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"15 Habits That Will Totally Transform Your Productivity 1/16 From decluttering your desk to letting yourself complain, these 15 easy behavior changes can change how much you accomplish each day. BY STEPHANIE VOZZA6 MINUTE READ Editor's Note: This article is one of the top 10 Leadership stories of 2015. See the full list here. People who manage to get a lot accomplished each day aren't superhuman; they've just mastered a few simple habits. Some may be easy to guess: Keep your desk organized and aim for around eight hours of sleep a night. But others, like taking a mid-day nap or complaining, might surprise you. Here are 15 easy ways to make every day more productive: 1. DECLUTTER YOUR DESK. MESSY WORK SPACE: Creativity may arise from chaos, but a litter-strewn office probably isn't helping you get stuff done. "Attention is programmed to pick up what's novel," says Josh Davis, director of research at the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Two Awesome Hours. Visible files remind you of unfinished tasks. An unread book is temptation for procrastination. Even if you don't think you're noticing the disorder, it hurts your ability to focus. TIDY WORKSPACE: People with neat offices are more persistent and less frustrated and weary, according to a recent study in Harvard Business Review, which found that a clean desk helps you stick with a task more than one and a half times longer. "While it can be comforting to relax in your mess, a disorganized environment can be a real obstacle," says Grace Chae, a professor at Fox School of Business at Temple University and coauthor of the study. 2. BE PART OF THE 20%. No matter how crazy your days get, make sure you carve out and ruthlessly protect just 90 minutes-20% of an eight-hour day-for the most important tasks. "Even if you squander the remaining 80% of the day, you can still make great progress if you have spent 90 minutes on your goals or priorities," says Charlotte, North Carol

A couple of quick takeaways for me (Michael Wacker) are that it's nice to see professional development called out as something we need, but we really have to get away form the paradigm of thinking it's something we do "to" teachers or is done "to" us.  The other takeaway I have after reading this is around a question I've asked before. If we're truly "blending" our teaching and environment, what does the space look like? How can we professionally develop as teachers to be better prepared to adapt and modify our existing learning spaces to better meet the needs of a flexible, student centric, tech infused learning environment? If shifting the ENTIRE teaching model paradigm upside down is NOT an option, what is? Is this something that needs to be built, modeled, and then iterated? I culled some nuggets from the reading.

""It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life." Streep was referring to Trump's remarks during the campaign, when he appeared to mock New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, which visibly limits the functioning of his joints. "And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing," the actress said."

"Donald Trump's executive order to halt travel from seven Muslim-majority countries - Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia - has provoked a wave of concern and condemnation from international leaders and politicians. A spokesman for Angela Merkel said the German chancellor regretted Trump's decision to ban citizens of certain countries from entering the US, adding that she had "explained" the obligations of the Geneva refugee convention to the new president in a phone call on Saturday. "The chancellor regrets the US government's entry ban against refugees and the citizens of certain countries," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. "She is convinced that the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify a general suspicion against people of a certain origin or a certain religion. "The Geneva refugee convention requires the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds. All signatory states are obligated to do. The German government explained this policy in their call yesterday." Seibert said the German government would examine what consequences the ban would have for German citizens with dual citizenship, and would "represent their interests, if necessary, before our American partners"."

"Drawp for School is the award-winning K-12 workflow management platform with built-in design tools, swipe-to-share collaboration, standards-aligned content and unlimited cloud storage. Students use Drawp creativity tools to add drawings, voice recordings, text and photos to assignments. Teachers use Drawp to create, distribute, collect and give written or verbal feedback on assignments. A new Drawp Resource Marketplace website provides teachers with an easy-to-access repository of educational resources to download and share."

"Senate Democrats have a powerful tool at their disposal, if they choose to use it, for resisting a president who has no mandate and cannot claim to embody the popular will. That tool lies in the simple but fitting act of withholding consent. An organized effort to do so on the Senate floor can bring the body to its knees and block or severely slow down the agenda of a president who does not represent the majority of Americans."

At first glance, I like this a lot. It combines existing social spaces and incorporates or provides the opportunity to fracture them into learning spaces as well. I've heard folks ask before if this is even where our students want us to be. good question. I think the tool, whatever it is, will need to allow for layers or (ahem) circles so that we can organize the input and output cleanly and easily. I still lik edmodo in this type of space as THE go-to tool because of the ability to work with kids and teachers P-12.

The Complete Guide to Twitter Cards: How to Choose, Set Up, Measure, And More http://t.co/w5MjuNCaPY http://t.co/NPmRi0HR4a http://t.co/NPmRi0HR4a The Complete Guide to Twitter Cards: How to Choose, Set Up, Measure, And More ...

"It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a short time when you are focused and uninterrupted. In just 20 minutes, I was able to write an entire page of my thesis or review a whole journal article - tasks that would have taken me an hour or longer before. Even if you have the luxury of long stretches of time, I encourage you to try "writing sprints" of 10-30 minutes each. Focus on putting your ideas on paper, and do not worry about making mistakes. Some students find it helpful to do their writing sprints first thing in the morning, before they get interrupted or need to start putting out fires. Make sure your phone and email are turned off, so you can put your attention fully on writing for just 10-30 minutes."

Michael Hyatt's 8 steps to escape the overwhelm: The first secret is accept responsibility. The second secret is to confront your fears The third secret is to reduce the drama. The fourth secret is keep it in perspective. The fifth secret is triage your calendar. The sixth is do the next most important task. The seventh is get sufficient rest. The final secret is decide to change.

"King says the next secretary of education needs to focus on two things - that the Department of Education is a civil rights agency with a responsibility to protect children, and that education is fundamental to the nation's economic and democratic success in the long-term."

" Trump personally ordered Reynolds to produce additional photographs of the previous day's crowds on the Mall, according to three individuals who have knowledge of the conversation. The president believed that the photos might prove that the media had lied in reporting that attendance had been no better than average."

27 Ways to Inspire Students to Innovate | @scoopit http://t.co/Okz508RgXm

"While this study focused on the international state of refugee access to education, there have been concerns about services in the United States, too. Dozens of school districts have been targeted by lawsuits arguing refugee children were denied access to public schools or directed to alternative, inferior programs.  "

"5 technology-enabled learning trends that will help shape learning across industries in the coming years. Companies that want to succeed will have to keep themselves abreast with these changes and will have to ensure that their employees' skills are up-to-date and aligned with new realities."

share the url or email a link to invite others to your board. Can write and/or draw on it, plus upload files.

share the url or email a link to invite others to your board. Can write and/or draw on it, plus upload files.