Be Creating

“What do you mean I’ll be working from home?”  COVID 19 has required a major shift in how we live and work and for many working from home is a new experience. Having worked from home several times throughout my career here a few tips to help you make the transition.  The Brain Loves Routines - Everyone needs them especially children. Wake up with enough time for breakfast and other morning tasks such as making the bed, exercising, showering and getting dressed. Dressing in clothes you would wear out of the house helps remind your brain it is time to go to work. Yes, I’d rather stay in my pajamas, short, or yoga pants but when we change how we are dressed we change how we think. Don’t believe me watch any uniformed profession put on their uniform and even their posture changes.  Yes, you can be dressed more casually, a polo shirt and slacks are fine. If you have a typical morning routine keep doing it, if it’s working. I found that when I’ve worked from home doing e...

Learning and understanding the levels of perception can help you reduce stress, get better results at work, create stronger relationships and become a more effective educator, mentor, parent and boss.  First a few basics – the levels of perception are a collection of references you have, they are your own personal library of how you like the world. I think of the levels like the neural connections in the brain – a bunch of things all wired together.  They are formed from the lowest level (most basic) to the highest level (most complex). Each higher level is developed by combining different perceptions from the levels below.  For example the color red, a somewhat round shape, a stem at the top, a dimple at the bottom, may be combined to become “apple,” at a higher level.     Learning is about creating and connecting the lower levels and moving your way up.  Think of learning math.  You learn to understand what the symbol “5” represents - later...

One of the greatest challenges in embedding a new innovation is – what do to with the dead wood.  Do you clear it, minimize it or leave it be? This discussion always reminds me of forest management, in which there is a debate as to how much dead wood is healthy for new growth and biodiversity.  One side of the argument is that the dead wood creates fertile ground for disease and increases the risk of wild fire.  The other side of the dispute is that deadwood provides healthy compost for new growth, acts as shelter for animals and other new forms of growth.  In fact a nurse log is a fallen tree which, as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings.  “Dead and dying trees play a key role in the functioning and productivity of forest ecosystems through effects on biodiversity, carbon storage, soil nutrient cycling, energy flows, hydrological processes, and natural regeneration of trees.” (UK Forestry Commission 2002) Still – how much dead wood ...