Be Indiana Jones - for the Bible!

Okay - so you can't exactly be Indiana Jones . . . but you can be a participant in something close to that!



The page above is an example of "field notes" from the excavations of Ur (of the Chaldees - with Abraham) - from 1922 to 1934.  Ur is mentioned in the Bible four times in connection with Abraham: Genesis 11:28, 31; 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7.

Researchers working with this material want to crowd-source (share the work!) of transcribing the notes and field research so that this unpublished Biblical Archaeological material can be shared & researched in new ways!

If you've got a few hours - and a little bit of interest - this would give you a true "insider" perspective on the "behind the scenes" work (and it is work) of tracking information from archaeological digs!

You can sign up and get started here.


 

Getting Things Done - Next Action (Naction)

Thanks to a wise colleague and friend, I've been  "Getting Things Done" for a few years.  (Get Things Done - GTD)

If you're not familiar with the system, and you want to accomplish work and get things done - I highly recommend it.  Here's a start on multiple links discerning how this works.

Personally - I do not follow the detailed "system" as it is specifically outlined!  I have taken the core ideas and made them my own in unique ways.

One thing I do  (daily!) is "define the next action" that needs to be taken in a project!  This single step has helped me accomplish much in the past few years!

At this link you will find an outline of what it means to "define the next action" and it will get you out of miry-nothingness into progress.  (I use these ideas routinely when I coach learners in their Graduate Work and in Dissertation work.  I'm delighted to share that with these simple steps - a great friend is making decisive progress right now toward her Psy.D., writing her dissertation! )

Here's another single great link on how to define the next action.

Even in personal and family goals, hopes and future planning  (from medical appointments to planning school work or calendaring a vacation!) we use the idea of "the next action."  In fact, I call it the "naction."   Defining the naction -  the-next-action - gets us moving in projects and life - as it also breaks down small tasks into manageable pieces.

If you're bogged down in a project - figure out the next action - and do just that as you move forward.  It will get you started.

If you're in a meeting and you don't leave with actionable items - next actions - you may not be able to move forward!

If you've got a list of things to do - and don't know when & where to start - give each item in the list a single actionable item to accomplish - and do just that single next action.  (Later, you can write in the next, next action - and do that - but get at least one action completed as you progress!)

What is the "next [single] action" you need to take now to be more productive in your life!?

Advice to a new Graduate Student

The ideas posted at the link I'm sharing are not perfectly in line with some ideas that I have (or ways I go about expressing things - a note about tweeting during sex, for example!)

The core ideas about thinking imaginatively, creatively, and intentionally in a Ph.D. program are good though, and I'll leave credit to the author of the page for his own way of expressing his ideas.  Note - the link is advice for a new Ph.D. student - and I think many of the ideas apply to any Graduate Student.

The link to the Seven Deadly Sins of Academia itself is a great link - and the page has a few other re-directing links to other ideas about PhD work.)

LINK HERE:   From Sound & Fury Blog:  Advice to a new PhD student 3.0

30 suggestions for Theology Students

A great blog entry - about a Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John Frame (ed. John J. Hughes; Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2009).

Blog link and it's summary of key content from the book is found here:

John Frame’s Advice: 30 Suggestions for Theological Students and Young Theologians

How to Speed Read, Read a Book, and Annotate!

 

Recently I corresponded with a friend who asked me if "speed-reading" is a "hoax."  I shared with him that I believe speed reading is something that can be practiced and developed.  I shared this book with him, including this one star (yes, one star!) review of the same book that does summarize the content.  (And yes, you could just do what the reviewer says and not buy this book.)


I shared with this same friend, this great book on How to Read a Book.  Every person who reads, really must read this book.  (Buy it!)

 

Just yesterday, a brilliant scholar - & one of the nicest persons I've ever met,  James K.A. Smith, - posted a great blog entry about how to annotate a book - showing his methods & practices.  Check out his link for great insight on how to read like a genius (a.k.a. like him!) 

 (If you click to Jamie's  "research page" and then his Curriculum Vitae from his page above - his publishing/presentations accomplishments in his young 40s out-distance most  accomplished octogenarian Scholars!  That alone should cause serious students to consider gleaning insight from his annotation method!  Jamie is such a nice guy,  he's kind enough to be a friend to me, in addition to  being, very likely, the single smartest person I've ever known!)
 www.martymichelson.com