Tuesday, January 4, 2011

1-1-11

I couldn't believe I almost forgot to notice the date!  I love all things related to calendar number patterns, so the New Year's date was a doozy.  However, I was so busy having fun (not the work kind as in my last post, but the leisure kind that we all love) that I almost forgot to notice the pattern.  I mean I knew it was January 1st and that it was now 2011, but I had not taken the time to appreciate the numbers. 
Too often, we don't take time to appreciate the little things that can bring us joy.  We are often so focused on the big things of life -- making a living, taking care of kids, taking care of parents, studying if we are back in school, planning the next event, vacation, trip to the doctor's office, etc -- that it is easy to miss the little things.
I NEVER make resolutions -- mostly cuz I know I won't keep them, but if I did, I would encourage me to take more time to enjoy  life's little pleasures.  Like the fact that there is sunshine today (January 4); that all of the flights I took over the holidays took off and landed on time; that I got to use my free pass at Zumba last night (and it kicked my rear since I missed my normal routine over the holidays); and that we have welcomed a new staff member to help us with makemedicinebetter.  Okay, maybe the last one is not a little pleasure, but the fact that he, Kim and Sylvia just stopped by to say "Hi" is. 
Since I did not get a lot of e-mails or posts (save one from Jason -- thanks, Jason) on how to put fun into work, I am going to make the offer again.  I know that since we were approaching the holidays, there was much to be completed at work and likely much to be completed at home.  But, I really am interested in your thoughts on how to incorporate fun and little pleasures into the work day.
So while you contemplate that, in the twitter/facebook way of sharing mundane (and sometimes inane) data about what one is doing, I am going to take a walk over to the Center for Advanced Medicine to pick up a prescription and take time along the way to enjoy that it is in the mid-30s and sunny.  Truly a lovely little pleasure in the work day.
J

1 comment:

Karen Stewart said...

In sifting back through my work memories over the years to find things that I really thought were fun, I come up with times when we went offsite. Some legitimate work reason was combined with fun activities. It breaks up the job routine and gives you something to look forward to.

Also, recognition for a job well done always goes a long way. The Shout Out awards could be given a little boost, with some sort of event planned for those that received an award each quarter/6 months or year.

My final suggestion would be to put some interested employees together to talk it out as a group. In the past our staff of super achievers have done great work with things such as our mid-year conference. And with a great project such as injecting fun into the workplace, who knows how far they could take it?