Hey--I'm glad you've missed me! I've been hard at work on my new blog and community site, redcaperevolution.com, coming soon.
To find out more about it, here's a sneak peek. Watch for the preview in November 2010 and the "official" launch in January 2011!
I'm struggling today. There's nothing more frustrating to a get-it-done person like me than struggling to get-it-done. And what I'd aimed to get done wasn't even all that tremendous--it's perfectly within my capability and the time I have to do it in. Or had, as the clock keeps ticking . . and I keep sticking . .
.
So, I've done what every hot-blooded procrastinator does--I surfed the 'net. I can defend this to some extent as "research" for my book. Sure.
But I did come across something unique (and free) that reminded me that sometimes, we need to stop struggling and just make it simple. From the guys who brought you Basecamp to help you manage your projects in the cloud, comes tadalists.com. Ta Da--even the name makes me smile--is a simple list maker. That's it. You create your topic, your list items, and it lives out there for you to share with others, check off (or have others check off).
So I did what they asked--I signed up, and made a list. I focused on the project at hand where I'm stuck. Sure, I could have done this in Excel, or in Word, or in an email to myself or hand-scribbled in my notebook. But there was something clean and perfect about making a list this way. And suddenly, having a list of the steps I still need to take helped jump start me from my stuckiness.
It's sometimes the simple that does it.
The other day, I heard someone say "the butterflies are everywhere." She meant it literally, noticing the sheer number of winged creatures constantly dipping in and out of her summer garden.
But here's how I heard it the first time:
"The butterflies are everywhere. People are nervous, people are anxious, their stomachs tied in knots. It's hard to tell from one day to the next what to expect as the stock market hiccups, the economic news sounds grim, and our friends are either overworked or underemployed. The butterflies of uncertainty are indeed everywhere."
Well, that attitude got me depressed. So I got up, took a walk, and when I returned to my office, armed myself with a more useful point-of-view:
"The butterflies are everywhere. Look at all the people I know who were inching along as caterpillars and are now soaring ahead, making interesting choices that best show off the beauty of their wings. Notice how much opportunity we're taking advantage of everyday for creativity and experimentation, from our Facebook posts to what we decide to cook for dinner. Yes, the butterflies are everywhere--thank god."
I guess the moral of the story is that seeing more butterflies gave me fewer butterflies.
For kids, back-to-school means buses and backpacks. But for grown-ups, the turn of the season kickstarts our drive to get “back-to-business.”
Even those without children find that the start of classes and the Labor Day holiday now signal an unofficial new year, motivating a more disciplined schedule and a renewed commitment to goals and projects we conjured up on January 1.
If you’re getting back-to-business—or, like many in today’s economy, you’ve never left—here are three tips to help you squeeze the most out of the final stretch of the year—without stretching yourself too thin.
Read the rest of this article on Atlanta Daybook at:
http://atlanta.daybooknetwork.com/story/2010/08/11/34006darcy-eikenberg.shtml
When I was a kid, my friend Eric and I used to run around our babysitter Sue's basement and play a game called "Stuck in the Mud." Basically, we'd hop between the square blocks that were part of Sue's carpet design, and suddenly one of us would call out "stuck in the mud." Then, the other had to stay planted on whatever square you were on until you were freed. (I can't remember if there was any magic to being freed--I'm pretty sure it was just an arbitrary creative decision.)
This week, I've felt like someone called "stuck in the mud" and I've been frozen on one of those carpet squares. Car trouble--you're stuck in the mud of depending on others for transportation (thanks, Charles.) Nose trouble--stuck with a bad cough-and-sneeze routine. People trouble--stuck in the mud of confusing comments and emotions. And of course, self-created trouble--feeling stuck yet overwhelmed with all the ideas and work that have yet to happen.
But today, I decided I could choose to be stuck no more. I made the same arbitrary creative decision Eric and I did when we were six or seven and called freedom. Nothing changed--except my perspective. And changing that perspective, I made a tremendous amount of forward movement today that I feel good about. What a neat game!
If you didn't read the piece, I make the case that if we want to connect more with our families, friends, and even colleagues and clients, we need to click less. Less clicking on our BlackBerries, IPhones, and Facebook accounts. Less time tapping out our texts and tweets.
And of course, the apparent irony is that I offer these thoughts by clicking away right now. And of course, I know that to get you here, you'll have to care enough to click.
Maybe that's the nuance I didn't discuss, the tip that I didn't outline in my list here on my website. That nuance is that to click less, you have to care less. You have to care less about. . .
When you start caring less about the things that don't matter to you, you create space to care more about the things--and especially people--that do. You then have time to connect more--and click less.
In my
neighborhood, the youth soccer teams are now in full force, catching
World Cup fever thousands of miles away from the games. Down the street,
there's a family I always spot in their Little League uniforms, usually
with post-game ice cream. And at my local YMCA, the swim team screams
can be heard from the parking lot!
Welcome to the time of team. We're in full summertime mode here in the
US, and that means teams that play--and also that work. In fact, I've
noticed a surge of newly formed teams as companies realize they still
have big objectives to complete in 2010--and the year's almost half
over!
The people and teams I'm coaching keep asking one thing,
"Who do we need on our team to make it work?" So, with a little thought
(and a little whimsy sparked by a day at the ballpark), I've created a
list for you.
For a complimentary subscription to my monthly newsletter and a free copy of my special report, "The Right Words to Build Confidence," sign up here.
So I'm at one of my usual haunts, siphoning off the free Wi-Fi and pounding the keyboard with whatever temporary flashes of brilliance and brainlessness occur. An older gentleman approaches, and I accidentally catch his eye when I look up, mumbling something to myself about what I'd just written. He thinks I'm talking to him, and so comes over. So I smile and say hello. . .and resume my pounding and mumbling.
A few minutes later, he comes over. "You look very focused," he says. "May I ask what is you do?" I tell him, and give him my card. He smiles, and says "That sounds like very interesting and rewarding work." I smile again, and he goes back to his table.
Today, we run into each other again. And again, he comes over. "I don't want to bother you," he apologizes, with kind eyes, "but I spent most of my life in badly run organizations, and it's so great to know there are people like you who are out there trying to help people run them better. I hope somebody is telling you that what you do is important."
I thank him, and as we talk further, I realize he doesn't want anything from me. In fact, I'm thrown off by his surprise appreciation, instead of honored by it. It makes me wonder where else there are people who are trying to appreciate and recognize my work, and how I might be too busy pounding the keyboard to notice.
Heard tonight in my water aerobics class: "If you feel off balance, suck and squeeze!!"
In the water, this meant, "If you feel off balance (because you're standing in four feet of water standing with one foot on a styrofoam noodle), suck (in your abs) and squeeze (your glutes, since tightening your core muscles gives you better balance)!!
But when I got home, this meant, "If you feel off balance (because life/work/etc. is piling up faster than you can keep up), suck (it up) and squeeze (the negative stuff out of your brain and get back in the game)!!
A good workout and a good lesson to boot!
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