I have had many different positions in my short career one of these positions was a manager for a development team. The team was a rather large group of computer programmers all of them were quite young too. I think the average age of my teams was 24 years old. The developers were pretty smart and had a good grasp on the programming tools and languages we used however they lacked some of the skills involved in effectively interacting with colleagues’. After realizing this I took time every Monday to motivate the teams with a meeting that involved going over one life skill. I still remember one meeting in particular in which I told the team that no matter what job and where they worked the most important skill they could posses and use was going to always be a positive attitude. That was true then and is still true today. With a positive attitude nearly anything is possible. The inverse is also true a negative attitude will make the smallest task a chore and bring progress to a staggering halt. The only attitude we can ever control is our own so I encourage you to accentuate the positive today>
Yesterday I emptied out my inbox. I had 1124 unread emails that I spent about 45 minutes looking through deleting or addressing. This is not good. According to the Inbox Zero Method. Inboxes that are not kept at 0 become distracting and eat into an employees productivity.
For me the unread emails loomed over me like a piano in a cartoon. I was sure that one of the emails would have been time sensitive and a career make or break issue (spoiler alert none of them were).
Keeping our inboxes at 0 is more than just something for email it is something to consider for our lives. I can and often do get involved in to many things and find that I am never just getting to unplug and enjoy accomplishments. As soon as one project is over I am being moved to the next one.
There is nothing wrong with being busy however we must make our best efforts to bring our projects at work and home to fruition. Are you involved in a home remodel that has been taking place since you bought the house? Are you going to get that grad degree as soon as work slows down?
When we do not actually accomplish things we run the risk of experiencing the Zeigarnik Effect, and we are literally haunted by the tasks that we cannot finish or forget. Lets work together in finishing projects today, starting with the inbox. Go ahead get that bad boy down to 0 and feel good!
As we get older we find ourselves dealing with people who seem to be getting younger. I have on more than one occasion worked with people that are the same age as my adult children. We navigate our social interactions at work differently when we work with the younger associates and at the end of the day we call our friends that our own age and commiserate about the surreal events.
One word that comes up in the commiseration is entitled. It is a buzz word and an easy excuse for why the younger generation, shows up late, does not complete projects, when they do complete projects they are not on time or of the correct quality and complain about the criticism given to them or the lack of job growth they are given. Originally I was able to get behind this buzz word and tried to give it some traction. However when I began to think, I mean really think about it, the power of the buzz word, like all the others, fell apart and lost steam.
Entitled means that we are deserving of privileges just because we are here and in certain cases this is correct. I truly believe that there are rights that living beings possess simply through being born. When beings have these rights taken away from them we are living in a society that is broken.
The more I live the more I think that people at all ages are truly products of the society they live in and if I want to see change. If I want to see progress I will have to work towards changing society so that at the very least all people get what they are entitled too.
What are we entitled to? At the very minimum we are all entitled to respect. Respect is and should be given even if we do not feel that someone has earned it. We should respect and care for everyone no matter how awful we believe they are. They idea that respect should be earned is toxic and is creating a society in which our coworkers cannot thrive and live their best lives.
At the end of the day we would do well to respect everyone.
Happy Friday everyone or whatever day it is that you are reading this post. I am typing these words on a Friday and I feel like the song by the O’Jays titled “Living for the Weekend”. I plan on having a really good time downtown after work today I really do.
Let me just sit down And relax a minute Let me tell you about it
Aha, it’s Friday Oh ho, thank God, it’s Friday And I just got paid
Going across town Gonna pick up my lady Have a little bit of fun Just ain’t no telling Where I might end up
You might see me on the east side Ha, the west side I’m even going cross the bridge ‘Cause I, ’cause I, ’cause I hear They really get down over there
Owe it to myself (Well, well, I) Gonna party (Well, well, I) Gonna party
I owe it to myself (Well, well, I) Oh, party, party
I’m just living, yeah (Living for the weekend) Woo hoo, said I’ma (Living for the weekend)
I said right now, I’m (Living for the weekend) I said this evening (Living for the weekend)
For the next two days (Living for the weekend) Gonna have a real good time (Living for the weekend)
Gonna have a real, real Real good time (Living for the weekend) Gonna party hard, hard
Come on, y’all Let’s go downtown Come on, y’all Let’s groove, hey, hey
Monday to Thursday I’m dead on my feet Most of the time too tired to eat When I try to read the paper I fall fast asleep
But as soon as Friday rolls around I lay all my weekly burdens down I put on my glad rags And paint the town
Friday night alive (Living for the weekend) Said, I’m living for the weekend (Living for the weekend) Don’t stop when I party down
Party hard, party down Party hard, party down
Soon as on Monday Rolls around again I got to put all that Partying to an end
Got to solve that same old grind With those five day week Sometimes, I get frustrated Through the day, take off early And a cut in pay
At the time, I don’t really care Because I done took All that I can bear
Those are some amazing lyrics and I really do enjoy the weekends. I am beholden to no one (sort of) on the weekends and can spend my time with family and friends.
I worked at a factory a few times and experienced rigid scheduling, that was when I truly found joy in a weekend or days off. Later in life I took jobs that were less rigid in schedule and I still love weekends but I am finding some joy in my actual work.
I think that there is nothing wrong with loving weekends but if we are “living for the weekends” what is happening on the week days?
I have tried and continue to try to enjoy everyday and every minute week or weekend be dammed if I am breathing I am going to try to enjoy myself. I will always love that song and my weekends but I am going to also make it a point to love; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well and so should you.
Ok truth time the title of this post is stolen from this article on NPR explaining vacations. Specifically the article outlines the history of vacations in the United States. Summer time is right around the corner and very soon we will find our selves in prime vacation taking time and I cannot wait. I love vacations. I honestly do not hate work but I think I may cram a little much into my schedule and I put myself behind the eight ball sometimes. Vacations are a great way to relax and reset.
When I come back from this spring vacation I plan on approaching work differently for scheduling purposes. I want to realistically schedule my time at work and fit in what I need and want to get done in the time that I have. My hope is that through better time management I can be more efficient and have a more balanced life.
Life is an amazing gift that we have all been given and I don’t want to waste any of it. I understand that things come up and I will not always be able to adhere to my schedule so I will be flexible but I really am making and trying to stick to my schedule. I am serious.
I really do plan on doing this when I get back. I bought an Legend Planner and everything! I want to account for all my time at work and home and make the most of all of it but before I do that I plan on spending a week only deciding what color shorts I want to wear to the pool / beach.
There is a quote that I saw making the rounds on the internet. The quote is often shared by people at work who, feel that the work load is unevenly distributed and the management is acquiescing or worse facilitating the inequity. Ok here is the quote…
When there is no consequence for poor work ethic, and no reward for good work ethic, there is no motivation
I am not sue if the quote is legit or apocryphal, however I have seen it and It bugs me, a lot. My immediate response is another turn of phrase or quote that is not apocryphal, I only know of its authenticity because I am a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories and the quote comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through the greatest detective of all time.
I have been there and seen associates struggle to get their work done during the allotted time. I have covered shifts when life got in the way for my associates and ugly John wanted consequences to rain down on my associates however, consequences would not get the work done and I am pretty sure they would not change the work ethic of the associates. They would simply upset everyone. Now instead of simply covering a shift for my associate I must cover a shift, watch the associate bear the consequences for a poor work ethic and provide a ear in sympathy that associate as well as the manager who is looking to justify their actions.
Consequence and reward is an elementary solution to an complex problem. A good manager needs to understand why the work is not enough reward for the employee that is engaged and more than enough reward for the engaged employee. Perhaps when armed with this knowledge better hiring practices will create a workforce of engaged and happy workers.
When an employees circumstances change a good manage should notice and make adjustments. Directors of managers should first the managers focus on the people then the work results. Maybe a good place to start a conversation with a manager is “how are your employees doing? What does their mental health and morale seem like?” After getting that assessment you should be able to use that as a leading indicator for production unless you have a skills problem.
The bottom line is many problems are problems because they are complex and require more than a pithy and honestly judgmental quote. Before you decide to wish consequences on a fellow associate maybe try helping them enjoy work as much as you do. If nothing else treating others this way has to lead to good Karma right?
This morning Alexa yelled at me and I yelled back requesting just ten more minutes. I was tired and didn’t want to get out of bed and start the day. I wanted to sleep for another hour then start the day, but I rolled out of bed and headed to the gym for my 30 minutes of row.
Got to say those thirty minutes took forever but when I finished I felt great! I always feel great after I accomplish something and I think maybe I feel a little greater when it is something I really didn’t want to do in the first place.
Here is a great article about Suze Orman and her tenacity and understanding that, we have to do things we do not want to do to get what we want. When I was in the army I hated shinning my boots and pressing my uniforms I never understood why we had to do this every day, and a sergeant, who acted as a mentor explained it to me like this, “it’s like brushing your teeth no one wants to do it but it has to get done.” I did it every morning while in the army and now I wake up and head out no matter how early it is because it has to get done.
Today your day may be filled with what seems like menial tasks and chance are high that you do not want to do them but, they have to be done and when you finish you should reward yourself with at least a pat on the back.
Today is Friday and for many employees it is the end of the standard work week. No more grinding away for our bosses. It is time to get out there and wake up when nature tells us to and spend our time on our own desires!
Yesterday while listening to a podcast I heard a term I know used in a different topic. The term was grinding. I heard the term grinding used to describe repetitive work but, in the podcast the term was used to describe repetitive game play. Grinding in games (video games) is the act of engaging in repetitive tasks to gain some type of performance outcome. According to many game developers grinding is necessary to give all players an advantage. In the wikipedia article , the defense of grinding in video games has to do with the pareto principle.
The pareto principle is another term I have heard a lot at work. Essentially the Pareto Principle (named after the man who wrote it down the first time Vilfred Pareto), says that 80 % of your consequences (winning in a game or building widgets at work) will come from 20% of your actions (20 percent of the players in a game are high performers, 20 percent of the workforce get that widget in the truck out the door and or in the hands of the customer). Grinding was set up in games to off set the pareto principle now see the problem with that is, the pareto principle most likely will now apply to the grinders instead of the players.
I think if someone does not enjoy grinding in a game they should not grind in that game.
My grandfather always encouraged me to become a weather man (I know they are called meteorologist). “Look they, do not need to be right, they only work twice a day and they get to go to work clean and come home clean.” I didn’t become a meteorologist it wasn’t really my passion. I find everything interesting don’t get me wrong but weather didn’t get me out of the bed.
I am fortunate in that, I work with a field that I am passionate about and engages me. I enjoy the weekend and I joke about working for the weekend but, I don’t mind it when I have to work (a little) late.
I hope that whatever you are grinding at you truly enjoy or at least find interesting if not I encourage you to find something that sparks joy
The Corrigan Encore 