The start of a new academic year can be another time of resolutions and new beginnings. Students and working professionals alike can get a charge from the fresh energy. Some of us recommit ourselves to staying on top of tasks and projects and getting our calendar together. Some of us need our paper calendars and notebooks, and others rely on digital tools to keep organized. Luckily, the library has shelves full of books that can help you learn new habits, create a productivity workflow and find tools that not only suit you but support you with all the things you need to do.
David Allen is a known entity in the business and productivity world, and his book Getting Things Done is a classic. He and co-author Edward Lamont recently published a new book called Team: Getting Things Done with Others, with a pick-and-choose format for readers to identify the stumbling blocks they encounter when working with others. The book also offers solutions and workflows to help a team achieve goals better — from delegating tasks and identifying the purpose of projects to finding the best ways to communicate and be an effective team leader. It segues beautifully for those who are already using the GTD (getting things done) system.
YouTuber and productivity specialist Tiago Forte also has a few books, including The PARA Method: Simplify, Organize, and Master Your Digital Life. It’s a short and sweet read, describing Forte’s system for how to organize all the information you gather on and offline. Forte wants people to be able to act on the information and utilize it in helpful ways, focusing on the things that matter. If you struggle with organizing your computer files and other digital notes and media in ways that enable you to find what you need when you need it, the PARA Method may be a good option to learn.
Did you know Marie Kondo of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has a book for work called Joy at Work? If you’ve enjoyed the Konmari method of keeping things that “spark joy,” she provides guidelines for doing that in your work life as well! Tidying up your work desk, your schedule, your digital files and your meetings can go a long way to helping you feel far more in control of your professional life.
If you’re fairly well organized but recognize that you need to better run your life in general, Emily Ballesteros’s Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life is a great resource for those of us in the midst of our careers who maybe need to reassess how we spend our time and what can be done to make our work lives better. There are loads of strategies and good information for professionals of all levels, focusing on what you as the individual can do to better support yourself and manage your stress.
Amanda Ray is a librarian at the Iowa City Public Library, and is a heavy user of to-do apps. This article was originally published in Little Village’s September 2024 issue.
