Cause to Pause

I saw this post from Christopher Dawsonover at ZDNET:

“Just a brief rant here, folks…I talked a while ago about my superintendent and how he used AOL extensively for calendaring and communication. Basically, I came to the conclusion that if we don’t provide users with a range of tools to satisfy their needs, they’ll bring crappy ones on-site that we’ll need to support (like AOL).”

Now there is a little bit of wisdom! One of the challenges we face in church data is “silos of information”. People maintaining their Excel sheets, Outlook contact lists, etc outside of the main database. This became a topic of discussion at the FL.CITRT during the session on IT Strategy.

One of the axioms I picked up over 10 years ago from Calvary Chapel, Ft. Lauderdale was that their entire method of ministry had been boiled down to:
“Find a need and fill it.”

The same applies to internal tools: listen to needs, prove the tools, maintain ongoing dialog, be willing to set aside pride and the “I am right, you WILL do it MY way” type of thinking.

It is either that or fractured ministry, silos of information, frustrated staff on both sides and burned out volunteers.

I saw this sign at a Dunkin’ Donuts on Sunday afternoon. Now, I like doughnuts as much as the next guy. Maybe more so. In fact, I believe the Boston Creme doughnut ranks right up there with the Chevy small block and 90 feet between bases as evidence that God still shows favor on mankind.
But the fact remains: I don’t need a dozen doughnuts. I don’t even really need one doughnut, but I should certainly stay away from a dozen of them.
Which leads me to think: are there other things in life we don’t need a dozen of? Or really even one of? I am not suggesting we live like monks walking around in gray wool and burlap, but I am thinking more along the lines of time. Efficiency. How we spend our days.

There are countless things we could buy. But it probably really won’t change our lives. A 42″ flat screeen won’t change your life. Especially once you get it home as see the commercial for the next wave that includes 3d technology.

Maybe some of the things we do on a daily basis really don’t add value either. They just seem like it at the time. But that is the question. “Does this add value?”
Whether or not it adds value is up to you to determine.
Some may say the inane posts of twitter do not add value. That it is just the height of nacissism to think someone actually cares that you are in line at a rental agency. Or at a peewee soccer game. Or headed to a meeting you would rather avoid. I disagree. It may be the only window into a friend’s world you have. And it may prompt you to pray for them.
At the other end of the spectrum you could spend a whole day on some project, drive yourself nuts, finally accomplish it, and at the end of it be forced to recognize that it was little more than “busy work”. That time would have been better spent on something that would directly impact someone else’s life. Either personally or by making their workday easier.

So, as we go through this week, I would challenge us all to look at what we are doing, thinking, saying and ask:
“Does this add value? Or is just a box of doughnuts I don’t need?”

There’s a blog title that’ll get you banned from the internet.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Specifically for about the last year or so. This month it was confirmed by that most reliable sources: The Reader’s Digest. According to Joseph Hallinan, when we multi-task, we get stupid. The problem comes in from switching back and forth between tasks. He quoted a Microsoft study that found it took a group, on average, 15 minutes to get back to productive tasks after answering email. This was because after they were done, they “strayed off to answer other messages or surf the web”.
I know this to be true, because when the revolving door they put in my office spins, it takes me a while to get refocused on what I was doing. The more complex task, the longer it takes. Like having a bookmark fall out: the more complex the story, the longer the break, the more involved the interruption, the harder it is to find where you were in the plot.
The counter to that is a quote from a friend of mine “I don’t know about chaining 100 monkeys to a 100 typewriters for a 100 years and getting a Shakespeare play, but I do know that if you lock a bunch of web developers in a room with a case of Diet Mountain Dew, in a couple of hours you will have a REALLY cool Silverlight app.”
It always seemed to me, the more things I tried to do at once, the less of them I got done. Or at least done well. Charles Emerson Winchester III said “I do one thing at a time. I do it VERY well. And then…..I move on.” Which seems like a neat thing in a sitcom about Korean M*A*S*H Units, but how does that apply today?
Knowing the brain does not really perform multiple things at once, it is just capable of VERY fast switching between tasks is a start.
Simple rules will also help:
1. Check email twice a day
2. Check voice mail twice a day
3. Check twitter once an hour (let’s be serious)
4. Integrate your social networking via Digsby or some other client.
5. Take your lunch break away from your desk (personal habit of mine)
6. When you are with someone, be PRESENT with them.
7. Ask a simple question “Is this interruption worth destroying my momentum?”

There might be more on this one in the future. Provided the post title doesn’t get me banned. In the meantime, what helps you be focused and productive?