Thursday, April 22, 2010

10 ways to make every day an Earth Day | Blog | Ode Magazine

10 ways to make every day an Earth Day

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Celebrating its 40th anniversary, April 22nd is known worldwide simply as Earth Day. U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson founded the day to inspire year-round eco-awareness & appreciation. In our modern times, his message is still as vital as it was in 1970. Unfortunately, Earth Day’s meaning & depth are often lost on many of our planet’s citizens who see it as just one day to live a more conscious lifestyle, returning to damaging habits for the rest of the year.

Living with the Earth in mind is easier & more affordable than ever! Here are 10 simple, everyday things that have a powerful cumulative impact. The “go big or go home” mentality doesn’t apply here – anyaction is good action, as long as it’s consistent. Try your hand at integrating these eco-conscious habits into your daily life – you might be surprised by just how much money you save & fun you have.

1. Reduce

Less is more. This “rule” applies to not only living sustainably but just living. Numerous studies have shown that those who focus more on experiences & hobbies than what they buy or consume are exponentially happier. Smile and walk away from that new pair of shoes or MP3 player – try taking a walk, painting a picture, knitting a scarf, practicing yoga, or taking part in any hobby that brings you joy. Our new motto: do more, buy less. Check out the great blog, Mnmlist , for more ideas & advice on living simpler.

2. Reuse

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But what if it is “broke”? Then fix it! You may not see yourself as the DIY type, but thanks to the internet & your local library, there is an ever-growing collection of easy-to-follow guides (like Instructables to fixing or re-purposing just about anything you can get your hands on. Still hesitant? Team up with a friend – that’s what they’re for, isn’t it?

On another note, buying reusable items and, well, reusing them can save hundreds of thousands of tons of trash from ending up in our landfills every year. Even worse, much of said trash is made from non-biodegrable materials (a.k.a. it isn’t going anywhere). Think of the items you use on a daily basis: grocery bags, water bottles, coffee cups, lunch bags, napkins, paper towels – they all have a reusable alternative that can be easily washed and used for years. Consider replacing such frequently used items with stylish & functional alternatives: canvas bags, stainless steel water bottles, travel mugs, lunch totes, cloth napkins, and microfiber cleaning clothes … just to name a few.

3. Recycle

The last of a now-infamous green living trifecta, it is certainly the most popular. What’s easier than throwing your trash in a different bin & waving it goodbye? We’ve all learned by now that there is now “away” – all our trash & recycling ends up somewhere. Surprisingly, only about 28% of the waste in the USA is recycled. If you aren’t recycling, start. If you are recycling, visitEarth911 to find out the long list of items that can be recycled (batteries, printer cartridges, most electronics … etc.), along with where to take them.

4. Buy local

Local food, local businesses, local entertainment – keeping your money close to home benefits the entire community. The reduction of greenhouses gases involved in shipping & the benefit of knowing your shopkeeper face-to-face highly outweigh the slightly higher cost you may pay. Support a small business & help keep someone’s dream alive. Find unique local outlets viaLocalHarvest and Etsy’s Shop Local feature.

5. Clean naturally

Water, borax, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice … you don’t need much more to make your house spotless. While it is tempting to just buy the pre-made stuff, you’ll save oodles & have a bigger (safer) impact on your local water system by going homemade. Bonus: you’ll reduce the amount of carcinogens in our air and soil, which is healthier for all plants & animals. Eartheasy has anextensive collection of easy recipes for at-home cleaners, no matter your task, or buy a kit fromEco-Me.

6. Update your showerhead

Everyone from major chain stores to local hardware outlets sell low-flow showerheads; they’re easy to find, affordable and a cinch to install. Bonus: using a low-flow showerhead can reduce your water bill by up to 50% - yeah, that’s half! Your skin and hair will still be completely clean & you will barely notice a reduction in water pressure.

7. Eat meat-free once a week

The concept is simple – one day a week, don’t eat any meat or fish. Pretty straightforward, no? Before you rebuff, saying it is just “impossible” for you to do, how would you know if you’ve never tried? The Meat Free Monday campaign has become a worldwide phenomenon, with many celebrity supporters and unique recipes. Simply eating less meat means better health for you and the planet, thanks to a reduction in pollution from animal farms.

8. Buy organic … sometimes

Contrary to the still widely-held belief, you don’t have to buy 100% organic. That would be very expensive and, more importantly, not worth it. The Environmental Working Group offers a guide to the fruits & vegetables you should always buy organic (due to their high pesticide content in traditional farming), and those that absorb or require little to no chemical assistance for growth. Print a copy of the Dirty Dozen & Clean 15 lists for yourself. Buying at a farmers’ market? Just ask them how they raise their crops – many are more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Note: For animal products, like cheese, milk, or meat, buy local and/or organic as much as possible. High levels of hormones are common in all traditionally-raised versions.

9. Use your feet

Less driving is always positive, even if you have a hybrid. Some errands and locations as easier to get to if you drive, but, when the choice is available, leave the car at home and walk, jog, run, or bicycle around. All you have to loose is your carbon footprint and maybe a few extra pounds (you’ll save money too!).

10. Unplug daily

Many of us are guilty of this eco-sin: leaving electronics plugged in, even when we aren’t using them. Even if they are “off”, many devices still continue to draw power from the grid – called “phantom power”. It accounts for at least 10% of your home’s electricity usage each month & can be easily prevented. Not using that coffee maker or cell phone charger? Just unplug it. For entertainment centers or home offices, connect all your devices to a power strip, which can halt all electricity consumption with a single flick of a switch.

This list is just the beginning of a great, greener lifestyle for you & those around you. Never be afraid to ask questions, do research, & make other sustainable changes.

What is your favorite way to conserve resources? How has going (even just a little) green changed your mind & overall lifestyle?

Photo: Flickr

posted by VICTORIAKLEIN on 4/21/2010 5:58 pm |

Thursday, April 8, 2010

An Effective (and Underused) Way to Reassure and Motivate

An Effective (and Underused) Way to Reassure and Motivate: from HarvardBusiness.org by Peter Bregman

Yoga is astonishingly predictable. Invariably after an hour class I feel light, supple, strong, and refreshed. But Liz's class felt even better than others. Afterwards I felt stronger and more refreshed.

I mentioned this to Sam*, a friend who was in the class with me. He smiled. 'You know why, right?'

'Enlighten me,' I said.

He looked over at the yoga teacher. 'As Liz walks around the room, she adjusts us in our yoga poses.'

'So our poses are deeper?'

Sam shook his head. 'It's not just the poses. It's the touch. It feels good to have someone touch you.'

I immediately realized Sam was right. When Liz placed her hands lightly on my shoulders to deepen a twist, or pressed softly on my lower back to help me fold over, not only did I relax more, but I felt comforted, secure, and supported. Which helped me take a risk and go further in the stretch.

It turns out this isn't just a yoga thing.

In a classic experiment from the 1950s and 60s, University of Wisconsin researcher Harry Harlow separated baby rhesus monkeys from their mothers 6 to 12 hours after birth.

He placed them in a cage with a choice of surrogate mothers — one made of wire, another made of terry cloth. The babies always clung to the terry cloth "mother," even when it was the wire "mother" who provided the food. It turns out that even the semblance of touch is a stronger attractor than the provision of sustenance.

Ah, you're thinking, but those are monkeys. And baby monkeys at that. Surely adult human beings are more sophisticated and independent.

Maybe a little. But just a little. Professor Jonathan Levav at Columbia University and Jennifer Argo at University of Alberta conducted a series of experiments to explore how a brief light touch can affect a person's decision making and risk taking.

In one experiment, as a woman showed subjects to their seats in the lab, she lightly and briefly touched some of them on the back of their shoulder. Then researchers asked the subjects whether they would prefer a certain amount of money or whether they'd prefer to gamble for the chance to win more money, receiving nothing if they lost. The people who were touched were 50 percent more likely to take the gamble. 50 percent!

And it's not just any touch. A handshake didn't achieve the same result. A handshake isn't comforting, but a touch on the shoulder or back is.

There's more. According to a recent article in the New York Times, a sympathetic touch from a doctor gives people the feeling that the visit lasted twice as long, compared with estimates from people who were untouched. And students who received a supportive touch on the back or arm from a teacher were nearly twice as likely to volunteer in class as those who did not. Also, it turns out, that basketball teams whose players touch each other more tend to win more games.

The data is clear: the comfort of a supportive touch helps people feel understood and leads to more courageous performance.

But wait, you're wondering, what would HR say? I mean, we can't ask people to go around touching each other at work. Can we?

I think we can.

But here's the thing: touch is an incredibly powerful communication tool. Powerful enough to communicate your subtle intentions.

In a study led by Mathew Herstein, an associate professor of psychology at DePauw University, pairs of students who didn't know each other took turns using touch to try to convey a specific emotion like gratitude or sympathy. The person touched was blindfolded and yet accurately identified which emotion the touch intended to communicate between 50 and 78 percent of the time. That's the same level of understanding achieved through verbal and facial communication.

In other words, touch is just as clear as words. And because it's used sparingly, can have much greater impact.

Which means you have to be careful — and self aware — when you use it. Your intentions need to be clear and above reproach.

Here's a good rule of thumb: don't linger. The research shows that a fleeting touch is all it takes to support and reassure. Any longer than a few seconds could feel creepy.

So I'm not suggesting you lovingly caress a co-workers face. But a comforting pat on the back? A soft and brief touch on the shoulder? Those small, heartfelt acts could make our workplaces more humane — and more productive. And we need that, especially in the midst of a recession that's dragging on and affecting morale at companies around the world.

Maybe that's one reason I keep going back to Liz's yoga class.

*Names changed.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Leadership Integrity: I Am Responsible!, by Mandy Russell

Leadership Integrity: I Am Responsible!

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Mandy Russell

re·spon·si·bil·i·ty [ri-spon-suh-bil-i-tee]

–noun,plural-ties.

the state or fact of being responsible.
an instance of being responsible: “The responsibility for this mess is yours!”
a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible:the responsibilities of authority.

Why do some people find it difficult, maybe even impossible, to accept responsibility for their actions?

The Blame Game

There are many parents who blame the school system when their children tell them that the teachers are horrible and they would rather move the child than deal with the problem in the child. This is also true in business, there are many that will blame the boss rather than look at their own behaviour and correct it. At what point does this type of person accept responsibility for what they have experienced?

We all like to feel important and valued and for others to admire us. There are some people who develop a view of themselves that is beyond their capabilities. There is a link here to being in denial (which can create a false perception of oneself) and an inability to accept the truth. When this happens, it becomes painful or impossible to accept that it is normal to make mistakes. And when mistakes are made, this type of person just points the finger at somebody else. This person cannot think objectively and cannot accept involvement for their own actions. This can manifest itself asbitterness and blame.

“Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.”Alfred A. Montapert

The inability to accept responsibility for our actions and behaviours is a result of insecurity. In taking on board responsibility, one may feel they are admitting to being weak,powerless, or an opportunity to lose the respect of others. This type of thinking may result in a person feeling the loss of their own value and importance.

However, it is actually the opposite that is true; accepting responsibilityearns you respect.

There is no one that can be perfect all the time. We will all make mistakes. It is when we accept responsibility for our mistakes and take any reprisal on the chin that enables us to improve our lives.Just the act of saying ‘I am responsible’ can be liberating and demonstrates the measure of a persons self-worth and security.

It is a true sign of strength and courage.

The power that can be felt by moving into this acceptance of responsibility and taking action can not only be life-changing for the person experiencing it, but also for those around them. It is empowering and opens the door to growth.

Growing Up – You Decide

Who would you have the most respect for, someone who accepts responsibility for their actions and is willing to change, or someone who continually denies any failingsor involvement in situations?

The acceptance of responsibility is a sign of emotional intelligence and maturity.

A Series of Unfortunate Events…

What happens when you fail to take responsibility for your actions?

Your brain is in denial and the subconscious mind may sabotage any plans orgoals you may have.
You may start to cut people out of your life in the blame cycle and not get on well with others.
You may stick to a certain number of people who are in the same negative mindset. This in itself may perpetuate the denial and blame.
You may find yourself constantly in similar situations continually finding someone to blame or moving job or house to ‘get away’ from people or situations.
You may become inpatient, intolerant and demanding. This may result in placing unrealistic expectations on others causing you to become their critic and re-entering the blame cycle.
You will experience consistent episodes of self-doubt and your self-confidence will dip to very low points.
People will avoid you or gradually lose contact with you because they will find your behaviour false, unsavoury or just difficult.
When you are at a low point in self-confidence, your need to be right all the time will be heightened and you will often go over old ground to underline why you were right.

When the inability to accept responsibility is sustained over a long period, you will experience a change in your character more visible to others than to yourself. You may become over reliant on others, unable to function without the approval of those who are still friends, angry, defeatist, unhappy, a quitter, irrational, huffy and defiant.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Lead with Integrity – Accepting Responsibility

How to really say ‘I am responsible’ and mean it!

Stop and think. Take some time to genuinely assess how difficult you find it to accept responsibility for your actions and your behaviour.
If you have chosen to do something, than you must accept that you cannot blame anyone else for that choice or the outcomes of it.
Work on your self-esteem on a daily basis by being authentic. When you know you are good, your behaviour will match your feelings. Then, if you make an error of judgement, you will be able to accept that you were wrong on this occasion.
Build up your self confidence by actively do things that give you confidence. You won’t be as defensive when you make a mistake when you have someself-confidence fuel in your tank.
Release you fears because they creates insecurities. Fact find, ask questions, practice. But never fear.
Accept yourself for who you are, warts and all! If you learn to love you and all that you are then others will find it easier to do the same.
Be giving of yourself in time, knowledge and your money!
Above all – it is okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are merely lessons in how not to do things. Accept them as that, move on, and make things right.
Be humble and show grace. Understand the needs of others around you and accept them for what they are.
Find gratitude! Be grateful for the things and people in your life. Look for the good stuff instead of the bad and acknowledge it.

Taking responsibility can change your life for the better! So go and set some goals, forget the past, and concentrate on your successful new future.

I have had personal experience of this in the last year and had to accept responsibility for some failures. I’d love to hear from you.

What has been your most difficult time in taking on responsibility? What were your biggest learnings from this acceptance? How did it make you feel? How many people do you know and recognise from the text above?

My 6 Favorite Books about Work -- Daniel Pink

April 7th, 2010

My 6 favorite books about work

Those of you who participated in ourNew Year’s Day Teleseminar learned that one of my favorite magazines — the kind I read, not just subscribe to — is The Week. And one of my favorite sections is a middle-of-the-magazine feature in which they ask a writer to listhis or her six favorite books, often about a particular topic.

A few weeks ago, the magazine asked me to participate — to tell readers my six favorite books about work, a subject about which I’m slightly obsessed. Here’s my list:

Working by Studs Terkel (New Press, $17). In 1974, my mother brought this book home from the library and I, then 10 years old, snatched it to read Terkel’s interview with a baseball player. To my surprise, I ended up staying for the bus drivers, strip miners, and school teachers. Hearing real grown-ups talk about what they did for a living was, for me, far more exciting than phantom tollbooths or Mrs. Frankweiler’s mixed-up files.

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Harper Perennial, $15). Flow is the mental state when the challenge before us is so exquisitely matched to our abilities that we lose our sense of time and forget ourselves in a function. Csikszentmihalyi’s contemporary classic reveals that we’re more likely to find flow at work than in leisure.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferriss (Back Bay, $14). This darkly hilarious novel is a cautionary tale for white-collar workers. At a downward-spiraling ad agency in Chicago, employees spend more time scarfing free doughnuts and scamming office chairs than doing actual work—all while fretting about “walking Spanish down the hall,” company lingo for being fired.

The Organization Man by William H. Whyte (University of Pennsylvania Press, $26). This remarkable book about the deadening effect of large companies reshaped the national conversation and recast its very vocabulary. Whyte, a Fortune editor who merged journalism and sociology, established the gold standard for writing about work.

The Travels of a T-Shirt in a Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli (Wiley, $19). That simple T-shirt you’re wearing isn’t so simple after all. A Texas farmer grew the cotton, a Chinese worker spun the thread and cut the fabric, a Florida merchant placed it in his store, and a Tanzanian entrepreneur will resell it after you’ve donated it to the Salvation Army. Economist Rivoli visits the players in this international supply chain and weaves a gripping narrative.

Animal Farm by George Orwell (Plume, $14). A thrilling takeover. Corrupt, disengaged management. Beleaguered, underappreciated workers. You might think Orwell’s fable is an allegory of totalitarianism, but it’s also a mini-MBA in organizational behavior.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Ecstasy of Fiscal Policy

Op-Ed Columnist David Brooks - The Ecstasy of Fiscal Policy - NYTimes.com

April 2, 2010

OP-ED COLUMNIST

The Ecstasy of Fiscal Policy

By DAVID BROOKS

Let’s say you’re a political consultant. You’re sitting there in your West Hollywood bondage-themed strip club with party donors picking up the tab, and, of course, you’re thinking about what a great country this is. Swept up in the spirit of gratitude, you decide you’d like to give back. You’d like to solve the country’s looming fiscal catastrophe.

The heart of the problem, you figure, is that unlike yourself, Americans have grown complacent and careless. For 200 years, they lived precarious lives. There were boom and bust economic cycles, devastating epidemics and natural disasters that came without warning. These conditions instilled a sense of prudence. The thought of running up excessive debt filled them with moral horror.

But over the past years, life has become secure. This has eroded the fear of debt, private and public. In 1960, the nation’s personal debt amounted to 55 percent of national income. By 2007, it had risen to 133 percent of national income.

In 1960, a politician would have been voted out of office if he had allowed the federal debt to double in a decade. Now politicians are likely to get voted out of office if they try to prevent it.

These days, voters want low taxes — about 19 percent of G.D.P. And they want high spending — over 25 percent of G.D.P. by 2020. As a result, federal debt, which stood at 41 percent of G.D.P. two years ago, is forecast to balloon to 90 percent of G.D.P. in 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office. By that time, interest payments on the debt alone would be $900 billion a year.

This whole mess, you repeat to yourself, is caused by democracy and moral decay. What’s needed is a moral revival. And who better to lead it than you? God put you on this earth to manipulate voters for the good of the country.

First, you need to change social norms. The financial crisis has helped to teach people the dangers of excessive debt, but there’s probably going to have to be a public crusade — like the ones against littering and smoking — to hammer the point home. Think Warren Buffett TV spots. Think Oprah. Think Tom Hanks. Somebody has to remind the country that excessive debt is selfish.

Second, the whole deficit hawk brand needs a makeover. Those people are a bunch of schoolmarms: “You’ve been bad. Eat your broccoli. Accept a lower standard of living.”

This is still a Billy Mays nation, thank God. The message has to be: “America can be richer and shinier!” Debt reduction has to be about renewal and prosperity, not pain and sacrifice.

That means deficit reduction has to be embedded in policies that produce growth. Michael Graetz of Columbia University has proposedreplacing the current awful tax code with a value-added tax of 14 percent, cuts in the corporate tax rate, and a fair income tax with two simple brackets kicking in over $100,000. Many people have ideas to streamline the welfare state. The message has to be: we can afford to have a thick safety net, if it is more efficient.

Then you have to mobilize the political class. Now some people think their elected officials are so rotten that only an unelected commission can save us. Snobs. The history of commissions is the history of failure. Stuart M. Butler of the Heritage Foundation and Henry J. Aaron of the Brookings Institution argue compellingly that it is simply impossible in a democracy to rewrite the social contract without popular consent. Commissions are fine, but they have to be embedded in a broader democratic process.

The way to do that is to break free from the polarized committee structure. Invite a dozen handpicked senators and House members and stick them in a room three times a week for six months.

After they’ve come up with a debt-reduction plan, have them send it up in secret to the presidential deficit commission, which President Obama was smart enough to create.

Obama hasn’t been recklessly brave on this issue, but he’s fought against powerful political pressure for a series of mechanisms, which, though riven with loopholes, at least have the potential to control spending — things like the Medicare payment commission and the pay-as-you-go rules. If he had some support, he’d do the right thing.

So once the secret Congressional plan is passed to the White House, the deficit commission can unveil the thing as if it were the product of nonpolitical expertise. That would give the legislators some political cover, and all the Johnnies at the editorial pages and the think tanks will go into ecstasy. You’ll persuade the Tea Party-types that it will make government less intrusive. You’ll persuade business that it will be simple. You’ll persuade liberals that the rich will bear the biggest burden. Everybody will pay something, but everybody will see some benefit.

If you can do that, you will save the country. If not, it’s the decline of Rome, and you might as well just stay in the nightclub.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Sandra Bullock Trade

The Sandra Bullock Trade
By NYT David Brooks

Published: March 29, 2010

Two things happened to Sandra Bullock this month. First, she won an Academy Award for best actress. Then came the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. So the philosophic question of the day is: Would you take that as a deal? Would you exchange a tremendous professional triumph for a severe personal blow?

On the one hand, an Academy Award is nothing to sneeze at. Bullock has earned the admiration of her peers in a way very few experience. She’ll make more money for years to come. She may even live longer. Research by Donald A. Redelmeier and Sheldon M. Singh has found that, on average, Oscar winners live nearly four years longer than nominees that don’t win.

Nonetheless, if you had to take more than three seconds to think about this question, you are absolutely crazy. Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn’t matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled.

This isn’t just sermonizing. This is the age of research, so there’s data to back this up. Over the past few decades, teams of researchers have been studying happiness. Their work, which seemed flimsy at first, has developed an impressive rigor, and one of the key findings is that, just as the old sages predicted, worldly success has shallow roots while interpersonal bonds permeate through and through.

For example, the relationship between happiness and income is complicated, and after a point, tenuous. It is true that poor nations become happier as they become middle-class nations. But once the basic necessities have been achieved, future income is lightly connected to well-being. Growing countries are slightly less happy than countries with slower growth rates, according to Carol Graham of the Brookings Institution and Eduardo Lora. The United States is much richer than it was 50 years ago, but this has produced no measurable increase in overall happiness. On the other hand, it has become a much more unequal country, but this inequality doesn’t seem to have reduced national happiness.

On a personal scale, winning the lottery doesn’t seem to produce lasting gains in well-being. People aren’t happiest during the years when they are winning the most promotions. Instead, people are happy in their 20’s, dip in middle age and then, on average, hit peak happiness just after retirement at age 65.

People get slightly happier as they climb the income scale, but this depends on how they experience growth. Does wealth inflame unrealistic expectations? Does it destabilize settled relationships? Or does it flow from a virtuous cycle in which an interesting job produces hard work that in turn leads to more interesting opportunities?

If the relationship between money and well-being is complicated, the correspondence between personal relationships and happiness is not. The daily activities most associated with happiness are sex, socializing after work and having dinner with others. The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting. According to one study, joining a group that meets even just once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income. According to another, being married produces a psychic gain equivalent to more than $100,000 a year.

If you want to find a good place to live, just ask people if they trust their neighbors. Levels of social trust vary enormously, but countries with high social trust have happier people, better health, more efficient government, more economic growth, and less fear of crime (regardless of whether actual crime rates are increasing or decreasing).

The overall impression from this research is that economic and professional success exists on the surface of life, and that they emerge out of interpersonal relationships, which are much deeper and more important.

The second impression is that most of us pay attention to the wrong things. Most people vastly overestimate the extent to which more money would improve our lives. Most schools and colleges spend too much time preparing students for careers and not enough preparing them to make social decisions. Most governments release a ton of data on economic trends but not enough on trust and other social conditions. In short, modern societies have developed vast institutions oriented around the things that are easy to count, not around the things that matter most. They have an affinity for material concerns and a primordial fear of moral and social ones.

This may be changing. There is a rash of compelling books — including “The Hidden Wealth of Nations” by David Halpern and “The Politics of Happiness” by Derek Bok — that argue that public institutions should pay attention to well-being and not just material growth narrowly conceived.

Governments keep initiating policies they think will produce prosperity, only to get sacked, time and again, from their spiritual blind side.

13 small things to simplify your workday

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ~Lao Tzu

Post written by Leo Babauta.

One of the best things I did when I decided to simplify my life was to simplify my workday — first at my day job and later, by quitting my day job, in the work I do now as a writer and entrepreneur.

I’ve eliminated most of the routine, boring, administrative tasks with a few simple principles.

These days, I have eliminated the non-essentials, and can focus on what I truly love: creating.

Not everyone can make such drastic steps toward simplicity, but if you have some control over your workday, you can do a few small things that will simplify things greatly.

If you don’t have control, or if you find yourself thinking, “I can’t do these things”, I’d start to ask why not? Is it possible to change things, if not today then over the long term? I found that often I thought something wasn’t possible (working from home, for example), but in the long run they were.

You don’t need to do all of these things — pick just one, and try it. Then try another and see if it works. Experiment to find what works for you.

And enjoy the simple work life.

1. Start early. Going into work early was one of my favorite tricks — it was quiet, before the phones and chatter and meetings started, and I could get a lot of work done in peace. By the time everyone else was getting started, I’d gotten two or three big tasks checked off.

2. Limit your hours. It’s ironic, because so many people work long hours and think they’re getting more done and being more productive. But they’re throwing brute hours at the problem. Instead, cut back on your hours and set a limit — say 6 or 7 hours a day — and get your most essential work done within that limit. If you know you’re only working 6 hours today, you’ll be sure to get the important tasks done first and waste less time. Limits force you to be effective.

3. Make a short list. Make a long list of all the tasks you need to do … then make a short list of 1-3 things you really want to get done. Choose so that, if you got only these tasks done, you’d be proud of what you did today. Start with the most important task, before checking email or reading online.

4. Batch distractions. What are your common distractions? Perhaps things like email, reading blogs, Twitter or another social network? Set a time for these, preferably later in the day: say, from 3-4 p.m. Don’t do the distractions before then. By grouping them all into one time period, you allow yourself to do other work first, but still get in your distraction time. Another approach might be to do them for 10 minutes at the end of each hour — but stick to that 10-minute limit!

5. Write shorter emails. If email takes up a lot of your day, the simple change of limiting yourself to 3-4 sentences per email will make a big difference. First, it’ll drastically shorten the time it takes to write or respond to emails. And second, it’ll shorten responses to your emails, which means you’ll spend less time reading email.

6. Limit meetings. The fewer the better. Some top Google executives just do 5-minute meetings — anyone who attends these meetings had better be prepared, and concise. If you can get out of meetings and just get the notes, or find an alternative way to communicate, it could save you hours per week.

7. Automate. The fewer repetitive and routine tasks you have to do, the more time you’ll free up for creating and important work. So automate wherever possible: have people fill things out electronically, or get info from your website instead of emailing or calling you, or use a service that automatically processes payments or ships your product, and so on.

8. Eliminate paperwork. I used to deal with a lot of paperwork, and even then I knew it was a waste of my time. If businesses and organizations could have paperwork filled out electronically, it would save a lot of paper, copying, filing, and duplicate effort. Whenever possible, eliminate paperwork in favor of digital. This might be more of a long-term move.

9. Clear your desk. This can be done in a few minutes. Clear everything off the top of your desk. Only put back a few essential items. Everything else should be: filed, given to the appropriate person, given a permanent spot in a drawer, or trashed/recycled. Make quick decisions and then get back to work.

10. Get away. If you can get out of your office, you can find a peaceful spot where you can focus on important work. Find a spot where you can work, turn off the Internet and do your work, and then turn the Internet back on so you can email or upload it to the appropriate spot. Working from home is a good option here. The more you can do this (it might be once a week, or an hour a day, or half of every workday), the better.

11. Take breathing breaks. Every 15-20 minutes, get up from your desk, and take a breathing break. It could be simply walking around the office, saying hi to someone, or even better, getting outside to get some fresh air. Walk around, get your blood circulating, perhaps massage your neck and shoulders if you feel tension. Do some pushups if you want to get fitter. When you get back to work, remind yourself what you want to be working on, and clear away all distractions.

12. Practice a focus ritual. Every hour or two, do a refocus ritual. This only takes a minute or two. You might start it by closing down your browser and maybe other open applications, and maybe even take a walk for a couple of minutes to clear your head and get your blood circulating. Then return to your list of Most Important Tasks and figure out what you need to accomplish next. Before you check email again or go back online, work on that important task for as long as you can. Repeat this refocus ritual throughout the day, to bring yourself back. It’s also nice to take some nice deep breaths to focus yourself back on the present. More focus rituals.

13. Schedule big blocks of creative time. Not everyone can do this, but when possible, put a big block of 3-4 hours in your schedule for creating or doing other important work. Make this time inviolate, and don’t allow meetings or other things to be scheduled during this time. Be ruthless about clearing distractions and doing the work you love during these blocks, taking breathing breaks as necessary. Rejoice in your creativity.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Blame is Contagious, Except When People Have High Self-Worth

from Bob Sutton by Bobsutton

A pair of themes that I have returned to over and over again at Work Matters are:

1. One of the most revealing tests of a leader or organization is "what happens when people fail" (especially, creating psychologically safety rather than a climate of fear is important, as is accountability for mistakes).

2. Emotions, especially negative ones, are dangerously contagious. Indeed, one of the main themes of The No Asshole Rule is that one of the most reliable way to turn into a jerk is to have a boss who is a jerk or to enter a swarm of of them -- it is hard to resist catching the poisoning.

A recent study by Nathaniel Fast at USC (who got his PhD at Stanford) and Stanford Business School Professor Larissa Tiedens in the November, 2009 issue of theJournal of Experimental Social Psychology provides compelling new evidence of the nuances of how an especially vile form of nastiness spreads -- blaming others when things go wrong. The article is called “Blame Contagion: The Automatic Transmission of Self-Serving Attributions” and is apparently the first series of experiments that have ever examined if blaming others spreads like a contagious disease. Plus it contains a fascinating twist -- blame was highly contagious EXCEPT when the researchers first took steps to help research subjects bolster their self worth. There is a great summary of on the USC website here. But some key highlights are (quoted from the summary):

1. Anyone can become a blamer, Fast said, but there are some common traits. Typically, they are more ego defensive, have a higher likelihood of being narcissistic and tend to feel chronically insecure.

2. The experiments showed that individuals who watched someone blame another for mistakes went on to do the same with others.In one experiment, half of the participants were asked to read a newspaper article about a failure by Gov. Schwarzenegger, who blamed special interest groups for the controversial special election that failed in 2005, costing the state $250 million. A second group read an article in which the governor took full responsibility for the failure. Those who read about the governor blaming special interest groups were more likely to blame others for their own unrelated shortcomings, compared with those who read about Schwarzenegger shouldering the responsibility. (the emphasis in mine).

3. Another experiment found that self-affirmation inoculated participants from blame. The tendency for blame to spread was completely eliminated in a group of participants who had the opportunity to affirm their self-worth. “By giving participants the chance to bolster their self-worth, we removed their need to self-protect though subsequent blaming,” Fast said.
This last finding is especially important and has all sorts of interesting implications for leadership, life, and especially politics. Apparently, pointing fingers at others is not only contagious, it is amplified by insecurity and apparently eliminated when people feel valued and esteemed. Note this crucial to the effectiveness of a group or organization because, when something goes wrong, if the response is a "circular firing squad" as I have heard it called, then not only do people devote their energy to attacking each other, they have less energy -- and little incentive -- for working on repairing the problem.

Also, this research perhaps helps explain the sad state of much of American politics these days. Blamestorming is a contagious disease that has spread and I am confident that among those in the political ranks (or who aspire to higher office) the incidence of insecurity and especially narcissism is very high. As an example of someone who plays in both spheres, Carly Fiornia former HP CEO and now candidate for Senate in California was infamous for her narcissism and her penchant for blaming others, as documented in the Fortune article that finally drove he board to fire her. Turning to her new life as a politician, if you have not seen her Demon Sheep Attack Ad, you have missed something weird and wonderful). Although Carly does not suffer from insecurity, the narcissism findings ring true.

To return to leadership and management, the lesson from this new research, as well as many other studies of psychological safety. is that great bosses treat mistakes as an opportunity to learn, develop careers, and make the system stronger. And, yes, for accountability too. As the USC summary of the above research indicates, there are organizations out there that are remarkably good at learning from mistakes, rather than as an opportunity for finger-pointing and humiliation of culprits:

Or managers could follow the lead of companies such as Intuit, which implemented a “When Learning Hurts” session where they celebrated and learned from mistakes, rather than pointing fingers and assigning blame. The blame contagion research provides empirical evidence that such a practice can avoid negative effects in the culture of the organization.

This is damn good advice for any boss.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Refuse to Be Afraid

Michael Josephson Commentary: Refuse to Be Afraid

Tim Wrightman, a former All-American UCLA football player, tells a story about how, as a rookie lineman in the National Football League, he was up against the legendary pass rusher Lawrence Taylor. Taylor was not only physically powerful and uncommonly quick but a master at verbal intimidation.

Looking young Tim in the eye, he said, “Sonny, get ready. I’m going to the left and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Wrightman coolly responded, “Sir, is that your left or mine?”

The question froze Taylor long enough to allow Wrightman to throw a perfect block on him.

It’s amazing what we can accomplish if we refuse to be afraid. Fear – whether it’s of pain, failure, or rejection – is a toxic emotion that creates monsters in our mind that consume self-confidence and intimidate us from doing our best or sometimes even trying at all.

As a law professor, I saw scores of capable students fail the bar exam, not because they didn’t know enough but because their anxiety hindered their ability to remember or coherently express what they did know.

For most law graduates, passing the bar exam should be no more difficult than walking across a board 20 feet long and two feet wide. The trouble is, they don’t walk normally because they’re intimidated by the illusion that the board is suspended 100 feet in the air and that getting across is a life-or-death matter. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Embarrassment, inconvenience, and expense – but none of these is fatal.

Perspective is an antidote to fear. Most things you fear will never happen, and even if they do, you can handle it.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Disease of Low Expectations

The Disease of Low Expectations, by Michael Josephson

The serious damage done to our economy, social institutions, and personal relationships by widespread cheating and dishonesty is bad enough. But widespread acceptance of such behavior as inevitable threatens to make our future a lot worse. In effect, our culture is being infected by a disease: the disease of low expectations.

The disease is manifested by the corrosive assumption that human nature can’t be expected to withstand pressures or temptations. In other words, when there’s a conflict between self-interest and moral principles, self-interest – in fact, short-term self-interest – will generally prevail.

Thus, whenever a politician lies to get elected, a student cheats to get into college, or an executive commits fraud to save a job or earn a bonus, we blame the system rather than the individual. Under the influence of the disease of low expectations, an increasing army of apologists argue that both the carrot and the stick – previously thought to be valid motivating techniques – should be condemned and eliminated as corrupting influences that create irresistible pressures to cheat.

A school superintendent in Iowa once told me, “Cheating isn’t the problem; it’s the way we test.” We can’t expect students not to cheat, he implied, especially when the stakes are so high.

I wonder whether he would be as comfortable with a similar explanation of recent corporate scandals: “Fraudulent accounting isn’t the problem; it’s the way we compensate executives.”

Don’t buy into this dreadfully pessimistic and perverted perspective about human nature. Cheating is wrong and harmful. Integrity is real and possible. It just takes character.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.