Cubicleitis

Not those types of goals, but rather breaking down those personal goals into smaller pieces. When I think about the Big Picture — losing 40 pounds or saving $10,000 — it’s easy to get discouraged. I almost want to quit before I begin. So break those goals into smaller pieces.

I think all of us could accomplish a lot more of our goals if we worked on them 15 minutes at a time. Seriously. When I do the 15 minutes route, I am amazed at what I actually get accomplished. I use a timer and I totally focus on what’s at hand, whether it be writing an article, getting in some walking, etc. For most activities, I stop at the end of 15 minutes and take a break or do something else, but if I am really rolling, I set the timer for another 15 minutes before taking a break. This idea sounds simplistic, but it makes a difference.

We all have a tendency to look at the entire task and get overwhelmed or think it must all be done as a non-stop progression of tasks…In reality, working on it a little bit each day will get you to the end goal more efficiently and most importantly, you do get there.

Posted June 12, 2008 Comments(0)

The day I quit my last job was probably the happiest I had been in a long time. The excitement of waking up the next day in the unknown world of working for myself was a pretty unique feeling. So how did I quit my job? I started by doing all the extra work I could so my quitting wouldn’t burden another lemming of the company. Then I left the corporate confines for my second vacation of the year, conveniently timed for the last week of the month. Where I worked, we were paid on the 7^th and 21^st of every month. Using my paid time off and quitting on the 1^st provided me with an extra two weeks of financial stability. Now, the fun part. Thanks to Outlook Express, I had the ability to prepare emails that would automatically be sent on a specific day. I scheduled a series of emails to be sent to my supervisors and one for the whole company. My notes to the supervisors were nice notes thanking them for their help and explaining why I chose to leave (I actually enjoyed these people and wish they would seek a Cubicleitis-free life). The note emailed to the rest of the office was a simple version of why they shouldn’t have a “job” and should explore the realm of “joblessness.” This is the most fun and liberating feeling while becoming jobless. Picture the perfect way to make your exit from stage left and do it; you won’t regret it.

Posted June 6, 2008 Comments(0)

No, but seriously, consider uninstall and remove unnecessary programs. This might seem an extreme solution but it’s also an effective one. Removing all the programs, services, tools and software that you don’t use for your work means that you won’t be tempted to spend unproductive time on the computer in your breaks or when your work is done. Unplugging from the internet is the other biggie - reducing that temptation to spend an hour surfing aimlessly - and when you do go online to achieve a specific task, try using your time tracker to give yourself a limit and help focus you on the task at hand. It is also a useful activity to spend time at the beginning of each day to review your planned activities, identify what you’ll do whilst at your computer and more importantly, see what could conceivably be completed away from it.

Posted June 1, 2008 Comments(0)