Dream or disaster?

We all have had those days where we’d rather pull our eyebrows out one at a time than go into the office. We agonize while showering, shaving, washing our faces, getting dressed would anyone notice if I didn’t come in today. Sometimes, our dread isn’t that deep; we may just want another hour or two under the covers, or to finish that movie we fell asleep during the night before. Alas, work must go on.

For those of us who can work from home, doing so can be a godsend.  In fact, I just Google searched “does working from home work” and over 475 million results popped up. Obviously it’s on our minds a lot more than we think.

Some of the benefits of working from home include having that third cup of coffee yet still wearing your pyjamas and running quick errands to the post office and dry cleaners on “lunch.” As long as you’re productive, you’re working, right?

Not for all of those stay-at-homers. Many find being at home too distracting.  I personally love it; that said, it does require discipline to stay on-track, so here are a few of my own tips:

• Take your shower in the morning, before you begin to work, just like on a regular day. This will help you feel “ready” to work.
• List our your to-dos. Don’t be overly ambitious – prioritize by items that must be accomplished today as well as “extras” that can fill up that 3 or 4 p.m. hour when you’re getting antsy for the day to be over.
• Pencil in a full one-hour lunch break for personal calls, internet surfing, quick errand-running, etc.
• Take a break. Give yourself 5 or 10 minutes to walk the dog, throw in some laundry or write the grocery list. Just keep breaks to a minimum.

I adhere to these rules as much as possible.  Sure, when I’m working I might have an incredible urge to dust off the television screen I rarely see in the daylight, but why not turn it into an incentive or reward for completing the newsletter editorial on your “due today” list?

Pardon me if that sounds ridiculous, but try it.

Now, I’m not saying that one should work from home all the time. There are benefits being in the office, such as maintaining a professional image; remaining looped-in to the office gossip (did you know so-and-so is leaving); being available for spur-of-the-moment lunches or drinks with senior management, etc.

How about you?

Full disclosure: This post was drafted from home on my “lunch hour” during my  two-week on-from-home stint given an ankle injury.

Tags: office, productivity, work

Stepping nowhere

Good news is that traffic to this blog appears  way up over the last week. Bad news is that it happens at a time where I’m not posting about my awesome European travels. Life goes on.

Over the past week of laying, sitting or otherwise being propped up in my living room, I learned a few things. 1) I enjoy working from home, despite the fact that it’s hard to do media outreach because most of the journalists I’m calling don’t live in the country, 2) I have some great colleagues who  have visited bearing gifts (magazines, movies, books, cds, food and even alcohol - which I can’t yet drink ), 3) The hospital system here is kind of comparable to that in the U.S., with the benefit being that there is significantly less paperwork to fill out. And overall, 4) I totally dislike being in a cast.

I’m a bit nervous for my Ortho appointment this week where I will find out next steps, and understandably, I think. Here’s hoping that by my next post re: Steps, I’ll be stepping somewhere!

Tags: anxiety, injury, life

A step forward, and two steps back

You may have seen yesterday’s On In(sprain)ation  post, where I talked about how even though I sprained my ankle, I still was having a good day.  Regrettably, things have taken on a different hue today. 

This morning, I was able to place some pressure on my heel, enough that I could limp – instead of bunny-hopping – from one place to the next. One step forward, right.

Wrong, it still felt awful, so I visited the hospital near my apartment and once the xrays were taken, the doctor led me to “the plaster room.” (How about that for an omen?)

Turns out the good news is that I have no bone breaks or fractures. The bad news is that I completely tore the outer ligament in my left ankle.  The prescription: 10 days in a hard cast + time in an air cast +potentially some physical therapy. And oh, bed rest / no work.  That’s right, a giant, two steps back.

Overall, I’m pretty disappointed that I could be so severly injured in such a nonchalant activity.  I’m definitely bummed that it happened in Belgium, which is more than a few blocks from my friends and family who’d be there in a second in Chicago.  In the end, I’m also bummed that it’s just more proof that Life Goes On. And it will.

Tags: injury, life

On in(sprain)ation

(Maybe that title doesn’t quite work … so, On inspiration … )

My day came to an abrupt stop at 9:23 a.m. today when I landed on my back on the side of my lovely Belgian home street, after rolling my ankle during my mad dash to the tram.  No visit to Brugge (Bruges), no carriage ride, no bell-tower and no local tour guides are in my immediate future.  What a huge bummer, right? Right.

Although so far, I’ve managed to have a good day.  For example, I called my buddy Rory and made him bring me some bandages and an ice pack, and he also showed up with the first season of True Blood, a movie called “Serenity” and some Ben & Jerry’s. (Thank you!) We had a few good laughs and his bandage-job wasn’t too bad, either.

Then, I came across the Pope’s live mass and celebration at Westminster Abbey in London. (Read about his visit on BBC.) I love a good live Catholic ceremony – even when it’s streamed through my television. I also very much admired the speech given by the young man who addressed the Pope on behalf of youth outside the Abbey following mass. The Pope’s address to the young crowds also was lovely, about practicing and being inspired by love.

And then, just a moment ago, I came across this story about Phyllis Greene, a 90 year-old Columbus, Ohio, hospice patient. What makes Phyllis particularly special to me – even though I do not personally know her – is her beautiful attitude on life, even when her’s isn’t going so well, plus the fact that she’s a blogger. I also absolutely love when she says, referring to those who learn about her via her blogging, “I hope that they will think of me fondly.”  It’s one of my most favorite phrases, and it inspired me to look up the Phantom of the Opera song, as well.  So, enjoy the story, and enjoy the song, and hopefully, once in a while, you’ll think of fondly of this post, and visit more often.

Tags: injury, life, running, travelling, Weekend

Onwards and upwards

“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” – E.B. White

I couldn’t describe my daily dilemma better. You see, I believe I am a planner, a dreamer and a goal-achiever. The sentiment roused in me by this quote: desiring to fix the world and desiring to enjoy it, defines one of the greatest battles I have within.

Fortunately, I am lucky in that for the most part – and more now than before – I believe my job enables me to achieve a bit of both. That is, I am an engineer of words that can help draw attention to the more important things in life (example: instilling a pro-bono ethic among professional service providers) across the world.  And, at the same time, I live in Brussels – which I’ve dubbed “the Capital of Europe” – a location that places me 2-4 hours outside of nearly every “hub” on this continent. It reeks of opportunities to experience “living.”

To this day, I am blessed with the opportunity to answer to both of my daily desires.  I’m grateful to take it all in, as big as it seems, to count my blessings and remember my dreams .  I can only hope that one day this connection of my dreams and aspirations will become even clearer.

Tags: inspiration, life, work

Knowledge can be power

Once in a while, I spend an hour or two online specifically with the intention to learn and/or develop my own skills.  For example, last Friday I watched the last few videos in Honda’s “The Power of Dreams” documentary film series. (I particularly enjoyed the Mobility, Dreams v. Nightmares and Failure videos.) Via these I discovered not only what the future may hold, but what my future role could be (from a communications standpoint, of course).

This morning I watched the replay of a webinar by Jack Zenger, of the Zenger Folkman Company, about whether leaders should focus on strengths or weaknesses. Afer a bit of a rocky start, I think it presented some inspiring data that encourages me to take a few steps in the “strength” direction. (Think about it, what makes a leader average (v. strong) is the lack of a profound strength.)  The one point I’ll highlight here is that Mr. Folkman closed with an anonymous quote, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  I laughed, what a quote, right?  But he went on to answer the question brewing in my mind: What’s the main thing in leadership?  Acquiring strengths that inspire & motivate those around you.

My five-word response? True that and check, please.

Tags: education, innovation, inspiration, knowledge, life

Inspiration from the Cat

Take your time, think a lot, think of everything you’ve got. For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Cat Stevens sung those words in “Father and Son.”  He’s one of my favourite artists, and I posted this specific lyric for a few reasons. First, even though here I am nine weeks later, successfully living a quarter of a world away from “home,” getting here wasn’t easy. It took a lot of thinking and a lot of work. In the end, I always have wanted to live and work abroad, and this opportunity has allowed me to do so with the comfort of staying within the same company and – for the most part - within the same field. In this essence, I imagine Cat was right. If I waited too long, the opportunity to achieve my dream with this level of comfort could have gone with the wind.

Secondly, if you were to listen to the song in its entirety, you’d hear the father telling his son to live  for the day.  I think that’s also a very important message. People always are rushing, running, moving so quickly that you can’t see them and they can’t – really – see you.  I believe it’s important to stop and reflect on life, be it through a journal, revisiting emails stuck in the back of your inbox, or sitting with friends and a big glass of red. (I miss this last bit and really look forward to a few good, long nights with friends and family when I come home for the Holidays, or – if I’m lucky – they come out here, first.)

I’ll leave you with another lyric, and if it entices you to experience other Cat songs (like “Another Saturday Night” or one of my two favorites, “Can’t Keep it In” and “Peace Train”) click here for a YouTube playlist.

If you wanna leave, take good care. Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, but just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware, beware. Oh baby, baby, it’s a wild world …

Tags: inspiration, life, move

Something about sharing

My parents love to tell me stories about how when I was a little girl, I would never share my toys. If I was playing with one toy and another child tried to play with a different toy, according to my parents, I would scoot over there, grab it, and say “mine.”

I used to be embarrassed by this, but now I think it’s pretty illustrative of how people change. What do I mean? Well, yesterday that article I wrote for the Company’s intranet was posted (I promise to share it later), and I received a lot of great, positive feedback. Many of my colleagues encouraged me to continue writing and to consider blogging, too.

Thing is, I already do blog. I just haven’t told many people yet.

… and so maybe it’s time for I learn how to share my writing.  What do you think?

Tags: blogging, Brussels, sharing, work, writing

Prudent v. Paranoid II

Given the amount of feedback I have received via email and Skype regarding my earlier post titled Prudent v. Paranoid, I want to take a moment to reiterate that I fully believe in the thinking behind it.  Just like practice makes perfect in learning a foreign language, planning makes prepared in other life situations. 

In the meantime, here’s a picture of my pretty terrace

Tags: anxiety, life, over-thinking

Coins: Euro v. USD

Earlier this week I found some U.S. change in my jacket pocket, and it was so light that it felt like play money.  The Euro, on the other hand, has eight coins that make my wallet weigh at least twice what it did in the U.S. 

Can anyone explain why we have this many coins (2e, 1e, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, 1c)?  And is the Union planning to phase out any coin soon?

Tags: Euro, money, USD