Be the better person: avoiding office politics

$APG22550 Water Cooler,W/Chiller Compartment,12-1/4\$ The primary reasons mentioned by Slacker Manager to stay apolitical is that it takes up too much space and time, and you’ve already got enough things to worry about. Plus, in general being political won’t appreciably contribute to the overall efficiency or productivity of your work. So you want to stay out of it? Here’s how:

Wear no mask. By “mask” I mean those identities that we assume in order to fit in better, feel more comfortable in a situation, or get people to loosen up around us. I don’t do it. Some folks think it’s a good idea to change like a chameleon to suit the situation. I think that’s a recipe for disaster. I try to be me, all the time. The guy that walks into your office is the same guy that walks into your colleague or boss’s office. One face, no mask.

Be transparent. Not invisible, just without guise. All my agendas are clearly visible. You want to know what I think? I’ll tell you. The words I say might make one or both of us uncomfortable, but I’ll do my best to soften them without diluting their truth.

Flex and bend. Rigidity is a sign of rigor mortis. I strive to be flexible and willing to hear opposing points of view. Defending a lame position for any reason is, well, lame. I don’t assume I’m the smartest person in the room, and I generally take the opinions of others at face value (this is where being apolitical can be painful, but only in the short term).

Listen to them. This helps with the flex and it helps with the ‘no mask’ thing. Learning to really listen is dangerous to my status quo. Truly listening means I’m extending myself beyond my own boundaries, at my risk and for the benefit of the other. It’s hard to do if you’re unwilling to be transformed.

Park the ego. This is a difficult one (and probably is for everyone), but it’s essential for me. When my ego gets wrapped up in the work, it’s too easy to start defending those lame positions mentioned earlier.

Forget the empire. I don’t want to be an empire builder. I’ve got my responsibilities and I attend to them. If I acquire an empire, I’ll probably never notice.

No gossip. I fail too often at this one. Gossip is talking about stuff that you haven’t confirmed as true. Unfortunately I slip into gossip mode too often, and I think it’s because I’m so willing to talk things out. Though censorship is a sign of politics, ironically a little greater control over the internal censor is probably well advised.

Focus on it. What’s the business issue at hand? Focus on it. Straight outta Druckerland. The key is to be sure I’m not being myopic about the issue I’m focusing on. Sometimes the issue is broader than my current focus.

Apologize later. As opposed to asking permission first. This is really just a corollary, but the willingness to act first instead of asking permission sometimes helps me avoid other people’s political quagmires.

Quickly bookmark "Be the better person: avoiding office politics" via:

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at del.icio.us

Digg Be the better person: avoiding office politics at Digg.com

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at Spurl.net

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics with wists

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at Simpy.com

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at NewsVine

Blink this Be the better person: avoiding office politics at blinklist.com

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at Furl.net

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at reddit.com

Fark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at Fark.com

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at blogmarks

Bookmark Be the better person: avoiding office politics at YahooMyWeb

April 27th, 2006 by Collin
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »

Sleep affects long-term memory

Studies of the brain using the video game Duke Nukem have shown how sleep affects long-term memory. The Belgian team used MRI scans to see how volunteers stored spatial information from the game. Sleep-deprived gamers recalled information from a different part of the brain to those who slept.

Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team said its work also shed light on how we navigate in the real world. “If you move to a new town, you have to think about where you are going,” said Pierre Orban of Liege University in Belgium, one of the authors on the paper. “But with time, once you know the city, you don’t have to think about your route anymore.”

This automatic behaviour may be enhanced by sleep, the researchers believe. It mimics patterns of memory formation seen when a task is repeated. The work also explains how the brain is able to file and store this information.

Brain scans

It has long been thought that sleep deprivation affects your ability to consolidate memories. To test the theory, the researchers gave the volunteers place-finding missions in a virtual city created in the Duke Nukem game.

After an initial period of training to get used to the virtual terrain, the gamers were asked to find landmarks around the city while the scientists mapped their brain activity with MRI.

Scans showed that the hippocampus, an area of the brain known to be involved in memory and direction, was most active when the gamers had to retrieve memories to reach their destination. The volunteers were then split into two groups: those that were allowed a good night’s sleep and those that were not. On the second and third nights of the test, both groups were allowed to sleep soundly.

Volunteers were then asked to play the game again, navigating the streets between two landmarks as quickly as possible, while the scientists watched their brain activity with MRI. The closer a gamer got to the final landmark, the better the score. The researchers found that the group who had slept recalled information from an area of the brain known as the striatum.

Brain power

Storing these memories allowed them to make automatic decisions about the direction they had to travel. Sleep-deprived gamers, who still relied on the hippocampus, had to think harder about their virtual navigation.

“If you have slept, you use a means of navigation that is less thoughtful,” Mr Orban told the BBC News website. “You somehow know that you have to turn left, or right or carry straight on.”

This work shows that sleep trains the brain and promotes memory reorganisation from the hippocampus to the striatum, meaning that navigation becomes more automatic. “It looks like sleep accelerates this normal process. It looks like the memories are reprocessed during sleep,” said Mr Orban.

The research could be good news for gamers who often rely on their quick reactions to navigate virtual worlds. However, the team found that eventually both methods of memory retrieval were as effective in the tasks, meaning that while sleep deprivation affects brain function it does not affect overt behaviour, as previously thought.

Quickly bookmark "Sleep affects long-term memory" via:

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at del.icio.us

Digg Sleep affects long-term memory at Digg.com

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at Spurl.net

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory with wists

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at Simpy.com

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at NewsVine

Blink this Sleep affects long-term memory at blinklist.com

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at Furl.net

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at reddit.com

Fark Sleep affects long-term memory at Fark.com

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at blogmarks

Bookmark Sleep affects long-term memory at YahooMyWeb

April 26th, 2006 by Collin
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »

Happy people are emotionally contagious

Kathy Sierra wrote about why you should hang out with “happy people”. With her findings on researches such as mirror neurons, one of the main reasons that she identified is because we tend to imitate others feeling. She also mentions a social science phenomenon called “emotional contagion” and ignorance and misperceptions around the idea of “happy people”:

To quote: But the effect of our innate ability and need to imitate goes way past teenage phone tricks. Spend time with a nervous, anxious person and physiological monitoring would most likely show you mimicking the anxiety and nervousness, in ways that affect your brain and body in a concrete, measurable way. Find yourself in a room full of pissed off people and feel the smile slide right off your face. Listen to people complaining endlessly about work, and you’ll find yourself starting to do the same. How many of us have been horrified to suddenly realize that we’ve spent the last half-hour caught up in a gossip session–despite our strong aversion to gossip? The behavior of others we’re around is nearly irresistible.

When we’re consciously aware and diligent, we can fight this. But the stress of maintaining that conscious struggle against an unconscious, ancient process is a non-stop stressful drain on our mental, emotional, and physical bandwidth. And no, I’m not suggesting that we can’t or should’nt spend time with people who are angry, negative, critical, depressed, gossiping, whatever. Some (including my sister and father) chose professions (nurse practitioner and cop, respectively) that demand it. And some (like my daughter) volunteer to help those who are suffering (in her case, the homeless). Some people don’t want to avoid their more hostile family members. But in those situations–where we choose to be with people who we do not want to mirror–we have to be extremely careful! Nurses, cops, mental health workers, EMTs, social workers, red cross volunteers, fire fighters, psychiatrists, oncologists, etc. are often at a higher risk (in some cases, WAY higher) for burnout, alcholism, divorce, stress, or depression unless they take specific steps to avoid getting too sucked in to be effective.

So, when Robert says he wants to spend time hanging around “happy people” and keeping his distance from “deeply unhappy” people, he’s keeping his brain from making (over the long term) negative structural and chemical changes. Regarding the effect of mirror neurons and emotional contagion on personal performance, neurologist Richard Restak offers this advice:

“If you want to accomplish something that demands determination and endurance, try to surround yourself with people possessing these qualities. And try to limit the time you spend with people given to pessimism and expressions of futility. Unfortunately, negative emotions exert a more powerful effect in social situations than positive ones, thanks to the phenomena of emotional contagion.”

This sounds harsh, and it is, but it’s his recommendation based on the facts as the neuroscientists interpret them today. This is not new age self-help… it’s simply the way brains works.

Quickly bookmark "Happy people are emotionally contagious" via:

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at del.icio.us

Digg Happy people are emotionally contagious at Digg.com

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at Spurl.net

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious with wists

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at Simpy.com

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at NewsVine

Blink this Happy people are emotionally contagious at blinklist.com

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at Furl.net

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at reddit.com

Fark Happy people are emotionally contagious at Fark.com

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at blogmarks

Bookmark Happy people are emotionally contagious at YahooMyWeb

April 25th, 2006 by Collin
Posted in Latest News | No Comments »

Handy tip: get more done with a timer

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) says that there are two types of motivations that make humans do everything that we do. Moving-toward motivation and moving-away-from motivation. Anthony Robbins puts it another way. Humans do things to gain something positive or we do them to avoid something negative. It’s simple but not simplistic. Unfortunately, more people are motivated by the avoidance of the unpleasant rather than working toward a reward.

If you don’t believe this, simply look at what happens the day before vacation. Instead of gradually getting into the flow of the day, we hit the ground running. No one can get us out of our mission to tie up all loose ends to make sure we’re ready to go the next day. We begin to put those who interrupt us on notice that we have things to get done and we do not have the time to chit-chat. The deadline of the end of the business day approaches ominously and we do all we can to get everything done. It’s not the pleasant aspects of the vacation that spurs us on, it is the dread of not getting things done so we can go. It is the most productive day of the year. In the quest to improve our productivity, we can use this to our advantage.

With the introduction of a $10 countdown timer that one can purchase in any housewares department, we can create our own artificial deadlines that create that sense of urgency for us. By setting the timer for 15 minutes to allow us to complete a task, it seems easy to focus and weed out the unimportant.

Bert Webb continues: When I use this technique, I get much more work done and I hear myself telling others, “Call me back in 30 minutes. I’m in the middle of something!” Productivity soars.

At first, it is difficult to estimate the amount of time needed. I found myself overestimating the time needed and I finished well within the required time. As an added bonus, I’ve been able to use the timer on repetitive tasks and can document my improvement as I accomplish the task faster each time I do it. It’s even turned into a game I play to see if I can break my previous time record for accomplishing repetitive tasks, creating a new personal best. Now, since I know how much time certain tasks take, I can also forecast completion times for projects more accurately.

Quickly bookmark "Handy tip: get more done with a timer" via:

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at del.icio.us

Digg Handy tip: get more done with a timer at Digg.com

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at Spurl.net

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer with wists

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at Simpy.com

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at NewsVine

Blink this Handy tip: get more done with a timer at blinklist.com

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at Furl.net

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at reddit.com

Fark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at Fark.com

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at blogmarks

Bookmark Handy tip: get more done with a timer at YahooMyWeb

April 24th, 2006 by Collin
Posted in Personal Development | No Comments »

Solving myths to get more done in your day

After yesterdays 7 ways to get more done in your daily life. Today we’ll have a look at 7 time management myths, and indirectly more tips how to get it right. Here we go:

“To do” lists help get things done: “To do” lists do nothing to further a project or task. They simply remind us that they are not done yet. Scheduling time in your planner, as appointments with yourself, to work on the tasks helps get them done. “To do” lists are intentions; scheduled blocks of time are commitments.

People need a “Personal Organizer” or other time management system to get organized: People are not organized because they use a time management system, they use a time management system because they are organized. Personal organization involves breaking old habits and forming new, effective ones. It is a state of mind as opposed to a state of the office. Some people are more organized using a 65-cent steno pad than others are using a 65-dollar organizer.

A “Quiet Hour” is a great time management tool: A “quiet hour” is a figment of time management writers’ imaginations. There is no such thing as a “quiet hour”. We can reduce interruptions, but never eliminate them. To be effective we must learn to work in spite of the interruptions. Frequently, interruptions are not time wasters, but opportunities arriving at inopportune times.

Keeping a time log to determine where your time is going, is the place to start: A time log should be done last, not first. All we need is more paperwork and interruptions when we’re already inundated with them! We should get organized first, adopt effective habits, schedule time properly, put into practice time-reducing techniques and procedures, and once we have the time, keep a time log to effect further refinements.

The biggest time wasters are interruptions: These include telephone interruptions, visitors, meetings and rush jobs, yet hese are not time wasters, they are time obligations — they come with the job. The biggest time wasters are self-imposed, such as procrastination, making mental notes, interrupting ourselves, searching for things, perfectionism, and spending time on trivial tasks. We are our own worst enemies. Being effective involves managing ourselves, not placing the blame on others.

It’s more efficient to stick to one task until it’s completed: It may be more efficient, but it’s not more effective, for seldom will you have time to finish it. It’s more effective to break large projects into small one or two-hour chunks and work at them for a brief period each day. Working on priorities involves frequent brief sprints, not occasional marathons.

We should have one planner for the office, and a separate planner for the home: Lastly Harold Taylor mentions we should have one planner, period. We are only one person, sharing our lives with people and activities at work, at home, at school, etc. Since we only have one life, we should only have one planner. Both business and personal activities should be scheduled in the same planner so business activities don’t take precedence over personal and family activities.

Quickly bookmark "Solving myths to get more done in your day" via:

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at del.icio.us

Digg Solving myths to get more done in your day at Digg.com

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at Spurl.net

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day with wists

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at Simpy.com

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at NewsVine

Blink this Solving myths to get more done in your day at blinklist.com

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at Furl.net

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at reddit.com

Fark Solving myths to get more done in your day at Fark.com

Bookmark Solving myths to get more done in your day at blogmarks

April 21st, 2006 by Collin
Posted in Personal Development | No Comments »

Get more done in your day

It’s easy to say your day gets better when you wake up early, prioritize, focus, pauze, have no doubts nor expectations, and to delegate the rest of your day. But here’s how you get a feel for it.

Go to Bed early and Wak

full tilt poker freeroll codes

cheap poker party invitations

yahoo games cards online

poker games freeware blackjack gambling tips

bingo cage

tracfone bonus minute codes 40 card

csi las vegas episode guides

where can i play poker online for money

buy used craps tables

play bingo free win real prizes

free bingo games play off line

free slingo deluxe online game

free online poker texas holdem games

steve wynn las vegas hotel and casino

play free slots online

win money playing free bingo online

the big game michigan lottery

samsung blackjack free programs

ohio lottery results 518

absolute poker referral code free

restaurant baccarat hull

baby shower bingo game free printable games

free gambling online blackjack

practice counting cards blackjack

electronic roulette wheel diagram

mega millions ohio lottery winner

play european roulette online

names of top online poker players

free bingo printable games

free online video poker bonus

offshore sports gambling sites

free internet gambling casino

instructions how to play hand and foot card game

how to make free bingo cards

the best online slots up to

a list of atlantic city casinos

game online roulette russian

latest results texas lotto

golden palace casino blackjack

florida winning lotto numbers for 4 19 06

bingo hall online games free voted

deposit bonus party poker code

card free game poker video

poker hands ranking cheat sheet

pala resort and casino reservations

online football betting las vegas

palms casino vegas

mega lotto results texas

car rental coupons budget rent a

best health insurance companies

united states federal bankruptcy laws

chase bank online banking login page

personal loans unsecured australia

fast cash online payday loan private

bank of america military branch locations

credit bad loans lenders member cards receive

military bank of america pay bill online

5 year arm interest only loan calculator

citizens bank online banking martinsville indiana

bank of america government credit card balance

all world currency exchange rates

asia budget airlines jakarta

car payment loan calculator interest rate

2006 mlb transactions

compare cheap car insurance uk

world savings and loans association

bank of america merchant services

bad credit home mortgages loans

progressive insurance employment complaints

american century mutual funds prospectus

become broker commercial estate real

daylight savings time united states of america

first merchants bank muncie in

first citizens bank sc online banking

federal consolidation student loan program

difference between whole term life insurance

what is home economics management

bankruptcy laws ohio debt

bank of america online california my account

calculate monthly mortgage payments uk

A New Man
Seduction, Dating, Romance, Fashion, Grooming, Personal Development