Overload & Overwhelm

REFLECTION: How often do possibilities and opportunities collide on your calendar? I’ve been struggling with competing options for one particular week in October for some time now.

Up for consideration were my possible attendance as a participant at: a four day certification program, a three day professional association conference, and a five day workshop. Layered over top of those options were tentative client holds on two potential presentation days.

Today I jettisoned the first two options from my calendar and registered for the third. I decided that if the hold was confirmed on one of the two presentation days, I’d absent myself that day from the workshop. Situation resolved. (more…)

REFLECTION: So often when we talk about balance and overload with respect to work and family life, work is portrayed as the villainous task-master. But that isn’t necessarily the case.

Recent research by Culbertson and Mills from Kansas State University reveals that invigorated and dedicated employees who are highly engaged in their work (but not workaholics or work addicts) tend to be better able to deal with issues at home, make better companions, and are more effective overall in the home environment. (more…)

REFLECTION: We’re just back from a four day weekend get away to Victoria. Amongst the many people we encountered were Susanne, Mauro, and a handful of Harbor Ferry pilots.

Susanne served us in the restaurant at the Laurel Point Inn. Though business was brisk for both Saturday breakfast and Sunday brunch, Susanne made the time for conversation. She remembered our names from one day to the next, asked about our plans each day, tossed in a few bits of info about herself, and we shared more than a few laughs in the process. I almost stopped to apologize for deserting her on morning three, as I headed off to breakfast elsewhere. (more…)

REFLECTION: Anyone who has ever parented a teenager is familiar with ‘the look’. A defiant lift of the chin, a roll of the eyes  accompanied by a vaguely audible sigh, wrapped in an attitude of long-suffering impatience.  Assumed subtext translation: How can you be so stupid! What planet are you from? I am the only person in the world who has to put up with stuff like this!

The exchange presents challenges in family communication because of its powerful unspoken subtext.

There are equivalents in the workplace. Case in point: You’ve just been asked to work a third night of overtime this week. Your family is expecting you home this evening. You’re brain dead from the extra exertion and exhausted by a lack of sleep. You decline. (more…)

REFLECTION: When in comes to overload at work and at home, the stuff of life can be a major source of irritation. Now, I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with things, but for me, despite knowing better and despite the best of intentions, I find it easy to ignore growing accumulations until they can no longer be contained or other things start competing for the space.

Case in point #1: A decade or more of computer back up disks and original software only recently got sorted out when available off-site back up storage space shrunk and something had to give. The sort and sift was long overdue, since I’d already shifted to automated backups using external drives that swap in and out with regularity. The space crunch forced the issue. (more…)

REFLECTION: What’s the seasonal cycle like in your workplace? What I’ve noted consistently over 23 years in my business, is that for my kind of speaking and training services, demand tends to be low through July and August. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, I have come to anticipate that a large part of the summer will be free of what I refer to as ‘up-front-delivery’ work.

The summer downturn used to cause me considerable concern. In the earliest years, every July I worried and agonized that my business was in its final death throes. I pictured myself on a downhill slide – bankrupt by Christmas. It’s amazing the stories I could create to torment myself! Not that you ever write those kind of stories yourselves!

What I have also noted year after year is that, as surely as the engagements ebb through the summer, they flow again through the fall, winter and spring. I refer to the phenomenon as a Seasonal Adjustment. And, more recently, I have come to see it as something to be welcomed with enjoyment – not simply tolerated with annoy-ment. (I know, I know – that’s not really a word – but I like the sound of it anyway!) (more…)

REPRINT OPPORTUNITY: Wow, have these been popular! It’s only taken four months to sell out the most recent print run of two thousand Take A Break booklets. I will be reprinting ‘TAB – 67 Ways To Pause When You Absolutely Positively Do Not Have The Time’ again in the next couple of weeks. 

These booklets are being used by clients for: conference and event give-aways, corporate wellness initiatives, orientation packages for new employees, EFAP libraries, coffee room reading, and gifts for clients, staff and colleagues. See Reader Writes below for one individual’s testimonial to the value of the Take A Break booklets.

At this time of reprinting, I’m delighted to once again offer specially reduced pricing for quantity orders with your corporate message imprinted on the front cover. See this two page pdf ( http://www.pauseworks.com/take_a_break.pdf  ) for a look at the cover with sample imprint, and for custom pricing info on orders. Fax your order form to (306-242-0795) if you are interested in putting these great ideas in the hands of people who matter most in your world.

REFLECTION: I can’t say that I’m much of a fan of Twitter – the on-line instant text service with a per message limit of 140 characters. It seems to me that we have more than enough interruptions in our everyday lives already. However, I recently stumbled across a reference to a twitter service that I can actually see having some merit. (more…)

REFLECTION: Where do you rate on the worry scale? Do you suffer from a rotating series of ‘Worries Of The Day’?  And, if so, how well is that practice serving you?

Do your worries keep you engaged in life? Help you feel needed? Feed the illusion of averting potential disaster?

Or are your worries simply too much to handle? Sending your blood pressure soaring? Interfering with a good night’s rest? Keeping you from enjoying what’s good in your life? (more…)

REFLECTION: When I speak at conferences and deliver seminars on overload and overwhelm in life and work, I am constantly reinforcing the need for us to be as thoughtful as possible about how today’s choices and decisions affect tomorrow’s experience. It’s a ‘lift up your eyes for the long haul’ approach to the challenges that face us every day. 

And no, it’s not always easy to step back from the immediate pressures of the day to respond from a higher plane. One of the most helpful tools in shifting direction is simply asking good questions. I love good questions. I adore great questions! 

It’s for that reason, a message in the recent edition of the Green and White, our University of Saskatchewan Alumni magazine, caught my eye. (more…)

REFLECTION: As we spoke about overload pressures in the workplace, one seminar participant expressed dismay at how many meetings she had to attend. In her view, they were far too frequent, and ate up far too much time. 

As a long time employee in the organization, there wasn’t much that was new to her on any agenda. As a result, at most meetings she felt like she was just putting in time, twiddling her thumbs, and spinning her wheels. Meanwhile her ‘real work’ was piling up at her desk.

You may have felt that way yourself, especially if you’ve been around for a while. The new information shared at a meeting may amount to 5 or 10 minutes. The rest of the time is spent going over what may be, for you, old ground and tired issues.

I was especially interested, though, to hear one of her co-workers offer another perspective. (more…)