I don’t remember hearing the sharpen the saw story before, but I appreciate the meaning behind it and the spirit of this habit of mind. In a blog post on living the realworld.org, Steve Pavlina likens Covey’s habits of Mind to tools and asks, “... are all of them still sharp? If not, which ones are dull, and what can you do to sharpen them?” 1 He also says, “As you renew yourself, you create growth and change in your life. Sharpen the Saw keeps you fresh so you can continue to practice the other six habits. You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you.” I like the idea of re-investing in myself, of purposely continuing to learn as a means to continue to grow in the other habits. I think the following, from the Mostly Maths website, will help me to live this habit as well:
1. "Sharpen the Saw - Steve Pavlina." 2005. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2004/11/sharpen-the-saw/>
2. "Seven Habit - Sharpen the Saw - TeensGotCents." 2013. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://teensgotcents.com/seven-habits-sharpen-the-saw/>
- Review your work day at the end of the day: Where did you waste time? Who interrupted your work flow? What file wasn't in the correct place? Write this down and make a plan to not fall for the same tomorrow.
- Keep up with your field: Keep updated with your field news. Read the most current developments, splitting longer articles or books for several days. (I do this via Twitter and subscriptions to ASCD news and Middle Web blog posts).
- Finish/Keep up your side projects: Pick one of your side projects (your blog, your book, your new language) and either finish it working a little each day, or keep up with it. In the long run, even 5 minutes daily can be a big difference in a huge project. (This one will be tough, as I feel I don’t have any free time. But I can take 5 minutes.)
1. "Sharpen the Saw - Steve Pavlina." 2005. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2004/11/sharpen-the-saw/>
2. "Seven Habit - Sharpen the Saw - TeensGotCents." 2013. 1 Mar. 2015 <http://teensgotcents.com/seven-habits-sharpen-the-saw/>