Tag: workplace

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motivation

Caught in the Entitlement Trap

It’s way too easy to get caught in the entitlement trap. After all, we’ve worked throughout our lives. We deserve a raise or special recognition, right? We’ve always had that benefit or this perk. Why shouldn’t we keep receiving it?

But the challenge with that mode of thinking is believing we can rest on past accomplishments. We deceive ourselves into thinking what got us here should be what keeps us here. In short, we get a little lazy and stop striving to be better. It reminds me of this proverb:

“Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
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children's ministry children's ministry cartoons K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation work

When You Just Can’t Work Remotely

Cartoon of a man observing a woman with s smartphone. She says, "Frank texted me. He's supposed to be in the K-1 class, but he's out of town. He offered to watch the class if we Skype him in."
Originally published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

As the novel coronavirus concerns ramped up, there was a big emphasis on working from home. But we soon heard, “What happens when you just can’t work remotely?”

For many office jobs, we found it was a possibility. As a graphic designer, that can be a preferred mode of working. After all, you just need a laptop and a speedy Internet connection, and you are in business. However, after two years, we’ve found there are aspects of remote work that just don’t work.

Also, there are many jobs where that just isn’t possible. Manufacturing requires workers to be at the machines and be productive. As a Graphics Manager at such a facility, I soon found I was needed at the plant. While we had some office workers off-site as a precaution, we still needed office workers there to keep the jobs moving.

While some schoolwork can be done remotely, someone has to be there to guide a child and keep him out of trouble. Someone has to be home to feed her. Sure, The parent can do that… while they are working remotely… and having their web conference with that important client… and keeping the dog quiet. What could go wrong?

We soon found out! Remote learning has been very hard for students. I feel for them. While remote employment has worked, remote learning has been very hard for kids.

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children cartoons Safety Cartoons School Cartoons webcomic

Safety is the Best Policy

When I first drew this cartoon, I was concerned mainly with safety in children’s ministry. I had no idea a few years later I would be managing at a printing facility. Since then, I have truly learned safety is the best policy.

Cartoon of a boy with a cast and a teacher

Safety at Work

Before then, I didn’t think too much about workplace safety. I had been in office settings. When I visited warehouses and printing facilities, I let the host worry about safety. I see now how foolish that was. For there are hazards even in an office environment.

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Book Review motivation

Towards Deep Work

The previous two days, I have written about the book, Deep Work by Cal Newport. It took me several months after receiving the book to read it. Before that, this book was on my to-read list for a couple of years. How ironic is that? I knew the concept was important, but I was hesitant. Could I really move towards deep work?

I have far from mastered it so far. But at least I see the importance and am taking steps. For some time, I have been concerned about the tyranny of the urgent. I have observed that there are important tasks that all of us need to accomplish. Yet, urgent matters keep us from checking the important off our list.

The last couple of days, the book prompted me to write about the following:

Today, I am writing about the rules Cal Newport presents for deep work.

The Rules

  1. Work Deeply
  2. Embrace Boredom
  3. Quit Social Media
  4. Drain the Shallows

Work Deeply

It should go without saying, but to move towards deep work, we need to work deeply. We must see the value of deep work and commit to executing it. Cal goes into several ways to do that and I encourage you to read the book.

All of us are different and one method will work better than others. He goes into methods that range from closing ourselves off for a day, to finding time like a journalist throughout the day to use bits and pieces of time and using it with intentionality.

The bottom line is that we can make time if we make it a priority. That doesn’t mean we will always be successful, but we tend to do and go where we are focused.

Embrace Boredom

This is a hard one for most of us. When I am waiting for a computer to catch up with me, I tend to grab my phone and see what the latest headlines are. We have wired ourselves to eliminate boredom. We want that endorphin rush that a social media post or latest new article brings.

But Cal maintains that we must allow time to think. It made me realize how often I am willing to let an unknown source influence my thinking instead of allowing myself to think on my own.

This will be very difficult for most of us, as it is for me. Can we be satisfied with just sitting in silence? Can we think a thought without being heavily influenced by a source? I will need to work on that one!

Quit Social Media

I don’t know about that one! And the more I think about that possibility, the more I realize how addicted I am to different platforms. However, does social media really add value?

Do social media influencers influence us in positive ways? At best, they may give us a unique, creative twist on doing something. At worst, they may cause us to do something harmful. Who are these social media influencers anyway?

We get dragged into so many directions when we are on social media. I will have to reconsider my consumption and how it has affected me.

Drain the Shallows

Cal doesn’t say get rid of all shallow work. There are emails we need to answer and urgent items that we will need to take care of. Very few of us can live the life of a monk and sequester ourselves in an undisclosed location.

However, he does maintain we can tame the amount of shallow work we do. There is a difference between answering important emails and living by the email list. Let’s face it. Many emails are distractions from marketing lists anyway.

Much of draining the shallows involves recognizing which work is shallow and which is deep. He gives examples in the book

Towards Deep Work

I am nowhere near succeeding at these steps. But they have given me much to think about. At the very least, it has made me consider how much time I am devoting to deep work that will have lasting value. The book is definitely worth a read or listen.

Categories
motivation

The Lure of Screens

The Lure of Screens

Screens are all around us. They became, even more, a part of us in the last two years. We use them to communicate with our schools and workplaces while hunkering down at home. Screens have been a part of our work and play. They have even become a part of our churches. It is no wonder we have an issue when it comes to the lure of screens.

Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work, came out before the Pandemic. But its message is more appropriate for today.

“One of the main obstacles to going deep: the urge to turn to something more superficial.”

Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. New York, NY: Grand Central, 2016. 

Discerning the Superficial

The problem today is that superficiality is much more subtle. One moment, we can be in the middle of research for work or school. The next moment, we are distracted by an online ad that popped up in the middle of the research.

I have been working from home for the last couple of weeks. One challenge I have had is a slow VPN. I need to connect to it for work. But the connection can be very slow. While I wait for the computer to catch up, I have to discern what I can do while waiting.

We can be very distracted from deep work when we are working on computers. If the connection is slow, we can be challenged by the lure of another screen. We have no shortage of screens these days. If a computer is slow, there is always the phone or television to check on.

“The lure of the Internet and televison proved especially strong.”

Newport, Cal. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. New York, NY: Grand Central, 2016. 

Between our temptation to multitask and the lure of yet another screen, we can find ourselves being lured away from deep work. When we try to rely on willpower, we often find that it is limited and as the day progresses, we are more apt to give in to our desire to be distracted. Very few of us have the luxury to be marooned on a desert island.

Guy on desert island: Three days earlier, Gary asked God to eliminate from his life all temptation.

Screens lure us. After all, you may have been lured here as you waited for your computer too. We are all prone to be distracted. Tomorrow, I’ll look into some solutions to our distraction dilemma.