March 5, 2007 by Kara.

I used to consider myself a good multi-tasker.  Then, several months ago, I started to feel drained - constantly.  I would be pushing things around - doing little bits of three or four projects at a time - without the opportunity to finish one, get that since of accomplishment, and move on to the next.  For a week, I tried to do a good job of only doing one thing at a time - no multi-tasking.  Since I keep a pretty detailed journal of the tasks I complete on a daily basis, I realized I was getting as much done doing one thing at a time as I was trying to work on three or four things at the same time. 

In my opinion, multi-tasking came about when email and our first rounds with internet connection came online.  Early internet connections were slow - hence we would load a web page, wait while it loaded, and then could go back to it once it loaded.  In essence, multi-tasking came about because we needed to fill that time while the page loaded.  (I once had a dial up connection so slow I could make breakfast while the page loaded).  As faster connection speeds has come about our need to fill that void while pages load has ceased, but our urgency to try to do multiple tasks at one time has not.  We still think of ourselves as multi-taskers and so we try diligently to live up to the expectation of doing multiple things at the same time.

In this same vein, the amount of information not only to which we have access in order to make decisions, but also the paths that information can take to get to us have increased tenfold in the last five decades.  Crackberries, IMs, emails, multiple email accounts, RSS feeds, cell phones, voice mail, unified messaging, and much more have forced their way into our personal space and we allow them to constantly draw our attention from what’s important (relationships, personal growth, happiness) to what’s urgent (fires to be put out, projects to be completed).  What if we turned off all those items for a day and focused on the really important stuff? 

I’m interested in the studies that say information overload is actually good for us and that it can allow our brains to make more connections between topics and expand our horizons a bit.  While I certainly don’t disagree with that at all, I also believe that we need points of rest and that those points need to occur more often than what they probably do right now.  I often use an analogy that was included in a humourous Internet post about cats and how they are “distracted by shiny things”.  All the information coming into us in all these formats comes as a myriad of shiny things which draw our attention.  However, if I also learned a lesson from my cat, it’s to take frequent rest breaks (my cat takes full on, sleeping on his head he’s so out of it, naps).  Our bodies and our brains need a chance to digest information, think about it, process it, and then determine what we can do with that information that might change the world.

So, while information overload might be good for us, it’s also important to set limits - delete a few emails that aren’t critical for you to read, without reading them.  Say no to a project or an idea - even if just for now.  Spend time with your family, your coworkers, your staff in a supportive environment - rather than just a run, run, run type of world.  Take time for yourself - doing something you truly enjoy.

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February 28, 2007 by Kara.

There is a great post by Penelope Trunk, at Brazen Careerist, on ways to make your life more stable with frequent job changes.  While the change I’m contemplating at the moment isn’t necessarily a full change, as I’m looking to change to a different station and post in the same organization, it’s still important to not get too complacent in any one career path or workplace setting. I love the statement she makes, “companies are under too much pressure to be lean and flexible (read: layoffs, downsizing, reorgs), so workers have to be, too (read: constantly on the alert for new job possibilities).”  I have a few friends who still live with the “work to get the gold watch” mentality.  They rarely take opportunities to develop new skillsets, they don’t work to advance their position within their company, and they don’t attempt to be more valuable than simply what their position description denotes. They work 8 - 5 and nothing else.  In this day and age, that simply doesn’t cut it on a regular basis.  You have to look for every single opportunity to shine. 

I also appreciate the point Trunk makes that “you will experience more personal growth from changing jobs frequently.”  I’m in a position now that has been of extreme value to me.  I can’t tell you how important it was to my personal development and my career development, to take this position.  It has been and will continue to be, if I stay in this post, a valuable learning experience.  However, I’m looking for a new job, not because this isn’t a good job with great benefits, but because this job doesn’t have much more to offer me in the realm of advancing my skill set.  Sure, I’ll continue to polish my presentation skills, hone in on working through politically charged situations, and adapt even more tools to work with varied and diverse groups of people.  However, I just don’t feel I can grow this position much more, simply because of the way it is configured in the organization as a whole and hence there are limited opportunities for my continued growth and development.  (Note - of course if I keep this position, I plan to look at various ways to change its orientation in the organization to allow for more growth, but at this point I’m not sure that is even in the best interest of the organization).

Towards the middle of her post, Trunk points to a true ho-ohana style value, “Key values today are time and relationships. Stability means knowing you can get yourself work that is fun and accommodates those values. The stable people are those who can manage to consistently get work they enjoy that pays their bills.”  Isn’t that true.  You want to live life while working - not wait for retirement - which is about as uncertain as anything these days - to live your life.

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February 13, 2007 by karamonroe.

Buster, over at Mutual Improvement, has posted an interesting question - what is your order for the following list of priorities:
Home
Travel
Creativity & Self-expression
Love & Relationships
Beliefs
Education & Self-improvement
Money
Work & Career
Health

Well, for me, I would reorder as follows:
1. Love & Relationships (where I put family as well)
2. Health
3. Beliefs
4. Creativity & Self-Expression
5. Work & Career
6. Education & Self-Improvement
7. Money
8. Home
9. Travel

Of course, any time you do an exercise like this, the obvious question that comes to mind is - is this how I’m living my life. For me, the honest answer is no. However, my work towards fulfilling my 12 habits and towards examining the reasons why I work and perhaps finding a new job are all important aspects of getting this list back in the right order in reality and not just on paper.

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February 13, 2007 by karamonroe.

Have you ever had that discussion with your parents - you know the one where you are unhappy with your job and you’re looking for a change because of all the stress, chaos, and simply the lack of passion for what you’re doing. And when you do have the discussion, the parent (in my case my father), get’s that glossed over look in his eye and says - you haven’t seen stress until… or you don’t know what work is until… 

Please don’t get me wrong.  He has worked harder in his 65+ years than I probably will work in 90+ years if I’m blessed to live that long.  However, times change dramatically with each generation.  His experience with work was different than his fathers and mine is different than his.  Not only are the contexts and the environments in which we work different, but we are different people.  Not terribly different, but different enough for me to know that I can’t work because it’s a good job with good pay and good benefits if it doesn’t interest me or feed my passion for living. 

I like a posting at StartupSpark on how you’ll know you’re an entrepreneur (You can also find the listing at lifehack.org).  I don’t think you have to necessarily own your own business or jump into a start-up company to be an entreprenuer or at least have an entrepreneurial spirit.  I certainly have held positions where I felt like an entrepreneur.  I loved the work, I loved the people whom I served and whom I worked with, I had a passion for what I was “selling” (and for that matter still do even though I haven’t been in that position for more than three years), I lived my work, I was always looking for new opportunities - both to extend what we were doing and how we were doing it and, most of all from the StartupSpark list, I think that I was always prepared to say, “I don’t know but I’ll figure it out.”  That is the part I’ve lost in my current position.  I can easily say I don’t know, but the I’ll figure it out part - that passion to answer the next question, conquer the next challenge, fill the next void, just isn’t there in this job. 

So dad, for you, please know - I don’t really think I have it bad.  I just want more.

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February 12, 2007 by karamonroe.

Blog lifehack posted the original series of questions which inspired me to start this blog and this question/answer set was one that really caught my attention. However, I’ve not been ready to post my response to it until now.  Recently, I’ve been doing a great deal of reflection on my strengths and weaknesses, particularly as they relate to my work.  I’ve come up with the following strengths:

1. The ability to make order out of chaos
2. The ability to apply technology to a situation to streamline a process
3. The ability to teach people a new skill (and the desire to do this teaching)
4. The ability to pick up new skills myself and apply them to existing problems

I’ve shared these strengths with my boss and a few trusted friends. They agree these seem pretty accurate for me so I fell confident that these are some of the reasons why I work. It’s number 3 - the ability to teach people a new skill and a desire to do that teaching that I plan to talk about here.

Teaching is a part of who I am.  Since I was three if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, part of the answer was always teacher.  I might have wanted to teach ballet or I might have wanted to teach people to be lawyers, but I never wanted to “do” - I always wanted to “teach”.  Sure, I’ve heard the saying that those who can’t do, teach which I think is the farthest thing from the truth.  I can do all that I teach - however I have chosen to share my ability widely with others.  My undergraduate degree was in teaching and my doctorate is in higher education so teaching and learning are just a part of my blood.  But, what is the role of teaching for the normal person at work and how does that lead us to ho-ohana (intentional and worthwhile work)?

Every person possesses skills and knowledge that another person does not have.  Take the example of Sam, one of our cleaning staff.  Sam can buff scratches out of anything.  It’s truly an amazing skill.  I’ve seen near gouges in furniture that Sam does some magical thing to with a cloth and some cleaning fluid and the scratch disappears.  Sam isn’t super strong - Sam just knows how to do this.  Yet, when asked to show others this skill Sam is resistant.  Why would that be?

There are several possible reasons.  Perhaps Sam is afraid that her value as an employee will go down if other people have her amazing skill as well.  Sam may be unable to put a voice to her skill.  She understands the concepts, the skills, and the tools - but perhaps she is unable to explain it to another person.  Or, perhaps Sam simply doesn’t wish to help another person learn.  Regardless of the reason why, Sam won’t share her information with others.  For Sam, teaching, coaching, and mentoring - at least regarding this one particular skill is not why she works.

However, for me, this is a thing that feeds my soul (a phrase I’ve taken to using lately in my quest for intentional and worthwhile work).  Last week, a staff member walked in my office while I was mid project - a project that had to be done by the end of the day. That staff member was having difficulty interpreting a report and knew I would be able to help.  We sat down together, worked through it, and the staff member was on their way.  The staff member doesn’t report to me and the report had little or nothing to do with my position - however that staff member knew I would be able and willing to explain the information to them in a way they could understand.  Teaching, coaching, and mentoring have just become a way of life for me.  Helping others to understand the world and function in it a little more easily is part of what feeds my soul and helps me on the quest to ho-ohana.

What about you?

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February 11, 2007 by karamonroe.

I was doing some reading over at Life Hacker today and came upon a post by Leo, auther of Zen Habits, regarding his 12 habits.  In this post, Leo identifies 12 habits he is going to adopt, apparently at least one per month over the next twelve months.  (This is clearly stated so it could also be assumed Leo is going to adopt all 12 habits and track progress on each for a month to ensure the habit is adopted).  As I read Leo’s post, I thought about how many of the items I am concerned about in my life really reflect habitual processes - relearning a way of viewing something or relearning a method for doing something so that it becomes routine or habit.  So, I thought I’d share my 12 habits for the next year.  My goal is to implement one of these habits per month and track progress on each one.  So, my 12 habits to be adopted are:

1. Develop a morning/evening routine - My mornings and evenings (bedtime) are currently a hodge-podge of different activities which aren’t repeated with any form of regular consistency.  I don’t eat breakfast every day, don’t complete the bible reading I’ve pledged to do daily, don’t make my bed, don’t turn off the tv at a consistent time each night which research says will help me sleep better.
2. Stick to a budget - I’ve tried this before but always fall off the wagon.  However, as that I’m planning to finally buy a house this year, sticking to a budget is going to become far more important. 
3. Reduce my debt - Once again I’ve let my credit cards get a little higher than I want them to be, so I’m planning to develop a plan to reduce debt.  Obviously just one month in this habit isn’t going to do much for me, other than perhaps developing a plan.  However becoming more aware of my spending, thinking more about purchases (being more frugal), etc. it will probably be the most valuable month of the year.
4. Drink more water and take vitamins - This one kind of relates to the first, however, I drink entirely too much diet soda and I don’t take vitamins to get some extra calcium, which as a female I desperately need to prevent osteoporosis later in life. 
5. Eat a healthier, homecooked diet - This is really two items in one.  It’s entirely too easy to eat convenience take out food, even though I love to cook.  I have a wealth of healthful cookbooks/recipe resources - just need to spend some time putting them to use.
6. Use GTD/DIT Concepts to be more productive - I’ve been using GTD for the last eight months and feel as though I’ve gotten some additional productivity as a result of this so far, but know that I’m nowhere near the proverbial black belt which David Allen discusses.  In addition, I’d like to implement the concept of Mark Forster’s Do It Tomorrow Closed Lists as I think that the large scale Next Action/Waiting For lists are still too overwhelming.
7. Keep a cleaner home - I’ve put this as item number 7 specifically because I think by that time in the year (seven months from now), I’ll be in my new house and ready to really finalize what it is I’m doing with keeping my home organized and neat and clean. 
8. Read more regularly - I have a huge list of to be read books.  This habit has nothing to do with me not reading enough - it’s simply that I don’t make the time to read the books I wish to read (those on my to be read list).  Perhaps this will become a part of my routine.
9. Exercise at least five days per week for at least 30 - 40 minutes per day - I want to lose some weight.  I want to be more fit.  Exercise is a great way to meet both of these goals.  Whether it’s an evening walk around the neighborhood with the dog that gets longer regularly (good for both me and puppy) or doing sit ups while I watch Grey’s Anatomy there are a lot of easy things I can do to make this habit a reality.
10. Stop complaining - I used to be a healthfully optimistic person.  The world wasn’t all rose colored glasses, but I saw my glass as half full far more often than half empty.  A confluence of activities - a job I don’t enjoy so much, surrounding myself with some more negative people, some general depression - have joined together and I’m not that same positive person.  In a step back toward that aim of being more positive, I plan to stop complaining.
11. Rediscover what motivates me - I’ve never been a huge procrastinator until the last year or so.  I really feel like this is related primarily to the items I’ve mentioned in item 10 above.  When you simply aren’t as happy as you’d like, it’s more difficult to be motivated.  So hopefully the placement of this item in number 11 and my plan to work on these sequentially, this one will find me in a new place (perhaps a new job, a new house, and the adoption of 10 new habits by that time).
12. Reconnect relationships - I’ve struggled lately with keeping relationships with family and friends where I want them to be.  There are no major problems here - no big break up, etc.  I just want to be a better friend, sister, aunt, daughter, co-worker, etc.

So, there you have it - my 12 habits I pledge to adopt over the next year.  I’ll keep you up to date as the year progresses.  Who knows - perhaps even a second post on my already gathering thoughts on how to adopt my new morning/evening routine.  How about sharing your 12 habits in the comments.

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December 13, 2006 by karamonroe.

Thre is an outstanding article in the November 27, 2006 issue of eWeek (see p. 8 or http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2064441,00.asp).  The article by Eric Lundquist urges the reader to embrace collaboration technologies - particularly with their power to change not only our personal interactions, but more importantly our work interactions.  Lundquist says, “Add wikis to the world of blogs, podcasts, videocasts, and social networks, and the ability for the manager to control the company from the traditional top-down approach simply won’t work.  I’m not the only one thinking this way.”  And I would agree - he is certainly not the only one thinking this way.

Interactive technologies such as email and IM have changed the ways in which we communicate and now web 2.0 technologies like those Lundquist lists are changing the way we interact, plan, and even approach information sharing.  For example, I would never consider offering a training session anymore that didn’t also include a podcast version in both audio format and video format.  Not only that but products like MagneticTime allow me to now listen to my documents quickly and easily.  As an educator - I’ve always thought it was important for us to embrace multiple learning styles - these new collaboration technologies just make it so much easier to do so for anyone interested in publishing.

I wonder what the teachoutloud service provided by LearnOutLoud (www.learnoutloud.com) will do for educational provision - and the ability of individuals to license their products using a creative commons licensing - giving explicit rights of use to users without any question of the copyright you’re providing - are all powerful and important tools to consider as we continue to embrace interactive and collaboration technologies in the workplace, at home, and in education.

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December 12, 2006 by karamonroe.

As noted in my initial post, this blog was in many ways inspired by a post by Rosa Say on Lifehack (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/why-work.html). In this post, she provides several thoughts on the reasons why poeple might work.  In this post - and several others that follow it (see the tag why work), I’ll respond to each of these items for me and hopefully provide some thought provoking ideas for how you might consider this same item as well.  The first of Say’s items mentioned in the post is “Work in celebration of your natural strengths, talents and gifts.”

As I considered this item from Say’s list, I thought it would be important to determine what my natural strengths, talents and gifts are.  There are inventories, particularly associated with spiritual gifts, which one can take that help you to determine what it is you have as your strengths.  I have completed a couple of these over the years.  In each I score high in the organization and administration categories and lower in social and caring occupations.  In contrast to that, I have a high score for teaching and training  - generally referred to in these types of inventories as informing.

Aside from formal inventories such as these, there are is the less scientific, yet probably more realistic method of identifying your own strengths, talents, and abilities.  This is simply to determine what it is you feel you are good at, what you enjoy doing, and what it is you are often selected to do or asked to do.  For me, organization and administration come up again.  My ability to use technology effectively is also a significant strength and ability.  In addition, I have a passion for teaching and training others - although this is a skill which is always in need of improvement.  I love to learn and typically learn very quickly.  One of my lesser used skills and abilities is my appreciation for and some abilities in the arts - particularly music. 

So, once we determine our natural strengths, talents, and abilities  how do we work in celebration of these items.  The easiest way to do this is simply to find a job which allows you to use these items.  If you can not find a job which allows you to use these in a professional capacity - you need to find ways through your religious organization, civic organization, volunteer groups, or work with your children to put these skills to use.  What do you get in return?  There is a feeling that comes over you (or at least that comes over me) when I use my natural strengths, talents, and gifts.  I find that not using these things makes it hard to focus, hard to concentrate - and hard to stay dedicated to the task at hand.  It’s important to find your natural strengths, talents and gifts and to use them as often as possible.

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December 11, 2006 by karamonroe.

As I’ve pondered becoming a serious blogger - i.e. writing for the online world more than when I feel the urge - but rather writing regularly and consistently for a general purpose - the topic always seems to get me.  What could I write about on a regular and consistent basis that the rest of the world might find interesting?  Then I ran across Rosa Say’s post to Lifehack.org on October 26th.  The post, which is available at www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/why-work.html made me think that perhaps I could write about work - why do we do it, what is it, what should it be, what is its value to our life?  And so - ho-ohana (as stated in Say’s post - the Hawaiian value for intentional and worthwhile work) was born.  This will be a blog about the reasons why we work, the frustrating aspects of work and how to deal with them, balancing work with the other aspects of your life, although in truth, most things worth doing are work - even if we receive no paycheck for them.

My goal - to post once per day.  My hope - you will find the posts of interest, will interact with me, and we will have a meaningful experience together in the online world.  To continue with the Hawaiian ideas I think of life as similar to the Road to Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii - you drive the trip not for the destination but for the beauty of the journey.  Our interactions with one another will hopefully form more beauty along each of our daily journeys.  May this blog help you along your path as the writing of it helps me a long mine.

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