Getting Things Done (or Not)

It’s Friday night. The end of the week. I feel like I got nothing accomplished at work this week. I am so overwhelmed I can’t keep up.

Have you ever felt this way? I have all these great ideas, but I can’t seem to get them to come to life. The old saying is all talk but no action. But that’s not exactly true. I do lots of thinking, reading, research, networking, talking, communicating. It’s the actual completing the tasks on a task list to complete a project that is my problem.

I do a lot of work online. So let’s say I go to Google to look up something. Something else will catch my attention and an hour later I realize I haven’t finished what I meant to do. I’ve tried even disconnecting from the Internet, but I still get distracted. Focus seems to be a huge problem for me at the moment and it’s a new one. I’ve never had this problem until recently. I can only attribute it to information overload. I have too much input on a daily basis to generate any output.

I’m a big fan of the Getting Things Done method. I think I’ll go back to using the task list next week.

I’ve also over committed myself for the next month. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to get all the things done that I need to do.

It’s been a few days since I’ve heard from my mentor. I hope everything is ok.

Holding back

This week has been crazy busy. I had a meeting with my manager today. I had no idea going into the meeting what it would be about. I posted a message to my mentor to get an idea of how I could handle things better. I have a habit of saying too much — self-regulation issues.

My mentor advised me to be as upbeat and positive as possible. Much as I’d like to vent or question authority there is a time and place.

I took my mentor’s advice and tried to listen more than I talked. I held back any negative questions, comments, or concerns. The meeting went really well. It’s amazing how such a small piece of wisdom can have a big impact.

The funny thing is…this is nothing I didn’t already know. Sometimes it just helps to be reminded.

Inspiration

I’m participating in a project called the 31 Day Comment Challenge. I came across this by accident and have found some really great sites. More about that later.

Tonight though I found this little gem of inspiration. I think I’ll print this out and post it on my desk.

1. Forget about yourself, focus on others.
2. Forget about your commodity, focus on your relationships.
3. Forget about the sale, focus on creating value.
4. Forget about your losses, focus on your opportunities.
5. Forget about your difficulties, focus on your progress.
6. Forget about the “future,” focus on today.
7. Forget about who you were, focus on who you can be.
8. Forget about events, focus on your responses.
9. Forget about what’s missing, focus on what’s available.
10. Forget about your complaints, focus on your gratitude.

Today is worse than a Monday

Excuse me while I whine for a minute.

I have a headache. I don’t want to be at work today. I don’t feel like doing anything. I have not accomplished anything today. I really think that I need to start unplugging while I am at work. I have IM running, Twitter running, email notifications, the phone. It seems as though something pops up or makes a noise on my screen every few seconds. It is impossible for me to concentrate.

Then there is work. I’m just not motivated today. I have the thought that all the hard work I have done could be pulled out from under me in the blink of an eye with the changes in my organization. I need an attitude check.

Tomorrow I have a full calendar. I won’t even be in my office for more than a few minutes.

Do you ever have days like this? How do you get through them?

A Case of the Mondays

Not much to report so far. It’s Monday after all. My mentor and I have been bouncing a lot of posts back and forth about alternate career options since I am in the midst of a reorganization and unsure of my job status. One of my assignments is to interview people who have a job that I am interested in. So I will be looking for people to interview.

Right now I am preparing for a meeting with my manager about the reorganization. My mentor had some great advice for me on this that I will paraphrase.

Stay positive. Even though I may want to vent this is not the time for it.

I have so many frustrations right now I don’t even know where to start. If you’ve ever been through a reorganization I’d love to hear comments on how you managed to get through it? Were you better off in the end? Or worse off?

I’m hoping this experience will give me a chance to grow and move on to the perfect position for me.

Introductions & Goals

I received a message from my new mentor today. I’m so excited. They actually found someone who works in the same field as me! I can’t believe it. My mentor has experience in the position that I have now and the position that I aspire to have. My mentor also has the same hobbies and personal interests as me.

It is a little odd at first composing a response to someone whose name I don’t know. But I suppose with time it will get easier.

I was asked to complete an Introductions exercise. In it I describe my job, life, past mentoring experiences, and goals for this experience.

I’ll share a summary of my introduction here.

I work for a fairly large non-profit. I’m basically a jack of all trades. I do public relations, computer work, training, etc. My organization is going through a major reorganization. I’m not sure where I will fit in when all is said and done. I’d like to advance in my career but I feel stuck. As a 30-something I feel stuck. I’m no longer entry level, but I’m not quite ready for management either.

I’m married with three children. My biggest hobby is writing (can’t you tell )!

I’ve never had a formal mentor before. I have had several informal relationships that I viewed as a mentor/mentee relationship. Since those were not formal arrangements there was no schedule nor goals –just advice here and there.

So my goal with this six month mentoring experience is to:

• Determine my next step career wise
• Establish a long term career path and associated goals
• Boost my self-confidence
• Project a more professional, positive image
• Improve my weak EQ areas of self-regulation and emotionalism
• Find a good balance between work and family

Think I can accomplish all that in six months?

About the Mentors

I realized after my last post that some of you may be wondering more about who my mentor may be. I know I’m wondering the same thing!

Some info from the EQmentor website:

EQmentor has certified mentors from across the country, and from most industries and vocations. These mentors are typically of the Baby Boomer generation or retirees, have had successful professional careers, and are genuinely and intrinsically, interested in mentoring others. Mentors work asynchronously and online, allowing EQmentor to recruit the best mentors from across the nation.

Our industry-leading comprehensive screening, education, certification and matching process, ensures mentor-mentee relationships of the highest quality.

It will be interesting to see who I am paired up with. I’m not in a traditional business environment so I’m not sure how they will find someone that matches my work in the non-profit world. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’s always good to get a different perspective.

A Match

Silly I feel like I’ve been matched on match.com or eharmony. But I have been matched with my mentor from EQmentor!

I can’t wait to “see” who this person is. I hope it is no one I know. I have this fear that it will be a scene out of the Piña Colada song and I will somehow be matched with my boss. Can you imagine?

Luckily the folks at  EQmentor have assured me that it won’t happen.

My Scores

I received an email with a copy of my EQ results from the Emotional Intelligence Assessment and Personality Inventory that I took last week.

The results were not really a surprise. I scored above average in all areas except Self-Regulation. I received a 26 in Self-Regulation. The average is around 37. Self-Regulation is the ability to think before speaking and acting. I already knew that this is one of my weakest areas. I tend to react and then pay for it later.

I scored well above average for Empathy.
Self-Awareness, Motivation, and Social Skills were slightly above average.

As far as the Personality Inventory no surprises there either. I’m slightly Extroverted. Very agreeable. Conscientious. Open-Minded. Off the charts Emotional!

So what does this all mean?

I would say overall I scored very well. But I have some areas that definitely need work! Self-Regulation and Emotionalism. I’m guessing that pair goes hand in hand. I’d be curious to see if others who score low in Self-Regulation also tend to be emotional.

I’ll try to give you an example of how I see that pairing.

I’m sure you’ve known someone who seems very sensitive or emotional. This type of person gets his or her feelings hurt very easily. Cries easily. Angers easily. Now with a low Self-Regulation score this type of person reacts on those feelings without thinking through the consequences. In other words, if you make me mad I’ll tell you what I think of you before I even ask for your side of the story!

Now that I have been scored I’m waiting to be paired up with a mentor. I’m really excited to “meet” this person!

First Steps

I received my welcome message from EQ Mentor. I immediately clicked on the link within the email to complete my registration.

I completed the following:

• Mentee Profile - similar to a job application but anonymous
• Emotional Intelligence Assessment
• Personality Inventory

I’m anxious to see the results and get started!