Towards the end of 2021 I recorded a conversation with David Nicholls.[1] I wanted to talk to Dave about his process for converting incoming information into the kinds of outputs that so many in the health professions community find valuable. We talked about how we both try to limit the information we’re exposed to, how we filter that information, aggregate it, synthesise it, and use it to create something new.
What stood out for me was Dave’s uncompromising emphasis on attention and how he sets up his working environment to help him ignore the background noise of the world. We talk about lists, weekly reviews, time-blocking, the value of having an inbox, and cover a range of tools and services we use to help us achieve our goals.
Dave makes the argument that academics don’t need more time; we need more focus, and shares his experience of how he goes about doing that. The result is a small window onto an academic workflow that’s all about creating space. Not space to fit more information and activities into but the kind of space that gives your ideas room to expand.
Note: Because of a technical error I wound up capturing only a very poor version of Dave’s audio. That, and the fact that I’ve had a personal upheaval (in the literal sense of that word) over the last few months, have meant that it’s taken me much longer than I would’ve liked to get this conversation published. Some of what we discussed has changed, at least, for me, so it’s likely that Dave and I will have another chat soon-ish. I’ve done my best to enhance the audio but there are still sections that are hard to make out, so I apologise in advance. I hope that this conversation is nonetheless a useful one.
- Dave is a Professor in the Auckland University of Technology, the founder of the Critical Physiotherapy network, the Physiotherapy History Association, and the co-founder of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association (along with Filip Maric). In addition to the work he does with these professional organisations Dave is also a prolific author, publishing regularly in a wide variety of formats including blog posts, academic articles, conference presentations, and social media.↩︎