I think I will adapt her chore chart at my home. As she says if I feel more efficient at home and don’t have all these “small chores” weighing me down I imagine it will also make me more efficient at my job . It also reminds me of something I read in a Harvard Business Review Book about getting the right things done. I’ve since lost track of the book but I remember the idea of taking 15 minutes every morning, creating a list and picking things to get done. I think that is one practice I will start in the New Year.

I really like the definition I found in the second article I read, “Intentional living is about knowing why you do what you do and why you don’t do what you don’t do”. This fits nicely with the concept of learning to say no and to say yes to the right things. I’ve been in my new job for over a year now. I think it is time for me to reflect on the work that I am doing, what I am passionate about and why I do what I do.The author goes on to say, “Intentional living is about being willing to take a step back and evaluate the things you are doing”.  Today is my quarterly think about three things I want to accomplish time.

Something I’ve been wanting to learn for awhile is how to use OneNote. I am going to think about how I can use One Note to be more intentional and accomplish my three goals. I think three things I want to accomplish over the next quarter are:

1) Learning to use One Note and using it effectively

2) Writing a paper for publication

3) Creating a strategy to connect with high schools in relation to our MOOC