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Blog by Adam Dachis on Lifehacker on living with technology, 8.31.10. Outlines the problem and provides answers. We're surrounded by gadgets that demand our attention, constantly fragmenting our ability to properly focus on the task at hand. Living with technology doesn't mean we have to live with an addiction, however. Here's how to beat tech burnout. Back when we were tethered to desktop computers, this wasn't such a problem. First of all, technology had yet to proliferate in society at the enormous level it has nowadays, but more importantly we didn't have little computers (read: smartphones) that we could stick in our pockets. Previously we might check out email at a few convenient intervals during the day. Now these tiny little multitaskers are requesting our attention wherever we go. We have many more opportunities to interact with information and so we run into two more dilemmas: filtering an information overload and using our technology appropriately. The Solutions So what do we do about it? Overcoming a tech addiction and avoiding burnout requires work. There aren't any magic tricks that'll pave the road to freedom, but here are some ideas to get you started. Out of Sight, Out of Mind Stop Multitasking Never Apologize Get Organized

Kate Murphy talks about how we are now a culture of always doing something, and we avoid any reflective time because we are so unpracticed at it that we dwell on the negative when we do have quiet time without distraction. People will go far to avoid introspection - in experiments they give themselves electric shocks rather than sit quietly alone without anything to do. Research, especially the new neural research, all show that allowing your mind to drift is healthy and productive. Google, for example, has courses for employees in mindfulness, meditation, and "Search Inside Yourself". The research also shows that not giving yourself time to reflect impairs your ability to empathize with others. "Feeling what you feel is an ability that atrophies if you don't use it."

Another example of why reflection is important to well being, creativity, satisfaction with life, and connections to others

nice blog post by Vanessa Loder, July 1, 2014 on how to avoid being overwhelmed, Akoya Power From Within. Published originally in Forbes. Seven how-tos by Brigid Schulte to manage overwhelm 1. Recognize and release the pressure 2. Align With Your Values (...being clear on your priorities...to enjoy the journey) 3. Cultivate leisure time 4. Simplify your to do list 5. Work smarter, not harder 6. Get a support group 7. Practice appreciation and gratitude; be mindful

Excellent post on helping clients define what they want: do it on purpose with new clients; demand benchmarks, describe assignment, restate the problem again...

interesting method for analyzing how you spend your time ineffectually and what to do differently, linkedin Bruce Kasanoff, 4.15.13

How one person created a comic book to educate young girls and women about menstrual periods, a topic previously avoided by everyone, including biology teachers in schools in India. Previous ignorance led to girls/women using unhealthy hygiene practices and being isolated from society participation--very good

article by Skip Prichard on how to be happier and more successful. 1. Assume that others have good intentions 2. Write down your goals every day. 3. Realize that setbacks can ultimately lead to success 4. Learn to stop comparing yourself to others 5. Avoid toxic people 6. Begin each day with confidence 7. End each day with gratitude and thankfulness

Blog by John Hagel reviewing new book, Design in Nature, by Adrian Bejan and J. Peder Zane, looks like it was published in January 2012. As a systems person, this review resonates with me and speaks to what the WLStudio can do to help women redesign their learning systems as well as the currents that flow through their systems. They must avoid others who wish to dictate where and what and how learning opportunities are available to them. Reworded more constructively, women need to design and nuture their own learning opportunities. Excerpts from review: The book introduces us to constructal law: "For a finite-size flow system to persist in time (to live), its configuration must evolve in such a way that provides easier access to the currents that flow through it." The authors caution "that nothing operates in isolation; every flow system is part of a bigger flow system, shaped by and in service to the world around it." "As the title of the book suggests, the constructal law is ultimately a law about design. It determines which designs will survive and thrive over time. The constant interplay between flow and design drives the evolution of flow systems. The design of flow systems must evolve to enhance the flows within the system or they will die." Final excerpt from book review: The bottom line So, what does this mean for all of us? The message is simple and compelling. If we are not enhancing flow, we will be marginalized, both in our personal and professional life. If we want to remain successful and reap the enormous rewards that can be generated from flows, we must continually seek to refine the designs of the systems that we spend time in to ensure that they are ever more effective in sustaining and amplifying flows. As the authors observe, "it is not love or money that makes the world go round but flow and design"

blog post by Kurt Mackey at MongoHQ, a distributed company, on working remotely and how hard it is to come up with an effective system for engaging workers. It is a work in progress. Need firewalls between personal life and work life--sound has to be managed for one thing. Mentions the blending of in-office staff and remote staff and a 'standard' for everyone to use the same collaboration tools, be available via the same channels, and produce documentation of interactions that are important to share. Has a whole section on the practical (and the tools they use to communicate) prefer async communications! Have a central work tool (Compose to record what is being produced each day); day to day communication in Hipchat, use pre-reads to meetings on a Wiki that get updated on Hackpad during the meeting, open mailing lists, Sqwiggle for face time, and Google Hangouts, too. Final recommendation is to "keep iterating" to build a remote friendly culture.

WSJ/Digits by Courtney Banks, January 21, 2011 Quote: ""Google policy is to get right up to the creepy line but not cross it. I would argue that implanting things in your brain is beyond the creepy line. At least for the moment, until the technology gets better."" 6. In an August 2010 interview published in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Schmidt posited that someday people would need to be able to change their names on reaching adulthood, in order to avoid embarassing information about them recorded on their friends' social-networking sites: "I don't believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time … I mean we really have to think about these things as a society." 5. Speaking on a panel at the Techonomy conference in August 2010, Mr. Schmidt touted how Google image-search technology could be used to identify people: "If you have 14 pictures on the Internet, within a 95% confidence interval we can predict who you are. You say you don't have 14 pictures? You have Facebook pictures, so there."

Excellent Blog post by Chris Munch, July 11, 2013 on stopping his dopamine addiction with graphic mainlining-technology image. Excerpt I have an addiction that cost at least 18 months of my life… This was not an addiction with drugs or alcohol, and in-comparison the 'high' was mundane, just avoiding life and responsibility. Months went by, lost to an addictive and bitter procrastination. Nobody was worried, on the surface I looked busy and hard working, yet around me life passed me by while I was infused in a dopamine haze. I'm a recovering addict to email, Skype, Facebook and so many little fun distractions online. My First Step to Recovery I lost about 1.5yrs of my life to email and chat. And then one day I read something which said turn off all auto-checking of email and IM notifications so that you won't get disturbed when you have work to do. I felt pretty dumb having spent the last couple of years doing the opposite, allowing myself to be constantly interrupted. After I made that little change things began to get better. That's when I realized I had an addiction. Even without the auto-alerts I found myself constantly being drawn in to see the latest unimportant message I had received.

An amazing interview with Maria Popova of Brain Pickings, July 2013 Highlights: What is your area of expertise as a writer or online publisher? I'm not an expert and I aspire never to be one. As Frank Lloyd Wright rightly put it, "An expert is a man who has stopped thinking because 'he knows.'" Brain Pickings began as my record of what I was learning, and it remains a record of what I continue to learn - the writing is just the vehicle for recording, for making sense. That said, one thing I've honed over the years - in part by countless hours of reading and in part because I suspect it's how my brain is wired - is drawing connections between things," "Do you believe in "writer's block"? If so, how do you avoid it? I think the operative word here is "believe." If you fixate on it, it'll be there. It's kind of like insomnia - the more you think about not being able to fall asleep, the less able to fall asleep you become. It's different for everyone, of course, but I find that you break through that alleged "block" simply by writing. As Tchaikovsky elegantly put it, "A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood." The writer's creativity … Define creativity. The ability to connect the seemingly unconnected and meld existing knowledge into new insight about some element of how the world works. That's practical creativity. Then there's moral creativity: To apply that skill towards some kind of wisdom on how the world ought to work."

"Something successful entrepreneurs should aim to have: Conviction. Being an entrepreneur is not the easy road to success. Sure, you're your own boss-making the conversation in which you ask for a raise far less awkward-but the hours are long, the market always crowded, the naysayers plenty. There will be discouraging news. But the ability to stand behind your decisions is essential. No one else can tell you what you want for your company, and don't let them try. Drive. As an entrepreneur, time is not on your side. The best-laid plans are those that are executed as swiftly as possible. Don't sit on an idea or wait until you've had a chance to "sleep on it." Act now. Innovation. The original brainchild might have been the thing that got you excited enough to take the leap into entrepreneurship. But longevity will depend on continually coming up with new ideas, from products to ways to market them to which audiences to target. Not all of these ideas will be winners. But having them is not optional. Inspiration. You may be your only employee. Or you might have a team that looks to you to engage them, foster their talents, and involve them in the bigger picture. Those employees who feel excited about, and part of, the overall vision will be encouraged to grow alongside you, and work hard for you. Focus. Establish your daily, weekly, quarterly goals and go after them. Connect dots on a daily basis. Avoid distractions, and distracting people. Independence. It's a lonely road, entrepreneurship. Though your goal is to foster community within your company, there will be days when you wish everyone else would be willing to work as hard as you are, to want it as much as you do. But realize that your company's success does mean more to you than it does to anyone else. Be willing to go the road alone on those days when everyone else has seemingly pulled off for lunch. That's what'll make the difference."

Bob Marshall on what an effective group workshop looks like--September 30, 2014, quite demanding yet doable. he above story illustrates a range of features of an effective workshop: Certain shared proficiencies in e.g. Skilled Dialogue, Lean Coffee, etc.. Pre-reading (shared), including "standard" texts - here including Nancy Kline and Chris Argyris. Clarity of purpose "just why are we here?". Shared purpose "we're all here for the same things". Folks tweeting and googling continuously during the workshop. Amanuensis / cybrarian to facilitate shared learning in the workshops. Democratic agenda-setting. Mutual exploration of topics. Active curiosity. "Essentiality" - avoidance of rabbit-holes and extraneous discussion of details. Focus on impacts (as compared to busyness, or outputs, or even outcomes). Post-reading - following up new references. Follow-up conversations, actions. Feedback. - Bob Afterword In writing this story, it seemed to me that a video of a workshop in action would be a great addition to the resources available to BaCo staff to help them appreciate the nature of an effective workshop. Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to write and/or direct such a video. Further Reading What is Dialogue? ~ Susan Taylor (pdf) Share this: inShare10 Email Print More

Good article on why decisions may or even should not be made in meetings. "Further advantages of turning agenda items into questions include: Clarifying expected outcomes and thus avoiding discussions that run on because there is no defined end; Keeping participants alert during presentations because they're expected to respond; Helping presenters focus on what is essential and leave out unnecessary detail that waste everyone's time; Ensuring a given topic is necessary. "

Margaret Manning interviews John Tarnoff, reinvention guy who writes for Huffington Post Reinvention each week. Our initial challenge is our mindset and finding out who we are now after 55 or 50 years of living. Then reframing who we are to avoid or discard stereotypes of old-aging ideas.

blog post by Marla Gottschalk , February 2014 1. you feel lost 2. you are in avoidance mode 3. your strengths aren't being tapped 4. you fell disconnected 5. you can't seem to complete anything 6. you are entering self-blame mode

Explains why Indeed, LinkUp, and SimplyHired are three best job search engines of 2015--biggest job pool, strong search tools, mobile integration and ease, being able to post one's resume, limiting jobs from company career pages which avoids out of date or duplicate listings.

informed assessment/report by Justin Wolfers, NYTimes, on how extending parental leave policies cause unintended impacts

excellent interview with Liz Coleman, former president/reformer of Bennington College on action, engagement, learning, real-time issues, etc.