![]() Too much graphic design work today means that I am incapable of stringing a coherent introduction together. (It took me three attempts to write that sentence.) Here's what's been going on for me. WORK
PERSONAL
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![]() Earlier this week, some colleagues and I were brainstorming ideas for webinars we want to host. I manage this part of our work and, to keep things feasible, I set a limit of six sessions per semester. The sessions themselves are only an hour, but the content creation, marketing, and event management logistics eat up a lot of time. Plus, we have to do all the other aspects of our job. During our brainstorming, we kept coming up with far more things than we could feasibly do in an academic year. (Some of them weren't even webinars.) I don't know how it is in other jobs, but I've found that librarians (myself included) have this awful tendency to want to do all the things all at once. Instead of saving some projects for later, we try desperately to DO IT ALL NOW because we think it's essential. That results in a lot of overwork and burn out. In this particular instance, I told my colleagues that I was banking all of the ideas for future webinars and recorded videos. That helped rein things in. The problem, however, is that this desire to do all the things never seems to go away. Every time we work on something, we find more that we want to do. My work Trello board is so full it's absurd. At this point, I just dump every idea I have onto themed boards, then I move the three(ish) projects I can actually do in a given time period over to my Priority board. To assuage my desire to DO ALL THE THINGS, I add some more ideas to my On Deck board. It's not a perfect system, but it's the only way I've been able to wrangle my desire to do all the things at once. How do you manage idea overload?
![]() Our kiddo's daycare is closed today. Luckily, my in-laws decided to time their visit up to see us to help us out. While kiddo enjoys some grandparent time, I'm getting a full day of undisturbed work in at the office. I am thankful that the timing of this worked out. Here's what else was good in my week.
![]() While it is raining and gray today, we've had glorious weather to start the week. Plus! The cherry blossoms hit peak bloom. Our campus has some trees but I would rather be jaunting about the Tidal Basin, frolicking amongst the blooms. I am so ready for winter to be fully over. Here's what has my attention at the moment. WORK
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I finally got to inbox zero in my personal email. That meant I took about two hours to read through all of the Wowbrary emails I've received from DCPL this year. I saved them for last because I just love learning about what new books I have access too. While I added several titles to my TBR list, it was not as many as I expected.
![]() I had a brilliant idea of what to write for this week's intro... but then I had to jump into a work meeting and I forgot to write it down. Now, I'm stumped. The idea has flittered away and no amount of trying to get it back is working. I hate it when I lose a thought or task I need to work on. I'll walk back to the spot in a room where I had it to see if I can jog my memory. I'll reopen the browser tab that was on the screen when the to-do popped into my brain. I'll retrace my day to try to jostle the moment back into recognition. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The most successful attempts to get ideas back occur when I literally speak out loud what I was doing when I had the thought. I've even repeated gestures and movements to try to get myself back to the moment. Nothing worked this week. That'll teach me to send more emails to myself as reminders. (Although the last email reminder I sent myself just said "pen blocks" and I have no idea what that means.) What do you do when you're trying to get a lost idea back?
![]() I just submitted a proposal to speak at a library conference out in California. I have not stepped foot on an airplane since 2018. I am excited by the prospect that I might get to travel again. As much as I love my city and travelling on the east coast by car, I am feeling the need to roam more widely. Here's what else was good in my week:
The pandemic is, once again, keeping the Computers in Libraries conference online this year. I will be speaking on March 31 at 2PM about the importance of internal communications. Sign up here for live and/or recorded options.
Libraries often spend money and time marketing and communicating to their users and patrons. How much time do you spend communicating internally? Kowalski shares the benefits of internal communications in breaking down traditional silos to foster collaboration and create a more cohesive team. She discusses activities that support all forms of work: in-person, online, and hybrid. She demonstrates the value of communicating in all directions, be it to a team of reports or to management and administration. ![]() I am overjoyed to be getting more sunlight these days. Not so overjoyed at the reduction in sleep, but I'm trying to see how the bright side. (pun intended) Here's what has my attention at the moment. WORK
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![]() Awhile back, I listened to an NPR Life Kit podcast that said laziness is a sign that you need to slow down. As much as I love learning about life hacks, productivity trends, and organizational things, I've never bought into the whole hustle culture. I don't feel like I need to optimize every minute of my day. The only reason I want to me more efficient with my time is so that I have more time to "be lazy." I fiercely guard my evenings and weekends. I try to cram all my work and life management into specific hours of the day so that I can focus on what I want the rest of time. That's not so I can do a side hustle or more work, it's so I can sit on the couch and binge watch TV while browsing the internet. To many, that's being lazy. To me, it's allowing myself time to breath. I am an ambivert. I love talking to people, seeing friends, and, honestly, performing in front of a crowd. But, when it comes to recovery, I want to be at home, in my jammies, not doing things. Our couch has a distinct depression where I sit every night. I can easily see how others would call that being lazy. Fine by me. My laziness lets me power up for tackling whatever it is I need to do the next day. How are you "lazy"?
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