The Plan
Plan your work, work your plan
My friend Gary Moore taught me, years ago, this aphorism on the value and use of planning. Admittedly I had a predilection to planning in me prior to meeting Gary (which stemmed from my pursuit of athletics and the planning of training and practices, and perhaps is why I was a varsity captain and “Coaches Award” winner in two sports in high school). But it has been his statement, as Gary regularly expounded from the pulpit, “Plan your work, work your plan” that has stuck with me as a regular reminder of the importance of planning and organizing time. You can call it productivity, you can call it habits. The name for it that extends further historically is discipline (and I’ll eventually write more on the Spirit of Disciplines by Dallas Willard in “Off the Shelf”).
Yes, plans will change (The best laid plans of mice and men (Steinbeck)). But don’t let the fact that plans change discourage you from planning. There is a feedback between planning work, and working a plan and doing that cycle over and over that is recursively beneficial.
As I learned from Tim Chailles (Do More Better), if your answer to the question “What’s your productivity system” is “I don’t have one”, then that’s your system. The problem is, it’s hard to know what’s coming when your plan is nothing. I believe that people always have a plan. The plans are just sometimes implicit and not explicit. While implicit plans may lead to an end (well, let’s face it, the ends of our actions are always getting closer), there’s less learning, development or progress being made overall without planning. If you don’t think about what your plan was that led to something (even upon reflection, a historical account - the story of how things came to be what they are, inference to the best explanation, abductive inference, or in research lingo - a retrospective study), then it is more difficult to improve the plan for the purpose of improving your ends. This is well understood in a physical therapy plan of care or in an exercise prescription. If we are so concerned about our ability to do physical task X as to form a plan that can be rearranged and adapted as needed, how much more so should we plan all things in life?
Enough on planning - though I’m sure the topic will come up in a variety of formats in my current plan.
This post outlines my plan for this newsletter and may occasionally be updated and reissued - since plans change, and planning for change continues to be planning.
Plan for the Peripatetic Physical Therapist
The current plan is that posts come out at least weekly. Posts may come in shorter intervals. Time of the academic year, for example, will influence both what and how much time I have for writing short pieces. What I am teaching will naturally influence what I write, and also how much writing I’m able to do. What I am working on (my growing edge, as Gary frequently inquires) will most certainly influence both content and frequency. Finally, there are times when things come up that will create a burning desire to share thoughts and an “Off topic” post will be released.
Posts will be classified into the following “columns”:
Off the Shelf is a column on what I’ve read, or am reading, and even suggestions about what to read (with justifications provided).
Off the Podium is a column on enduring concepts I have been teaching (and still teach) across many courses.
Off the Desk is a column on newer, emerging concepts that I’m teaching, or that I’m considering teaching or that I’m writing for the purpose of teaching (such as my current writing project for clinical physiology). This is where most of my “growing edge” topics will be posted since most of what I do, of what I am, and of what I’m thinking stems from what, why and how I’m teaching. I’m a teaching professor. Deep down I reject the professorial roles as distinct (Teaching, Scholarship and Service), in particular I reject the division of teaching and scholarship. In fact, based on this I reject the academy’s (the term I’ll use for making general reference to colleges and universities en masse) creation of “teaching” faculty that don’t have the option of pursuing “tenure” on the presupposition that it is only “Scholarship” defined as research that warrants tenure (the occupational protection to pursue the truth within your field without fear of repercussions; not free license to do whatever you want). But just to be sure my teaching professor colleagues understand my point. I don’t reject that you have a position that is focused on teaching, I do as well. I reject that the academy has, in recent years, decided that a focus on teaching and an excellence in teaching is not in need of or worthy of earning tenure. It is in teaching the next generation that we need the freedom to pursue the truth without repercussions, not just in research. There will probably be room to write about this some more in Off the Shelf, or Off Topic.
Off Topic is a column that occurs irregularly when things come up on which I’m interested in writing - such as the crisis of tenure in the academy as they adopt a particularly framed business model approach to academics; and the irony and tragedy of such a particularly framed business model approach for organizations that provide services that exist for the public good (such as education and health care). It should not be surprising that a newsletter titled: A Peripatetic Physical Therapist would have a column called “Off Topic.” But as Gary mentioned recently, at least you’re not subjecting readers to a column called “Off the Wall” - of course, whether my columns are off the wall, I leave for you (individually) to decide.
Critical Clinical Inquiry is a column on what I see as critical for the clinical profession that I have spent my career (physical therapy) that has consumed much of my inquiry, despite my eclectic meanderings. These are thoughtful and scholarly. I take the responsibility of being a tenured professor of physical therapy seriously. I have the luxury of being able to speak my mind about the profession. To be critical in my inquiry about the profession. I am not in fear of losing my job from such critical inquiry because I have tenure (something that is earned from demonstrating keen and thoughtful scholarship (including teaching)). In fact, at the moment, I am one of three tenured professors of physical therapy in the state of New Hampshire. Meaning, I am one of three people in the state that can be critical, and by my nature and duty constructively so, of the profession; and by extension of health care.
The Human Experience is a column that is much broader than the above, generally connected since all things are connected. Specifically connected because of the vision of the physical therapy which proposes to improve the human experience. The human experience focuses on the broader experiences (as empirically observed in the world). My thoughts on the human experience is why I consider myself a philosopher (though I’m not sure whether philosopher’s consider me a philosopher).
The Human Condition is a column on my understanding of the human condition as an individual that regularly studies, prays, mediates and converses with others about the transcendent (a truly metaphysical and antecedent to the empirical observations of the human experience). This column could also be called Conversations with Gary and be based on my weekly conversations with Gary Moore. We talk about - the human condition in light of an eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God. We share a common faith on the essentials and discuss the particulars. My thoughts on the human condition are why I also consider myself a theologian (though I’m pretty sure theologian’s wouldn’t consider me a theologian).
Conversations are short pieces that either directly respond to feedback, comments or questions from readers (either as comments to posts or received by email); or that introduce podcasts (webcasts) that I’m planning with individuals on topics. While the topics would most likely fit in the above classifications, I feel identifying them separately based on the medium (podcast/webcasts) makes more sense. That’s the plan, it might change once I actually start doing these podcast/webcasts.
Two Final Planning Notes
As a final note this post has about 1600 words. My goal is to keep each post to 1000-2000 words so that these are not a burden to read for anyone interested in being a regular.
Second, if you have suggestions of topics such as expansions on anything I’ve written about (here or in my wider set of publications), or issues that you think I might have something to say about (or have thought about), please let me know at scollinspt@tutanota.com
I'll state in print what I often comment to you in-person, where do you find the time? Perhaps, I am not as good at <u> planning </u> as I thought. :)