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Autumn 2009 Newsletter (Newsletter Archives)
AWARD-WINNING BOOK Turns into Training Video
Just came back from shooting on location in the Colorado Rockies. Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities is the resource for a new training film to be released in 2011. I was thrilled when my book received the Ben Franklin Gold Award. Now, to have Star Thrower Distribution as a partner just makes me smile. These are the folks who handle the work of talent like Dewitt Jones, Joel Barker, and B.J. Gallagher.
We’re still shooting under the guidance of Cindy Bright, Bright Video Productions. I can’t wait to see what her creative hand produces. Will keep you posted!
Update From Eileen
I missed getting this out by September 21 which was the official start of Autumn. Maybe it’s because “autumn” is another synonym for “Fall”. The third week of August, my 93 year-old Mom fell and broke her hip. “Fall” is not a nice word in my vocabulary right now – nor in hers. A 10-inch titanium rod with a round ball is in her left hip, along with the scars of 21 staples. She has been in a skilled nursing rehab center for the last four weeks. Bless her heart! In two years, we’ve moved her from her home in Florida, to my guest room, to assisted living, to a hospital, to skilled nursing, back to the hospital, back to skilled nursing, and now-hopefully, to a smaller home. Even someone not fighting age-related dementia would be confused!
Many of you are dealing with the same issues. There are no easy answers. Thank goodness for my amazing sister, her husband, and my Bill who have become the A-team – pitching in when someone needed a rest, a difficult conversation with caregivers, or a shoulder to cry on. But what if you don’t have a support team like I do? What if you are alone and struggling to manage work, home, caretaking, and decisions? We rarely talk about this in the workplace. I want to raise our consciousness. I want to raise our support of each other-both seen and unseen.
Autumn is about letting go and loss. Just as the stunning gold aspen leaves will be lost to the wind sweeping over the Rockies, I know I must let go of my ideas about just how things “should” be. I must let go of wanting Mom’s situation to be different. I must look for the joy of the moment with Mom and let go of the wish that she’ll remember it tomorrow.
Where must you let go? How can we best support each other? What resources do you have that might be shared? Write me. I will collect the responses and post them in the next Energizer.
In the meantime, may we cherish each season of life.
PS: Don’t forget to thank YOUR “caregivers”: the ones who pick you up each time you fall!
“Friends walk in when the world walks out.”
-ANON
PARENTS – We know THESE definitions!
DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.
FAMILY PLANNING: The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.
FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when your baby doesn’t appreciate the strained carrots.
FULL NAME: What you call your child when you’re mad at him.
GRANDPARENTS: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right.
HEARSAY: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.
TURN PRODUCTIVITY PAIN into PRODUCTIVITY GAIN
In a major study of 20,000 information workers, Cohesion Knowledge Solutions concluded that over $1 trillion dollars in wages alone is LOST in the U.S. due to ineffective email, meetings, and an endless search for stored knowledge. You knew that without a survey, didn’t you? You’ve seen it: email overflowing with junk, reply-to-all responses, spam and notices from social networking sites about people you don’t know and could care less about. Some of us have an almost irrational need to constantly break our thought pattern to check email. We’re tethered to a digital drip system!
How about those endless meetings-the ones that leave you with nothing but a question as to why you were even involved and a deep-rooted desire to stifle a yawn while your brain swirls over the really important work left on your desk.
And lastly, where is that system of organization that can help you throw out the useless and create a method for finding the important?
Here are just a few ideas to claim back your time:
For email:
* Have a clear subject heading and know WHY you are sending it.
* Do not use “reply to all” unless it is required.
* Use NRN (no reply needed) and NTN (no thanks needed) in messages.
* If you have this feature (as I do on my MAC), select “BOUNCE” for spam.
* Get rid of the digital death spiral caused by too many e-mail back-and-forth bursts. Pick up the phone and talk.
For meetings:
* NEVER use meetings for solely the dumping of information. Have an outcome and action as a result.
* Always work with an agenda sent beforehand, along with any pre-reading assignment.
* Make sure the right people are in the meeting.
* Pick up the book I am recommending in my “must read” list.
For information storage and retrieval:
This is an area that I constantly find daunting. The best organizer I know is Barbara Hemphill, the brains behind Paper Tiger (the first real time paper file retrieval system ever created.) She has now combined electronic with paper files in a seamless fashion using Web 2.0 technology.
The Productive Environment Institute has incorporated Barbara Hemphill’s proprietary principles and methodology into a web-based platform called PBWorks, and launched a new productivity tool called iPEP (interactive Productive Environment Platform). iPEP is the only ‘finding system’ actively endorsed by Barbara Hemphill, and is the only online document storage and collaboration solution on the market that takes paper into consideration (and does not require scanning). For more information click here.
I, for one, am going to check out this new program!
THE ECONOMY IS FUNNY
I started out with nothing; I still have most of it.
It’s not hard to meet expenses. They’re everywhere.
I wish the buck stopped here. I could use a few.
Some days you’re the dog. Some days you’re the hydrant.
Laugh!
It’s the BEST Medicine
for CRAZY Times
“My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.”
-Erma Bombeck
Turn Back the Clock!
2009 TAKE BACK YOUR TIME DAY Is October 24. Mark your calendars to “CHILL OUT!”
This year, October 24th, Take Back Your Time Day, falls on a Saturday and on the same day when thousands of people all around the world will be taking parts in events aimed at mobilizing action to reverse global warming. The events, coordinated by the organization “350″ at http://www.350.org seek controls on carbon outputs that would return the amount of carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere to 350 parts per million or less, the amount considered necessary for a sustainable human future. Currently, there are about 385 parts of CO2 per million in the atmosphere.
Take Back Your Time believes in a sustainable future and its Board of Directors has endorsed a policy of support for the 350 events as part of the 2009 Take Back Your Time Day activities. TAKE BACK YOUR TIME is a major U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment. To learn more, http://www.timeday.org
Must Read Books
The Hamster Revolution for Meetings-How to Meet Less and Get More Done. -Berrett Koehler, 2009.
This is the same team (Mike Song, Vicki Halsey and Tim Burress) who wrote the Hamster Revolution book on how to handle e-mail. Both are wonderful resources, easy to read, and just packed with put-to-use-now information to gain control.
The Service Prescription – Healthcare the Way it was Meant to Be by Authors: T. Scott Gross, Karyn Buxman RN MSN, and Greg Ayers DMD.
If you work in the healthcare field or want to drop a friendly reminder to your healthcare professionals that the patient really matters, THIS is the book. Don’t read it thinking you’ll solve the national health care debate raging from all parts of the 50 states. Nope. This is about what healthcare providers can do to build a team of superstars, have fun again, and grow a practice. T. Scott Gross is the man who brought us the wildly successful book, Positively Outrageous Service. He has teamed with two other witty and savvy medical professionals to offer an entertaining and inspiring book. To get this book, contact karyn@karynbuxman.com.
Welcome to the McDargh Clan of Clients:
Novartis Women in Leadership
CA Special Districts
Manco Abbott
Disaster Recovery Journal
Network of Executive Women
Overview and Contact Information
Is life leading you instead of you leading a life?
Is work working you instead of you doing the work?
You’re not alone! It’s the challenge of our times.
From business leaders to rank-and-file workers, the competitive 24/7 world of heart-stopping change has left many feeling in need of new tools to answer these questions:
- How do I engage more of my talent and that of the folks around me in meaningful work?
- Why is it that resiliency is a word I think of only with rubber bands?
- Why does it seem that we compete more with each other than the competition?
It’s tough when the rate and pace of work leaves you feeling disconnected, unheard, and certainly not aligned to produce results that matter in the long run.
Then there’s the issue of joy. Flat out joy. You don’t want “work” to become exclusive of play. Leave your spirit and heart at the door, and it’s hard to be creative and productive. You want to be connected with people who respect you and vice versa. You want to do good work— no, make that GREAT work– in the bargain. You want to spend your time in a place that lets your spirit soar and your talent shine. My joy is in helping individuals and organizations rediscover the joy of living and the joy of satisfying work.
If you want results that go well beyond the bottom line—contact us. Since 1980, we’ve been engaging the human spirits of individuals and organizations. Now—it’s your turn.
Call 949-496-8640 or send email eileen@eileenmcdargh.com
McDargh Communications
(949) 496-8640
Eileen@EileenMcDargh.com
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