I am working on a couple of other time-sensitive projects this week, but wanted to share some wonderful and thought-provoking items I have been reading over the past few days.
Sustainability
I have been conversing with a new acquaintance about what sustainability means and he has thoughtfully obliged my request for his thoughts. Here’s a little bit of what he has to say:
Closed systems do not exist, and it’s advantageous collectively and individually to have systems change or even expire. If we think in poetic constructs, perfect symmetry is striking but inevitably as unnerving to our experience as it is unattainable, and even at “perfectly balanced moments” we know time will have its way with us and reconfigure the situational equilibrium. Therefore, I’d argue new conceptions of sustainability must embrace some asymmetrical components of our practicing ecologies.
Bowerr, “(Re) Conceptualizing Sustainability” at Blogging Brande
I hope you will check out his full post and become part of the conversation on sustainability, what a sustainable life is, and more.
Some additional thoughts on what “sustainability” means as opposed to “green” are available over at BlogHer. Gena says:
One of my gripes about the 2008 incarnation of the so-called Green movement is the emphasis on being “Green” without the acknowledgement of the expense of trying to implement a “Green lifestyle” on a fixed or stretched to the bone budget. Or trying to do that living in urban areas or places far away from Los Angeles or New York. “I’ll Take Sustainability Over Green” at BlogHer
Work and the Workplace
“What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to piss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn’t you consider that to be insane?” Garland “The Marietta Mangler” Greene from ConAir (1997)
Finally, as you remember, I have been thinking about work in the context of my search for a sustainable life. Obviously, we spend a good portion of our lives in the workplace so it only makes sense that I consider it when thinking about how best to achieve a sustainable life. Here are a couple of articles I ran across, which are even more food for thought.
The first one deals with multitasking, a word with which we have all become overly (perhaps) familiar. Christine Rosen starts out her article with the following:
In one of the many letters he wrote to his son in the 1740s, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice: “There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.” To Chesterfield, singular focus was not merely a practical way to structure one’s time; it was a mark of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind.” “The Myth of Multitasking” The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society
The second article deals with what is being called, “the digital deluge.” Matt Richtel looks into email, instant messages, and the possible need for quiet time in “Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast.”
I hope you check these out and share some of your thoughts on these topics.
P.S. For the writers out there, be sure to check out the guest blog today at PoeWar.com today titled, “Afraid to Call Yourself a Writer? (Me Too)”
Hey Red Raven,
I wanted to finally say something. Yes, I’ve been one of those poetry/writing people peeking around the door that you mentioned in an earlier post.
Your posts about sustainability and what a sustainable life is have really made me start thinking about my own life. I am contemplating some changes of my own. Thanks for posting!
Also, I can’t wait to check out the guest blog you mentioned. As you can see from my name the blog should speak to me quite well.
Hi WannaBeWriter,
Thanks for the kind words. It makes my day to know that you have found my blog useful or helpful in some way.
Yes, I definitely encourage to visit not only today’s guest blogger on PoeWar.com, but also Freelance Writing Jobs, which I have a link to on the left. Both places have wonderful resources and communities for writers.
Best of luck on your writing endeavors!
Thanks for the links! I’ve been struggling with some horrible time management pn my part, which in my case stems directly from trying to multi-task. I’m trying to simplify my work flow by devoting particular times of the day to particular tasks based in part on analysis of the daily ebb and flow of mental energy, etc.
Also, I’ve firmly decided that listening to music while working (depending on the music) is not a kind of multi-tasking. In fact, I’ve read that listening to music can promote productivity since your brain is alert and anticipating the next sound, song, etc. So far this does not work spoken word recording, but I’ll keep trying.
(I’ll try to find the article I found about music in the workplace)
Hey Local Honey,
Great to hear from you! I definitely think we would all do better if our culture paid a little more attention to things like the daily ebb and flow of people’s energy levels. They are just now realizing that teenagers do better in school when it starts later in the morning based on their sleep cycles and energy levels. Teens tend to go to sleep later and therefore need to sleep later in the morning, rhythms, which go counter to the typical adult day.
Please post a link to the music article. Would love to read it!
Multi-tasking = ADD. My idealistic hope is there comes a backlash or retromovement for individuals to chose to operate and focus on a single task
at time. How dare one ponder, mull over or burn a calorie and think about
a single topic. I lead meetings where the participants all connected to their cell phones are continuously interacting with their devices. Even when placed on silent mode, individuals flinch when the device vibrates and seizes their attention – ala Harrison Bergeron – so as to limit and interrupt their minutes of concentration. When Universities have to install Wi-fi blocking devices in classrooms to get the students to pay attention – we see the writing (pardon the pun) on the wall. Technology triumphs over technique? I still hold out for a brighter tomorrow.
Russ,
Good points! I wonder if there are any studies out there looking at the number of ADD cases and the increase emphasis on multitasking? Readers? Anyone know of any?
I hear you on the issue with students in the classroom. What a conundrum! We want to reach out to them using the technology they are familiar with, but at the same time how do we teach them, discuss with them, or think with them about some of the negative impacts that technology can have?
Thoughts anyone?
I’ve read quite a few studies recently (which of course no links handy) that suggest a decrease in productivity from multi-tasking. I tend to agree as I see much more ambition and success from people I know who are of a singular focus. I think when we’re doing 10 things at once, none gets done well.
Brandi,
If you find the links, please let me know. Do you think that this next generation, which has grown up with iPods, laptops, TVs, constant stimulation, and multitasking, will adapt and become successful? Has our definition of successful already started changing to accomadate these types of things? I think one of the things I always come back to, is asking where the balance is?
Hi, Morgan,
Thanks for linking to the article on multitasking. Interestingly, I complain about multi-tasking but my type of multitasking is rather benign compared to the types described in the article. Maybe there’s hope for me after all
At worst, I may be trying to answer email while writing a report at work and/or looking up relevant information on the internet. But I have counseled co-workers and myself to periodically shut down Outlook, opening it only after a task has been completed. What amazes me about email is how people (especially at work) expect an immediate response, to the point of even calling a few minutes later to follow-up. I often want to ask these people if they can imagine that I might actually leave my desk at times to go to the ladies’ room!
I think my personal type of multitasking is sustainable and even desirable. I may knit while watching TV. I may listen to an audiobook while sewing quilt blocks together. I’ve knitted in classrooms while listening to lectures. Something about working with my hands seems to free my brain to concentrate on other things, albeit auditory tasks. I could never knit while driving (although I’ve thought about it at particularly long waits at a red light).
After an afternoon of listening to a good book and sewing, I often feel refreshed. I think that’s in part because of the meditative quality of sewing (and knitting, quilting, etc.) I don’t know how, but it feels like working with my hands enhances my brain’s capacity for simultaneously engaging in another task (although, again, it’s an auditory task).
But when it comes to writing and reading (whether for work or pleasure), I must have NO distractions. I can’t even tolerate the light airs of classical music in the background if I’m trying to concentrate on words. I don’t regret being this way at all. Rather, I regret that, seemingly, more and more people are being distracted and are not having the pleasure of full concentration on a single task. It’s a simple but deep pleasure that can extend beyond the immediate experience.
Have you read the The Atlantic article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google)? Is this technology that is supposed to be so wonderful (and, yes, some of it is … when it works) actually poking holes in our brains, in our ability to concentrate? Is it the years-long conditioning of television with it’s commercials and staccato movie and TV show previews? Are we really losing our ability to concentrate (e.g., to lose one’s self in a book), or are we misusing the computer, trying to treat it like a book instead of a tool?
I don’t think there’s any simple answers, but definitely a lot of stimulating discussion.
Thanks for letting me know about your blog, Morgan. I’m really enjoying it.
Marie
Marie,
Thanks for stopping by. I am glad you are enjoying the blog. It is always satisfying to know that someone else enjoys your creative endeavors.
You said, “What amazes me about email is how people (especially at work) expect an immediate response, to the point of even calling a few minutes later to follow-up.” I completely understand. I feel the same sense of amazement when I am teaching and one of my students sends me an email at midnight (when I am fast asleep) and the another one at 4:00 am wondering why I haven’t answered yet.
Techonology seems to have encouraged us (and I admit that I fall prey to this thinking at times too) to think that everything and everyone operates 24/7.
I haven’t read the Atlantic article, but I am putting it on my mental list as I type. I agree that there aren’t simply answers, but I am glad there are others out there who are thinking about it with me. I think that working together we can make all of our lives more sustainable, enjoyable, and healthier.
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