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I’m not too big on compiling lists of things that will 'change lives.' However, today a conversation occurred in my office between two of my co-workers that made me (as it always does) start to grind my teeth. It was mindless, boring, cliché banter that was used as nothing more than a device to fill a void of silence between two people that really had nothing to say to one another. Silence is golden...especially at the office.We’ve all taken part in it at one time or another. Maybe we let ourselves get dragged in or maybe we sparked up the exchange ourselves. I’m not a sociologist so I have no idea why people in quiet moments with other people feel the need to always say something, no matter how trite.  I think it may have something to do with the fact that we’ve become a society - that between cell phones and iPods - no longer feel comfortable with our own thoughts.Those moments seem so rare these days that when the opportunity of … [Read more...] about 5 Office Small Talk Sins: R U Guilty?

I've got two questions. Is it just media or do all industries find more and more reasons to call longwinded meetings about any and every topic involving the company? Second, assuming the first answer is yes, do these meetings seem to require the presence of all or most employees? Let me say now that my current boss does not feel the need to involve me in all the day-to-day decisions no matter how big or small. He deals with his managerial responsibilities and brings me in when necessary. As a result I work with a level of autonomy that I haven't experienced in years. I have also grown more in my field and have become better at my trade because of it. He does exactly what he gets paid significantly more than me to do. For the company it means more efficiency. When endless meetings do not bog down full departments so much more gets accomplished in a more expedient manner. Maybe that's just my opinion but I'm sticking to it.Check out the PayScale Meeting Miser to see just how much money … [Read more...] about Work Meetings: All Talk, No Action?

The following is from one of my favorite human beings on this fine planet, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:When we do walking meditation, the point is not to get somewhere, but rather to practice, using walking as the object of our attention. Even when we do have to get somewhere and must drive to do so, there is an opportunity for practice. Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen master and poet, has written a number of gathas, or brief verses, for enhancing our mindfulness during everyday activities, even driving a car.Before starting the car, I know where I am going. The car and I are one. If the car goes fast, I go fast.If we are mindful when we start our car, we will know how to use it properly. When we are driving, we tend to think of arriving, and we sacrifice the journey for the sake of the arrival. But life is to be found in the present moment, not in the future. In fact, we may suffer more after we arrive at our destination. If we have to talk of a destination, what about our final … [Read more...] about Commuting Advice: Driving Meditation

Here's your 'Get Out of Meetings Free' Card.Meetings are the ultimate in annoying teenage foreplay: There's lots of awkward stroking and nothing ever seems to get accomplished.  We all know this futile exercise is nothing but a time and money waster.  Well thanks to the Meeting Miser from PayScale.com, you can now calculate exactly how much your time in a meeting is costing the company - down to the cents per minute.Just tell the calculator where you are located and the titles of the people attending the meeting.  PayScale will then use their collected salary data (which in my experience is pretty accurate) to do the math. I'm only worth about 50 cents a minute.  But given some of the marathon meetings we have in my neck of the woods - it adds up fast!  How much is your meeting time worth? … [Read more...] about WorkHack: How to Get Out of Meetings

This is a guest blog from my sister, Lydia M.C. She has nothing to promote except for her disdain for the minutia of work.It’s on the lips of every interviewee and plaguing resumes across the land.  A single word that is anything but single: multitasking.We’re probably all guilty of saying the words, “I’m an excellent multitasker,” but do we really want to list this as a job skill? A life skill?According to dictionary.com, the first definition that pops up is: The concurrent operation by one central processing unit of two or more processes.  The definition is amended further down, stating Often used of humans in the same meaning it has for computers, to describe a person doing several things at once.So basically, multitasking was originally used to describe a computer - and we humans have taken it on as our own, intentionally mimicking the actions of a computer.I guess my brain just isn’t as equipped as a Pentium 7 or my husband's fancy … [Read more...] about The Argument Against Multitasking