Ideas

Gratitude for the little things

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After a long weekend, curled up on the couch dealing with the throat, nose, and head, I am finally starting to feel better. Feeling rotten for so many days (and not getting to run in over a week) makes me grateful for the normalcy of everyday life. Is it not true that we are more grateful for what we have when we have a period of time away from the goodness of life? Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Usually that line goes hand in hand with someone you love. When they are away from you, you miss them. These last few excruciating days have made me miss my normal life (as crazy as it normally is). There is something to be said for that hour a day I get to myself to run and read. It grounds me. Not feeling 100% means I do not want to exert the extra energy for a run, especially if it means that energy is needed to just get through my day.

Today I am grateful that I am feeling better and for the little bits of normal each day that keep me grounded. Even if normal means a run a day, closeness with my hubby (we’ve stayed away from each other so he would not get this yucky gunk), and just the energy and drive that a normal day brings.

What are you grateful for today?

Most important thing today?

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You are bombarded with items on your to-do list. Some are large-scale projects, some have longer time lines than others, and then you have all those pesky little details you have to track. Call ____ back, email ____, follow-up on ____. There are days when my to-do list is mind-boggling, and there is not enough time in the day to get through the list. How do I coordinate and prioritize what I need to do each day?

First, I am old school. I still work with a notebook. My phone, pen, and notebook are always with me when at work. My phone keeps me up-to-date on emails, texts, and phone calls during the day and alerts me if any priorities have to shift. I might not have time to respond or handle a request, but based on the individual and the urgency of the need, I can still respond quickly (during a lull in a meeting or while walking to my next meeting) and let the individual(s) know when they can expect a response from me. My notebook keeps me on target with what I need to get done. I should also own stock in Post-Its. On the front of my notebook there is a Post-It, and sometimes there are many Post-Its. Anything that makes it to the front of my notebook means it has been escalated to: “needs to happen today or this week.” Somehow this process works for me. Yes, I go through quite a few Post-Its, but I find that colorful, visible reminders help me tackle what needs to happen each day. My iPhone is great, but it does not yell at me in the same way.

So when I read the article: “Why You Need a Daily Prioritization Meeting” from 99u.com, I thought this list could help me and wanted to share in case it helps in your daily prioritization:

“1. Do I really have to do this now?

2. If so, is it “The Most Important Thing?”

3. If not, where does it fit relative to the other tasks?

4. Is someone waiting on me for this?

5. If so, when do they need it?

6. Does working/not working on this now have long-term consequences that I’m missing?”

I thought these were great questions that can be asked each day (and throughout the day). Sometimes there are so many items on my to-do list that I just want to be able to cross them off so I do not have to look at them anymore. Other times I want to focus on getting all the little things done so I can feel like I can focus on the larger projects and not have to think about the nitty-gritty.

What do you do to help prioritize your day?

2014 Best Super Bowl ad

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I have hemmed and hawed over the years about what is my favorite part about Super Bowl Sunday. I can remember as a kid watching William Perry “The Refrigerator” who played for the Chicago Bears. It was probably the first Super Bowl that I actually remember, circa 1985 with “The Super Bowl Shuffle.” Since we did not have a television growing up, we often ended up splayed out in my grandma’s living room to watch each year, with food and pop (that is what we called it in the Midwest), and for me an introduction into the world of football. Can you believe that The Super Bowl Shuffle went on to earn a gold record, platinum video, and a Grammy nomination? Go figure.

In any case, over the years I learned that NFL football teams do not usually create music videos or receive Grammy nominations, yet watching the Super Bowl has always been an event that has happened in my life. I am not a die-hard football fan, I watch, I understand about 75% of what is happening (thank you high school football cheerleading) and when the game is dull for whatever reason, there is the company, and the commercials.

About those commercials. I know you remember ones from year to year. The classic Budweiser, Coca-Cola, and often the competing car companies. It used to be that you could not fast forward through the commercials, so they were just as much a part of the Super Bowl as the half time show. Even though we have a DVR, and rarely watch commercials, the Super Bowl is one night when we actually watch them. Maybe all those companies that pay 4 million dollars for a 30 second spot will thank us. It is one of the few days a year when advertising is at its finest (well most years).

Before I tell you about my favorite ad for the 2014 Super Bowl, let me remind you that I grew up in the Midwest, and my dad had an interesting sense of humor. At times I know his sense of humor has rubbed off on me. Each year, Doritos has a contest to find the best Super Bowl ad. My favorite this year was a finalist, but was not aired during the Super Bowl (even though it had over 3 million views on YouTube). This ad would have made my dad laugh hard. It made me laugh, think of him, and imagine for a moment watching him laugh. For that reason, it is my favorite Super Bowl ad for 2014 (even though it did not air). Sometimes the simplest ideas can be the funniest. Enjoy!

Just what you need: laughter

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I had one of those weeks where I had every emotion run through me. Not crazy sick like it seems has hit so many parts of the country, but a sore throat that was slightly irritating as I had back to back meetings most of the week, and well it was just inconvenient for me. The emotions? Well sometimes when I am not 100% I can range from having a shorter temper, to being near tears, to exhausted, to a bit slap happy.

On weeks like this, sometimes you just need a good laugh. If that is too hard, then you need to watch a little one that finds laughter in popcorn, a dog, and watch out for the slobber. Thank you little munchkin for giving me a moment of laughter on my Friday. It is just what I needed. Hopefully it brings a smile to your face. Oh, and a happy weekend to you. My weekend will be filled with sleep, rest, good food, catching up with friends, a big football game, and dare I forget precious time with my hubby. TGIF!

Anticipation is worse than our fears…

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I am sure each and every one of you have had a moment where you were terrified. You have that “I am going to shit my pants” nervous feeling. Somehow whatever scared you happened, the moment passed, and you went on with your life. Yet, you can remember that terrifying moment. You will never forget it. All the details might begin to fade, but the crucial time stays in your memory forever.

After reading this Fast Company article, “How to be a Success at Everything: The Art and Science of Building Confidence Under Pressure” I got to thinking about anticipation, see this excerpt from the article (bold sections are my own emphasis):

“Stress builds when we are waiting for something to happen. ‘Our anticipation is so much worse than doing the thing you’re afraid of,’ she observes. Instead of procrastinating so much that you lose sleep, take apart the situation, think it over logically and get it over with as soon as possible. ‘You are going to survive this,’ Williams says. Stress can be a great thing, she says, because it signals that you are doing something challenging.”

My guess is that a large part of the time when we have a moment that we are terrified, it is the anticipation that makes us freaked out. Once we get through the heat of the moment, and we look back and say “that was not as bad as a I thought it would be.” You might even go back and decide to do it all over again, no longer afraid. Anticipation allows us to dream, ponder, and potentially agonize over what may, could, should happen so that when the moment actually happens we have processed all the woulda, shoulda, coulda responses. It makes us feel safer. Rather than go into a terrifying moment blind, anticipation makes us feel like we are slightly more prepared.

Is it all a waste of time? Are we more prepared? I think it is good to have the oh shit moments once in a while. It keeps us on our toes, and leaves us feeling more alive. What do you think?