Vindicated!

Finally, someone has engaged in serious study on the subject of multi-tasking and its ineffectiveness.

All week, I've seen articles by Maggie Jackson, referring to her book, Distracted.

The office of the millennium is rampant with distractions. From colleagues' discussions through cheesy burlap cubicle walls that offer no sound buffer whatsoever, to loud arguments in the hallways, to impromptu brainstorming sessions between collaborating colleagues.

I'm not saying that offices should be silent. That people should squirrel themselves away in their cubicles, never to be heard from until lunchtime. And I'm really not in support of more interruption-oriented tools that purport to do the opposite. (A "whisper" is just as annoying as an IM, in my opinion.)

What I take issue with is how it's been said that all of this open-space office design is not just about cramming more people into less space than a traditional office with a door would allow (and to that, I say: ha!).

But the spin is that cubicles and open-space office interiors exist to foster collaboration.

Now, I'm all about collaboration. I applaud it.

However, I don't think collaboration can be fostered by the space.

It's about the people and their ideas, not the walls or lack thereof.

Collaboration is simply bound to happen spontaneously, when two people are chatting about a problem. And sometimes trying something out - evaluating it on screen, and fixing it on the fly, and whooping in celebratory appreciation of an intractable problem solved. That's how innovation happens.

I get that.

But I don't get that people disrespect the fact that you're obviously working, typing away, trying to get something done, and just walk right into a cubicle and interrupt without asking permission.

It's simple common courtesy. Office Etiquette 101.

Studies have shown that interruptions cause workers to take 30 more minutes to get back to the task at hand. I get interrupted on average at least 20 times a day - so what does that say about my schedule?

No wonder it seems like our to-do lists are only growing, never getting shorter...

There simply aren't enough hours in the day.

Mid-Year Checkpoint

At the start of this year, full of hope and clean-slate promise, I made a list of goals for myself.

Here, at the almost-midway checkpoint, I'm revisiting what it was, in an ideal world, that I saw myself doing for 2008 and how I've fared so far, and maybe any lessons learned along the way.

Can't say it's been the most goal-focused year so far, at least not according to these goals I set way back when there was snow on the ground and I was cooped-up in the house writing at my desk overlooking my little street. But in reaching for these goals, I learned a few things along the way...

1. Learning a new recipe every week:
Thanks to the influx of magazines that find their way into our house, we're trying new recipes fairly regularly. Although I far away from my goal of one per week. I did try a Cooking Light recipe for a lemon cake that was truly atrocious, so I'd warn you against that. Mine turned out like two rubbery disks cemented together with a gummy cream cheese/lemon frosting.

Lesson learned? When baking, go for the gusto, make the full-fat cake, eat two generous slices and then work out extra-hard to make up for it. Life's too short for unsatisfying, lowfat cake.

2. Seeing every movie that piques my fancy:
Wow, that seemed so much more important when I was cooped up in the house. But I did manage to see Sex and the City with my sister - she and I watched the last two years of the show together, so it was like old times.

3. Traveling to places that make me feel more awake and alive:
Well, I've incorporated a few of these into my outlook on life, like Number 3. The Gryphon Cafe (amazing chicken salad with capers and artichoke hearts, along with the best coffee) is a bit of a schlep at about 30 minutes away, near other places where I run errands every once in a while. Since my schedule's been crammed full lately, I've not had time to get out there in the past six weeks. But I'm hoping that will change - as early as this weekend.

4. Organizing more outings with friends:
Hm... This has been quasi-successful, but I want to do more. So this stays on the list.

5. Spending more fun time with my niece and nephew, smart creative kids who keep me smiling:
Some of my fondest memories of these kids will always be of the conversations we have. They're both really thoughtful, funny and egg each other on. Each has his or her own intelligent take on things, and I really just enjoy seeing how they think.

6. Adopting a better house-cleaning schedule, focusing on the relaxing sense of order that results:
Housecleaning? Feh. That went nowhere.

7. Reading more books that make me feel like writing:
Well, file this under best-laid plans. For now, at my new job, I'm reading all day long and writing and being incredibly productive. So I'll grace myself the reading-for-inspiration, although I really do enjoy the sense of escape that comes from a good story.

8. Taking a different approach to work by focusing more on learning-innovating-thriving:
A few things are making this difficult at the moment, but this week has been on where I've felt like I've leaped ahead in terms of knowledge and growth. Did you ever literally feel yourself growing? I've had that feeling many times in my life, and that's what this week has been for me.

9. Spotting the art in everyday life:
Bull's eye! With spring and the onset of summer, what's not to love? There are flowers everywhere you turn, leaves on trees in different shapes and sizes, fudgsicles, iconic sunscreen bottles, the sun hitting buildings at crazy angles, brilliant sunsets, still lives anywhere a bowl of fruit can be found. I've just not been so diligent at toting around my camera, unlike some people.

10. Enjoying the good parts of every day:
I sort of knew I was tempting fate by writing about Productivity vs. Drama, because then suddenly a little bit of drama unleashed itself. But paying attention is half the battle. So often we get caught up in the drama of whatever is going on that we neglect to see the good that's hidden around the bend.

Productivity Vs. Drama

This must be different for different people, and at different times of one's life, but I find that the less drama I have to deal with, the more productive I am.

I use the word "drama" as a placeholder for many things, but basically it's referring to something that stirs the pot to no apparent other benefit.

When the seas are calm, I find that my mind is relaxed enough to fire off quick decisions, write with more confidence, and see creative solutions through a lens that renders them more sharply than when the perfect storm is brewing.

Maybe energy is just sucked from a situation when the black hole of drama is present. I don't know.

All I know is that there has been fairly little drama in my life for the past month, yet it's been one of the most productive I've ever experienced.

Typing 101

When I was in junior high, my Mom refused to allow me to take a typing class. She was old-school, thinking that a young girl with her life ahead of her shouldn't do anything that would pigeonhole her as a secretary.

I can't remember what I signed up for in its place, but it may have been Latin.

But with an engineer for a Dad, and computers lying around the house in various stages of disarray, I was destined to sit at a keyboard at some point in my life. So, typing would certainly come in handy.

One day that summer, my Dad brought home some software called Learn to Touch-Type* or something like that, with a photo of a female administrative professional on the cover.

Since it was the 80s, the woman's hair pulled was back in a severe bun, and she sported a high-collared, floppy-bow blouse under what could be best described as a blazer with shoulder pads the size of an ottoman.

Although the cover art was absurd, I spent one sweaty summer typing aaa sss ddd fff, and various combinations thereof, ad infinitum.

Until, miraculously, one day I could type!

The exercises were such that you droned through them in a trance, and then suddenly realized you were forming words without ever following your fingers as they struck the keys.

Since that time, I've been a pretty fast typist. And being a writer, it's come in handy throughout my career.

At various points in my life, I've been a highly accurate typist, too, but I've always been fast - between 100 and 120 words per hour. I can be competitive, too, so you can imagine the forces that collided when I discovered Typeracer.

Caution: if you're a typing geek, the least bit competitive, or even just looking to waste some time, this is highly addictive. Enter at your own risk!

What's your latest addiction?

*Touch typing is what they used to call typing without looking at your fingers. These days, it's probably what all the young kids learn to do in utero and then they spend the next 13 years learning to type while writing a sonata at the piano while they text their friends and play Guitar Hero.

The "Whiching" Hour

You know what the "Whiching Hour" is.

It's the time of night where you wake up and have to decide which you want: to go back to sleep, or get up and act upon whatever's on your mind and keeping you from catching the rest of those Z's.

For me, the Whiching Hour is 4 am. Usually my alarm goes off at 6:30 am, so if for whatever reason I wake up briefly at 4 am and my mind is whirring about a project or my to-do list, I have a decision to make...

If I indulge those thoughts much longer than a minute or two, getting back to sleep can be nearly impossible.

After a few minutes of conscious thought, I'm likely to be engaged in problem-solving mode, or fretting over a confrontation that's to come, or working through a creative idea.

When I'm leaning toward waking and starting my day, I look at whether I can start and end work earlier than usual, before I crash. I try to assess my sleep deficit overall for the week.

But at 4 am, with 2.5 hours to go until the music wakes me from my slumber, that's a decent chunk of sleep to be had.

On those mornings that I'm feeling sleep-deprived, I reach for a notebook I keep on my bedside table to scribble some notes, hoping that writing it down for processing later will put my mind at ease.

Many friends have said they experience the same thing. Similar forms of sleep interruptus must be at least partially responsible for all the tired and cranky people in this country.

And I know I've sent far more than my share of emails at 4:14 am.

How about you? How do you deal with your own "Whiching Hour"?

Calendar Queen

The onslaught of New Year's resolutions begets planning. And planning begets calendars.

Over the years, I've used Palm and Handspring handhelds, and like everyone else I use Outlook for business. Digital solutions are great for beeping reminders, planning years into the future, or recurring tasks.

But I've found that I need the tactile sensation of writing on paper. Faster to write, easier to check off. Nothing to charge up. Done!

However, using a Franklin Covey 5x8 calendar over the past year (with spiral-bound booklets for each month), has introduced more frustrations.

While the thing is large enough to write in easily, it's a horse to lug around.

You'd think swapping months in and out wouldn't be a big deal, but when the folio is only large enough to house three spiral-bound items at a time, it's a pain. Having only a three-month view of my schedule at any given time is . . . well, it creates its own little kind of stress.

It always felt like I was missing something, or that a deadline was lurking in the shadows of the future.

Plus, the thing is so large that it doesn't fit into my everyday handbag. That is a problem.

For the moment, I'm mostly working on short-term projects, but most of the time I tend to work on longer-range projects that span multiple months.

So after much hunting around online and in neighborhood stationery stores, I located this. And so far, it's the perfect solution.

Portable, a year in your palm. It's a chunk of a calendar, but everything is within reach. And that coral-lipstick red cover shines like a beacon in my purse, making it easy to spot.

What kind of calendar do you use? What makes it work for you?

Avoiding Project Management Pitfalls

Only about one-third of the way through the book, Scrappy Project Management, and already I can say that I recommend this book if you have to:

• lead a team
• work on a team, or
• rely on people across your organization for your projects to reach the finish line successfully.

Although I take issue with the author's assertion that if you really, really, really need your job, you should never lead a project because by virtue of taking this position, you're constantly sticking your neck out and you run the risk of being fired. In fact, one of her Scrappy Tips includes this sobering advice nugget:

"Be prepared to be respected but not necessarily liked, and keep your resume up to date!"
- Kimberly Wiefling, Scrappy Project Management

In any case, this book is a great reminder of the pitfalls of project management and how to keep things from veering off track.

One of her most valuable suggestions is to create an org chart for the project team, illustrating how people relate to each other and noting (briefly) what their responsibilities are in the context of the project.

Wiefling notes that the org chart for the project is likely to have absolutely nothing to do with your organization's actual formal org chart. This is the chart that serves as a roadmap to getting things done.

(You know how it is; there are some slots in an org chart where you can't possibly figure out what that person does, even if you've sat in countless meetings with them.)

The tips are fairly practical, and although the author is a consultant, her insights are completely applicable when managing projects in-house.

Never thought reading a book on project management could be entertaining, but this one is.

The Impact of Throwaway Fashion

All the emphasis on throwaway fashion - by stores like H&M and Forever 21 - has trickled up into so many other areas of retail. To some, this is welcome news... But I hold that time is what you're trading for price.

Which is fine for the few trendy looks that you won't want to wear next year.

And makes sense for teens who are still developing a sense of style.

But what about the rest of us - who know who we are, what we like and what looks good on us?

When your closet's full of throwaway items that lack the quality and longevity of a well-tailored jacket or a good shirt with French seams, shopping - or "replenishing the stock" as I call it - can eat up a considerable amount of time. It's hard to keep up with the churn.

Trying to find quality items that will last? Forget it. It's nearly impossible these days, at a reasonable price point, at least.

Retail has devolved into what I call "the non-value chain" - inexpensive lines have pushed the lack of quality higher up the retail ladder.

Now that Macy's (and even Bloomingdale's) is jam-packed like a fire sale bazaar, even historically quality-oriented stores like Nordstrom just don't seem to have the goods they did five years ago. Although prices have continued to leap apace.

But when you're working as much as Americans do today, dashing from work to home to scarf down your 30-minute meal, squeezing in a workout, and (hopefully!) carving out some friends and family time, shopping takes a backseat out of necessity.

So buying clothes that last can also increase your productivity, since you'll devote less of your free time to shopping.

Don't misunderstand, I don't hate shopping. I hate unsuccessful shopping. And that's what I've been experiencing, lately. And I feel like it's a tremendous waste of time.

Bah, humbug.

Taking Charge of Incremental Interruptions

Do you consider yourself a multi-tasker? Apparently, there's research to the contrary that insists you're really interrupting yourself incrementally.

And you know the worst instigator of multi-tasking activities these days? Say it with me: Email.

Some experts advise checking only twice a day. But how is that realistic?

In the corporate world, if I'd told my boss I only check email twice a day (or just went ahead and did it) I'm pretty sure I'd have been out of a job!

You could argue that a boss should be more in touch with his employees, speak to them directly, plan ahead better. And then I'd ask you: Where do you work?

In a fast-paced office where people rely on digital communications to foster speed and agility and responsiveness, it can't be realistic to limit email checking to twice daily.

I can far more easily buy into the notion of doing the digital equivalent to adman David Ogilvy's habit of handling each piece of paper that crossed his desk only once (back in the day, well before email). Handle each email only once, whether it means you answer, delete or file.

Or, when faced with an overloaded inbox of urgent queries, to first get to those requiring two minutes or less to answer, as an expert recently suggested in a New York Times article.

For my part, I've tried limiting the number of people in the To: field. Unless it's absolutely critical, why include everybody and their chain of command when there's really only one person who needs the information?

So what about you? How do you process all your email without letting your workday veer off track? Feel free to post your Tips in the Comments below.