Assumptions & Surprises

Today on the train a teenager sat next to me with his headphones on and an iPhone in hand. My thinking immediately went to, "I bet he playing on Facebook or texting or looking through his music." When I finally saw his screen I was totally busted. He was playing chess. 

I smiled because My assumption was challenged.

Now, at my favorite coffee house, Republic of Pie in NOHO, I was busted again. A man came to the table area where I was relaxing and he sat down with his baby fast asleep. I saw his wedding ring and thought, "A the wife will be coming over soon." A few minutes later his partner showed up. Again, I was busted.

I smiled again and reminded myself to be careful of the assumptions I make. They won't always be right.

Have a great weekend and may you have your thinking be challenged over and over again. 

Post-It Note Agenda - Streamlining Your Meetings

About a month ago, I started using a square Post-It note to write down my key topics I wanted to discuss with my manager during our weekly 1:1 meetings.

The first time I did this grabbed a second one and kept writing. I stopped and asked myself, "Are all of these topics necessary?" I then challenged myself to only bring one Post-It to the meeting to focus on the truly important items.

I have been doing this for a few weeks now with great results. By focusing on a few key topics, there is more room to for in depth discussion and for other topics to flow into the conversation.

Will you take on the Post-It Note Agenda Challenge? Why? Why not?

Done Is Better Than Perfect

I just read this phrase in Sheryl Sandberg's thought-provoking book,

Lean In.

She shares that this phrase is on a poster at the Facebook and is one of her favorites.

I must say that it is now my favorite phrase and my new mantra.

When I read this I immediately thought of all of the undone projects at work and home just waiting to get done.

I'm certainly no perfectionist but the drive to get things done "just right" keeps me from jumping in and getting done. Specifically, my per perception of how much time it would take to get the projects "just right."

Today,I embrace getting things DONE and not perfect or just right.

Won't you join me?

What Is Your Life's Work?

Every day I walk to the gym, I pass by the local convenience store with the electronic lottery numbers. Most mornings I think, "How fun would it be..." and hit the gym hard.

This morning was a little different. This morning, I asked myself, "If I won the lottery, what would I do?" Of course, I'd do the usual things like travel and spend/share some on/with family and friends.  But, after that passes, what would I do?

This, my friends, is the million dollar question. I didn't have an answer for it. It dawned on me that I am so wrapped up in my current job and life that I haven't thought about or figured out my life's work/mission/raison de être.

The thinking starts now.

What is your life's work? Are you actively pursuing it? If not, why? Share in the comments below.

February "Cure" - Lessons Learned

After amazing results of participating in the Apartment Therapy January Cure I was so excited to create a February "Cure" of my own to keep up the momentum.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the same level of results in February that I did in January.

Instead of beating myself up for "failing" to complete every task, I took inspiration from the HBR (Harvard Business Review) article, "A Simple Ritual for Harried Managers (and Popes)" and reviewed what worked and what didn't work.

What worked:

• Leveraging the project list I created during the "January Cure" saved me from coming up with something new.
• Sharing the project list on the blog gave me a bit of accountability.

What didn't work:

• Scheduling/planning too many projects.
• Not scheduling enough time for projects (many items take more than 1 day)
• Not having a "plan B" for when life shows up.

Now, the planning of my April "Cure" will be far more effective using the lessons learned above.

Do you debrief yourself after a project succeeds or fails? Share in the comments below.

Life Showing Up - A Sign to Adjust Your Sails?

A few weeks ago, just before the start of Lent, I posted about what I was giving up ( Weekday TV Fasting) what I was taking on (Daily Blog Posts) for Lent.

About a week after Lent began, life showed up and put a halt on these activities.

You probably notice this has happened to you when you have set a goal. Life shows up in the form of an injury or a tough work deadline or a family emergency or some other form of "life."

Taking a break from your goal is sometimes needed so that you can take care of "life."

Once "life" is handled you have options:

• Return to your goal
• Modify the goal 
• Let it go completely

The last 2 options should always be considered. This flavor of "life" showing up could be a sign telling you to adjust your sails OR to abandon ship.

Where are you in your 2013 goals? Full steam ahead? Adjusting course? Abandoning ship?

"Lighten Up Frances"

Tonight, I got home and my knee jerk reaction was to walk over to the cigar box that hides my TV remote control and kick off the weekend with a show as I get dinner going. I promply closed the lid of the cigar box leaving the remote untouched because Friday is still a weeknight.

No TV for this cowgirl since I decided to give up TV on weeknights (see post here).

I then started thinking about how I could listen to a music station on my satellite television. It's not TV but I can have some entertainment. I then worried, "What if the last channel that was on TV was a show and not a music channel? Would that mean that only after 2 nights I already screwed up my Lenten discipline?"

I quickly told myself, "Lighten up Frances" (fabulous quote from the comedy classic Stripes) and just got to my evening of dinner and chores. I'm having fun observing the sounds in my home. I'm also noticing the pattern of wanting to return to my sofa to turn on a show. I'm also noticing how I can't wait until the weekend so I can watch the shows have downloaded to my iPad.

Now I'm questioning myself about downloading the shows to my iPad for the weekend. Is that cheating? Am I slacking by not giving up TV all of Lent? Am I cheating recording all of my shows on my DVR? Is it cheating to be watching TV in the work lunch room while I'm getting coffee or heating my lunch or washing my dishes?

My final answer to all of this, "Lighten up Frances."