Category Archives: Your Time & Energy

Zumba! At Least I’m There

Okay, somehow I got talked into taking a Zumba dance class by my college-age very athletic niece and daughter.  So I’m a reluctant participant although there are lots of people there including several young guys who weren’t doing much better than me.  But I’m willing to give it a try although I warned the girls to not laugh at me ’cause at least I’m there.

I actually work out all the time and have for years (longer than those girls have been alive!).  I do weights, machines and strength classes so I’m pretty good at following the leader.  But this class is a step up – there are no directions from the instructor just lots of moving, bumping and grinding.  It’s the ultimate “Simon Says” game with no “says”.  But the music is great and the crowd is enthusiastic

Doing Something Different

So as I’m bobbing and weaving to the music, I’m thinking that this is good – it’s good to stretch the comfort zone and try something different.  I prefer knowing what to do when but with a little practice I probably can get a few of these steps learned.  I remind myself that encouraging ourselves to stretch and grow is critical for handling the bigger changes in our lives. We need regular practice in adapting to what’s new and perhaps a bit uncomfortable.  Ouch, just stepped on my own toe.

We Don’t Have to Be Perfect

I don’t have to have this Zumba stuff down perfectly.  I’m there with my girls and that’s good enough.  And I’m a big believer in the old saying “Showing up is 80% of success”.  We don’t have to be perfect – and we can’t be even close to perfect when we try something different.  And that’s okay.  So when these girls are collapsing on the floor with laughter, I kindly remind them that “Yes, you too will be my age someday” and  “at least I’m here”!

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Layoffs: The Stress of Waiting

Over the last few days, I’ve talked to several people waiting to hear about possible layoffs.  It’s the end of the fiscal year and either they will be laid off  July 1st or not.  The waiting is the hardest.  Even for the most resilient and optimistic people this suspenseful time of not knowing is very difficult.

Employment changes are always challenging.  The “What Ifs” take over and you can find yourself imagining and worrying about all kinds of scenarios.  “What if I can’t find another job?”  “What if I have to move?”  “What if I can’t pay my mortgage?”  These may be very realistic concerns and the worry can quickly escalate especially in the middle of the night.

Taking Control of the Uncontrollable

The stress of the unknown is really all about control.  When you or your spouse is facing a layoff it’s easy to feel that you have little control over your future.  And that may be true as it relates to your paid employment.  But what about the rest of your life?  You (and only you) have control over that and once you take back that control there is a ripple effect on your paid work as well.  Here are three steps to get you started.

First, what isn’t changing in your life? List out the  main areas of your life (health, family &, friends, employment, hobbies, community etc.) that you spend time and energy.  I like to use the image of the 5 Olympic Circles because they connect creating synergy between the circles. And it keeps it simple with the 5 main areas of my “whole” life.

Second, have a realistic talk with yourself.  Are these other areas really changing significantly? Sometimes yes, but many times they are staying relatively the same.  Life goes on with many of the same routines and traditions – that’s actually quite reassuring.

Third, make a Plan B and a Plan C.  Have backup plans if you are laid off.  Know your options. Get an accurate picture of your financial situation.  You may be pleasantly surprised that it’s better than you had imagined.

Taking Control is Empowering

This is a new life chapter which you can design for yourself.  In my work as a career coach, I’m seeing people take this opportunity to create new career paths that they previously never thought possible.  Yes, a forced change such as a layoff is unsettling and disruptive.  But remember, that in the midst of chaos is the opportunity for incredible growth and possibilities.  It’s exciting and the sense of taking back control is incredibly empowering.

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Summertime! Can’t Get Anything Done

Okay, I have an attitude problem.  I just can’t get anything done.  My mind is gone . . . and it’s on the beach at Lake Tahoe or on that tandem bike down in Geneoa.  It feels great to finally have some warm weather here in Northern Nevada.  Just last Monday morning, June 6th, it looked like the old days of living in Norway – cold & wet.  But now it’s is lovely and I’m ready to just play.  So how do I “self-coach” myself to not bolt out the office with flip flops & swimsuit in hand at noon each day?  Now you might be much more disciplined that I am but just in case you struggle with this same delicious impulsive behavior here are three good tips . . . 

Keep the “To-Do” List Very Short

I like to work with odd numbers.  So this morning I said I would get five main “work-related” tasks done.  No more – no less.  I write that list down and check it off.  Some of the tasks I even break into smaller pieces so I can give myself lots of credit for getting part of the bigger elephant eaten.  I turn off the music, close the blinds and not allow myself to wander off down the hallway to chat with colleagues.  And lots of celebration for getting those five tasks done. After all, it’s summertime!

“Chunk” Your Time

Remember this ‘ole way of maximizing your time and energy.  Take your day and divide it up into chunks of time.  And then decide what tasks are the most important and put those into the chunk of time that you are the most energetic, alert and productive.  For us business owners, put in anything to do with the financial end of your business into this prime time.  I know that I am much more productive early in the morning – I can get more done at 5:30am than the whole evening before.  So I try to minimize working late at night and instead just get up a bit earlier in the morning.  That early morning “chunk” is my best time. 

Plan Ahead to Slow Down

If you can, plan ahead to enjoy the summer.  Being an obsessive planner myself, I mapped out the summer months way back when we were buried in snow in January. I blocked out time on the wall calendar that I knew I would either be back on the East Coast, hitting the wineries with my identical twin or transporting various college kids back and forth to their schools.  If I can, I slow down the number of training commitments I make for the summer months and instead schedule those in the early fall.  Usually, that is just fine with others since they also want to be less hurried and stressed during these nice warm days. 

Finally, just go do it. Slide out the door discreetly and head for either the Truckee River to float your toes or grab up those vacationing kids and head up to Lake Tahoe.  After all, summertime only comes once a year!

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“City Slickers”: The Ultimate Internship

I just finished laughing my way through the classic movie “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal.  Do you remember this one?  It’s all about three good friends in the throes of middle age who sign up to be volunteers on a cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado.  I’ve watched it many times and love the themes of friendship, adventure and finding what is uniquely meaningful to each of us in different chapters of our lives.

The Ultimate Unpaid Internship

But this time, I watched this movie from a different perspective . . . here are three friends paying a lot of money to essentially be volunteers on this cattle drive.  As the story goes, the paid cowhands disappear one by one leaving only the volunteers and the herd of cattle.  The other volunteers bail out – after all they are suppose to be “on vacation”  leaving behind our three cowboy heroes.  Now the cowboy volunteers are not getting paid to “bring the herd in” but they are committed.  So risking life and limb in torrential rains they drive the herd for miles and deliver the livestock successfully to the cattle ranch owners several days later.  For their efforts, the boss refunds their money and each of our cowboys goes home knowing that they have finally found the true “it” in their lives.

Working Without Pay But Loving It

Written in 1991, City Slickers gives us a fascinating glimpse at what would become a career & economic phenomenon in the 2000’s.  People of all ages being willing to work for no or little pay for the experience and possible opportunities that this work could open up for them – sometimes even paying out of their own pocket  for the opportunity (as I’ll be doing when I work in Greece in October).  These positions can be called any number of things: internships, externships, job shadowing,  apprenticeships, mentoring etc.

Both my college-age daughter and niece are doing summer internships here in Northern Nevada.  Why?  They are enjoying having this inside track to experience and do things they wouldn’t have been able to do through traditional hiring practices. And it very likely this unpaid work will give them some advantage in future paid job opportunities.

Is It Worth It?

I have to believe that it’s a win-win for both the intern and the businesses but it is an interesting wrinkle when interns are being used more and more to replace paid staff especially in a deep recession as we have been experiencing.  In a brand new book “Intern Nation” Ross Perlin explores both the history and the pros and cons of “contingency labor”.  It’s fascinating.  Watch for more on this topic in my July First Monday Tip Newsletter.  For now, I’m with Billy Crystal and his fellow “unpaid interns”.  It’s too much fun to miss!

Posted in Career Tips & Strategies, Inspirational Leadership, Navigating Change, Personal Development, Your Time & Energy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Just Keep Pedaling: Rain, Hail & Cold

Just keep pedaling . . . wise words I repeated to myself as the rain, hail and cold beat down on my husband, Wally, and me as we rode our racing tandem bicycle in a 60 mile race in Northern California this past weekend.  With 250 other bicycles (including many other racing tandems) we were riding in the beautiful ranching community of Indian Valley close to Lake Almanor. 

“Who’s idea was this anyway?!”  Well, I guess in all honesty it was mine.  It sounded good on paper and we had planned for months to do this . . . but who would have known that we’d have rain, sleet & snow on Memorial Day weekend.  But there we were with nothing to do but keep on pedaling.  

What Makes for Success

So as the miles swept by under my pedals (we average about 16 miles an hour) I got to thinking about what makes for success on a challenge such as this.  I came up with five ideas:

  • Set the vision of finishing (with glass of wine & hot bath)
  • Concentrate on the rhythm (I close my eyes but Wally keeps his eyes open)
  • Be in the moment (listen to the sounds around me & relax in the movement of the tandem)
  • Stay in sync with the cues Wally is giving me for the steep uphills & fast downhills
  • Trust in the bike, the front rider (has to be a strong rider) and my own ability

And we were done . . . 5 hours later with frozen feet and “screaming” quads we pedaled into Greenville High School to check in and say thank you to the volunteers who fed and encouraged us all along the way.  And it was more fun to send the IPhone pictures to those college kids who think Mom & Dad are too old to barely move.  A great adventure and some wonderful reminders that it really is well worth it to just “keep pedaling”.

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