From "To-Do" to "Ta-Da": Reclaiming Your Calendar with an Intentionality Toolkit
We’ve all been there: that one tab that stays open for three months, or the article printout buried under a stack of interlibrary loan requests. For me, that "someday" read was "Making Time for Research (and You): Using an ‘Intentionality Toolkit’ to Achieve Your Goals and Mitigate Feelings of Overwhelm."
I finally crossed it off my list, and honestly? I wish I’d opened it sooner.
While the article focuses heavily on the academic struggle to balance faculty research with service roles, its core message is a lifeline for any health science librarian feeling the squeeze of "urgent" tasks displacing "important" goals.
As librarians, our work is variable and responsive to others. We respond to urgent literature searches, clinical inquiries, and troubleshooting requests. Because we are "helpers" by nature, our own long-term projects—whether that’s committee work (like writing a blog post 😬), a professional certification, or reorganizing a digital repository—often get pushed to the I can do that later pile.
The "Intentionality Toolkit" suggests that overwhelm isn't just about having too much to do; it's about the cognitive load of trying to keep track of it all while feeling like you're losing control of your time. This rang incredibly true for me.
Two Game-Changers for Your Workweek
The article outlines several strategies, but two stood out things I'm going to try:
1. The Strategic Brain Dump
Instead of a linear to-do list that grows like a weed, the toolkit encourages a massive weekly or so brain dump.
The Goal: Get every "should," "must," and "want" out of your head and onto paper (or a digital board).
Why it works: It stops the "open loop" cycle in your brain where you're constantly reminding yourself not to forget "X" while trying to focus on "Y". This is a big struggle for me not be-bopping between all of the tasks. Stopping to check the latest email while in the middle of a literature search really can detail the train of thought.
2. Intentional Weekly Scheduling
This isn't just about marking meetings. It’s about defensive tattooing of your calendar.
The Shift: Rather than looking for gaps in your schedule to do "deep work," you schedule the deep work first often weeks in advance. This is vital for those long-term projects that don't have a screaming deadline but provide the most value to your career or institution. If it isn't on the calendar, it doesn't exist.
Why This Matters for Us
Whether you are in a hospital or university library, the feeling of being "busy but not productive" is a fast track to burnout. It’s about making sure that the goals that actually move the needle for your career—and your well-being—don't get buried under the daily deluge of emails.
The Bottom Line: You don’t need more hours in the day; you need more intention in the hours you have.
