1,2,3 for Week #20

Welcome to your week. Picture above is my spot. In the sun, on the deck, coffee, project timer, and iPad for writing to you here. Everyone needs one. This is where I find little distractions other than what I make for myself when on my technology to write. It’s warm. There’s lots of nature around me, it’s outdoors with fresh air, and it’s secluded. Not to mention it’s away from indoor activities like TV or other such shenanigans that take me off track from the work I want to accomplish here on the spot. Let’s get into it.

1. Enormous amounts of productive time for professional wants and personal wants go unsatisfied. I started a simple exercise to test this out myself. I took my calendar and mapped out the next day’s goals or work, by hour as to what I wanted to do. First layer, the most important needs for work and life that day that needed to be done. Then I went through the day, checking in periodically to see if I was sticking to my own commitments for time, placement in the day. When I didn’t do what I said I was going to do for that time boxed out spot was what I did instead. I needed to truly understand how bad my time wasting was. It was bad! I recommend to anyone to try it for a week. In notes of the original period of time you mapped out, if you didn’t do that work, you wrote what you did. This gave me the added benefit of showing me how routines had taken over my time slots, but also helped me self-identify the true opportunity of poor commitment, or what got in the way. Two weeks later, I was aware of enough, that almost all of the things that were pretty useless in helping me achieve the biggest things I’ve wanted to do in my life. But, also, what I don’t want to. What was robbing my joy from other things stood out very clearly. Spend the time tracking yourself from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. Where did you find the most time where it just seem it was unaccountable? That’s the first holes you want to repair. Just working on those, I found a lot more happiness and places where I could do exactly what I wanted to do.
2. Couple articles for the week I thought to share are very different from one another. What can I say, sometimes the unusual is a great break from my normal. Suggest you read something that is unlike you once in a while. It’s refreshing. In my line of work, I find myself connected a LOT of the time to work. It’s incredibly hard to get some focused time working on projects and other things in today’s work environment. Did You Get My Slack/Email/Text from Erica is about the shifting horizons of communication norms. We need NEW RULES thanks to COVID. Erica takes us through some ideas of how to do this. I share this one with my colleagues at work as we’re all trying to navigate some of these new spaces and expectations. I decided to archive and favorite this one in my newsfeed, because I’ll be using it to guide my own work. In this article from Nir, The Illusion of Control Is Hurting Your Goals I learned how I could be killing mine due to the illusion. Especially as things for me got uncomfortable. It’s a bias we have, that I learned by reading this article to better control. As soon as I can understand this trap in the illusion, be self-aware of it, I’ll get more done.
3. Here’s the quotes during my rambling around this past week that stuck with me and why:

“To experience peace doesn’t mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life.” – Jill Bolte Taylor

I’ve been to privileged and at times felt entitled to things right or wrong. This includes feeling like bliss is owed me after all the studying and practicing meditation I’ve done for the past few years. It’s not. Nothing is. But, when I need it, it’s there. Life is life. It’s going to knock you out, down, flat out, and inspire the fire too. Always is not a term I like to use to describe expectations. Instead I’ve come to know impermanence more.

“It’s okay to look in the past as long as you don’t stare.” – Overheard Conversation

I can spend to much time dwelling or ruminating in my past. Super dangerous, because I find that I get stuck there to long. I loved hearing this in a conversation, as it was a gentle reminder to make sure I’m not staring. Staring at someone or something, think about it, is weird and sometimes can be creepy. Don’t be creepy.

“Those who are uberly engaged with the company want to go to the office two-thirds of the time, at least. Those who are least engaged are very comfortable working from home.” – Fortune, Inc

WFH is coming to an end. I think there will always be a need. Now we’ve seen the power of it, to work remotely, it will be a strategy we will see that will stick around. As we move on, I believe it’s going to be something of a hybrid for the future for organizations.. A new playing field and a new talent for it. I am “uberly” excited to be back in store for my organization, versus WFH. But, I also see the benefit of one uninterrupted day of WFH can do for focus or intentional work planning,

That’s this week’s shares. I hope you enjoyed them. Look for a new Well podcast coming soon. Time for another walk outside for the next episode!

✌🏻 Shawn