Ambition & Balance

From the makers of Todoist and Twist

For many of us, back to school looks different this year than we might have imagined. This could be the case if you’re a student returning to a socially-distanced campus or a teacher leading lectures over Zoom. Right now, the only constant is that the future is unpredictable. 

In the face of uncertainty, one of the most helpful things we can do is create systems that anchor us. As a student, having a workflow to get things done will help you stay on top of classes and fit studying into your schedule. As an educator, prioritizing productivity will get your classroom in order and keep you ahead on assessing assignments.  

This week we’ve updated and re-published resources on how to get the most out of the semester ahead –– for you, or the students and teachers in your life: 

• A Student’s Guide to Todoist –– Organize your courses so you never miss an assignment or forget a test. Plus, try out our student planning template. 

• An Educator’s Guide to Todoist –– Use these Todoist workflow tips to keep your teaching roster in order. Download our educator planning template, too. 

• 60+ Resources for Students Who Want to Stay Productive –– From articles on the science of study to online communities for accountability, sift through this treasure trove of links. 

• How to Learn Anything with the Feynman Technique –– Use Dr. Richard Feynman’s four-step process to turn complex concepts into information you understand. 

Academic success for students often means getting straight A’s, while professional success for educators means anything from published papers to praise from peers.

While these are worthy aims, they're not all education should be.

School for students should also mean discovering a love for learning, making friends you’ll keep for a lifetime, and plotting the future beyond graduation. Educators shouldn’t lose sight of honing the craft of teaching, connecting with students, and exploring a given field with the same curiosity as a beginner.

While none of us know what’s coming next, we can get a bit more comfortable with the unknown, commit to trying our best, and promise to learn from the lessons that lie ahead.

Productively, 
Fadeke and the Doist Team

Want to share this newsletter or save it for later? Here's an online version.

New on the blog...

The Todoist Guide for Students

Your comprehensive guide to avoiding all-nighters and staying (relatively) sane this semester.

Get the grade →

The Todoist Guide for Educators

Organize your classes, complete your course prep, and win over your students. Plus, advice from teachers who use Todoist.

Structure your semester →

60+ Resources for Students Who Want to Stay Productive Todoist 

Have your best school year yet with a host of advice, tools, and tactics to help you stay productive as a student.

Study smarter with less stress → 

How to Learn Anything with the Feynman Technique

Borrow Nobel Prize winning Richard Feynman's tips and tricks for understanding complex concepts.

Nothing’s too hard →

What we're recommending and reading...

Less Work, More Living

“The shift to remote work during the pandemic led to more flexibility, but it also further blurred boundaries between work and home, leading people to work more hours and experience significant burnout…Pushback against the right to disconnect argues it’s too rigid given the popularity of flexible work. However, flexibility is often defined in the interest of managers, not workers, as British labor and management researchers recently noted. For many workers, boundaries around work relieve the psychic toll of feeling we should always be working. Even the expectation one should be checking work email causes spikes in anxiety.”

Kevin Kelly: The Case for Optimism

“History is filled with accounts of people who held an optimistic belief others thought unlikely, or even impossible. This optimistic previsualization is a necessary component of change. Since we can not be certain of the future, optimism is only a belief -- a stance that could be incorrect. On the surface, an optimistic belief might seem no more valid than the stance of pessimism. But the deep history of new ideas makes it very clear that the optimistic stance of believing something is possible is a requirement to make anything new real, and is thus more powerful than pessimism. In the long run, optimists shape the future.”

From the archives...

A newsletter from the Doist team

Creating tools for a more fulfilling way to work and live.

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