My friend’s tears weren’t too unusual on this topic. “It’s awful,” she said, as I listened to her heart sink to the floor. “My manager is always hounding me about deadlines I’m missing because I have too much work to do. My coworker is a jerk, but I have no one to tell when we […]
Read MoreMessy Rules. They’re Awesome.
On my way in to the library the other day, I wondered what their food rules are, and whether I needed to smuggle in my water bottle. So I went looking for a sign with rules. [At the local library, you can’t throw your stuff everywhere, get naked, or pop popcorn. This must be why […]
Read MoreVictory Over The Library Door
A few weeks ago, I had plans to have lunch with the kiddo at school. She’d been talking about it for days, so there’s a good chance she was excited about it. The original plan was to go to the library that’s near her school, do some work until noon, and then head over to […]
Read MoreWhat Traffic Means For Your Career
Let me tell you what I think about when I sit in traffic and how it really impacts your job. (It’s probably not what you think.) [Photo by Clément M. on Unsplash] Many years ago, I flirted with the idea of becoming a professional photographer. “It’s an uphill battle,” they’d say, “the photographer’s market is […]
Read MoreLetting Go
I’m sitting oceanside at the Oregon coast this morning, wondering about how if some global catastrophe (natural or otherwise) struck, and humankind was largely wiped out, how long it’d take the earth to come back into balance (my guess is, not very long in the grand scheme of things). You know, light vacation ponderings. But […]
Read More3 Tips for Networking and Inclusivity at WorkHuman
WorkHuman is a conference that encourages and celebrates bringing the whole human in to the workplace. Or as seen on their website, “Globoforce pioneered the WorkHuman movement to galvanize leaders worldwide to harness the transformative power of people for the next generation of HR.” (It may be billed as an HR conference, but let me […]
Read MoreThis Ain’t Your Grandpa’s Workplace
Do your processes help your work, or hurt it? The modern workplace follows ideas developed during the factory era. Clock the calls. Put up a punch clock for when we eat and pee. Time the intervals between calls. Track ticket times. Scheduled reviews. I’m sure there’s more, but thinking about this stuff tends to give […]
Read MoreYou Get What You Look For
We crave opportunity, the out-of-the-blue offer that sends you skipping down the yellow brick road to la la land. But often while we’re waiting, we feel lost. Overwhelmed by the expectations of others, we bury our values in the sand while we stress out over what our co-workers think, what that guy in the car […]
Read MoreNo Good, No Bad
There’s an argument I keep having in my head. Lately, my daughter has been struggling with understanding the behavior of others at school. She’ll say this kid or that kid is “good” or “bad.” I immediately leap in with this: there are no “bad people,” only “bad decisions.” People should be held accountable for their […]
Read MoreFear Is a Great Teacher (If You Don’t Freak Out)
One Thought Can Make (or Break) Your Day You wake up feeling rested and refreshed (…okay, fine, feeling somewhat rested, and mostly refreshed), you’re ready to tackle the day, but then you remember something that kicks you in the feels. Maybe it’s a presentation you have to make that afternoon. Maybe you remember a fight […]
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