In light of my own flagging motivation, I’ve been trying to read up on ways to motivate. It seems like such a simple prospect, you find what motivates you and use that to pull yourself through whatever you’re working on.
Lately, that hasn’t really helped me out.
My background being education, I’ve tried intrinsic motivators and extrinsic motivators. I’ve tried a punishment and reward system. Everything seems to be falling apart, and I’m so used to being highly motivated that it’s really bringing me down.
Combing through the Carnival of the Capitalists this morning, I read an article that really made me start thinking. There will always be education’s view on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation…but what if the nature vs. nurture argument for intelligence and temperament spilled over into the motivation arena.
It really doesn’t resolve my problem because I happen to have a motivated parent and a life history of being overly motivated at times, but what if motivation was a habit that could be defined as a by-product of your inborn traits or your environment? Think about it- You could theoretically train yourself to be more motivated. Does this defy the intrinsic vs. extrinsic fight, or does it perhaps build on it? The idea is that you start a child with extrinsic motivators and gradually move them to intrinsic motivators. It should work for adults, too.
This doesn’t even begin to consider the concept of internal vs external pressure, which I suspect would play a large part in the situation, too.
I may have to think on this one for a bit…
Posted by Rebecca as Creativity, inspiration, and motivation at 7:34 AM EST
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I’ve been reading up on storyboarding while working on a few projects around here, trying to get a feel for what it is and how to use it as a planning tool.
It started out just fine. I was reading. Articles were helpful. I bookmarked a handful. Life was going great.
And then last week, the trend slid into using storyboards to create comic-book style storyboards. This does not mean using storyboards the way comic book writers do. This means creating a storyboard that looks like a comic book. Instead of separating the concept and the art, the two are merged together without any attempt to describe the content beyond what’s available in the panel itself.
Realizing I’m still very new to storyboarding, I open the floor to those who are more experienced: Doesn’t this sort of defeat the purpose of storyboarding?
Posted by Rebecca as Skill building at 7:46 AM EST
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The other day, we looked at games as a means of personal development. Today, we consider games as a means of training the group.
One of the most common and useful training game is the role-playing simulation. No longer the domain of teenagers huddled around a table with cans of Mountain Dew lying around, role playing possible situations has become a popular way to help employees explore appropriate responses in a safe environment. It helps the team get into the mindset of the people they will be working with, which in turn allows them to be sympathetic when things don’t go as planned. It’s important for these simulations to explore not only good scenarios, but the worst-case scenarios as well.
Another common training game is the quiz show review. After teaching things, we always have to check to make sure our students understand, and what’s more fun than styling that check for understanding with a quiz show! It keeps the learning environment fun and helps everyone review.
One of my favorites in training was always some sort of brainstorming game. I’ve seen these take many shapes, but I like it because it can take on a Scattergories feel, or it can be topic-based, and the suggested competition or timed element creates a friendly sense of competition. It also allows for some great ideas to be brewed in a safe zone.
We respond well to games because we perceive them as fun and interesting. They help break up the training into digestible sections, and they can help get the ppint of the training across so that the actual training never stops.
Posted by Rebecca as Skill building at 8:59 AM EST
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Remember when we were children and the grown-ups told us certain types of games were for kids. Isn’t it funny how times change? Or maybe we changed the world ourselves by bringing our games with us.
I’m not saying that everyone who plays games like DDR or Guitar Hero is automatically some trained dancer or guitar player, but there are training simulations that are honestly training simulations. I complete my behavior-based interviewing training via a training simulator. It’s well-known that the military uses training simulators to help prepare their people.
Some would say it’s just the video game generation playing their childish games, but when games are designed purposefully, the person playing the game can actually learn something beneficial.
Look around. What skills could you pick up from a simulator? Have you already picked up or strengthened skills via some sort of simulator? You may have, and not even be aware of it!
Posted by Rebecca as Skill building at 8:21 AM EST
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It’s no secret that I’m a bit manic about handshaking, to the point that i actually will not do business with someone who has a poor handshake.
Imagine my glee when I read this post yesterday! Make sure to note my favorite section of the article:
Shaking A Woman’s Hand:
Keep in mind that shaking a woman’s hand should be treated the same as shaking a man’s hand. You should clasp palms and match their grip with your own.
“Match their grip with your own”. Make a note of that. This isn’t Ye Olden Days. You aren’t being judged on your ability to defend yourself, but you are being judged. You’re being judged by everyone you encounter, including the women you do business with. Speaking as a business woman, if you want my respect, bring a solid handshake!
Posted by Rebecca as Networking at 9:52 AM EST
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I often find the web clips in Gmail to be a bit too intrusive for my taste, but yesterday, they were intrusively intriguing.
One of my coworkers is a high school student trying to finalize her application and scholarship essays, and I’ve been helping her work on them. I also help her with her English papers from time to time. This morning, I had one of each, and the web clips both referred me to leadership-related sites.
I ignored the one tied to the college essay, but the one connected to the English essay led me to a collection of PDFs. I’ve added them to my reading list for the next couple of weeks, and I’m pretty excited. I really ought to send the link to my coworker, because her paper is an attempt to define her vision of leadership, and I think they’d help her sharpen her already sharp views.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized, Leadership and management at 8:21 AM EST
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This topic has become near and dear to me recently.
Taken at its normal meaning, working while “under the weather” means you’re in some way sick, and probably should be at home resting instead of working. In today’s work culture, that means that you’re sitting in your cubicle or office with half a dozen OTC drugs close at hand and looking paler than the ghost rumored to haunt your office building. If you’re lucky, it means you’re telecommuting form your couch with medicine in one hand and chicken soup in the other.
What it means more than anything else, though, is that you aren’t working to your fullest potential, because you simply can’t. Your body wants to shut down to heal and become better.
I’ve been wrestling with allergies and an interrupting head cold since mid-October. (I become immune to anti-histamines really quickly) Because I’m used to having allergies, I’ve just been working through them as I always do, but this year I’m noticing a severe drop in my motivation and productivity. I’m making silly mistakes I normally wouldn’t make. I’m not getting things done. And I’ve finally figured out why this year is different. This year, I have a headache from my allergies that is slowly getting worse.
My head is in severe pain, and is exerting its power to stop the rest of me from functioning. This is why it’s always nice to give yourself a break from work when you’re sick.
Another way of looking at being under the weather has become very near and dear to my heart over the past few days. Seattle has been rained on. Granted, this is normal for Seattle, but over the weekend, it rained hard and continuously. Some areas south and east of my neighborhood are so badly flooded that they’ve been evacuated. One of my coworkers has to go nearly an hour out of her way to get to work. My own possible paths to work have become very treacherous. In fact, at one point on Monday, the nearby highway was more lake than road, making getting home a very dangerous proposition.
Again, as with the health problems, you can hope to sit and wait it out at work, not being productive because you’re worried about how the weather is affecting you and those you love. You can work from home if your work allows for that. You can just call in and tell them that you cannot get safely to work (I’ve worked for places where that was considered a poor excuse, even while a hurricane or blizzard, or their remnants, raged outside.)
Weather can have a harmful effect on your productivity. You can’t control it, so you ought to consider what your back-up plans are going to be.
Posted by Rebecca as Uncategorized at 8:39 AM EST
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The short story is: Manage your career or risk being miserably unhappy doing your job.
That’s a bit harsh, I know, but I think that in some part that really is the down side to not actively managing your career. It is your career, after all. Start by analyzing the skills and experience you have. Then analyze the job you’re currently performing. Do the two match? Are you doing what makes you happy?
If so, then congratulations and keep it up.
If not, figure out where the gaps are in your career and decide how you are going to close them.
Posted by Rebecca as Changing careers, Skill building, self-analysis at 8:21 AM EST
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I think I’ve been a freelance editor for almost a year now, and am trying to move into freelance writing and freelance instructional design now. It’s hard, and I’m not doing half of what I ought to be in order to be successful
To get myself back on track, and to help out those who might be looking to start their own freelance career, I present The Beginner’s Guide to Freelancing! It’s a bit field-specific, but you can easily apply much of the knowledge present to your own field.
Found via Lifehacker
Posted by Rebecca as Freelancing at 8:14 AM EST
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