Too Soon!

As stores moved their Halloween candy and decorations to the clearance section out came the Thanksgiving items to be put on display. But the turkey day decorations are limited in their shelf space as the Christmas stock was already dominating the aisles. With nearly two months to go, the winter holiday was already on full display smacking you in the face the moment you walked through the door.

Over the past couple of weeks the oversaturation has only gotten worse as the music is filling the stores and the slowly trickling into the radio rotation. And this week is seems as though the weather has joined in on the premature celebration with the cold and flurries filling the air. Even as I write this line there is the Hershey kiss red and green holiday bells ringing in the background. All of this is too much and way too early.

Growing up this was a time of year that I looked forward to… it was a something that I waited for with great anticipation and I could count on the decorations and music to change the world around me the week following Thanksgiving. Now it is an entire season, the same length as winter or fall, that overshadows all the other days that make up autumn. For some this is a welcomed change but, for me, it is robbing the appreciation that we once had for the sow decent into the cold weather and the holidays, events, and transitions that I enjoyed years ago.

But I guess this is to be expected during a time when people want everything right now and want it for as long as possible. With instant gratification found in every corner of the internet and easy access through all means of communication, there is no more patience left in everyday life. That is what I think I miss the most, the enjoyment of the day to day. Each day offered a little change during the fall and built up the anticipation to what we knew was to fall upon us at the very beginning of winter.

While my focus has changed as I have gotten older and the holidays which I embrace are completely different, the spirit that fills this time of year seems to be watered down by extending it over such a long period of time. Now, we find Halloween trees on display in early October and a mix of music filling stores in the midst of the fire that fills the autumn landscape. If only we could go back to the slower pace and patience that came with the day to day enjoyment of the season. Maybe we could enjoy the individual holidays rather than suffering from a merry overload by the time December comes around.

How Many Emails Is Too Many?

I know many people that have numerous business cards. We all know people that have multiple cards that they shuffle around in their pocket, their briefcase, or their purse. And while some people may see this as an antiquated form of sharing your information, it seems to only be gaining in popularity. Here is the part where I admit that I am one of those people that still uses the traditional business card. In fact, all four of my cards have a specific purpose and, when you look back, it is interesting to see a glimpse of your personal history when you look back at all of your old cards.

However, the aspect that becomes a bit cumbersome is not the flipping between one card and another. It is on the technology side of things. Each card has an email address and not all my email addresses have business cards. Pretty much everyone I know has two email addresses these days. One for work and one personal. So far, I am up to six email addresses.

There are some days when I miss not having an email address. Remember the days when, if you wanted to talk to someone, you would either call, meet them somewhere, or write a letter? Now, in addition to the email addresses I am constantly shifting through throughout the day there is also all the social media channels that I try and manage. All told, I figure there is about 15-20 forms of communication that is constantly streaming correspondences, updates, notifications, and actual messages that I want to read and respond to. At this point it is a bit of a refreshing change when my phone rings and I am actually able to have a conversation with someone. And given the various duties, jobs, and responsibilities that I enjoy on a daily basis, I never really know what the call will be about.

In a sad little twist, have you ever noticed that too many calls these days, and I am guilty of this at times, are a means to confirm that an email was sent? Some days I would like people to embrace just a single thin strand of patience and wait for me to reply. It makes you wonder if, with all these communications streams deluging us with data whether it is too much. The fact that we have to use two forms of communication to relay a single message just isn’t right.

I honestly don’t know what needs to change. There is going to have to be either a slowdown in the adoption of new social media channels or we are going to have to learn how to filter out the unnecessary traffic and focus on the important tidbits scattered throughout our inboxes. For now, I will continue doing my best to keep everything up and running and keep the ebb and flow of communications going. And, of course, I will keep blogging about the random topics that come to mind.

Playing Catch Up

The past couple of weeks have provided me with a seemingly endless stream of work. The kind of heavy flow that leave you searching for the cut off valve. While nothing that needs to be done is of any significant size, the volume of the work is what keeps growing.

The greatest hindrance to the whole thing really isn’t the things that I know that need to be done it is the collection of all the things that I keep forgetting about. The tasks and projects that have been put aside temporarily in order to take care of the faux urgent. Today was a perfect example of this as I was knocking things out at a pretty steady pace with what looked like an end point in site. Then my mind began churning and bringing to the forefront items that had been blocked out for days.

This really isn’t anything new. Sometimes it is what needs to be done in order to focus on more pressing matters. Sometimes it is because my mind is wandering about while I am typing. On the rare occasion, it is because I just zone out and things evaporate. Of course, there are the occasion where all of these fun things come into play as they play tetherball with my gray matter allowing me to catch a quick glimpse of a thought before sending it back to the forgotten files in the corner.

Is this a problem? No, not really. It doesn’t get in the way of getting things done on time. Maybe the occasional lapse of time between communications but nothing that would entail missing a deadline. In fact, it is my minds way of making sure that things get done. Even the best juggler has limits as to how many things they can keep afloat. Yes, it’s a cliché and I used it. If I tried to keep everything going on within easy mental reach it would be impossible to get things done. Even simple things would be a chore and choked with the thoughts of other unrelated projects. It would be like Bill Clinton at a sorority house slumber party… at some point you just freeze up and not be able to function even though you know what to do.

Basically, in order for some people to remain productive, you have to become stupid. I am talking about a liberal dose of stupidity that ensures you mind has a singular, however ridiculous, purpose. You have to do this while maintaining a damn good mental hard drive to pull things back up when needed. One project at a time because even the best computer can crash if you let it overheat (usually if you open up too many programs at the same time).

If needed, don’t be afraid to shut it down and smack the crap out of it… old school IT support is sometimes the best solution. With that said, time to revisit the land of the simple minded where liberal doses of stupidity are the norm and everything has a blue tint to it. Without all that pesky thinking I should be able to catch up sooner than I thought possible.