“The Dog” Journal
Welcome to the Dog Journal, a blog where I periodically share my best finds for taming those puppies that gnaw at your planner.
Could be a quick time management tip, a smell-the-flowers moment, a comment overheard on the elevator. Whatever the inspiration, I hope you’ll blog right along with me by commenting and sharing your tips and stories for taming an overbooked life.
On Time and Chicken
All moms teach by example. On this Mothers Day, I feel fortunate that mine taught by setting good ones.
Giving by nature, she also knew where to draw the line. She did not, for example, buy whole chickens unless she was planning to cook the chicken whole.
“It’s cheaper to cut them up yourself,” she told me. “But once you go down that road, spending a lot of time to save a little, it’s hard to turn back.”
Somehow, the remark became a powerful lesson in honoring my time and honoring me.
Half a century later, I have no idea about the relative costs or whole and cut-up chickens. But I would no more buy a whole chicken and cut it up than I would drive 90 MPH in a 65 MPH zone.
Likewise, her instruction to “keep your robe on” when you’re sick stuck with me because, as she pointed out, “otherwise, people will expect you to be back, giving 100 percent.”
She was not a paid consultant on the work-life balance puzzle. But she might as well have been.
Thanks, mom.
MoodOff Day = Challenge
After challenging others to observe the second annual MoodOff Day, a dose of good old-fashioned guilt inspired me to power down my smartphone this morning at 6 and not text or call anyone till at least 11 a.m.
This was to show solidarity with the MoodOff movement’s message that we have become smartphone/text-obsessed and it’s high time to resort to some good old-fashioned connection.
I’m the first to admit my obsessions. I love sending and receiving texts, and though I’m a terribly unreliable FB poster, I do check in and lurk from time to time.
As for MoodOff Day, I’m happy to report I survived it. I’d like to say it was because I felt so much peace and tranquility disconnected. But actually, it was due to a texting friend’s suggestion that it was OK to use my landline.
Also, my daughter was in town this weekend visiting from Chicago, so I rousted her out of bed in time for plenty of conversation before we left for my son and daughter-in-law’s, where there was more conversation and entertainment by my three-year-old granddaughter.
Later, when I realized we were running late for a restaurant reservation, I nudged my daughter, who was not observing MoodOff Day, to make the call. Oops.
So I was not on my phone but I was constantly thinking about the fact that I was not on my phone and working around it. I guess that’s a start – recognizing obsession, briefly stopping, and enjoying the moment.
I think I’ll be ready to do it again. In another 365 days.
Goodnight iPad = Good Advice
Shopping at our spiffy new neighborhood toy store, I discovered a children’s book that should be required reading for all the overbooked attorneys I coach.
Goodnight, iPad has a familiar cover. It looks like Goodnight Moon, that old bedtime standby by Margaret Wise Brown, in which children say a ritualistic goodnight to their daytime surroundings and toys before drifting off to sleep.
In Goodnight iPad, though, author Ann Droyd has us bidding a bedtime goodbye instead to Angry Birds, smart phones and tablets. No doubt it will strike a chord with parents of teen-agers, who wrestle with shutting down their electronics. That’s probably why Droyd subtitled it “A Parody for the Next Generation.”
But while we’re at it, some of us might start reading it with the thought of untethering ourselves.
For those who want a more adult untethering guide, there’s also Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow’s Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work. Read on….but possibly not on an electronic device.
E-Mail Birth Control
I don’t know about you, but my e-mails are having babies. It seems that every vendor I’ve favored over the holidays, either online or in person, is my new best friend. And what are friends for if not for letting you in on the latest clearance sale with free shipping or – in case you’ll soon be cruising – some can’t-miss summer items for the ship.
True, some of the offers are educational. I never knew – till yesterday, when it was offered at 63% off – that green-coffee-bean extract might may “reduce the release of glucose into the blood to support healthy blood-sugar levels and aid in weight reduction.”
The most effective mode of birth control seems to be Unsubscribe. But the New Year’s Un-Subscription drive can be rocky. Here’s a shout-out to those who make it easy with “instant unsubscribe.” One click and you’re done. Not so much happy shouting to those who are sure you didn’t really mean it and want you to verify. And a giant groan to those who need you to dig out your password, change your settings or review of list of 15 possible message types you would still like to receive.
A positive thought in all this grousing. Asking the question, “Is this clutter or useful in moving me forward?” is good practice for cleaning closets, managing time, and reviewing relationships as we launch into 2013. What else in your life do you need to unsubscribe to?
