Overall, I stamp everything I do with “work”, because I take it seriously and put contemplative thought into it, and demand that it be a primary font of meaning. Lately, I’ve begun to also think of everything I do as “wellness” or health because, once life is reduced to the things we’re willing to do [...]
President Obama said in his speech last night, ‘The rules of work have changed’. Today, the Huffington Post asks “What is work?”. In “Part One” Arianna says “the rules of work have changed”. Four days ago, Psychology today offers “The New Rules of Work”. In “Part One” Michele says “the rules of work have changed”. [...]
Want to write punchy, pithy, savvy sounding posts for your blog (or your client)? Don’t have all the expertise in a certain area (who does?), but want to sling it right up there with the insiders? Want posts that people can read with the same psychological effect that rap songs have on fans? A good [...]
We live in a culture where the strongest force in public life is religious fundamentalism. Protestant, evangelical, religious fundamentalism. Don’t believe it? Climate Science: Ask yourself why half of elected officials are climate science deny-ers – even just basic, undisputed climate science that is accepted worldwide (except perhaps in places like North Korea and Yemen). Their [...]
The crap that passes for advice on how to work is frequently shocking and, if one had to live with it, disheartening to put it mildly. I think I’d rather just jam a spoon into my eye. Here the advice at the Young Black Professional Guide – mind you, these are a summation of what someone things [...]
I think perhaps that deep inside of us, whether we have parents or not, whether our parents were helpful or not, each of us has a parental voice. If it weren’t there, we’d create it. I think maybe that voice never leaves – it’s the inner parent, in the same way there is an inner [...]
Stephen King’s books series The Dark Tower is about a gunslinger in a world that has “moved on”. It’s not really a western. It’s a cross-genre set of writings (Sci-fi, Western, Fantasy, Contemporary). I think King’s reconstructed gunslinger is an icon for the Rules of Work. Image by BoristheFrog via Flickr The gunslinger is single-minded, [...]
Here’s a new rule of work: When it comes to ideas and creativity, spend what you have. Spend it all. This is one of the most valuable rules I learned from a friend (I can’t claim originality on this one). I used to wonder whether I should hold back my best ideas, when it came [...]
I do project work and consulting, and my office is one of the largest rooms in my home. Like a lot of home office workers (I prefer “home office professional”), I always have multiple projects at once. So working all the time is just part of the deal. If I’m not working on a client’s [...]
Rule of Work: If you must choose, sell more rather than save more. Both are good, but it’s a matter of priorities. As I contemplate “quitting the day job” (OK, so I’m not quitting – the project is at completion and I’ve finished – but I’m referring to not replacing it with another one), I [...]
The Future: One day I will not live in a house. I will live in a 500 square foot (or less) apartment. I will live in enough space to accommodate cooking, sleep, and bathing. My office will occupy the space of a small desk, but it will be entirely portable. I will be able to [...]
A number of recent events in technology seem to carry a set of useful lessons: LESSON 1: BLOAT IS BIGGER BUT WILL ALWAYS BE OUTNUMBERED. Microsoft decides to abandon Vista and yield a “lightweight” (yeah, right) Windows 7 that’s runs in browsers and uses online resources. Sound familiar? Yep – Windows isn’t losing to Macintosh, [...]
Who hasn’t had the opportunity to either experience leadership (good or bad) in action, or to exert leadership in some setting? Some basic observations from both sides of that experience can translate into effective rules for successful leadership. A leader motivates through encouragement rather than ridicule or intimidation: Motivation involves the personal goals of the [...]
Do you work in a corporation? Ever think things would be better if you could have a Red October and terminate about half your colleagues? Not in a Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of way – but with a pink slip? Who would you fire first? If you ran things – ran it like your own business, [...]
I’ve spoken with a number of people over the past couple of weeks that are searching for their work-lives – for what to do with themselves and, typically, like a Bordertown, they’re drawn to the internet. Partly by stories of heady profits made by people who don’t treat work as a source of meaning – [...]
You’re filling a sudden order to bang out a Powerpoint presentation for 500 people by morning, and need to walk in looking rested and in control. You need to launch a web site yesterday, because your new client already mailed out their secondary marketing, and their own servers just died. The mobile headquarters of your [...]
What to do when you’re swamped and engaged in avoidance behaviors: Realize you’re depressed about it. Decide that you’re not going to let an “it” determine your emotions. Organize all tasks into general categories. (e.g. Charity, Marketing, Health) Prioritize the categories according to your values. (e.g. The poor and suffering first. Then your clients. Then [...]
There were four friends, one of whom died in a car accident. The other three (let’s call them Jim, John, and Bob) decided to take a road trip in his memory, but vowed to be safe drivers from then on out. Jim sat behind the wheel of the car for a while, but wouldn’t drive. [...]
Daniel writes prolifically about subjects ranging from work to social justice, does literary writing, and is Marketing Director of Free Agent Source. Daniel founded JobHacker (formerly the Rules of Work) blog when the bottom fell out of the mortgage market, and the US economy started its death rattle.
Reader Comments