Something Is Better Than Nothing
Have you noticed how many self-development activities there are to do? Read books, read the papers, listen to podcasts, keep up with blogs, read the trade magazines, practice writing, practice technical skills, learn new software…
When I list it out, it’s quite overwhelming. As I’ve said before, we overestimate what we can in a week, and underestimate what we can do in a year. But if you spend 15 minutes a week reading your industry journal and it takes you four weeks to read it, is that a bad thing? Of course not- it probably only comes once a month anyway!
If one day a week you listened to a podcast instead of watching TV while you made dinner, would it be a bad thing that you made so little effort? Of course not! Something is better than nothing.
What other ‘stress-free’ ideas do you have for making self-development easy?
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- tlhausmann
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MT iPhone App
Self-development
Thanks Wendii - I listen to podcasts on my iPhone while driving to work in the morning and keep the music for the trip home. With its audio bluetooth capability, it's a piece of cake to operate and gives me the opportunity to make/answer phone calls if necessary. Does reading twitter at stop lights count? Of course I don't do that, but I've heard of others who do... I'm also fortunate to be able to make it to the gym just about everyday, so the majority of time on the treadmill is staying current with rss feeds on Google Reader or reading trade mags.
Morning Coffee
Wake up before the family, walk downstairs to a fresh pot of coffee, and read for 30 minutes from my business book and magazine stack. Ahhhh....
Pure heaven, Rich. :-)
Pure heaven, Rich. :-)
practice being present in the moment
Slightly different take on Wendi's comment as an idea. I find that spending time doing "nothing" in a very active and intentional way helps, particularly in terms of being able to focus. This goes by different names, including quieting the mind, and is a counter to the trend to try and multi-task, listening and doing too many things at once. I find this helps me to be able to focus on a task, by practicing being focused and ignoring all of those distractions in my mind.
And I do listen to podcasts while doing things, particularly work around the house and yard.
I work at this
I take the e-mails that have public health information and advice and, after I read them, I give them to another staff member and have them report on it during our regular staff meeting (I change the e-mail to an "appointment" in Groupwise and copy in the staff member). I try to rotate this duty, but mostly give it to the higher "s" individuals that never seem to chime in at staff meeting. It gives them something to say that they can plan for, takes if off my plate, and offers the staff something to hear other than my voice. Stress relief for me.
Janet
do less
just do less. reduce the list and you'll find yourself doing the things that you truly want to do, rather than doing the things that you would "like" to do. 15 minutes everyday of what you "really want" to do is better than 15 minutes everyday of what you "might" like to do.
Great Suggestions
Thank you everyone!!
Practical and philosophical - we're so much better together.
Wendii
Sneaking in self development
I'm constantly reading one book after another in the pockets of time I get to myself - 10 minutes on the bus to work, 5 minutes on the train, 5 minutes to walking to work, half an hour at lunch.
My ideal job would be reading for fun :P
Its surprising how much you can get through in just those minutes.