What ELSE TV marathons have to offer.
A growing trend these days seems to be cable TV stations running marathons of their favorite television programs. My favorite one of these has been "American Chopper", although the upcoming New Year's Day "Monk" marathon seems pretty intriguing. My daughter's looking forward to "Law & Order: SVU" and who didn't enjoy 11 straight hours of "West Wing" or Nickelodeon's "Lizzie McGuire Day" or more (and more and more) "Trading Spaces"?! (Hey, I'm just reporting what's out there!)
It takes vegging to a whole new level!
But what if this trend toward "marathon days" entered the workplace, too? What might our weekdays look like under those circumstances ...
Monday could be "Email Day" where all we did was respond to what was in our in-boxes. Now many of you get zillions of emails, but I gotta believe that if you had an entire day to focus just on that, why you might even be able to come in a little bit late on Mondays. And wouldn't that be a nice way to start the week?
Having eased into the week like that, Tuesday would then be "Commitment Day". This would be when you'd be responsible for doing all the things you said you'd do. Just imagine: "Sorry, boss, I can't help you out right now, I'm too busy honoring the commitments I've already made to other people."
Wednesday would just have to be "Commitment Overflow Day" (COD for short). Why? Well for two possible reasons. Reason One: We're not all that good as saying "no" to people, so chances are good that we'll have more work to do than can be done in one single day. Reason Two: I suspect that just as we changed the rules in Monopoly to add a kitty to Free Parking, Tuesday might very well morph into something called "Procrastination Day"." Imagine, a whole day where NOT getting anything done is the order of the day. Knowing America's workforce for what it is, I suspect that in a passive-aggressive way, Tuesdays just might turn out to be the most productive time in our country's entire history! But in the event it's not, that's where "Commitment Overflow Day" comes into play.
Thursday, then, would be "Customer Complaint Day" where your best move would be to tell them to send you an email which you'll look at on Monday.
And finally, Friday could be designated as "Personal/Professional Development Day". That's when you'd focus on that performance improvement plan of yours, practicing your leadership, communications, and delegation skills, talking with your coach, and generally showing the world what a wonderful, caring, and helpful person you are. Wouldn't that be a nice way to head into the weekend? (My guess is that Fridays like that, absenteeism would go markedly down, as well.)
With the New Year at hand, you might just want to think about using this marathon technique (or some variation thereof) to sharpen your skills. Here's the template we just covered:
→ Work to improve the clarity and succinctness of your written (verbal, and non-verbal) communications.
→ Learn how to say "no" or how to make a counter-offer so you don't over-commit (as you typically do).
→ Practice honoring your commitments more consistently, more thoroughly.
→ Interact more regularly with your customers, stakeholders, vendor personnel, and internal staff - the people who rely on you and who you rely on.
→ Do what you need to do to be that much better at what you do (and who you are.)
How's that for a recipe for success? And with that, my work for 2003 is officially done.
Speaking of recipes, I just found out that there's an "Iron Chef" marathon getting ready to start later today~. Gotta go! Happy New Years!
-----Category: _fun
It takes vegging to a whole new level!
But what if this trend toward "marathon days" entered the workplace, too? What might our weekdays look like under those circumstances ...
Monday could be "Email Day" where all we did was respond to what was in our in-boxes. Now many of you get zillions of emails, but I gotta believe that if you had an entire day to focus just on that, why you might even be able to come in a little bit late on Mondays. And wouldn't that be a nice way to start the week?
Having eased into the week like that, Tuesday would then be "Commitment Day". This would be when you'd be responsible for doing all the things you said you'd do. Just imagine: "Sorry, boss, I can't help you out right now, I'm too busy honoring the commitments I've already made to other people."
Wednesday would just have to be "Commitment Overflow Day" (COD for short). Why? Well for two possible reasons. Reason One: We're not all that good as saying "no" to people, so chances are good that we'll have more work to do than can be done in one single day. Reason Two: I suspect that just as we changed the rules in Monopoly to add a kitty to Free Parking, Tuesday might very well morph into something called "Procrastination Day"." Imagine, a whole day where NOT getting anything done is the order of the day. Knowing America's workforce for what it is, I suspect that in a passive-aggressive way, Tuesdays just might turn out to be the most productive time in our country's entire history! But in the event it's not, that's where "Commitment Overflow Day" comes into play.
Thursday, then, would be "Customer Complaint Day" where your best move would be to tell them to send you an email which you'll look at on Monday.
And finally, Friday could be designated as "Personal/Professional Development Day". That's when you'd focus on that performance improvement plan of yours, practicing your leadership, communications, and delegation skills, talking with your coach, and generally showing the world what a wonderful, caring, and helpful person you are. Wouldn't that be a nice way to head into the weekend? (My guess is that Fridays like that, absenteeism would go markedly down, as well.)
With the New Year at hand, you might just want to think about using this marathon technique (or some variation thereof) to sharpen your skills. Here's the template we just covered:
→ Work to improve the clarity and succinctness of your written (verbal, and non-verbal) communications.
→ Learn how to say "no" or how to make a counter-offer so you don't over-commit (as you typically do).
→ Practice honoring your commitments more consistently, more thoroughly.
→ Interact more regularly with your customers, stakeholders, vendor personnel, and internal staff - the people who rely on you and who you rely on.
→ Do what you need to do to be that much better at what you do (and who you are.)
How's that for a recipe for success? And with that, my work for 2003 is officially done.
Speaking of recipes, I just found out that there's an "Iron Chef" marathon getting ready to start later today~. Gotta go! Happy New Years!
-----Category: _fun
Labels: Just for Fun
posted by Barry Zweibel at 10:52 AM
<< Home