I was happy and honored to find that my blog post Email Management Tips made it into Christopher Cumming’s Top 10 Product Management Posts of 2009. I certainly appreciate the encouragement.
If you haven’t already checked out Chris’s Product Management Meets Pop Culture, please do so. It’s one of my faves.
I’ll be back next week with some tips for how to set goals and follow through.
Happy 2010!
View from my office window.
The other week, I went for a walk around a nearby lake during the lunch hour. It was snowing a little, so there were few people out and it was perfectly serene. I breathed slowly and let the cold air refresh my body. I felt so alive and ready to tackle the rest of the day!
The following weekend, as I was browsing books at Barnes & Noble, I stumbled across a book called “How to Become CEO” by Jeffrey J. Fox. The author had some good things to say about keeping work and personal time separate, utilizing travel time to work, etc. However, he also recommended that CEO wannabes “work through lunch.” I’m sorry, but I just cannot agree with this. I’m not necessarily a proponent on going out to eat every day. However, I do think that taking a little time in the middle of the day to do something different is crucial to surviving Product Management.
Here are some ideas for lunch break activities:
- Run a quick errand
- Take your packed lunch outside and have a picnic
- Read a book or an article
- Go walking or running
- Write a blog post
- Invite a colleague you need to catch up with to lunch
Happy lunch break!
Image by Paraiala Marcel at stock.xchng.
I’ve been sick since Thursday. That’s right. Five stinkin’ days. Not a good way to prepare for vacation… Or to start vacation, for that matter. As such, I decided this morning that I was done with being sick. I would not let illness cannibalize my highly anticipated time off. No more lying on the couch all day watching movies (really gets old after about one and a half days).
I started by taking a good, long shower and then eating a nourishing oatmeal breakfast. Then I proceeded to process the home office inbox. Yikes, lots of bills piled up. There were also appointments to make, direct mail lists to get removed from, and papers to file. I got done with “work” around mid-morning and dragged my tween out of bed. Time to go shopping!
Now, I’m not a big fan of shopping just to shop. In fact, I think it’s just plain dumb. However, this was purposeful Christmas gift shopping. We’re going to see my in-laws for Thanksgiving, so there was not much time to spare. First stop: Plowshare Gifts, the only Ten Thousand Villages store in Wisconsin. Found some good jewlery (and fair trade chocolate) there. Next, we went to Target. I bought myself two pairs of bamboo socks. Sweet! I had been struggling to make it in the sock department between laundry days. I got some other secret stuff too.
I asked Rebecka where she wanted to go for lunch and she voted for The Cheesecake Factory. After reading “The End of Overeating,” I haven’t necessarily been in the mood for said dining establishment or any chain restaurant, for that matter, but I complied. Anything for my little princess!! It wasn’t bad. They have added “Small Plates” to their menu that are just the right size. The Wild Mushroom Pizette (not sure how wild… but anyway) is pretty tasty.
The day continued with orthodontist and hair appointments. Whew! I didn’t even have time to feel sick. Sure, I broke into crazy fits of coughing everytime I laughed and felt a little warmer than usual, but I was out and about and it felt great! What a difference from the previous day. I firmly believe that you can shorten the duration of illness with a good doze of positive thinking. In fact, positive thinking can help you in just about every difficult situation in life. Now why did it take me five days to figure that out…?
Photo by Scott Liddell at stock.xchng.
I am a big fan of vacation. I think it’s essential for the well-being and overall productivity and happiness of all humans. It’s pretty sad how we’ve created this macho anti-vacation culture, where the less vacation you take, the cooler you are. No wonder people burn out left and right and die from stress-related diseases.
Personally, I’m overdue for a real vacation. A “real” vacation means taking at least one week off from work. This means no email, no thinking about work, and absolutely no meetings. I haven’t had one since last Christmas. I’ve had long weekends, but they just don’t cut it.
Here are five signs that you need a real vacation (these have all happened to me in the past week):
- You accidentally put mouthwash instead of face wash on your cotton ball.
- You almost throw your spoon in the office kitchen trashcan.
- You make a countdown calendar to cross off the days until vacation.
- You have dark rings and puffiness under your eyes.
- You know exactly how long it is until your next vacation (6 days, 3 hours, and 53 minutes).
Yep, I need a vacation.
PS. It’s good to be back in the blogosphere! To read about my blogging hiatus and Internet fast, please visit my personal blog.
