Too much to do and can't do any of it....

I finished watching Citizen Kane.  They did an excellent job with the cameras and angles to make him appear giant, in business and in personal settings.  He was larger than life but learned that money can't buy you happiness.

I am almost done with all the assignments that are due this week, I just need to read and reply to a couple of discussion board posts but those will have to wait until tomorrow.  And hopefully tomorrow will be more productive than today.  Shortly after I got to the office this morning and logged in, we lost power in the building.  It was out from 8:20 am until 1:15 pm or so.  Of course I had planned on using the quiet time first thing this morning to read the discussion boards but that didn't happen.  I was going to use the time to catch up on some filing but, the information that needs filing is stored in a closet that is locked and controlled with an electronic keypad.  I then thought about trying to use my personal laptop to start school work and could not get any hotspot or wifi to connect.  Of course I had to leave the office this afternoon about 1:30 pm for appointments so I accomplished nothing this morning.  Which means the daily work items are pushed off until tomorrow, and the to do list gets longer and longer.  I may have to leave early tomorrow so it will likely be another day with more to do than time to do it in, because as always, there is too much to do.

The Writing Process

How much is there to do this week?  Fortunately, there were no major issues this week that add more tasks to the list, and no need to re-prioritize the list.  But I do not think anything came off the list last week.  It was hard to focus on the details, and when that happens, you do what you can and keep going.  For my drama class this week we are watching Citizen Kane.  I have not seen this movie in a long while and although I do not always make enough time to watch some of the great classics, I am glad that we are watching various movies in this class and discussing them in the forums.  

This week we are looking at the writing process.  How can it be helpful to writers, to not feel overwhelmed with writing, to become more confident in their writing?  There are three steps in the writing process: Pre-writing, Writing and Post-Writing.  Pre-writing is the planning stage.  We ask questions like: What am I writing about?  Who am I writing to?  What information do I need and what format should I use?  This is where you start jotting ideas, researching material, making notes and an outline, and tracking your sources.  Next you start writing.  Follow your notes, stay on topic and make sure all information clearly adds to the main goal of the document.  Be aware of any requirements for that document, formatting, deadlines, etc.  The last stage is post-writing.  This is where you seek peer review and input.  Read your document and make sure it is clear and concise.  Did you deliver the all the pertinent information in an easy to understand way?  Is it accurate?  Did you use a spell check or some other type of review function to check for grammar, spelling and punctuation?  Did you cite all your sources properly?  Writing is not done until the work is published or distributed.  This can be done online, through email, or regular mail.  It could be done by setting the document in a public place for others to collect and read or included in a product packaging.  

We often see a big project and wonder how we can get that done when all we need to do is step back and take it one step at a time.  The writing process can help you do that.  It forces you to look at each stage and the steps in each stage, to break it down.  If you take the time to make notes and organize them in a way that works for you, then the writing will come together.  Use a review function, have someone read and edit for you the apply the final touches and you will have a polished and concise piece of writing that is ready for distribution.  

 We have almost made it through the week but there is still work to do.  I am off to finish watching Citizen Kane, do an essay and a couple of discussion posts because there is always too much to do.  

Why is Technical Writing Important?

The ever present, always changing to-do list seems to constantly grow and it often feels like no matter how many items I cross off, at least three more replace it.  This week for drama I need to watch Gone With the Wind.  I have seen it before and enjoyed it but need to watch it again so that I can post on the Discussion Board.  The only thing is, the movie is nearly four hours, so it will probably be done over a couple of evenings and normally the discussion is due on Sunday, but it is due early this week because the exam for module one is due on Saturday.  For Economics, Learning Plan #2 is due on Monday, this includes an assignment, a quiz and an exam.  I am allowed, and take full advantage of, the opportunity to do the assignment and quiz multiple times to practice for the exam.  I also do the study guides online.  For Technical Writing we are creating an E-Portfolio and starting to work on the Employment Packet project.  Both of those, along with this Blog, are the three major projects of the course with additional weekly assignments and projects based on the textbook, and discussion posts added it.  Yes, there is a lot to do.  

The blog prompt this week is to discuss the importance of Technical Writing for professional careers, how it can help in their career and what skills should be acquired.  Do I think Technical Writing is important in a professional setting?  Simple answer is absolutely.  In fact, I think Technical Writing is important in a personal setting as well.  It is important to know your audience, what knowledge do they have, what knowledge do they need from the document.  What type of document is the best instrument to deliver that information, whether a letter, memo or even email.  Should the document be attached to an email or printed and delivered.  If you are starting your own business, knowing how to deliver information about your company will help you spread the word and reach new clients or customers.  Even if you think you do not have a professional need, you may need to write a letter to a company to report an issue with a product, ask for a refund, work with an insurance company to file a claim.  Knowing the best format needed to deliver your message will benefit you in any setting.  

What skills can be learned from the Technical Writing Course?  To learn why you are writing, is your purpose to inform, instruct, propose, recommend or persuade.  Document type and format including font, margins, spacing and headings.  Using appropriate voice and tone, efficient wording, presenting accurate information in an organized manner while eliminating noise.  All these skills are beneficial to learn for effective communication in any setting.  

Of course, while I was going through the to-do list this week, life through a curve ball and added some unexpected items to the personal list, as it often does.  When that happens, prioritize and keep going, because there is always too much to do.

Two Weeks In...

I am just over two weeks into the fall semester at school  As I mentioned before, I am taking a Technical Writing class to fulfill my English core requirement.  I chose the Technical Writing over the Composition II class because the thought of reading books and writing reports, doing research papers, etc is not my strong suit and did not sound all that appealing to me.  The course description of "Intensive Study of and practice in professional settings" from letters, to memos and emails sounded more practical and applicable to where I am now and will continue to be in my career.  After two full weeks of class, I can definitely say that it is an intensive study in writing.  Although some research is needed in preparing and responding to the weekly discussion posts, and in the various letters and memos we have created so far, I feel confident I made the right choice in picking the Technical Writing class over the Composition class.  The writing assignments and projects we are doing are covering a wide variety of subjects and audiences.  I am currently working on a letter to my senator or representative about something that needs to change at school.  I will admit this is a topic that is taking some extra time to get started on because I am only taking online courses and since my employer is helping to pay for my education, I do not encounter the issues that a typical student may have.  But I will put pen to paper and brainstorm in the next day or so and it will come together it always does.  I will just keep it on the "To Do List", because I always have too much to do.

I'm going back to school

How much is too much to do?  I work full time, am a mom and decided it was time to go back to school.  I set a very aggressive goal to complete the first step of an Associates degree at the local community college and started taking classes over the summer.  This semester I am taking 9 credit hours on top of my other work and life commitments.  I am taking Intro To Cinema, Technical Writing and Principles of Macroeconomics.  In Intro to Cinema, we are reading about the evolution of the film making industry and will be watching and discussing several movies that I am looking forward to seeing the first time, or seeing some again, including Metropolis, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain and Star Wars: A New Hope.  Macroeconomics is what it is.  It is required for the business degree along with Microeconomics that I hope to take next semester.  For the Technical Writing class, we are working on different types of letters and memos along with creating and maintaining this blog.  Last week we looked at plagiarism, how it happens and what we can do to prevent it.  Plagiarism is passing off another person's thoughts, ideas or work as your own.  There is intentional plagiarism where you are buying a paper, having someone else write a paper for you or copying information directly from the source without citing and giving full, complete credit to the original person or source.  If you are even thinking about this - just do not do it.  It is stealing and fraud.  You are doing everyone a disservice including yourself.  The consequences are not worth it.  Then there is accidental, unintentional where you misuse quotation marks, paraphrase, or not cite the original source properly.  In my professional career, my writing consists of letters to clients, memos to document the client files and emails so plagiarism is not a concern on a regular basis so I had to refresh my mind about how and when to cite my sources.  I think a good rule of thumb is, when in doubt CITE!  So now as I work on these posts, I have another thing to do - I have to remember if I am using anything other than my original thoughts, if I look something up for ideas or reference, to cite and give credit.  This is just one more thing to do, because there is always too much to do.

Resources

https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism

https://www.quetext.com/

Welcome

Welcome to "Too Much To Do".  Too Much To Do is a pretty accurate description of my life - and I'm sure most people can relate.  I feel like I'm always running, trying to give those important to me enough of my time and energy while saving some for myself.  This blog will be about a variety of things that I have to or want to do, what's important for me to do, to commit my time and energy to and things I do to allow myself to feel relaxed and refreshed.  You may also see random thoughts about this journey of life we are on.