January 2016 round-up

January was busy / interesting / crazy. 2016 has certainly started with a bang, and a very big mix of positives and negatives (I am looking at you, parking attendant!). I am starting the new month – and the new semester – quite tired, already, which is less than ideal. But, hey, onwards and upwards from here.

 

Here are my highlights from the first month of 2016.

 

Researching

I have been intrigued by attitudes towards wearable technology. For instance, did you know that about 10% of people who buy a fitness tracker stop using it within the first two months, with a further 20% abandoning it within the first six months?

 

 

This behaviour raises some questions about the potential of fitness wearables to promote active and healthy lifestyles, and to help fight rising levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

 

Writing

January may have been a mad month, but it was super productive on the writing front. I wrote (and submitted) a paper on algorithms, looking at how conscious and unconscious decisions made at various stages of profile development and use produce biases.

I also made some revisions on two other papers, one on co-creation and another one on simulations. And started work on another paper.

 

In addition to work on these journal articles, I wrote three conference papers, and contributed to another one.

 

Teaching

I did not teach in January, but teaching has been very much on my mind. On the one hand, I had some marking to do for the modules that I taught last semester. On the other hand, I was busy preparing two modules for this semester, one of which is being developed from scratch. I also welcomed a new cohort of MSc Marketing students.

 

Learning

On the learning front, I had a go at making an infographic. It took me ages and the result is nothing to brag about. But I will keep giving infographics a try, as I think that infographics are a really helpful communication tool. If you want to give it a go, you may find this resource helpful (though, I actually produced mine in power point).

 

Another interesting learning experience has been to do a Myers-Briggs personality test, and then discuss the results with a coach. I don’t pay much attention to the ‘result’ of such tests, and actually think that having these ‘labels’ can be a bit a reductionist. It can discourage you from trying A, or working on personal characteristic B, because you focus on the label ‘introvert’, or ‘perceiver’, or whatever. However, I really enjoy the ‘process’ of doing these tests, and to think about how I approach work, or decisions, or information… and to what extent certain behaviours are innate vs. conditioned. I also really enjoyed the chat with the coach.

 

What were January’s highlights for you?