Image provided by University of Alabama News.
Dear friends,
I am writing this email from the snowy comfort of a ramshackle cabin in the woods near Lake Tahoe, and I hope all of you are likewise recharging at the year’s end. It is an opportune time to reflect on the new ideas and practices I tried last year and deciding what to focus on in the coming year. Below I share my best lightning hacks from 2018. Each one is easy to implement and has significantly improved my work life. You can think of them like (purely secular) stocking stuffers from me to you!
Create a work motto, a short word or phrase that inspires you. We deemed 2018 “The Year of Data” and it proved a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Conquer email with Yesterbox. I specifically recommend one feature of the Yesterbox method: deal with all email from yesterday before tackling today’s messages. Since yesterday is over, by definition, yesterday’s email is finite and therefore feels less daunting. This method prevented me from getting behind 85% of the time once I implemented it.
Create a “happy” email folder. When someone sends you a positive message via email, save it in a happy folder. You will have some authentic affirmation available next time you need it.
Color code your calendar. I hope I’ve convinced you to use your calendar to schedule your important work. You can take that further by color coding appointments by location, priority, or category. Some of my categories include different UCSF locations, clinical vs. research, and work vs appointment. This is helpful in making sure I have time to get from place to place and also makes it easy to see how much time I’m spending in meetings versus on my own work.
You can enact all of these practices- and feel their benefit- almost instantly. If you are able to invest more time and effort, I have two book suggestions for you. First, The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker, is about how to make the most of any situation where you are bringing people together. I credit this book with helping me make meetings more effective, improve my team-building, and take our social media conference, PRISM, to the next level. Second, When by Daniel Pink gathers and synthesizes the evidence on making the most of your time by understanding underlying rhythms of a day, a project, and the life course. Of all the work-related books I read this year, I recommend reading these two yourselves. Both have more insights than you can glean from reading an online summary.
It can be energizing to look ahead to the new year, and it is also natural to experience self-criticism if you have not met all of your 2018 goals. I encourage all of you to compassionately inquire whether you are asking too much of yourselves. Is what you hoped to accomplish in 2018 humanly possible? When you look ahead, don’t set the bar so high that you can’t possible succeed. It can be helpful to share your goals with a trusted mentor and/or peer to get some feedback in advance.
Thank you for reading my messages and staying in touch- your time and attention is a gift to me. I’m wishing you all the best in 2019!
Warmly,
Urmimala