Tag / Productivity

by tracycpoetry

In The Middle of Changes

I wrote the comments below to share on LinkedIn. But I am sharing them as a blog post as well because the principles of navigating change and respect for those in the midst of change apply to so many areas of life….

If a job doesn’t fit, it is still a great organization and you are still an amazing professional and person. Professional growth and personal growth are rarely linear and are sometimes rife with unpredictable stops and starts.

I have had seasons where I’ve stayed with the same organization for 5 to 15 years. But in my most recent 4 years, I have worked for 4 different organizations. I am learning that is not failure. It is simply what life demands and how growth looks sometimes.

I left one of my most amazing work families (who still remain some of my closest friends) to try something I had never done before… only to find it was not a fit.

During my father’s illness and death I completely stepped away from leadership roles for a season to give my self time to care, grieve, and heal.

Next…. A brief season back on the frontlines of healthcare reminded me why I was drawn into the fields of Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety in the first place. I have a unique gift for seeing what needs to be changed in healthcare and for bringing people together to make those changes. And now I am ready to use that gift again.

I share my story to challenge all of us to not be hard on ourselves during times of change and transition.

Also…. If you are a recruiter or other hiring leader, I challenge you not to quickly toss a resume or CV aside if you see frequent role changes or a short length of stay in a position. Sometimes, knowing when it is time to go shows more professional excellence than staying.

by tracycpoetry

Procrastination: When Enough REALLY is ENOUGH!

I have tried everything… and I mean everything in a lifelong struggle to become more organized, more focused, more self-disciplined and stop procrastinating!  I have quite a collection of self-help books, sermon series, house-cleaning/organizing tools, and so on and so forth.

But, lately (thanks to God’s faithfulness to surround me with amazing leaders, friends, and mentors), I’ve been learning more and more that sometimes our battles, struggles, addictions, whatever…. are really just the fruit of something not being quite right at the root of our lives.  So, this morning as I was getting ready for work – I got a glimpse into something in my “root system” that can lead to a lot of chaos and “hamster-in-a-wheel” running-hard-but-not-getting-anywhere type activity instead of the focus and productive forward motion that I long for.

I had a little more time to think because my cell phone was dead and the charger wasn’t working {insert gasp of horror here}.  So after the initial “I-cannot-survive-without-my-cell” panic passed (and “looky-there”- I lived), I started thinking:  “Wow…. I should keep my cell phone off every morning…. I’m getting so much more then and actually have time to listen to God and sort through my thoughts and feel so much more ready to tackle the day ahead.”

Then I started thinking about why all of our “smart devices” become such a tool for procrastination.  I mean, is what we happen to be scrolling through really all that interesting?  Why do I do it?  Then the phrase “Enough is enough!” kept coming to mind.   On its face, the phrase is about having”Enough of what’s wrong”.  We often hear it as a mantra to end abuse, discrimination, and so much else that is wrong in the world.  But today, those words spun around a bit differently in my head.  Here’s how it went:  Perhaps if I truly saw my “enough” (whatever is already in me, whatever I already have) as truly “enough” (exactly what I need) to accomplish all I have to do – perhaps I could end the constant search for more (more affirmation through Facebook “likes”, more information through internet searches, more entertainment through YouTube videos of puppies and such) only to discover that I have plenty of time and resources to accomplish all that I have been called to…. all that I dream of.

Even lower tech devices, like a bed/pillows/blankets, can have this pull.  Hitting the snooze button 17 times is really me saying: I don’t have enough (rest, energy, courage, whatever) to face the day yet so I need more sleep or to hide under the covers a bit longer.

So I don’t think another trying a new organization system, getting the latest Dyson and a whole army of Roomba vacuums, or reading another one of those “17 Ways to Work Smarter” articles on the internet will help me do what needs to be done. (Ironically, I’ve been guilty of putting off what I need to do now by spending hours on end reading about ways to do it better).  Even if there were a way to magically add hours in the day – I don’t believe that would help (that would just give more hours to put things off to).  But the True Helper, God’s Holy Spirit – best Counselor EVER, reminded my heart today that I am enough.  And, I’m sorry FlyLady and other organization gurus…. Although I have found you helpful at times, following your systems has never brought me lasting change. I believe finally understanding that ENOUGH is ENOUGH is what will help me conquer procrastination for good!

enuff is enuff procrasst

I’ll let you know how it goes….     Tomorrow….  😉

Becoming Who I Already Am,

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by tracycpoetry

Tired of Everybody Telling You What to Do?!?

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If you do what you need to in the first place then someone else won’t have to make you do it. Controlling yourself frees you from the control of others.

#LearningSelfDiscipline #BecomingWhoIAlreadyAm