Creatively Productive: Essential Skills for Tackling Time Wasters, Clearing the Clutter, and Succeeding in School—and Life!

by Lisa Johnson

Creative productivity doesn’t just help your students ace “the test.” It equips them to ace life.

Technology gives us the freedom and ability to create and consume more today than at any other point in history. That means that, as teachers, administrators, students—heck, as humans—we stay busy.

Keeping track of time, data, and ideas, not to mention assignments, can sometimes seem impossible. And if you struggle with organization and efficiency, just imagine how much more your students may be struggling to keep up with life’s daily demands.

In Creatively Productive, Lisa Johnson shows you how to . . .

Devise individualized plans for personal and student organization

Manage time more effectively and get more done

Choose the best note-taking styles and strategies for you and your students

Set and track goals—and avoid procrastination

Teach students how to use reflection for personal and academic purposes

Boost reading retention—and so much more!

Equip your students with skills and resources they need to succeed in life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Ethan Stallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so, I started off a little wary about this book. I was excited when I ordered it, wasn't super impressed with the introduction, then fell in love along the way. I've been really into the idea of the classroom as a maker space, and this fits perfectly into that approach. It's also kind of refreshing to see the maker movement pouring over into what is generally thought to be a dull subject: productivity. (I guess people being obsessed with planners and journals has been a thing for a while, but it's new to me, so I'm just going to act like this is groundbreaking stuff.) All kidding aside, this book is chock full of out-of-the-box ideas for organization, time management, goal setting, and self reflection. It's not quite a "cookbook" of cut-and-paste lessons, but it's not quite a tome of academic theory either. It's sort of like one of the author's Pintrest boards made paper; it's a collection of things that she loves and has found useful piled all in one place.

That leads me to my one major criticism of the book: it feels a little too much like a Pintrest board. Things are discussed briefly, giving you a taste of a good idea before moving on to the next. She'll casually mention something, an app or technique or some such, and not explain what it is. I suppose she assumes in this day and age you can google, but a glossary of resources would have been nice. For me, this is an "add on" book. In other words, it's great for getting a new look at an old subject, but I wouldn't use it as my go-to reference. So, if you already have solid books on the above-mentioned subjects, you might want to check this one out of the library and take notes rather than buying it. For me, I'm glad I have it, but I'll keep looking for definitive works for my education bookshelf. Still, I like what I read and I'll definitely be looking for a copy of her first book.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book because I have attended a couple of the author's webinars and I appreciate her view on organization/journaling wanted some more information.

I appreciated the book and some of the ideas a lot, but this book is not what I was expecting. I wanted concrete ideas with plans set up and ways to navigate--- etc. This is more suggestions and ideas. I really liked the idea that we should be teaching organization and note taking in schools. I think that would be something I would teach IF I was still teaching high school. I definitely highlighted a bunch of websites and suggestions that I will go back to. That being said--- I read this book for me, not for my teaching. I don't think I can tell college students how to organize their laptop/life, but I do think there are anecdotes and websites that will help me with my teaching/life and that I may suggest once I use them personally.

Read if you want to explore organizing your thoughts....or help your students.

[Keri · Rating 2 out of 5]

In honesty, I don’t remember why I picked this book up. My understanding of it was much different than it is in reality, but I did find the parts that felt like that could pertain to me to be interesting and useful. There are good snipets for daily life, but this book is far more geared to teachers and school than to anyone else. My biggest complaint is simply that it’s huge use social media terms and references made it feel like it could be dated material too quickly and that it’s flow didn’t always work for me. I do think that could be because it seems more fit as an educator’s book and not a personal one.

[Julie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa's fun personality radiates from start to finish in Creatively Productive. What I thought "might" just be a list of actionable steps outlined in a book turned out to be not only a gold mine of information but also an entertaining read! All of the images and examples were extremely helpful since I am a visual learner. I'm excited to apply all of her productivity tips to help students and myself become more organized and focused. Excellent read and highly recommend!

[Pam Hubler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough about this book! I think of myself as creative and (mostly) productive, but I still got so many ideas from this book! I love the ideas for students as well as adults. Even though this is an educational book, I think it's helpful for all adults. Grab your copy today, you won't regret it! Besides, Lisa shares the same love language as me (and probably a lot of you)... Office Supplies.

[Tweller83 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good and I took notes on it. Want to set it down and come back to it in a couple of weeks and see what I can glean from the notes and what I can use with students. I'd like to use some of this at least with our freshmen, but honestly with all the students. Will chat with Diana about this and see what we might be able to do, especially if we go remote learning.

[DaShannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for an online book class and it was well worth it. Johnson includes tips for managing and organizing our online data. I used many strategies with my classes and I plan to incorporate more skills from the book. I did a YouTube book review going more in-depth but I would highly recommend this one.

[Stephanie Affinito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I enjoyed this book! It’s like I was sitting with a trusted, and very funny, friend who was walking me through how to clear clutter, tackle time and just be happier. Could it get any better than that?

[Heather Stringham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has many ideas to help a teacher and his/her students be productive in their daily life. I appreciated the conversational tone of the book and the ease of her ideas.

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice conglomeration ideas for developing skills of organization, goal setting, prioritization, motivation and reflection to be taught in the classroom but extend beyond.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some GREAT ideas in here that I have already noted to implement for next year.

[Carolann White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! So much to implement and integrate into my classroom!

[Alisha White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creatively Productive by Lisa Johnson is an excellent resource for teachers on being more productive ourselves and teaching our students skills to be more productive. Each chapter includes an explanation of the topic with research on why it’s important, how Lisa uses it in her own practice, and how to teach the skill to students, as well as resources to explore in developing our own processes. In addition, each chapter includes a checklist for incorporating the chapter suggestions and ideas for connecting skills to core curriculum across disciplines. The book is divided into two parts; part one is “ideas to shrink problems” and discusses general organization, time management, and note taking. Part two is “ideas to help you grow” and discusses goal setting, reflection, and reader’s notebooks. Lisa blends digital and analogue tools, explores multiple strategies for addressing both teacher and student needs, and illustrates how professionals in education as well as other careers successfully navigate issues of productively and organization. This book would be great for helping teachers and their students develop systems for success!