Katie just gave me a shout-out on her blog, so I thought I'd return the favor (for the 4/5 of my readership that isn't Jennie). She posts yummy recipes, funny stories, lovely pictures. AND she just got published in a magazine so the writing is tip-top.
Check her out: http://kitchendoor.wordpress.com/
Blogging is a good way to get over the post-lunch sleepies, also. Word to the working wise.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
When Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope:
"Oh, she says well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is, is, "Listen, we are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different". And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we're not supposed to dance at all anymore."
Kurt Vonnegut
Found this in a birthday card my Dad sent me. I love my Dad.
Kurt Vonnegut
Found this in a birthday card my Dad sent me. I love my Dad.
Happier and Productive Dummy
Here is what I have been up to lately.
I have been organizing my projects and processing systems at work, because I figured out that the reason I was so stressed out was because stuff kept piling on top of my to-do list and I had no way to prioritize or organize or anything, which kept me worrying about stupid stuff and not actually bringing my best thoughts and energy to work.
Very demotivating.
My colleague Paul recommended this book to me, and I started reading it. It's called Getting Things Done by David Allen, and I am a complete convert. Let me just say, it makes a lot of sense. The guy is a personal productivity guru and he has this method that helps you develop a process for collecting your information so you don't have to think about anymore. Then you process it (decide which action to take), organize it, review it, and do it. Worth checking out; I find myself recommending it to everyone and their mother.
Guys, I learned how to use a tickler file. From this book. No one teaches you this stuff, you have to do it yourself. At least, no one taught me...
Anyways, one of the things he recommends doing is spending two days in your office clearing out all the open loops of stuff, projects, etc. that are bugging you. SO... this weekend I went into work and "implemented the process" (I know, I know, drinkin' the Kool-Aid here, but bear with me). It was hard. It took forever. I missed the first half of the Notre Dame game. (I KNOW!) I probably spent 6.5 hours Saturday, 7 hours Sunday, and 3 today after work doing this. Mostly filing reference stuff (ugh so awful) but it's done now. DONE.
And here is the best part: I feel much better. There is still tons of work to be done, but now I actually know what it is and where it is. I had a whole year's worth of stuff that had piled up in someone else's system that I had been using. My office finally feels like MY office.
I don't know what kind of dummy works all weekend to create less work, but that's the kind of dummy I am.
I have been organizing my projects and processing systems at work, because I figured out that the reason I was so stressed out was because stuff kept piling on top of my to-do list and I had no way to prioritize or organize or anything, which kept me worrying about stupid stuff and not actually bringing my best thoughts and energy to work.
Very demotivating.
My colleague Paul recommended this book to me, and I started reading it. It's called Getting Things Done by David Allen, and I am a complete convert. Let me just say, it makes a lot of sense. The guy is a personal productivity guru and he has this method that helps you develop a process for collecting your information so you don't have to think about anymore. Then you process it (decide which action to take), organize it, review it, and do it. Worth checking out; I find myself recommending it to everyone and their mother.
Guys, I learned how to use a tickler file. From this book. No one teaches you this stuff, you have to do it yourself. At least, no one taught me...
Anyways, one of the things he recommends doing is spending two days in your office clearing out all the open loops of stuff, projects, etc. that are bugging you. SO... this weekend I went into work and "implemented the process" (I know, I know, drinkin' the Kool-Aid here, but bear with me). It was hard. It took forever. I missed the first half of the Notre Dame game. (I KNOW!) I probably spent 6.5 hours Saturday, 7 hours Sunday, and 3 today after work doing this. Mostly filing reference stuff (ugh so awful) but it's done now. DONE.
And here is the best part: I feel much better. There is still tons of work to be done, but now I actually know what it is and where it is. I had a whole year's worth of stuff that had piled up in someone else's system that I had been using. My office finally feels like MY office.
I don't know what kind of dummy works all weekend to create less work, but that's the kind of dummy I am.
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