My Favorite Tshirt....Maybe Ever

I love Haikus....I really do....Don't ask me why.  I even asked someone to prepare a Haiku for a recent interview....He wasn't as amused as I was but he was a good sport.

I digress -- I saw this tshirt today....

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

There are some clever ones that made me laugh out loud.... TypeTees.... Check them out.

Yoga

I've been doing yoga at The Shop in Park City off and on for the last year.  I hated yoga prior to this studio - I had trouble quieting my mind, no one really taught me what things were supposed to feel like and the proper position so I hurt - and I just didn't really want to do it.  But finally after convincing myself that it would likely help with my arthritic joints, I started going fairly regularly to classes last winter and sure enough it was helping me feel better - and my mind eventually started quieting.

Why is yoga so popular?  After talking about it yesterday, I think it really is that there is so much going on in life right now.  No one is ever really away from it all.  There is too much technology leashing us to all of the things that urgently have to be done.  (In reality, I think we were doing alright before our cell phones linked us to the rest of the world 100% of the time)  Yoga allows us to be selfish....Not in a bad way....but in the way that allows us to escape everything for an hour or two and focus on ourselves and simply be.  Even I'm getting better at not thinking and just being....At least I think so....

Secrets - Are they more interesting before you find out what they are?

I think that when someone has a secret, most people immediately feel like it will be something far more interesting than it actually is.  We have this way of anticipating things to be much more exciting than they often are.  Sometimes I think the unknown is far more interesting.....

'tis the season....

I love December and holidays and the snow.  I was thinking about how fast this year has gone by.  Faster than the rest - it is a smaller percentage of the whole than last year was after all.

This year has been one series of roller coaster rides after another.  Some big changes.  Some seemed like they might be awful when they happened but it all ended up being ok. (Just like so many people told me)  So lucky for me, I can say that all in all, it has been a good year and I am in a good place right now.  Even the few things that have been driving me crazy lately are minor in the grand scheme of things.

So in preparation for the new year, it's time to start thinking about the New Year's Resolution list.  I did alright with last years - I made it to four of five Utah National Parks.  I only purchased three books.  I am nowhere near my reading goal of 36 complete books - But got through two thirds of that.  I don't think I'll be able to finish the rest in the 26 remaining days of the year.  I crossed a couple items off my bucket list (camping, making a quilt, and starting my own business)

One of next year's goals - definitely blog more, read more, and the big one i think will be finding a new hobby....I'm undecided on what it will be but apparently I need a hobby.....at least that's what p. fisher says....

Time Management - A Frustration

There are a lot of people out there who have multiple people they report to.  There are pros and cons to this.  Pro - being that the work varies and keeps things interesting.  Cons - you report to a lot of people and they don't necessarily know what the others have you working on.

Some people just push me a little bit too far.  I have committed myself to wiping the slate clean after this weekend and not letting it get to me.  We'll see if I can get it all out of my system before then.

With multiple reporting lines, there are multiple projects, multiple deadlines and a great demand for good time management skills.  The problems you run into - everyone thinks that their project is the most important and should be the number one priority.  While that is understandable, they need to realize that their work resources have a queue.  They will try to do everything they can but there comes a point where there are only so many hours in a day and not using them effectively hurts everyone.

A few general rules of thumb for those of you working with people who have multiple reporting lines.

• Be prepared for all meetings.  You can jump right in and make the most of a shorter period of time.  When you aren't ready, everyone else is just idly waiting and not working on that project or any others that need their attention.
• Be on time for all meetings.  By being late, it is saying to those left waiting that you think your time is more important than their time.  Again, at that point, they are just idly waiting.
• Try not to explain too much.  Generally speaking, if something isn't understood a question will be asked.  But if someone says they understand, don't proceed to explain anyway.  This wastes time and creates undo confusion.
• Brevity is an art.  When you talk too much, no one hears anything.  With too much digressing, the people you are speaking to miss the one point that was important because it gets lost somewhere in the hour of rambling.
• And finally - Always ask.  Ask instead of demand.  Ask what schedule they are thinking would work for them.  Compromise.  Realize that the person you are working with has other projects going on and is trying to make everyone happy.  They aren't just trying to be difficult.  They are being put in a difficult position when something is demanded of them and interferes with something they have already committed to.
  

The Winter Holiday Season & School - Two Completely Unrelated Topics

I just realized that it is almost Thanksgiving which means that it is almost Christmas which means that I have exactly a week and a half to finish my Christmas shopping.

I don't like to shop when it is crazy - I don't really like to shop ever for that matter - but particularly when it is the hectic holiday season.  I love the early winter....It's new enough that I haven't gotten sick of shoveling snow yet.  We got the first 'big' snow this past week.  And it seems like the cold is here to stay.

I've been slacking off in the writing department.  Lots of stuff keeping me busy these days.  The big one is that  I'm considering graduate schools at the moment.  Taking GMATs and GREs.  Trying to figure out what I want my masters to be in.  For some reason, picking my Ph.D. and dissertation topic came much easier than figuring out what I want to get a masters in.  I feel like I could get my MBA but I also feel like I'd rather learn about something different....

Any advice is welcome at this point....

Lesson Learned: NEVER Let On That You Don't Have Much Work to Do and NEVER Even Admit to Yourself That You are Slightly Bored Because of It

I learned a painful lesson at work this week.  Last week I was light on work.  I even got to the point where I was a little bit bored at work last week.

The Mistake: Admitting that I had time.  What did that get me?  An email to the entire company that I was light on work and if anyone needed help with anything, let me know.  And then the world of work came crashing down on me....