The Meeting Zone

Nothing challenges my sanity faster than a long, unproductive meeting. 

A productive meeting can be tremendously valuable, a big time-saver, and even exhilarating.  Here are some strategies to try to make a productive meeting happen:

Start on time, and end on time.

Spend a little time in chit-chat. People need to build friendships, they need a chance to show their personalities, they need to establish rapport. 

Everyone needs to contribute, find a way to draw people out. 

Have an agenda and stick to it. 

Never go to a meeting if you don’t know why you’re supposed to be there! 

Regular meetings should be kept as short as possible and very structured. 

For longer meetings, schedule breaks when people can check their email and phones.  Establish ground rules for actual meeting time - pagers on stun, no checking email, phones silent.

Take action items for meeting follow-up.  These need to be summarized with owners and due dates prior to adjournment.

Using these tips can prevent you from having a Haunted Meeting :o) 

[One of my favorite Bob and Tom skits, and a recurring entry in my little world]

Dealing With a Lousy Day :o)

After a four day weekend, where hopefully we spent some time thinking about what we are thankful for, we get the opportunity to head back to the daily grind.  Inevitably, we will have some bad days.  We've all had terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Lousy days take many forms.  Here are some strategies for coping with a lousy day:



1. Resist the urge to “treat” yourself. Often, the things we choose as “treats” aren’t good for us. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt, loss of control, and other negative consequences just deepen the lousiness of the day.


2. Do something nice for someone else. “Do good, feel good”  


3. Distract yourself. You will better able to cope with the situation after having had a bit of relief. Read, TV, movie, something to get your mind otherwise engaged.


4. Seek inner peace through outer order. The sense of tangible progress, control, and orderliness can be a comfort.


5. Tell yourself, “Well, at least I…” Get some things accomplished.


6. Exercise is an extremely effective mood booster – but be careful of exercise that allows you to ruminate.


7. Stay in contact. Studies show that contact with other people boosts mood.


8. Things really will look brighter in the morning. Go to bed early and start the next day anew.


9. Keep perspective. Ask yourself: “Will this matter in a month? In a year?”



What other strategies have you used to deal with a lousy day?

Procrastination Avoidance

We all have to make ourselves do things that we just don’t want to do. Here are some tricks to power through the procrastination.

1. Do it first thing in the morning. If you’re dreading doing something, you’re going to be able to think of more creative excuses as the day goes along. Without delay is the easiest way.

2. If you find yourself putting off a task that you try to do several times a week, try doing it EVERY day, instead. 

3. Have someone keep you company. Studies show that we enjoy practically every activity more when we’re with other people. Having a friend along can be a distraction, a source of reassurance, or just moral support.

4. Make preparations, assemble the proper tools. Dividing a tough task into preparation and execution makes it easier to tackle.

5. Commit. We’ve all heard the advice to write down your goals. This really works, so force yourself to do it. Usually this advice relates to long-term goals, but it works with short-term goals, too. On the top of a piece of paper, write, “By the end of today, I will have _____.” 

6. First things first. That is, make sure you don't use little tasks to push offbig tasks. I find myself answering email instead of writing, or reading Twitter instead of logging in my research notes. These smaller tasks are important and worthwhile, but I shouldn't use them to delay more taxing work.

7. Reflect on the great feeling you'll get when you've finished. Studies show that hitting a goal releases chemicals in the brain that give you pleasure. 

What strategies do you use to stop procrastinating?

Source

Philosophical Phun - Koans

A “koan” is a question, story, or statement that can’t be understood logically. Zen Buddhist monks meditate on koans as a way to abandon dependence on reason in their pursuit of enlightenment.

A koan can’t be grasped by logic, or explained in words.

The most famous koan is probably: “Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?”

"...in the beginning a monk first thinks a kôan is an inert object upon which to focus attention; after a long period of consecutive repetition, one realizes that the kôan is also a dynamic activity, the very activity of seeking an answer to the kôan. The kôan is both the object being sought and the relentless seeking itself. In a kôan, the self sees the self not directly but under the guise of the kôan...When one realizes ("makes real") this identity, then two hands have become one. The practitioner becomes the kôan that he or she is trying to understand. That is the sound of one hand." — G. Victor Sogen Hori, Translating the Zen Phrase Book

I find the concept of Koans refreshing and very thought provoking.  Here is my first effort: "Can a passing thought be profound?"
Source

e-Mail Effing Tips :o)

I know that I struggle with e-mails, and everything that goes with it.  Sure, it is a great way to stay informed, to be alerted when people comment or update on [fill in the application here], or to know when you have a new bill or payment or deposit or.....  But in this new information age, it is important to practice some common courtesy when e-mailing, and to do some e-mail management.  See some e-mail efficiency tips below:




1. Keep it brief. Easier for the writer, easier for the reader.

2. Stay focused. Each e-Mail should be on a single subject, with an appropriate subject line.

3. Keep a sense of proportion! Don’t flag an email as “urgent” unless it really is urgent!

4. Unsubscribe. Sure, it may take only a second to delete it when it arrives, but seeing emails flooding into your in-box is so unpleasant; take a few extra seconds to stop those emails at the source.

5. Manage your notifications. When you set up a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a Goodreads profile, a YouTube channel, and the like, pay very careful attention to the notifications. Do you really want to be notified when X, Y, or Z happens? And if you realize later you’re getting notifications you don’t want, take a minute to change your settings.

Source: Happiness-Project

The Happiness Project :o)

Different happiness strategies work for different people. The following strategies stood out for Gretchen Rubin and "The Happiness Project". I have added my thoughts to the bolded strategies.


Seek novelty and challenge even if you value consistency and comfort. Trying new things is one of the most effective paths to happiness.

Try doing whatever you enjoyed doing at age 10. I would substitute and think of a time when you remember being happy, and try doing those same things again. Enthusiasm is the key.

Read memoirs of death and suffering. I was not expecting this one. The premise is that this helps put our own problems into perspective. I struggle with this one a bit because it requires you to make yourself feel better at the expense of someone else's struggles.

Declutter your home. Having a few chores that you want to accomplish each day can bring you satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. I know that I try and do this on my non-work days. It is way to easy to spend lots of time behind the keyboard.

Be appreciative of people's good traits rather than critical of their bad ones. I think that this is key to a good relationship. It is always easy to find things to be critical of, but focusing on the positive traits, the things that attracted us to our mates or friends, leaves us with a warmness inside that is hard to duplicate.

Enjoy today even if there's still work to do. Take time to be happy each and every day. Do not hang your happiness shingle on some future milestone that is going to take years to achieve.

http://www.happiness-project.com/