Reddit mentions of Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity

>In which state should I teach?

I’m assuming you’re straight out of college and probably in your early 20’s? I’m also assuming your going to be a career teacher unless things go sideways.

I think you have three options:

1. Teach somewhere fun. Imagine being a teacher in Hawaii! Living in DC, NYC, SF, Miami etc would be a fun experience for a few years.
   
   
2. Teach somewhere that’ll build your resume.
   
   
3. Teach somewhere that has the best pay, benefits and upward mobility.
   
   >Aside from the curriculum standards, do you think I should impart any other knowledge to my students and, if so, what and why?
   
   I think the hardest is making what you teach relevant. If I know WHY I need to learn “X” it’ll motivate me to actually learn it.
   
   >What makes a good teacher in your opinion?
   
   Someone who can break down complex topics/subjects in a manner everyone can understand while keeping everybody entertained/on task.
   
   >Should I look to teach in richer schools or poorer?
   
   Not sure. I had a lot of teacher friends when I lived in NC and teaching in poorer schools always burnt them out. The kids didn’t care, the parents didn’t care, the administrators didn’t care so they’d stay long enough to have enough experience and move to another state.
   
   I grew up in a wealthy public school system and always remember the kids caring and because of that I thought we had amazing teachers.
   
   I’m sure there’s a correlation.
   
   >Any other suggestion are, of course, welcome.
   
   My HS Calculus teacher is one of the few teachers I remember by name. It was more the educational environment that he created then the material he taught that made him memorable.
   
   Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity is a good book I recently read in building organizational norms that might interest you.

You might want to read this: https://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Faster-Better-Transformative-Productivity-ebook/dp/B00Z3FRYB0

There's a section in there about highly productive meetings. Surprisingly, the most product ones are the chaotic ones where peeps talk over each other! Took me by surprise and TOTALLY changed how I work a room.

Just be careful, it's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of 'thinking you're being productive' but working ON things instead of "In" things. (Meta-procrastination is reading a book about getting organized instead of getting organized.) You should strive to have the simplest, most boring system that actually works for you. It's very easy to get caught up in the trap of researching the latest and greatest fad rather than actually doing the hard tasks that need to be done.

The 'classic' is "How to take control of your time and your life" by Lakein. This is the most generic, 1970s version of time management possible, but is helpful to understand as it is kind of 'responded to' by multiple other authors, even if they don't call him out by name.

Another frequently referenced work is "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Covey. This gets mentioned in a lot of places. It is a 'top down' style.

For a completely different perspective, try "Getting Things Done" by Allen. This will lead you to realize how many commitments that you have made. It is more 'bottom up'.

Finally, some of the most interesting stuff in this space that I have read is by Mark Forster. His latest book is here. And his blog is here.

At a high level, it is always useful to think about the utility of what you are doing - that is, making sure you are doing the right things, even if you are doing them slowly (working on your most important tasks), rather than doing low value tasks efficiently (man, I can read email quickly). Peter Drucker, Tim Ferriss (Four Hour Workweek), etc.

Other ideas/Books to research: JIT/Kanban, 80/20 'rule', "Eat that frog" by Brian Tracy. Smarter Faster Better by Duhigg, The Power of Habit also by Duhigg I also very much enjoyed. The Magic of Tidying up by Kondo might also give you some insight into cleaning out your commitments.

Hope this helps. I have read all of these so let me know if you have questions I guess...

Cool here is two more:

1. Avoid multitasking, even say... when you are eating lunch, don't listen to podcasts or watch tv, only eat. get your mind to have 1 thing only at a given time. At least try to reduce all the "noise"
   
   
2. I liked this book https://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Faster-Better-Transformative-Productivity-ebook/dp/B00Z3FRYB0
   
   Now I have a thing where I am unable to read books usually, So I have to get audio books and walk or else I get distracted. You probably understand what I am talking about where you read the same page over and over. I guess this is a bonus tip, find ways to do things that work for you even if they are odd. :P