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?