Time on task

What are you spending time on? Are you spending enough time to improve? (And...yes...I'm thinking about digitization, too, when I say this.)

I was at a Taoist Tai Chi workshop on Saturday and the instructor used the phrase "time on task." Being at the workshop was important because we were spending time working on the different moves (a lot of time), and that time helped us to improve.

My graduate students have each interviewed someone who is involved in digitizing materials. Among the questions they asked were questions about how the person learned about digitization. As you might expect, these people have spent considerable time:

• Attending workshops
• Reading journal articles, books, and online resources
• Talking to others who are doing similar work
• Experimenting or learning on-the-job

Each activity was important to the person learning the things that needed to be learned. All (or maybe most) acknowledged that the learning had to continue because things keep changing. They are continuing to spend "time of task" to improve their knowledge and skills.

Are you spending time learning more about digitizing materials? Are you spending time on task? If you are not, how do you change that?