HUNTING/GATHERING
- This is when you are scouring the internet, your bookshelves, the library, colleagues, etc. for new ideas. That's also when some people find this blog!! [feel free to comment below if this is you]
- In this phase you are mostly disconnected from the outside world. "I gotta design this unit for next week" .... "I must grade these projects before Thursday" .... "I'm making two videos!"
- You got what you need and now you just have to focus on using it. Not much time for edu-Twitter or Instagram!
- When it seems like you have things under control, then you have time & energy to blog, tweet, post, comment, etc. about your own work and other people's too.
Am I missing another phase? I don't call them stages because they don't follow a specific order.
Lately I have been back-and-forth between hunting/gathering & producing ... not as much interest in sharing and communicating directly with others, because sometimes you just gotta do your own thing: When it seems like no one else will really understand, or when you just need to focus on trying a New Thing before talking about The Thing.
Whenever I'm on "Sharing" mode, though, I sometimes feel pissed-off that many other tweeps and blog-readers and post-viewers aren't getting involved with the discussion. "Why don't you want to talk with me?!" However, acknowledging these 3 phases has helped me understand. I've seen quite a few tweets and Facebook posts that seem interesting, but I don't get involved because I've got my own 'stuff' going on. That's not really a commentary or judgment against the quality of Their Thing ... just that I'm not ready yet because I am in the Producing workshop or still Hunting and Gathering in the fields. But now I feel almost ready to return to the campfire....