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As some of you know, I help manage the computer labs at the Blacksburg New School. This year, the school has an addition and with it a new computer lab. The original lab has Windows XP but practially all the software used is open source (we don't have enough money to be paying for software/hardware). When the new space became available, we started looking on how to set things up. This describes our current setup, which honestly, is very sweet.

After many attempts at learning different methods of being productive and organized, I have come to a simple conclusion. There is only one way to avoid having your to do list always expand like your weight after visiting a doughnut shop. More after the jump.

Most of the time we waste with computers, aside from playing games and watching movies, is wasted because we don't manage effectively our attentional resources. I am convinced that we have to make extra efforts in configuring our computer in such a way so that it doesn't distract us, doesn't call attention to things that can wait until the time is appropriate for us to act on it.

Lots of activity around Twitter and my life lately. As some of you know, I used Twitter in my graduate course last semester and I think it was a total success. Then, someone nominated me for a XCaliber award (ok, I nominated myself), then FDI asked me to give a presentation about how I use Web 2.0 in the classroom, and now the Chronicle of Higher Education is recruiting professors that use Twitter for an article. Guess it time to wake up, Twitter has arrived in academia.

A few years ago I had the fortune to work with a group of young professors that were the most honest, hard working, intelligent, and caring group of people I have ever met. One of the greatest learning experiences from those days was the concept of "negative work." One of these professors rose quickly up the academic ladder and within weeks of being at an administrative position he confided with me his theory of negative work.

Most of my students know that I am a fan and practitioner of David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology. I use OminGroup's OmniFocus to keep my day organized. What most don't know is that even with a methodology and a tool to support it, there are still lots of things that must be tweaked to make it work for you.