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Winter has definitely arrived in Saskatoon. An Alberta Clipper blew in yesterday and left about 4-5 inches of snow in its wake. I’m not a huge fan of winter. Autumn is my favorite season – mostly because of the colors.

That’s what made flipping back through my sketchbook so much fun this morning. It was a treat to be reminded of the brilliance of September and October – as captured along the Atlantic in New England and the Maritimes. A bit of a seasonal antidote to the whites of winter.

You might enjoy flipping through the images, too. Here’s a link to the Atlantic/Maritime images as posted to an album on my Facebook page. You don’t have to be a FB friend to take a peak. Enjoy! And, if you’re in the snow zone like me, stay warm!

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REFLECTION: Have you ever wondered if tapping into the ‘why’ of what we do makes a difference? Here’s a study that suggests it does.

Researcher Adam Grant, at the University of North Carolina put the thesis to the test. He divided employees at a university fund-raising call center (charged with raising funds for student scholarships) into three groups.

Group One read stories written by previous employees about the personal benefits of the call center job in advancing their own skills and knowledge. The stories also touched on how individuals had leveraged what they’d learned to their advantage in their own careers and grad school. (The Personal Benefit Group)

Group Two read stories written by scholarship recipients about how the funding they received as a result of the campaign had given these students better access to education. The stories described how the gift had connected them to fellow scholarship students, and helped them engage in important extracurricular activities.  (The Task Significance Group)

Group Three simply continued doing their job as before – no stories at all. (The Control Group)

What happened? (more…)

For Pause Blog followers who are interested in travel adventures and art, here’s a link to a collection of sketches from our week in New York City. These are posted to an album on my Facebook page, but you don’t have to be a FB friend to take a peak. Enjoy!

REFLECTION:  Remember Goldilocks? I’m pretty sure you do. But just in case it’s been a while, here’s a ten second refresher. While strolling through the woods one day, GL waltzed into the the empty Three Bears abode and made herself at home. Chair? Too big. Too small. Just right. Porridge? Too hot. Too cold. Just right. Bed? Too hard. Too soft. Just right. The TB’s eventually returned to surprise GL, who leaped from Baby Bear’s bed and ran from the house.

Now, while I don’t condone Break & Enter or advise helping yourself to other people’s stuff, I think Goldilocks was on to something in her search for ‘Just Right’.

What, exactly, can we learn from GL about the challenges of stress in life and work? Don’t blindly accept what you stumble across first? Keep testing and experimenting till you find something that fits?

In my work with clients, I hear a lot about the problems of overloading – too much work, too many demands, too little time. For others, underloading triggers its own set of problems – pointless busywork, feelings of uselessness, time weighing heavy. Rightloading – that ‘just right’ solution – is a tricky place to find. (more…)

There has been a lot of talk about generations and generational differences in the media and in the workplace. Over the last couple of years, along with millenials and Gen X and Y, a new word has wormed its way into the generational vocabulary: Zoomer.

As I understand it, a Zoomer is sub category within the Boomer age group (Boomers being those born between the mid 1940’s and mid 1960’s). The distinction appears to be that a ‘standard’ Boomer is someone on the decline – energy and involvement waning, aspirations dwindling, over the hill and coasting. In contrast, a Zoomer is considered to be someone who is fully energized, actively pursuing new goals, engaged in learning and exploring new territory.

I’m a proud Boomer with lots of life in me and ahead of me, and I find myself irritated by the word, Zoomer. I’ve come to understand it’s the word, itself, not the concept of long-haul vitality that gives me pause.

Synonyms for zoom include: buzz, speed, streak, whizz, flash. Zoooooom is all about moving fast and making noise. Showmanship! Razzle dazzle! Superficial, short-lived, flash-in-the-pan pizzazz!

At this stage of life with the hard earned maturity and wisdom we Boomers have at our disposal, we can do a LOT better than aspire to superficial zooming. We’ve learned what really matters – and the things that truly matter do not require running around like chickens with our heads cut off!

How about significance? Now there’s something long-lasting and meaningful – something that’s well worth pursuing.

Are you with me or against me on this? How does the Zoomer label strike you?

REFLECTION: You’re working away – head down – afterburners aflame. You’ve been making great progress and, blessedly, the interruptions have been few. Still, after an hour and a half or so, you start feeling restless. Your attention begins to wander. And, you find yourself becoming a touch irritable and impatient.

Why are you having trouble with focus when the stars are aligned for work? It could be your internal body rhythms clamoring for your attention.

The human body isn’t built for nonstop high performance. We do a better job of maintaining energy over the long haul when periods of focused concentration are offset by time out for renewal.

There are parallels in other life situations. For example, a race car driver’s success depends on fast, high speed performance on the track. But an equally important part of that racer’s success is knowing when to pull off the track and into the pit for adjustments and repairs. Ignore, postpone or cancel the pit stops, and the race is lost.

Top performers in all kinds of fields tend to work in approximately 90 minute cycles – sprints if you will. They shift back and forth between periods of intense effort offset by periods of purposeful renewal. (more…)

REFLECTION: It was a sunny clear October day, and my husband, Dave, and I (along with another 20 passengers) were enjoying a sailing adventure on the Mar, a 65 foot tall ship that plies the Halifax Harbor. About a half an hour into the trip, we made our way to the stern to check out the view from aft and chat with the crew.

After a few minutes of conversation, Captain Tim looked at me and asked, “So, do you want to steer the ship?” Of course this prairie flat-lander jumped at the opportunity. For the next 30 to 40 minutes, I found myself at the wheel, taking instructions from the Captain: “Line up to the second pillar on the bridge. Hold her steady. Shift a bit – one spoke to starboard.”

Wind in my hair. Sun on my face. Excitement in my blood. I’m pretty sure my Norwegian Viking ancestors were bursting their buttons to see one of their own as a deckhand.  Although I made no navigation decisions, only followed instructions, I turned the ship around in the harbor, sailed between two offset marker buoys, came around the other schooner cruising the harbor, and headed the Mar to dock. Thankfully, the captain took over before we got too close to land. Steering is one thing – braking quite another! (Can you actually brake a ship?)

Anyway, the adventure turned out to be one of the highlights of my vacation. As I’ve been reading this week about motivation and engagement in the workplace, my brief sailing experience has morphed into a learning lab of its own. (more…)

Nothing says New York more than Times Square – unless of course it’s the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty. Well, come to think of it, there are a lot of things that say New York!

We walked through Times Square many times during our visit to New York. The Square is central to Manhattan and the Theatre District, and it’s a great place for people watching.

Aside from the people, the other thing you can’t escape in Times Square is the advertising. Every surface that can be turned into a billboard, marquee, or projection screen has been nabbed by corporate America eager to promo the latest and greatest. The displays are dizzying –  up, down and all around. In my opinion, it’s worth a look, but not a linger!

Here’s my take on the commotion that is Times Square. Quickly sketched from my sidewalk perch looking south down Broadway from w50th (Gershwin Way).

Although I took lots of photos and painted many sketches while visiting New York City and traveling the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada, as you will have noticed, the blog remained silent throughout the vacation. I found myself too absorbed in the experience to want to spend time at the keyboard. So, now that I’m back to the everyday world again, I’m planning to post a few treats from my days away throughout the next couple of weeks. Here’s an appetizer – a sketch done at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine. Wonderful landscape views and vibrant colors. I ate it up! Hope you enjoy it, too!

REFLECTION: Earlier this year, I wrote about the value of ‘Getting Out There’ – making time to spend a few minutes or a few hours in nature. My last Pause message in September touched on the struggle between getting ‘things’ done and taking time for a walk. It’s not my intention to turn into a broken record on this subject. However, two events have inspired one more commentary on the impact of walking on well being.

First, a personal experience. We spent the last two weeks exploring New York City and cruising the coast of New England and the Maritimes. For all its cabs and subways, NYC is a walking city. And walk we did. If we’d had a pedometer, I’d give you a reading. But we didn’t, so I can’t.

What I can tell you is that it’s a long way from Uptown Central Park to the Financial District at the south end of Manhattan. Our soles covered most of that territory – some of it repeatedly. (I loved Central Park.) We stayed on the 6th floor of a Midtown Manhattan hotel, and other than using the elevator to haul luggage on arrival and departure, we took the five flights of stairs to and from our room – often several times a day.

As for the cruise, our cabin was mid-level in the ship. (more…)