The Power of One Perspective
In this newsletter, learn the connection between skipping breaks and feeling burnt out, and how to apply Agile programming to family dynamics
Valentine's Day was Monday. Despite many reminders, I forgot to send cards and a gift for the other kids in my 1-year-old Ant's class. The picture above shows the gifts Ant received. I was quite impressed! The heart-shaped crayons is the winner for most creative V-day item! My husband and I also received, for the first time, a box of chocolates in the mail from our friends Dave and Melissa. It was a refreshing act of kindness that made my day.
Good Quote
You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.
Michael Jordan
Life
From time to time, I head to thedailygood.org to read positive stories from around the world. The article below summarizes some stories of unsung heroes performing acts of kindness from all over the globe. I was impressed with the length and diversity of the stories. After reading, you will feel inspired to know that there are such amazing people in this world.
Corporate Ecology
Darius Foroux explains how you can focus on your work activities to get more time back in your day. Foroux draws from the 1967 Peter Drucker book, The Effective Executive. Drucker is an advocate of deep focused work, and Foroux shares an exercise from Drucker’s book on logging your time and eliminating non-productive work. I did this exercise last year and I definitely gained a few hours of time back in my week.
On Family
Bruce Feiler studies what makes great families. If you are a corporate parent, particularly in the technology sector, I am sure you have heard of Agile programming. Bruce brilliantly shows how the Agile framework can be applied to family dynamics. This Ted Talk was created in 2013 and it's still relevant today!
Bruce Feiler
Disconnect
"There appears to be a correlation between those who skip breaks and those who feel burnt out..." This powerful statement from an article by Barney Cotton shows the results of the UK’s Digital Detox survey. The results reveal that over 1/3 of workers (36%) are skipping lunch breaks more often than last year.
I have tried to break this habit myself. I tell myself that if I work through lunch then I will not have to work late. But in reality, working through lunch causes me to go nonstop, which is not healthy for your physical or mental health. Tomorrow, I am going to step away from the screen and take a lunch break!
Barney Cotton