There are three things that take time:
1. Making friends
2. Raising children
3. Creative work
There is no rushing through.
I have to remind myself.
These are the things that bring the most meaning to our lives...lasting relationships, our families and the creative work of our minds and hands.
And they are worth the time and effort.
Wise words repeat in my head. "Do not labor for that which cannot satisfy."
In the workplace, hoping to build a quick relationship in order to "leverage" that relationship, is phony and easily spotted. Be genuine and caring.
At home, rushing kids from place to place, through meals and into bed, will bring regret and missed moments of joy and contentment. Let chores and "me"-dia time go.
In creative work, meeting a deadline with something slapped together in short burst between meetings, will never satisfy you or the client or the audience. Don't over promise.
Take the time.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Strengths
"You cannot be anything you want to be—but you can be a lot more of who you already are."
"When we're able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists."
Focusing on strengths rather than "opportunity areas" in the workplace, and as a way of managing or leading, makes so much sense to me. It just feels right.
I've been reading StrengthsFinder 2.0, and Strengths Based Leadership in the last few days.
Their research proves that feeling out. People who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general, according to the Gallup organization.
"If you focus on people's weaknesses they lose confidence."
When you are not able to use your strengths at work, you are six times less likely to be engaged in your job. You are more likely to dread going to work, to treat others poorly, to achieve less on a daily basis, and to have fewer creative moments.
Not good for a designer, right?
I recommend taking the assessment and having a candid discussion with your employer about where you can begin using your strengths every day.
At the very least it will validate what you've already known and give you permission to stop trying to be more of something you aren't.
"When we're able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists."
Focusing on strengths rather than "opportunity areas" in the workplace, and as a way of managing or leading, makes so much sense to me. It just feels right.
I've been reading StrengthsFinder 2.0, and Strengths Based Leadership in the last few days.
Their research proves that feeling out. People who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general, according to the Gallup organization.
"If you focus on people's weaknesses they lose confidence."
When you are not able to use your strengths at work, you are six times less likely to be engaged in your job. You are more likely to dread going to work, to treat others poorly, to achieve less on a daily basis, and to have fewer creative moments.
Not good for a designer, right?
I recommend taking the assessment and having a candid discussion with your employer about where you can begin using your strengths every day.
At the very least it will validate what you've already known and give you permission to stop trying to be more of something you aren't.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
“All Meanings Depend on the Key of Interpretation”
So said George Eliot, of poetry.
Since I like to look for meaning in everything, I find it interesting to think that meaning can change based on new findings, a key, or a change in context.
Lately I’ve been reading Proust Was a Neuroscientist, by Jonah Lehrer, my new favorite author.
In Proust he looks at authors and artists (Whitman, Eliot, Proust, Cézanne) who knew and expressed truths about man, the brain, and science long before 20th century science. The science of their time, perhaps, forced them to look inward for the truth. They tried to understand the mind and were “most accurate, because they most explicitly anticipated our science...this art endures, as wise and resonant as ever.”
George Eliot in Middlemarch wrote “we are a process and an unfolding.” Only until recently biology held that the brain was a genetically governed robot, a set of cells that did not divide, unlike every other cell in our body.
Neurogenesis Is Born
Through a series of experiments misintrepreted or ignored, this belief held firmly. But in 1989 new observations began to alter these scientific “facts”.
Elizabeth Gould at Rockfeller University, discovered that chronic stress was devastating to rat brain neurons, but that the brain healed itself when the stress was removed. Over the next 8 years she painstakingly quantified her findings in rats and monkeys.
The science of neurogensis was born. “The textbooks were rewritten: the brain is constantly giving birth to itself,” Lehrer writes.
Now here is where it gets interesting to me.
“The mind is never beyond redemption, for no environment can extinguish neurogenesis. As long as we are alive, important parts of the brain are dividing. The brain is not marble, it is clay, and our clay never hardens,” Lehrer writes.
“High levels of stress can decrease the number of new cells [regenerating]; so can being low in a dominance hierarchy.” But when changing to living in an enriched environment, adult brains recover rapidly.
The implications are worth pondering. Think of the repression of women in a dominance hierarchy, think of slavery, think of those who live in poverty, think of good zoos and bads zoos, think of stark work environments, think of isolated young mothers, and so on.
How we think about these situations now has new meaning. And there are further implications to growth and happiness.
A New Key
The ramifications are profound and just now, in the last 10 years are being explored.
For example, scientists have discovered that antidepressants work by stimulating neurogenesis, implying that depression is ultimately caused by a decrease in the amount of new neurons, and not by a lack of serotonin.
We have a new key for intepretation.
Newborn brain cells make us happy.
Again ponder the implications, we need to be ever learning, seeking to enrich our environments for ourselves and our children, making workplaces more about cooperation and less about dominance, and excising stress from our routines and helping others to bring about these changes.
Learn something lately
As Eliot wrote in Middlemarch, the “mind [is] as active as phosphorus.”
“Since we each start every day with a slightly new brain, neurogenesis,” Jonah Lehrer points out, “ensures that we are never done with our changes.”
Ellen
More reading:
Antidepressant action in mice, NIH
The Science of Prozac
Since I like to look for meaning in everything, I find it interesting to think that meaning can change based on new findings, a key, or a change in context.
Lately I’ve been reading Proust Was a Neuroscientist, by Jonah Lehrer, my new favorite author.In Proust he looks at authors and artists (Whitman, Eliot, Proust, Cézanne) who knew and expressed truths about man, the brain, and science long before 20th century science. The science of their time, perhaps, forced them to look inward for the truth. They tried to understand the mind and were “most accurate, because they most explicitly anticipated our science...this art endures, as wise and resonant as ever.”
George Eliot in Middlemarch wrote “we are a process and an unfolding.” Only until recently biology held that the brain was a genetically governed robot, a set of cells that did not divide, unlike every other cell in our body.
Neurogenesis Is Born
Through a series of experiments misintrepreted or ignored, this belief held firmly. But in 1989 new observations began to alter these scientific “facts”.
Elizabeth Gould at Rockfeller University, discovered that chronic stress was devastating to rat brain neurons, but that the brain healed itself when the stress was removed. Over the next 8 years she painstakingly quantified her findings in rats and monkeys.
The science of neurogensis was born. “The textbooks were rewritten: the brain is constantly giving birth to itself,” Lehrer writes.
Now here is where it gets interesting to me.
“The mind is never beyond redemption, for no environment can extinguish neurogenesis. As long as we are alive, important parts of the brain are dividing. The brain is not marble, it is clay, and our clay never hardens,” Lehrer writes.
“High levels of stress can decrease the number of new cells [regenerating]; so can being low in a dominance hierarchy.” But when changing to living in an enriched environment, adult brains recover rapidly.
The implications are worth pondering. Think of the repression of women in a dominance hierarchy, think of slavery, think of those who live in poverty, think of good zoos and bads zoos, think of stark work environments, think of isolated young mothers, and so on.
How we think about these situations now has new meaning. And there are further implications to growth and happiness.
A New Key
The ramifications are profound and just now, in the last 10 years are being explored.
For example, scientists have discovered that antidepressants work by stimulating neurogenesis, implying that depression is ultimately caused by a decrease in the amount of new neurons, and not by a lack of serotonin.
We have a new key for intepretation.
Newborn brain cells make us happy.
Again ponder the implications, we need to be ever learning, seeking to enrich our environments for ourselves and our children, making workplaces more about cooperation and less about dominance, and excising stress from our routines and helping others to bring about these changes.
Learn something lately
As Eliot wrote in Middlemarch, the “mind [is] as active as phosphorus.”
“Since we each start every day with a slightly new brain, neurogenesis,” Jonah Lehrer points out, “ensures that we are never done with our changes.”
Ellen
More reading:
Antidepressant action in mice, NIH
The Science of Prozac
Monday, November 9, 2009
These really work...
7 Tips for Messy Times, by Mark Hurst
I haven't accomplished the single To-Do list just yet, but emptying the Inbox every day is essential and possible.
Check out the other suggestions!
I haven't accomplished the single To-Do list just yet, but emptying the Inbox every day is essential and possible.
Check out the other suggestions!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Okay, Some Things Are Just Too Funny
Check out these recession cases for your iphone...just 99 cents. Hilarious!
Watch this guy demo the "assembly".
Go for the "bail-out bundle" (10 for $7.99) and treat everyone in the office!
Their Q&As rival Woot for a hoot!
Q) Is it waterproof?
A) No, so dont put it in the dishwasher
Q) Is this case flammable?
A) If you light it on fire it is
Q) Does it come assembled?
A) no, see our animated gif for a step by step demo!
Q) What device does this case support?
A) iPhone 1G + 3G + 3GS
Q) How does this case stay together?
A) It has locking tabs at the bottom and top of the case, as well as an adhesive strip to keep the case held together
Q) Can I use this case to microwave my frozen pizzas?
A) I dont see why not, although we cant insure quality taste
Q) Will this case make me awesome?
A) I think that goes without saying
Q) Is there a warranty?
A) no, it is cardboard after all
Q) Can I get a paper cut on my ear while using this case?
A) My first guess would be no, but anything is possible, we dont promote unsafe use of the recession case
Q) How long will the case be sold?
A) as long as it needs to be to get us out of this recession! or while supplies last
Q) Does it come with a screen protector?
A) no, we are in a recession!
Q) How long will the product last?
A) forever as long as you don't destroy it!
Q) Is this case made from recycled cardboard?
A) 100% of only the best for you!
Q) Will the product scratch my device?
A) no! its cardboard not brick!
Q) Is the CM logo impressed on the case?
A) this is known as the "peoples case"
Q) Will this product be sold at case-mate retail locations?
A) Nope! The recession case is sold exclusively here at case-mate.com!
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