Why You Should Stop Driving Your Coworkers Crazy by Using “Reply All” If I could go back in time, there are many things I would be tempted to change about the world but possibly the most controversial is this one: I would make an extra effort to stop whoever invented the “reply all” for email. Seriously, there are few things…
I was participating on a virtual happy hour with some friends when I felt an anxiety attack sneak up on me. One minute I was nodding along and smiling at something a friend was saying, the next minute I felt a heavy weight on my chest. My heart was racing. My breathing became labored and shallow. Sweat dripped down my…
Yesterday my city woke up to about an inch of snow – and a lot of black ice. Schools were canceled, buses were on snow routes, and the newscasters were gleefully running a continuous loop of cars sliding sideways on streets and crashing into things. If you live some place that actually has winter and snow plows it’s hard to…
“So if you’re tired of the same old story Turn some pages I’ll be here when you are ready to roll with the changes” — REO Speedwagon Today was my last day at my current job, where I’ve worked for 11 years. Regular readers may recall that a few months ago I put it out to the universe that I…
Yesterday someone on my team came into my office and apologized for not coming earlier. “When I saw the agenda, I thought my last meeting would finish early, but it wound up taking the whole time.” We’ve all seen this happen, right? You have a meeting that’s scheduled for two hours, and it always takes two hours, regardless of whether…
I went to a meeting today and noted that all the people from one organization sat on one side, and all the people from my organization sat on the other. “We always seem to end us sitting on sides,” I noted. Another person replied, “That’s your chair – you always sit there when we meet and I always sit here.”…
As part of my job I serve on a statewide board made up of program directors from all the counties in the state. When we get together, as we did this week, I’m always struck by both the differences and the similarities between urban and rural areas in our state. There’s been a lot of political discussion, particularly after the…
Tragedy struck me today. I’m staying at a hotel with no internet and no cell phone service. I know. Take a moment to share my horror. I got to my hotel room and realized that I only have like half a bar on my cell phone, which means the phone is basically useless in my room. I have just enough service…
I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude the last two months. It started, as many good things do, as part of my yoga practice. Although I’ve read a lot about cultivating gratitude I hadn’t really given it much serious thought – it seemed kind of trendy and forced, like when you’re at Thanksgiving and someone wants to go around the…
I’m breaking out of the meeting rut. More and more lately I’m scheduling my meetings in coffee shops, especially if it’s a one-on-one meeting. At my job I have a private office and access to meeting rooms, and generally the people I’m meeting with do as well. So why coffee shops? It’s not just my love of coffee – although…
