You're on 24x7

You work on your e-mail while keeping one eye on the game. You're on the phone while pushing your grocery cart around the store, t his phone pressed to his ear. conduct business on the phone while driving home from work, or glance at your e-mail while standing in line at the store.

You're on 24x7.

Technology makes slivers of time entertaining or productive. But scientists say it all may be counterproductive. If your brain is busy, you're forfeiting downtime that could help you better learn or retain information, or come up with new ideas.

At UC San Francisco, scientists have found that when rats have a new experience, like exploring an unfamiliar area, their brains show new patterns of activity. But only when the rats take a break from their exploration do they process those patterns in a way that seems to create a persistent memory of the experience.

U of Michigan researchers found that people learned significantly better after a walk in nature than after a walk in a dense urban environment. “People think they’re refreshing themselves, but they’re fatiguing themselves,” said Marc Berman, a University of Michigan neuroscientist.

No question technology has its benefits, but all things being equal, experts say find time to disconnect.

Would you settle for just OK?

Only 26% of those 18-24 say they're happy, according to a Harris poll, and 55% are frustrated by work. Contrast that with Baby Boomers; 37% report they're happy, and 44% of Americans 65 and older are happy.

I wonder if this is a statement about maturity, that we become more realistic and adaptable as we get older, or if it says something about the expectations of younger workers.

Can we be friends?

My mother advised me years ago that a few good friends -- those you can count on -- is all we need. I'm reminded of that adage when I read a new study that relationships lacking strong connections -- common in online communities -- can result in feelings of detachment and even health problems such as poor sleep and high stress.

Close relationships with friends and family members looked like the most important factor in staving off loneliness, the U of Arizona researcher concluded. Optimal health is achieved by a combination of caring for ourselves physically, and through fostering and maintaining close relationships with others.

Sewaring in the workplace

Goldman Sachs has prohibited employees from swearing in corporate e-mails. Much ado about nothing?

Meeting? Breathe deeply

Early in my IBM career I attended a course in effective meetings, with an unusual twist. The objective was to provide tips on being an effective meeting participant; in other words, how to help move the meeting along and focus on its intent.

I was reminded about this a few days ago when I read many people report that meetings are one of their greatest energy drains. We can all do with fewer meetings, but when that's not an option, there are actually tips for preparing yourself accordingly.

Experts say simple 'meeting prep' techniques include establishing the appropriate mindset by setting your intentions before the meeting, performing a few quick physical movements to build energy and stimulate creativity, and even strategic snacking to enhance brain function.

Before your next meeting, start with simple breathing – deep, slow breaths through your nose – for several minutes. This will quiet your mind, reduce your stress, and help you enter the meeting fully focused. You can also use this breathing technique throughout the meeting to help you stay balanced, energized, and engaged.

Work: Bad for your health?

More than half of 800 global senior executives are unsatisfied with their work-life balance, according to a BlueSteps.com survey. That's the highest dissatisfaction figure recorded since the survey began in 2006.

One problem is that 80% of BlueSteps executives say balance is critical in their decision whether to join or remain with an employer, but 82 per cent report their company does not have a program in place.

Of the 18 per cent of companies offering work-life balance programs, the most common components offered are working at home or a flexible daily work schedule, which are highly valued by respondents. It's no surprise that 70% of respondents feel that technology and globalization has decreased their leisure time.

An astounding statistic: almost one-third rate their career as “more”, or “as” important as their health.

What do you think the survey results would be for non-executives?

Unplug from technology

The New York Times recently asked readers to give up technology, then report about it. “Frame your own challenge: maybe it's turning off your cellphone for a weekend, or disconnecting from the Internet for a week, or just leaving your social networks for a few days,” the Times wrote. “Choose something you’re comfortable with."

For a week, I could easily leave my Blackberry turned off and ignore Facebook or Linked In. What could you do without?

My neighbor, the new diversity -- Part II

I wrote earlier this year about working in a cubicle, surrounded by neighbors on speaker phones or engaged in animated discussions. In general, I'm able to tune it out, a skill I developed in my newspaper career. The newsroom when I started out was an open pit of noise, with manual typewriters (yes, that long ago), reporters working the phone and editors shouting across the newsroom.
But there are still times one longs for an office for the solitude, if not the privacy. Thanks to colleague Chris Nay, my faithful blog reader, here are some tips he found for working in a cube:

* I put on headphones and listen to a playlist I created for background music while I'm editing.
* Try placing an orange cone (much like the ones used by the traffic department to block lanes, only smaller and more lightweight, in the entryway of your cube. Everyone in my office knows the orange cone means "Do not enter, do not cross the threshold, do not disturb."
* Pop in my ear buds and drown them out with one of two favorites: Benedictine chants, which is soothing and inspirational, or Japanese taiko drumming, which is highly energizing.

Please weigh in with your own.

Would you be more productive without Facebook at work?

A health care company has suggested that employees will be more productive if Facebook was blocked. Do you think this is true?

Work-family breaking point

IBM research on more than 22,000 IBMers in 75 countries suggests telecommuters on flextime schedules work 19 more hours a week than office-bound colleagues before they hit a “breaking point” in work-family conflict.


Office-bound workers began to complain of work-family conflict after 38 hours of work. But telecommuters logged 57 total hours before starting to feel the strain, counting both hours at the office and at home.


Do you have a “breaking point”? What’s the maximum number of hours each week you can work without feeling that you are giving up too much family time?

Did you hear about?

Gossip, while often irresistible, often damages an organization. Sociologist Tim Hallet says gossip is “reputational warfare”, and offer these tips to manage gossip:
1.Develop informal relationships to understand the pulse of the organization.
2.Use gossip to learn about problems in the workplace. Gossip can be a type of teacher.
3.Don’t become defensive; that will only serve to fuel the trash talk.
4.Do not support the negative comments with other negative; that only legitimizes the gossip and lowers your own standing.
5.Try switching topics. Go back to the main goal or the agenda if in a meeting.
6.Productively confront an individual to understand why they are behaving that way.
7.Worst case scenario let the worst offender go. Gossip and bad behavior is like a cancer in an organization. It will only spread if gone unchecked.

Love your neighbor

One aspect of diversity no one discusses is the irritation factor at work caused by the physical layout of your office -- primarily open space or cubicles. Why is this illustrative of diversity? Because the physical workplace is now more diverse, with people likely to have widely different habits, preferences and sensitivities.

Consider co-workers who talk loudly on the phone or go on and on about personal problems. It's nothing new to me -- I worked in a newsroom for years with reporters pounding on typewriters and shouting into the phone. But it's a relatively new phenomenon to many who are used to offices with doors shut. And it's irritating.

You can try tuning it out. You can try headphones. And if all else fails, you may need to talk to the person when your coping strategies have failed. Experts advise you be as neutral and nonjudgmental as possible, and understand that people may be completely unaware that they are being annoying. And remember -- they may see you the same way.

Do managers matter?

Interesting article in Workforce.com asking if managers matter anymore. Points to consider:

• Accenture's global director of leadership development Camille talks about the importance of keeping employees connected to organization and not falling into black hole. She says managers are crucial when it comes to an increasingly important retention factor: “The company that offers you the best experience is going to get you.”

• Employee engagement is a concept that captures retention—how committed employees are to their firms—but also reflects how willing workers are to put in extra effort on the job. Gallup has documented a connection between higher levels of engagement and higher productivity and profitability.

• Managers are vital to reducing the “virtual distance” that can exist in geographically distributed teams, one consultant says. Virtual distance refers to feelings of isolation among colleagues who typically communicate through e-mail, telephone or other technologies, and it can hamper financial performance and innovation.

How we watch

Some interesting media statistics:

• 30 percent of global consumers own a smart phone
• 45 percent own a portable video player
• 54 percent own a game console
• 58 percent own an HDTV
• In the U.S., 38 percent of consumers watched video on an ad-supported site, such as Hulu, and a quarter of them do so at least a few times a month.

I want what I want

Another interesting example of how employee demographics are changing the workplace.

A recent study conducted by Kelly Services, a world leader in workforce management services, outlined a global shift in workforce dynamics driven not by pay, but by a desire for fulfilling jobs.
- 51% of Gen Y responders are prepared to accept a lower wage or lesser role if their work contributes to something more important or meaningful.
- 62% of Gen X plan to look for a new job within a year.
- 46% of baby boomers, 35% of Gen Y, and 42% of Gen X say their career goals are not being advanced in their current job.

The overriding theme is people want their jobs to provide a degree of emotional fulfillment, even if it means sacrificing money and status to achieve it. Various employee types and motivation:

- Recognition for work and time structure.
- Recognition of their values and conviction, and are engaged by knowing their opinions matter, their conviction is respected, and that the mission of the organization is being upheld.
- Playful contact, preferring that their interactions be upbeat, fun, and stimulating.
- Knowing that they are unconditionally valued as a person.
- Solitude
- Lots of action in a short timeframe.

Overload

At what point did we hit news overload? Blogs, RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook ensure a tidal wave of information. And most of it is in addition to our "regular" job and attendant e-mail and instant message overload.

Do we think we need to know more in order to understand an increasingly complex world? (Mike is enjoying the sunrise. Brian wonders when it will get warm.)



It all creates a blur in which the unimportant seems significant, or at least interferes with the important. The massive explosion of information risks making us all a little nuts. Worse, is are we losing our ability to focus on the great idea?

Life balance - live your values

I saw a PRBreakfast Club blog on one of my favorite topics – the misnamed work/life balance. I prefer to say life balance, because work is a part of my life.

The author points out there are “so many damn” blogs, articles and books devoted to the topic. Some tackle the age-old question of trying to separate your personal life/time from your professional life/time, or if you should choose the time-management theory of blending your job and your personal life.

He then drops an expletive, suggesting the only way for each of us is trial-and-error and introspection.

I think he’s right. I’d put it this way – you need to live your values. We are doomed to be frustrated and unhappy if we don’t. We may pick up a helpful tip in reading the volume of published material, but no one can teach us our values.

Facebook yes, smart phones maybe

Only 55% of boomers consider their mobile phone a necessity, a number which would shock my children, for whom it is an appendage.

This same group also is slow to adopt mobile Internet technology. The good news we're getting on board, but like everything else, more slowly.

Yet older users are joining Facebook in record numbers, even outnumbering high school students on the site. When I saw that I told me kids it's time to find something new. So why is Facebook popular? It could be find old high school classmates, or to see photos and videos of friends and family.

A few key stats from eMarketer's report:

• 85% of baby boomers own a mobile phone, but the majority own feature phones (non-smartphones)
• 55% consider their mobile phone a necessity
• Boomers make up only 19.6% of touchscreen phone users
• Boomers make up only 21.1% of smartscreen phone users
• Younger boomers (ages 45-54) are more likely to own a smartphone or touchscreen phone than older boomers

I learned to read in my local newspaper, the LA Times, and I was a reporter and editor for 14 years, so you understand my affinity for newspapers -- especially print. One of life's little pleasures is to get comfortable with various sections of the paper at hand to scan.

Fifty percent of 2,259 adults surveyed for the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism said that on a typical day they read news in a local newspaper; 17 percent said they read news in a national newspaper such as The New York Times or USA Today.

I don't know what that number was 10 years ago, but I'm encouraged that number isn't smaller. Far too many people, especially people under 30, think they're informed by blogs and talk shows.

Here's the rest of the report.

Hello, I must be going

Fewer workers are planning to retire in the next few years, which "could have a profound effect on the workplace over the next several years," said Max Caldwell, head of Towers Perrin's global work force effectiveness practice. "As older employees decide to stay in the work force, advancement opportunities for younger workers will be increasingly limited. Baby Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y cohorts will likely interface more often and for a longer period of time." So here's the conflict:

1. Older Americans ought to keep working in order to lighten the burden of Social Security and assorted benefits on younger generations.

2. Older Americans ought to retire in order to make room for younger generations with their noses pressed to the closed window of the job market.

3. Before the economic downturn. Americans had begun to work longer, prompted by changes in Social Security, longevity and attitudes. Now, dwindling 401(k)s have delayed retirement for many.

I have no idea how this conflict will play out, but regardless of age, we all have an interest in the outcome.

Irregardless, don't fall into these traps

Try and. The correct phrase is "try to." )

Hopefully. Hopefully means "with hope" and describes a subject who feels hopeful. It does not mean "it is hoped that."

e.g. versus i.e. These two are used interchangeably, but have different meanings. e.g. means "for example." i.e. means "that is."

Chomping at the bit. The correct phrase is "champing at the bit."

Could care less. "I couldn't care less" is correct.

You've got mail. Popular movie, but the correct phrase is you "have" mail.

Heart-wrenching. The correct term is "heart-rending."

Barb wire. Barbed wire is the wire, covered in barbs, placed on the top of fences.

Anxious versus eager. Anxious suggests a sense of nervousness or fear. Eager is ready to do something.

Lay low. "Lay low" is an action. "Lie low " means to conceal yourself or bide your time.

Class dismissed.

"The Office" view of promotions

If you’re of a certain age, you remember the fuss Canadian psychologist Laurence J. Peter kicked up in 1969 with the ''Peter Principle.''

Peter’s premise: people in a workplace are promoted until they reach their ''level of incompetence.'' He argued this happens because we wrongly assume that people who are good at their jobs will succeed one level higher, so we promote them. But often the new job is so different from the previous job that the employee can't handle it. The employee drags the efficiency of the firm downward. Remind you of the ''The Office?'' -- clogged with incompetence.

Italian scientists say promoting people at random, and alternately promoting the absolute best and absolute worst performers, will help avoid that trap.

New look at older worker

''Older workers don't suffer from the deficiencies that a lot of people think they do," says an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (my alma mater). Read more.

A catchy phrase or two

Do words convey a different meaning? Consider these actual changes from the U.S.government and business

Toxic assets becomes legacy assets

International financial regulation becomes macroprudential oversight

M&A banker becomes adviser to the free flow of capital

Layoffs at Nokia are synergy-related head count adjustments

Global financial crisis is global economic restructuring

(It's anyone guess what leveraging synergy means now)

Drinking from the fire hose

It's no surprise to read that U.S. workers are "exposed to this fire hose of information," says Roger Bohn, a professor of management at the University of California, San Diego, and co-author of the "How Much Information?" report.

"Your capacity to drink is the same as it always was, but there's a bigger puddle around you when you're done of stuff you weren't able to assimilate," he adds.

IBMers send 12 million instant messages to each other per day, John Rooney in the CIO's office told The Wall Street Journal.

The average worker spends about 25% of the day searching for needed information, getting back to work after an interruption and dealing with other effects of information overload. IBM offers a variety of helpful tips, but the sheer volume of information suggests many of us aren't following them.

Balanced?

The blogger Modernmami mused on work-life balance and linked to several good articles on the topic. I wonder about any topic so discussed, debated and dissected, yet with so little progress in our society. But maybe reading these tips or reminders help some.

BTW, I prefer to think of it as life balance, not work-life balance. I need my non-work life in balance too.

Why are you watching this?

A new Australian study shows that someone who spends an average of two hours a day in front of a computer monitor is 36 percent more susceptible than someone who spends none, even if they're not obese and exercise. It also raises the risk of dying from cancer by 8 percent, and all causes 11 percent.

I'm outta here.

Old Fogies

Studies show younger children are incredibly adept at multitasking. A Cal State Dominguez Hills professor says 16-18-year olds perform 7 tasks, as average, such as texting, sending IM and checking Facebook while watching TV. People in their early 20s can handle only 6, and those in their 30s even less.

Me? I'm lucky I was able to publish this.

Alone in a sea of friends

One in four Americans report having no close confidants, up from one in 10 25 years ago. The figures date from 2004, so there's little doubt that Facebook, Twitter and the rest have exacerbated the situation. So, concludes William Deresiewicz, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the more people we know, the lonelier we get.

Goodbye and good riddance

Teachable moment. Czar. Shovel-ready. Sexting. Bromance.

Lake Superior State University's Word Banishment Committee has issued its list of words and phrases it says should be...er...unfriended.

Last year's list included maverick and staycation. Here's the complete list, if you can wrap your head around it.

About my neighbor

One aspect of diversity no one discusses is the irritation factor at work caused by the physical layout of your office -- primarily open space or cubicles. Why is this illustrative of diversity? Because the physical workplace is now more diverse, with people likely to have widely different habits, preferences and sensitivities.

Consider co-workers who talk loudly on the phone, babble on about personal problems or slurp their coffee. Nothing new to me -- I worked in a newsroom for years with reporters pounding on typewriters and shouting into the phone. But it's a relatively new phenomenon to many who are used to offices with doors shut. And it's irritating.

You can try tuning it out. You can try headphones. And if all else fails, you may need to talk to the person when your coping strategies have failed. Experts advise you be as neutral and nonjudgmental as possible, and understand that people may be completely unaware that they are being annoying. And remember they may see you the same way.