Cubicle-Fu

We all need a release. Sometimes in the middle of a particularly frantic mouse-chase across our screen, with various programs hanging, and clicks going astray, it’s hard to maintain a strong sense of centeredness and inner peace.

That’s ok.

The trick is to figure out a way to let it out. Here are a few ideas, for all kinds of people.

How to let it out without getting sent to counseling:

1. Work out
   Hard. Soccer, tennis, or just the gym and a run will help integrate that pent-up frustration.
2. Play a game that involves short bursts of energy
   Ping Pong or Golden Tee work well.
3. Hit something
   If you have a private area, and really won’t get busted, close the door and wail on a pillow.
4. Get in your car, and scream
   I’ve done this a lot, actually. You can use words, or just noise, as long as you’re getting in touch with what’s frustrating and screaming it. I highly recommend driving somewhere where you won’t be seen freaking out, like a highway, or abandoned parking lot.
5. Do something you love, and isn’t working
   There’s something envigorating about just saying “F*#@ it! I’m going to go blog for a while!” when you’re really banging your head.

Do you have other ideas? Leave a comment and share them here.

I read books, and some that don’t have pictures in them. Some of these books, like Getting Things Done and The Four Hour Workweek, have lots of advice for being productive and staying happy while you do what you love. The most common piece of advice towards this nirvana is pretty much this:

Live and appreciate every moment to the fullest. There are no ordinary moments.

Some books, like Way of the Peaceful Warrior, suggest that with this mantra you can achieve a state of enlightenment, the world will seem more saturated, the light from your monitor will elegantly dance on your glasses, your lock and lock container will appear to glow in anticipation of the leftovers it will soon lovingly hold.

But there’s an easier trick. Simply find a moment when you do feel that way, and live every moment like that one. The time that’s almost universally filled with this kind of optimism, in the corporate world, is Fridays. On Fridays don’t you feel more relaxed? Don’t you get more done (maybe so you can get home early)? Don’t you laugh a little bit more, smile, and even skip a little on the way to your company-subsidized snack machine?

So live every day, and every moment, like it was Friday! Simple, right?

If you lived every day like it was Friday, what would that be like? What would you do every day that’s different from every day up till now? Leave a comment, let us know!

Sorting through email is a nice excuse to skip a meeting, sure, “Give me a few minutes, I need to sort through my email.” However, when you’re trying to actually get things done, reading and writing inbox novellas all day is a waste of time.

Sending and receiving emails that communicate well requires basic Cubicle fu. the folks at 43folders put up this great cheat sheet that will have you wielding your email like a katana blade.

http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/19/writing-sensible-email-messages

My favorite piece from the article:

“I’d wager that there’s one visual trick most likely to improve your message’s success: fit it onto one screen with no scrolling. There’s a reason those web ads placed “above the fold” cost a lot more than the ones stuck down at the bottom; it’s the only part of the page that you’re virtually assured that anyone will see. “