The problem: Indecision, doubt, confusion, new challenges
Whenever we leave the comfort zone, think about new strategies, want to break old habits etc, it often happens that your thoughts go in circles for a long while. In the end you often end up confused and choose to procrastinate the topic.
The reason: Uncoordinated thinking
Even if you are not schizophrenic there are different voices inside of you that want to be heard and this is completely normal. They are caused by coincidence of priorities, principles, strategies, different needs and so on - multiplied by the different roles that you play (e.g. as an employee, father or mother, husband or wife, son or daughter or a role in your hobby club). It is not always easy to get everything done without conflicts caused by the different resulting interests.
The solution: Team meeting with yourself
Organize a team meeting with your inner voices. Depending on your preferences you can imagine different locations and styles. I prefer the following imagination: A court-like "arena" where in the front there is the judge which I prefer to call "the moderator". Now for every thought that comes up imagine, that a person in the arena or meeting room stands up and speaks. Always only one person should speak and the very important here is that you should put your thought in clear phrases and name the person that stands up by its role. Possible roles are for instance "the architect (of your life)", "the pessimist" (or I prefer to name this person "the critic"), "the controller", "the (master) builder", "the strategist", "the futurist" or whatever fits. Let the different voices tell their concerns and let the judge or moderator be the mediator of the discussion. You may find that some roles do speak more and other speak less and some roles do more often start the discussion which is already interesting to observe. It shows your dominating parts of your personality. You may also discover personal priorities you were not aware of before. But apart from that, the core purpose of the discussion is the communication between the different voices. You will wonder how often it is possible to find solutions that all or at least most of your voices can live with or how often consens can be found.
Related posts: Focus by decision, Information overflow, Razor sharp focus.
Showing posts with label Creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creativity. Show all posts
2014-01-06
2013-03-08
The value of rest and review
I remember a time when my days were less full of action and todos. One habit I had back then was to sit down for about an hour and review the day.
I miss that opportunity to learn each day everything that can be learned from that day. How you look at people when they are telling you something or how you respond; what decisions you take and even what you are ignoring - there is so much that can be improved. But without reflection the chance is so high to make the same mistake a hundred times before even getting aware of a problem.
More than a year of very intensive work has been passed by running at full power and I can't even recall most things that happened.
When running at full speed for too long a few things happen:
In extreme situations only the habits and philosophies remain that are very well established and implemented.
On the other hand if you have a lot of time and can do everything slowly, you have more control of fine-tuning in everything you do - ranging from your big life-plan (if you have one) to the dialog with the cashier at the local coffee shop. You will be more present and everything will be of better quality. And when you review your day, you can think about situations where you could not get the best out of it and elaborate better approaches. While having enough rest and enough sleep you can even elaborate topics in your dreams.
Related posts: Getting up early and quality, Distractions and sleep, Who cares?, Get focused with 3 questions.
I miss that opportunity to learn each day everything that can be learned from that day. How you look at people when they are telling you something or how you respond; what decisions you take and even what you are ignoring - there is so much that can be improved. But without reflection the chance is so high to make the same mistake a hundred times before even getting aware of a problem.
More than a year of very intensive work has been passed by running at full power and I can't even recall most things that happened.
When running at full speed for too long a few things happen:
- Efficiency and productivity is reduced because
- You get slower
- You get easier distracted
- Getting back to focus gets more difficult
- Frustration about the reduced productivity drags you down even more
- Trying to compensate by drinking more coffee and the like after a while that will just make you nervous but not more productive or simply doesn't work any more.
- Interests drop down sleeping and eating
- Fallback to old well-established core habits
- Health problems
- Headache
- Pain in the back
- Muscle tensions
- Muscle convulsions
- ...
In extreme situations only the habits and philosophies remain that are very well established and implemented.
On the other hand if you have a lot of time and can do everything slowly, you have more control of fine-tuning in everything you do - ranging from your big life-plan (if you have one) to the dialog with the cashier at the local coffee shop. You will be more present and everything will be of better quality. And when you review your day, you can think about situations where you could not get the best out of it and elaborate better approaches. While having enough rest and enough sleep you can even elaborate topics in your dreams.
Related posts: Getting up early and quality, Distractions and sleep, Who cares?, Get focused with 3 questions.
2011-06-27
Television
As my wife and children are currently still in vacation my evenings are quite calm.
I thought, after a week of vacation I will use the evenings to get a lot of things done that cry for getting done in a few calm hours. Actually with all that silence I got quite tired and my soul and spirit dropped off for distraction. So I landed in front of the TV in the later evenings.
It has been quite a long time that I had time to watch TV. What I noticed is that after watching about 2 hours TV (some CSI like series) afterwards I felt bad - I had the impression that I just burnt 2 hours of my precious time. Two unrecoverable expensive hours. Horrible!
Two days later I landed again in front of the TV - approximately for the same time. But I watched two episodes of Star Trek Next Generation. Impression afterwards was different. Although I somehow thought that I could have made more from that time, I felt much better than the other day.
Investigating the situation I found that I got some interesting new viewpoints from watching the Star Trek episodes. The other day I went to bed frustrated about the all negative (and IMHO unrealistic) stuff (crazy people murdering in crazy ways). That time I went to bed thinking in a gentle way about some aspects of my world. And it made me think of my loved wife and children so that I sent them a miss-you-message before falling asleep.
I tell you this for one single reason: TV is not vasting time in general. You must carefully choose what you watch! - Choose to watch what is good for you!
It does not mean that you may not watch action movies - no - I learned a lot from several action movies (yes, sometimes just one or two very relevant sentences - however) - it depends on how you look at them. But of course, by tendency there are other movies where you can learn more from... - Star Trek is a special thing - I find it full of philosophy and I used to watch it a lot in former, former times. I would say, Star Trek did influence my viewpoints a lot (see links below for example)! Who did not watch it - you missed something! But remember to look at the philosophic and moral elements rather than on the action elements.
Related posts: The resource problem, The main purpose, What to learn from the Borg
I thought, after a week of vacation I will use the evenings to get a lot of things done that cry for getting done in a few calm hours. Actually with all that silence I got quite tired and my soul and spirit dropped off for distraction. So I landed in front of the TV in the later evenings.
It has been quite a long time that I had time to watch TV. What I noticed is that after watching about 2 hours TV (some CSI like series) afterwards I felt bad - I had the impression that I just burnt 2 hours of my precious time. Two unrecoverable expensive hours. Horrible!
Two days later I landed again in front of the TV - approximately for the same time. But I watched two episodes of Star Trek Next Generation. Impression afterwards was different. Although I somehow thought that I could have made more from that time, I felt much better than the other day.
Investigating the situation I found that I got some interesting new viewpoints from watching the Star Trek episodes. The other day I went to bed frustrated about the all negative (and IMHO unrealistic) stuff (crazy people murdering in crazy ways). That time I went to bed thinking in a gentle way about some aspects of my world. And it made me think of my loved wife and children so that I sent them a miss-you-message before falling asleep.
I tell you this for one single reason: TV is not vasting time in general. You must carefully choose what you watch! - Choose to watch what is good for you!
It does not mean that you may not watch action movies - no - I learned a lot from several action movies (yes, sometimes just one or two very relevant sentences - however) - it depends on how you look at them. But of course, by tendency there are other movies where you can learn more from... - Star Trek is a special thing - I find it full of philosophy and I used to watch it a lot in former, former times. I would say, Star Trek did influence my viewpoints a lot (see links below for example)! Who did not watch it - you missed something! But remember to look at the philosophic and moral elements rather than on the action elements.
Related posts: The resource problem, The main purpose, What to learn from the Borg
2009-08-21
Transferable know-how
Lately I had a discussion about the value of particular experiences. Many people had been laid off because their particular and very specific knowledge was not needed any more.
It has been a longer while ago when I watched a video of Nathan Myhrvold - watch it yourself here (length 17:14). For me this is a very good example (if not the best) that you can apply knowledge and experience you gain in one realm onto completely different subjects to find creative new solutions or bring additional value into foreign areas.
It can an immense opportunity for a company hiring people with a broad experience on different areas - and it is a primary productivity boost if you are able to learn quickly from experience and find out different realms where it can be applied.
Another example: I talked to a doctor where I go to the gym. He has more than 20 years of experience at the intensive care unit in different hospitals. He told me that many times nurses called him being totally in panic because of emergency and he learned to take himself 60 seconds of time looking at the situation and analyzing. He said: Nobody is dying within 60 seconds. You always have at least 60 seconds for analyzing the situation doing nothing. (There might be some exceptions, e.g. when a very lot of blood is extruding around.) His experience is that doing "something" (in panic) often makes the situation becoming worse. If an injection is set, it's in and if it was the wrong action or just the dose was too high then you suddenly have to deal with two things running out equilibrium. He said, in 90 percent of the cases a slight adjustment was sufficient. Slight adjustment can be worth more than big rough action. I think this could be for example applied perfectly to IT emergencies also - as well as for a plenty of other situations too.
And while talking about knowledge being applied on other issues under different circumstances, I see that the knowledge from different other areas can help you in fitting your solutions to the rest of the world. I think, especially the wise men/women are particular good in re-utilizing knowledge.
I always tried not to get stuck looking just at my programming code, I always looked for the link to the customer real needs and kept an eye on overall efficiency and productivity. And I wish I had better listened to the other subjects in school too - even those which did not interest me at all. There are so many things you can learn from animals, from physics, from history etc - knowledge that can be useful while thinking of solutions for your daily issues. Testing knowledge and experience on different realms can boost your personal development (BTW: A boar is running faster than Bolt - maybe you should learn running from the boars ;-) ).
Keep your eyes open, learn, be creative and test on reality!
Related posts: Unwanted creativity, Speed, Knowledge is freedom, The value of experience, Prudential innovation.
It has been a longer while ago when I watched a video of Nathan Myhrvold - watch it yourself here (length 17:14). For me this is a very good example (if not the best) that you can apply knowledge and experience you gain in one realm onto completely different subjects to find creative new solutions or bring additional value into foreign areas.
It can an immense opportunity for a company hiring people with a broad experience on different areas - and it is a primary productivity boost if you are able to learn quickly from experience and find out different realms where it can be applied.
Another example: I talked to a doctor where I go to the gym. He has more than 20 years of experience at the intensive care unit in different hospitals. He told me that many times nurses called him being totally in panic because of emergency and he learned to take himself 60 seconds of time looking at the situation and analyzing. He said: Nobody is dying within 60 seconds. You always have at least 60 seconds for analyzing the situation doing nothing. (There might be some exceptions, e.g. when a very lot of blood is extruding around.) His experience is that doing "something" (in panic) often makes the situation becoming worse. If an injection is set, it's in and if it was the wrong action or just the dose was too high then you suddenly have to deal with two things running out equilibrium. He said, in 90 percent of the cases a slight adjustment was sufficient. Slight adjustment can be worth more than big rough action. I think this could be for example applied perfectly to IT emergencies also - as well as for a plenty of other situations too.
And while talking about knowledge being applied on other issues under different circumstances, I see that the knowledge from different other areas can help you in fitting your solutions to the rest of the world. I think, especially the wise men/women are particular good in re-utilizing knowledge.
I always tried not to get stuck looking just at my programming code, I always looked for the link to the customer real needs and kept an eye on overall efficiency and productivity. And I wish I had better listened to the other subjects in school too - even those which did not interest me at all. There are so many things you can learn from animals, from physics, from history etc - knowledge that can be useful while thinking of solutions for your daily issues. Testing knowledge and experience on different realms can boost your personal development (BTW: A boar is running faster than Bolt - maybe you should learn running from the boars ;-) ).
Keep your eyes open, learn, be creative and test on reality!
Related posts: Unwanted creativity, Speed, Knowledge is freedom, The value of experience, Prudential innovation.
2009-04-10
Know better and act on it
I am currently reading the book "Secrets of the Rockstar Programmers", written by Ed Burns.
I only read a few pages so far, but I consider the content being "zipped" knowledge, as it touches many realms, not just the technical points of view. Already from the first pages the book / Ed encourages me to "boldly go where nobody has gone before" (or in some particular details to boldly return to things that worked better in the past). Actually I consider this book to be a book on self development or a book on management also. And this is the reason why this post goes to 1-2-solved blog and not to IT-Tactics.
Ed quotes Rod Johnson mentioning an important skill: "Knowing better and act on it".
In the last years I am facing more and more people and companies following just the sure path - the path that is "known to be working". People do this from my experience mainly because of the following reasons:
Some other words on "doing what works": Going the sure path means to do what in the past turned out to be working. What worked good in the past does not necessarily work (that good) now. On the other hand: A lot of strategies that worked very well in the past have been dropped in favor of others that do not work so well.
So, some things change that shouldn't and other things should be changed. In our fast times people often rush and quick-fix. People do not take time to sit down (or walk slowly), think and listen to their gut feeling. If they would, there own experience and knowledge could take off and have effect on the now. Then they could see and know better. Then take action on it and you will succeed!
Related posts: Think yourself, Total cost of commitment, Slowing down, Dynamic activity, In the present moment, Get focused with 3 questions, Simple Life, Razor sharp focus, The value of experience.
I only read a few pages so far, but I consider the content being "zipped" knowledge, as it touches many realms, not just the technical points of view. Already from the first pages the book / Ed encourages me to "boldly go where nobody has gone before" (or in some particular details to boldly return to things that worked better in the past). Actually I consider this book to be a book on self development or a book on management also. And this is the reason why this post goes to 1-2-solved blog and not to IT-Tactics.
Ed quotes Rod Johnson mentioning an important skill: "Knowing better and act on it".
In the last years I am facing more and more people and companies following just the sure path - the path that is "known to be working". People do this from my experience mainly because of the following reasons:
- Fear to be wrong (and all the other so many people can't be wrong)
- Fear to loose business and market.
- Search for the quick success/money (short "time to market" - go the easy way)
- Minimizing costs and risks (no investment into research and development)
- Personal limits (people simply don't have better ideas or just don't bother)
Some other words on "doing what works": Going the sure path means to do what in the past turned out to be working. What worked good in the past does not necessarily work (that good) now. On the other hand: A lot of strategies that worked very well in the past have been dropped in favor of others that do not work so well.
So, some things change that shouldn't and other things should be changed. In our fast times people often rush and quick-fix. People do not take time to sit down (or walk slowly), think and listen to their gut feeling. If they would, there own experience and knowledge could take off and have effect on the now. Then they could see and know better. Then take action on it and you will succeed!
Related posts: Think yourself, Total cost of commitment, Slowing down, Dynamic activity, In the present moment, Get focused with 3 questions, Simple Life, Razor sharp focus, The value of experience.
2008-11-20
The state of mind matters
I am used to work under pressure - only in rare cases this pressure is obviously produced by desparated customers. Mostly I feel the pressure because of the empathy I have developed for the customer so I can imagine how unpleasant it is facing some wired problem while trying to do some other productive and important work. Hours are easily lost by technical problems. In other many cases it is the expectations of others and the desire of being honored and respected that drive me into pressure so. In exaggerated words: "I want to be the hero that can get everything done in miracles." The sad truth is: Unfortunately even if you do miracles it will often not be honored and only expectations grow. Or in the worst case: People think that before the miracles you were doing nothing and just sitting around being bored.
The big bad side effect that everybody will notice when you get more and more done is that you will leave the impression to others being the hectic, fast-paced always on the run guy. People will simply begin to feel bad when you are around.
Just think a moment what people you prefer to meet. When do you feel good together with other people?
In my case people with a calm voice that carefully listen without urging me, allowing also moments of silence giving space that thoughts and feelings can flourish. People who seem somehow in meditation, fully present and relaxed do improve the general quality of the situation. It is the breeding ground for good communication and hence also a breeding ground for a successful meeting. Being on speed comes with the potential danger that you behave like the bull in the china shop. You can destroy the relationship with friends as well as with (potential) customers that way - or also with your boss. Being on speed is not always getting you to the goal fast!
Related posts: In the present moment, Urging to forge at full speed, Getting older.
The big bad side effect that everybody will notice when you get more and more done is that you will leave the impression to others being the hectic, fast-paced always on the run guy. People will simply begin to feel bad when you are around.
Just think a moment what people you prefer to meet. When do you feel good together with other people?
In my case people with a calm voice that carefully listen without urging me, allowing also moments of silence giving space that thoughts and feelings can flourish. People who seem somehow in meditation, fully present and relaxed do improve the general quality of the situation. It is the breeding ground for good communication and hence also a breeding ground for a successful meeting. Being on speed comes with the potential danger that you behave like the bull in the china shop. You can destroy the relationship with friends as well as with (potential) customers that way - or also with your boss. Being on speed is not always getting you to the goal fast!
Related posts: In the present moment, Urging to forge at full speed, Getting older.
2008-11-12
Urging to forge at full speed
The problem: You feel pressure to get things done and be successful.
In our civilization speed is a fast growing hype. Either people are producing pressure on their own or get pressure from outside - or both. Speed is fun, speed is sexy, time is money - use it or loose it. Being on speed is the default mode for many people. Speed is everywhere in our life, from speed reading to speed dating.
The reason: Fear of going to rack and ruin, fear of (personal) economical crash.
Our anxiety to fall behind, being not interesting any more, being not attractive any more for the job market or for social groups and friends, drives us to full speed.
The solution: Slow down and either stop to get a distant and detached - more realistic - view.
Just stop, step back and look around to get a more complete view of the situation and world (as a painter steps back to see his painting from the distance checking the general impression the painting offers).
Take a serious look at the whole. Try living on full speed for a while and then remember your days when you were younger and had plenty of time to build a Lego house for instance. And try retreating for something you want to do with a bigger piece of time (writing a nice computer program, self development, ...). You will experience that
For many, being on full speed for many is a distraction from dealing with major questions or problems in life. So the paradox situation can be that one who is on full speed is a procrastinator in reality.
Here are some related videos:
When will I learn to slow down...
Related posts: The state of mind matters, In the present moment, You can't urge the river flowing, Why investing enough time rules, Parkinson's law and quality, Reduce the stress factors, Productivity spiral, Dynamic activity, Hurry home ... no more running, How to be happy, Slowing down, Minimum effort, Getting older.
In our civilization speed is a fast growing hype. Either people are producing pressure on their own or get pressure from outside - or both. Speed is fun, speed is sexy, time is money - use it or loose it. Being on speed is the default mode for many people. Speed is everywhere in our life, from speed reading to speed dating.
The reason: Fear of going to rack and ruin, fear of (personal) economical crash.
Our anxiety to fall behind, being not interesting any more, being not attractive any more for the job market or for social groups and friends, drives us to full speed.
The solution: Slow down and either stop to get a distant and detached - more realistic - view.
Just stop, step back and look around to get a more complete view of the situation and world (as a painter steps back to see his painting from the distance checking the general impression the painting offers).
Take a serious look at the whole. Try living on full speed for a while and then remember your days when you were younger and had plenty of time to build a Lego house for instance. And try retreating for something you want to do with a bigger piece of time (writing a nice computer program, self development, ...). You will experience that
- it is not enough doing things right, it is also important to do the right things,
- there is a big difference in quality of output if you had enough time achieving it,
- you feel healthier and feel more being an integrated part of the world (hence being happier),
- others feel more comfortable and relaxed, staying with you,
- you notice more details of the world around you which can be the source of creativity.
For many, being on full speed for many is a distraction from dealing with major questions or problems in life. So the paradox situation can be that one who is on full speed is a procrastinator in reality.
Here are some related videos:
- Carl Honore: Slowing down in a world built for speed (19:14)
- Eckhart Tolle - “Can I be the Space for this?” - Part I (03:15)
- Eckhart Tolle - “Can I be the Space for this?” - Part II (05:53)
When will I learn to slow down...
Related posts: The state of mind matters, In the present moment, You can't urge the river flowing, Why investing enough time rules, Parkinson's law and quality, Reduce the stress factors, Productivity spiral, Dynamic activity, Hurry home ... no more running, How to be happy, Slowing down, Minimum effort, Getting older.
2008-09-28
Dynamic activity
You can't drive your body and your mind continuously at full speed in the long term. Full speed is not always really movement (whether physically in motion or just thoughts are occupying you). Being continuously in the common alert state or having to fully concentrate on a particular thing is ruining you in the long term.
A few days ago when taking a hot shower I remembered the animal kings - the lions. I often wondered in the past why in particular the lions are called the king of animals and not for instance the elefants or mosquitos.
Inspired by the lions I think in the daily life there must be a continuous dynamic change between state like the following:
I believe that it is very important to have such a dynamic change of activity - sticking to any particular phase for too long will become unhealthy.
Related post: Urging to forge at full speed, Reduce the stress factors, In the present moment, How to be happy, Slowing down, Know better and act on it, The productivity trap, Getting older.
A few days ago when taking a hot shower I remembered the animal kings - the lions. I often wondered in the past why in particular the lions are called the king of animals and not for instance the elefants or mosquitos.
Inspired by the lions I think in the daily life there must be a continuous dynamic change between state like the following:
- Return to the present moment
As mentioned earlier in "In the present moment" or "There is suffering". - Relax
Just forget every To-Do's, every problem, concentrate on your body, feel your body - let your body and your mind rest. - Re-align
Review the situation, remember your goals, reorder your priorities to fit in with your life plan or just the direction you want to go. Set your next actions. - Ramble
Animals check their claim, you can check your to-do-lists and do some of your routine actions. Then you can check your working fields, the roles you are playing and get some organization into it and work on your long term projects. - Speedup
There might be a goal in sight or some problem that may want some extra action to get accomplished. This is your power-hour to get something extraordinary done. - Strike
The right aimed action in the right moment can bring you a big success. - Stock
Fill your experience pool. Refill your tanks - pull energy from your success and get fed. - Stretch
Prepare for regeneration. Stretch your body and stretch your mind by giving it free time to flow.
I believe that it is very important to have such a dynamic change of activity - sticking to any particular phase for too long will become unhealthy.
Related post: Urging to forge at full speed, Reduce the stress factors, In the present moment, How to be happy, Slowing down, Know better and act on it, The productivity trap, Getting older.
2008-04-21
How many posts must I write?
I am currently still in move to our new apartment and in addition to that I was one week away for business. I see that I did not write for a long time and now I remember posts on other blogs telling in their blogging tips that on a blog there should be periodical posting to keep the users interested.
I totally disagree with this. I have subscribed to a lot of RSS feeds and I do not have any interest that a specific blog brings a new post every day or every week.
What I expect from a blog: If there is a new post it should be interesting, have "real" content and it should trigger some new thoughts (or remind me on old important thoughts I already forgot).
So dear bloggers: There is no need to sit in front of the computer writing a blog post at 23:50 just because you think that you are supposed to. Sometimes you might see pressure where there is no.
Related posts: Blog post lengths or how to write
I totally disagree with this. I have subscribed to a lot of RSS feeds and I do not have any interest that a specific blog brings a new post every day or every week.
What I expect from a blog: If there is a new post it should be interesting, have "real" content and it should trigger some new thoughts (or remind me on old important thoughts I already forgot).
So dear bloggers: There is no need to sit in front of the computer writing a blog post at 23:50 just because you think that you are supposed to. Sometimes you might see pressure where there is no.
Related posts: Blog post lengths or how to write
2007-12-14
Productivity and fun
Are you are productivity freak?
While in the process of optimizing performance and cutting down all unnecessary actions I found out that certain distractions and chats with colleagues - and also with the boss - are important to keep the fun and good climate although the particular topics do not seem to improve productivity.
Analyzing, I found an assumption I made: Knowing well what are useful actions to improve productivity and what not.
But in the real what is important for productivity in long term view is not always easy to know.
The factors that optimize the overall productivity might not be always that easy to measure.
So while optimizing productivity keep the following in mind:
There might be several elements at work or in your private life that do not seem to be a contribution or even seem to be useless distraction but when cutting them off in the long term you and your colleagues loose motivation and power.
It is important to do things "just for fun" because although the particular sense and benefit cannot be seen immediately it does not mean that there is no.
Fun affects motivation, climate, communication and creativity so it affects also productivity. But when you think only the productivity aspect you loose the fun. It's like not seeing the forest because getting distracted by looking at so many trees.
There must be space and time for fun - at work and at home - to keep the long term overall productivity.
While in the process of optimizing performance and cutting down all unnecessary actions I found out that certain distractions and chats with colleagues - and also with the boss - are important to keep the fun and good climate although the particular topics do not seem to improve productivity.
Analyzing, I found an assumption I made: Knowing well what are useful actions to improve productivity and what not.
But in the real what is important for productivity in long term view is not always easy to know.
The factors that optimize the overall productivity might not be always that easy to measure.
So while optimizing productivity keep the following in mind:
There might be several elements at work or in your private life that do not seem to be a contribution or even seem to be useless distraction but when cutting them off in the long term you and your colleagues loose motivation and power.
It is important to do things "just for fun" because although the particular sense and benefit cannot be seen immediately it does not mean that there is no.
Fun affects motivation, climate, communication and creativity so it affects also productivity. But when you think only the productivity aspect you loose the fun. It's like not seeing the forest because getting distracted by looking at so many trees.
There must be space and time for fun - at work and at home - to keep the long term overall productivity.
2007-11-27
New world in the morning
"New world in the morning" - so they say. Although maybe invented to give new hope every day I take it as a reminder to see everything in new lights finding maybe a new unconventional solution for a problem.
Unfortunately so often we are so sure to already know the things and people, their purpose, their intention and the way how they work. But do we know things and people only because we have already seen them a hundred times?
By no means! We don't know and we assume that things and people around us do not change. Everything around us is subject to change. So we should at least start the new day by looking around with some curiosity for the new and giving a chance to some new solution attempt.
But it's not only new world in the morning - it's also new world at noon or in the evening.
New world in the morning, that's the day!
Unfortunately so often we are so sure to already know the things and people, their purpose, their intention and the way how they work. But do we know things and people only because we have already seen them a hundred times?
By no means! We don't know and we assume that things and people around us do not change. Everything around us is subject to change. So we should at least start the new day by looking around with some curiosity for the new and giving a chance to some new solution attempt.
But it's not only new world in the morning - it's also new world at noon or in the evening.
New world in the morning, that's the day!
2007-11-25
Value of dreams and how to use them
Dreams are a good help for your personal development because they are the way to let your subconscious mind communicate with your consciousness. And your subconscious mind has a somehow "better overview". Dreams assist you in finding solutions for a wide range of problems.
Here are the important things when dealing with dreams:
Here are the important things when dealing with dreams:
- You can influence the "issue" you want to dream a solution for by thinking about the particular problem before going to sleep, naming the problem and requesting for help from your subconscious mind.
The actual dream might cover a related or more general problem - so be aware of that.
- When you wake up, immediately try to remember and re-live your dream - and maybe write it down immediately. Because otherwise you will forget the dream very soon.
- Most things you see in your dream are symbols.
Remember that all the things are symbols according to your live experiences and recordings so don't use a classic book to interpret the things you've seen in your dream. Only, if you cannot get any idea, maybe such books can help a little, but usually the things are your personal symbols. People you see may stand for specific values, like friendship, egoism, passion and so on. Same applies for locations.
- Think of your feelings you had in certain situations and name them.
Feelings and emotions are very important and you should recall the feelings you had while dreaming.
- Think of a possible message of the dream and get formed an appropriate sentence.
The dream wants to show you a complete new view and/or wants to point you into a complete new direction.
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