REMOTE WORK
Learning to be home from work, even when you work from home.
Picture a scene from Mad Men, set in the American 1960s. Or one of those wholesome moments A Christmas Story, if you want to head back to the late ’30s and ’40s. We’re familiar with those scenes of parents coming home after a long day’s work. Their briefcase full of… whatever, left by the door. Their office and coworkers left behind, far from the eclectically wallpapered rooms of the house.
“If your time to you is worth savin’ And you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’”
— Bob Dylan
Putting aside the cultural implications of change over the past 40–60 years, let’s look at the professional world for a moment. And I’m not forgetting the pay gaps, perception of roles for men versus women, or the litany of shameful workplace issues confronted since. …
2020 Retrospective
Three key takeaways from the longest year of our lives.
It’s going to be very tempting to put 2020 in our rearview mirror and never look back. There are endless memes and quotes floating around the internet celebrating the end of the longest year in recent memory.
Yet, there might be some reasons to hold off tying a brick to that 2020 balloon and tossing it into the ocean. At least some parts. Let me explain.
Learning to Sit in Silence
Isolating from our friends, family, and coworkers wasn’t by choice. And some did not even have that opportunity when they needed it. …
2020 Retrospective
A simple silver lining to a difficult year.
Imagine yourself in a crowded restaurant. You’re sitting at one of those round high tops with the uncomfortable stools. You know, the trendy metal ones that look great from afar, but are pure agony after five minutes of sitting. Your friend across the table is sharing some amazing news with you. Yet, it’s impossible to get into the story. There are so many voices, conversations, and ambient noise crowding the room.
You want to hear the story. It’s not even a matter of choosing to focus on everything else. The constant background noise makes it impossible to be 100% present.
That scenario at <Generic Americana Pub Name> is more commonplace than you’d believe. In fact, that situation is most days for most people. …
REMOTE WORK
Or: Why my dog thinks I should get out more.
I remember the first time I watched Tom Hanks talk to a beach ball, while stranded on a deserted island. Up until that point in Cast Away, aside from the whole flight malfunction thing, the idea of kicking back on an island to myself would be nice.
No loud trash trucks clanging around at 5:00 am. A considerable lack of judgment if you stayed in the sun too long. And the inability to doomscrool on Twitter.
But the reality is that working remotely, combined with social isolation during the start of The Roaring Twenties 2.0, leads to some serious isolation.
“She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. …
PERSONAL GROWTH
Turn the map upside down. Now let’s continue the journey.
Imagine you’re on a road trip through the middle of the United States. Your goal is to reach the coast, and beyond that, it’s a bit of a blank canvas. But that’s alright with you; the general plan and goal is in place.
Your route? West. That’s it.
The route you’re currently on heads in that general direction. Everything seems great. As you’re cruising along, you find yourself at a crossroads with some options. Kind of like Tom Hanks at the end of Cast Away.
What if you change direction? Your end goal is the same, after all, but you might take a less-defined route to get there. You might even decide along the way that your goal has changed. About 150 or so miles west of Wichita, Kansas, you might find that Dodge City is it. …
LIFE LESSONS
And you only need to be great at one.
I want you to think about someone you’ve worked with during the past year. Coworker, client; it doesn’t matter. As long as you’ve had to rely upon them for something.
Do you have the person in mind?
Now think about the first thing you would say if someone asked about working with them. Would it be a gleaming review? Throwing shade?
I’m willing to bet that the first thought reflects how you’ve felt when working with them. More about the kind of person they are and less about the work you’ve done together.
This is not uncommon. We commonly list a series of traits about others based on how we see them in our minds. The order giving a glimpse at the strongest feelings. …
REMOTE WORK
A volatile year may have given way to significant professional opportunities — are you ready?
We are all aware of the drastic shift towards remote work this year. Whether you believe it was the pandemic or a coming trend, we’re deep into the change.
For some, the change to working from home is a gift. The ability to wake up, make coffee, walk the dog, and not rush off to an hour-long commute in traffic. And that’s not even touching on those who have little ones running around.
For anyone wanting to jump into a new industry, this might be the time.
Here are three reasons to consider when entertaining a new career path.
3. More Remote Jobs
It’s no secret that the job market is quite volatile right now. Yet, the opportunities for remote work have increased by 2.8% since March 2020. …
FREEDOM
Underneath the ego and posturing, we all want the same thing.
For as long as human civilizations have existed, there has been the struggle of defining what drives us. What goals we aim to reach. And how priorities shift along the way.
Like many others, I left college as more of an idealist. I was beginning a career in a field I loved, and less concerned with much else. As the honeymoon wore off, I began setting my goals to align with promotions and salary changes.
But this was like attempting to fill a strainer with water.
I had been navigating my 20s with Jack Sparrow’s compass. I realized that I wasn’t revisiting my priorities. It became immediately clear that my 30s would become the wake-up call to reality. …
PRODUCTIVITY
It’s time to take back time… from yourself.
It’s not procrastination if I’m doing something important. That’s what I’ve often told myself. Rewriting the logline underneath the movie poster representing my day.
I am capable of justifying nearly anything; at least, to myself.
This is the power we all have over our own minds. We are capable of convincing ourselves of whatever serves us, or rather, our id. The part of our minds that responds directly to desires.
While there are many examples of this taking us down dark paths, that is not where this is going. …
PRODUCTIVITY
You can accomplish more when you relax your aim.
The concept of productivity can be attractive and disparaging at the same time. The definition says it all.
“The quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services.”
With that much potential in a single sentence, how can anything go wrong? You’re setting yourself up to create and become something better, after all. The law of diminishing returns begs to differ. There’s a point where returns begin to diminish, and by returns, I mean your productivity.
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
— William Bruce…
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