Friday, September 18, 2009

Something I Learned Along the Way

It's 6:24 right now, and I'm thinking about leaving the office. Our meetings lasted a while, and I was the secretary for one, and that leads me to share something I learned along the way in life.

Here goes.

When you're the secretary for a meeting, type up the minutes before leaving the office for the day. (Unless, of course, you're high tech enough to take notes on a laptop, in which case, you win, and would you like to adopt me, please?)


See, you know this. You've probably told students to go over their lecture notes after class to clarify things. You've probably told students to write things down as soon as possible so they'll remember.

But when it's 5pm on a Friday, it can be hard to remember. But as onerous as notes are at 5pm on a Friday, they're a lot more onerous at 5am on the Friday three weeks hence when you need to get the minutes copied and distributed before noon.

I've finished all the work that came out of the meeting I was secretary for. I've finished prepping all the stuff for the meeting I have to chair on Monday. I've sort of prepped for the meeting I don't have to chair that comes before the meeting I chair on Monday. My inner bean counter has been very busy, alas.

Now I have all weekend to grade and prep for Monday. Okay, not all weekend because I have some other obligations, but at least there's time to put on the face to meet the faces that I'll meet.

4 comments:

  1. I always do this, too. As you say, it's much easier to do this when the meeting is fresh in your mind.

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  2. Totally with you. I take notes on my laptop, and then turn them into sentences as soon as the meeting is over.

    I am so tired of meetings I have to prepare for :)

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  3. I am a *compulsive* notetaker, and I decided this year that this was the last time I resist bringing my laptop places and being the person with the computer in the meeting/audience. There is absolutely no point in taking useless notes that I am never going to read and promptly lose into my office. I am even debating spending a few hundred dollars on a netbook solely for this purpose.

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  4. Aren't you glad academics only work 12 hours a week?

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