Sizing Things Up

There are times when you need to measure your progress on your journey. You can do this at a certain points of times during every transitions. Here are some suggested time and then some questions for you to ask yourself.  The potential times to do this are:


Four months after a move
Two months after graduating college
Three months into a new job
Two months after retiring
One year after the loss of a loved one
Six months after getting married


What has been accomplished? 

What is there left to do? 

What has been learned? 

How have you changed?

How are things different than you expected?

What do you know now that you did not know then about yourself? (Example: You are skilled in packing fragile items)


Reviewing and reflecting can help you get a fresh perspective and grasp of where you are and what you have accomplished. I encourage you to take some time to size things up. It can be revitalizing and give you some more energy to move forward.

Are You a Short-Timer?

Are you suffering from Short-Timer's Syndrome? This often happens when we are close to reaching our goal.

Originally, the term Short-Timers was applied to a syndrome observed in military soldiers who were about two to three months out from their rotation or returning home. I believe short-timer syndrome can apply to civilian and military life.

Senior Slump or Lame Duck is another way of terming this specialized short term but difficult condition. This syndrome is seen and observed in work, education or at the end of an association or officer leadership position.

Since we are almost three months from May and June, the common months of graduation and association term ends, it is a good time to take a deeper look at it. Short-timers often get burned out and are frazzled. This is because they have so much to do or accomplish in their limited time. However, short-timers  need to think about their future as much as they need to enjoy the present. This is a true time of transition and transitions are never easy. Being a short-timer is hard.

Review the following and see how you approach the end of a work project, educational assignment or association position.


At Work: 

When the contract or project is almost at the end  - 

a) I get focused and so preoccupied with the future, I don't focus well on today's project with full intent. 


b) I try to be all things to all people, so I can leave a lasting "legacy". I avoid thinking about the "day after" I finish. I will think about that later.

In an Association:

When my term is almost over - 

a) I begin to get the attitude of "I'll let the next person deal with it".

b) I work overly hard and start burning the candle at both ends. So much to do, so little time. I don't think about the future.



At the End of an Education Program:

When I am nearing the completion of my degree or educational program -

a) I find myself worrying about the future and I am not concentrating enough on the assignments and work I have left to do.

b) I start focusing too much on the now, and avoid thinking or doing anything in planning for my upcoming future.



What Can You Do if You Are a Short-Timer?

1) First determine what kind of short-timer you are?

2) Take a moment and view your end by the other perspective.

3) Consider hiring a transition or life coach to help you avoid burning the candle at both ends. The coach can provide some light and clarity to help you see clearer beyond the current assignment, and help you make a bright future, while still helping you focus on the now.


For Short-Timer's
 
Want to stay in the present? Consider hiring a transition or life coach to help guide you through these times.


For Family, Friends or Colleagues of Short-Timers

Consider giving your "short-timer" the early gift of a transition or life coaching package. This will help your short-timer shine through the end of their work and help them plan for their future.
  

You might also enjoy these posts - Eking It Out in The End 
Senior Year and Change.

This is a best of post of 2010.

Resizing Your World

When in transition we often shrink our daily contacts down to the less stressful, more peaceful ones. We do this for self protection and to also help make our days calmer. Going through transition takes peace, quiet and often solitude.

Transition is a time to try new things and acquaint ourselves with new people and new ideas. Finding new people isn't always that easy but often times this is when we go back to our roots and seek out those who meant something to us in terms of friendship and personal and professional development. This needs to be done selectively and carefully. Missteps are abound here if you don't set personal boundaries with yourself on this adventure.

Resizing your world takes time and careful thought. Sometimes it time to shrink the contact list and other times it is time to grow and expand the list.

Whatever time it is for you, take it careful and slow. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day.

This is a best of post from 2007 

Things of the Past

Time to clear out the dusty and old, to make room for the new. Today, I am looking at how to handle past office and business material. Business owners who have been in business for over 10 years, know that the material starts to acquire. This is especially true if you haven't changed your office location in over 5 years. The following might help you when clearing out the past from your office.


Non Serving Usage
Outdated expired, no longer relevant items come to mind. I ran across a hidden pile of blank outdated forms. These found a home in the recycling bin.

Former Client Files and Material
If you have been in business a while, it is likely you understand the value of record retention. I have a five year client policy. However sometimes material is a useful template or example for other things. This is where a template vs. a client file becomes of value. Transitioning files over to templates, maintains your record retention plan and helps you understand the importance of what you have learned, created or observed.

Example/Template Files 
Even example or template files can become overwhelming or overfilled. Periodic clearings can help prevent overload.   


Aging Technology
I recently disposed of a plethora of floppy disks containing financial information. Of course, I had to make them unusable first - this took time. Some never used disks I donated to my community through freecycle.


Historical Reminders
Not all old items are unwanted. I ran across an old newsletter from an association that had a wealth of memories, and brought up a few "I need to call that person" notes to add to my to do list. After I added that, it was easy to toss the material. Sometimes I found information that was useful for my business time line. So I placed that in my time line pile. Stay tune for more on this in the next few months.

Historically Significant
Occasionally you may run across some items of ephemera, that might be of value to your community or business community. It helps to understand the concept of ephemera. Check out my article on my website for information on this topic.   



By keeping the above in mind, you may have an easier time of clearing out. Business Anniversaries are a cause for celebration, and a good time to make time to clear out the past, to make room for the new.

October is Terry Prince's business anniversary month. Terry started her business in October of 1983.

 

Giving a Remarkable Thank You!

Over the years, I have received some wonderful thank you notes. The nicest are words that serve as embers to bring light to dark days. Some are trinkets and tokens.

One of the tokens I received was a red lantern from a fellow patient and his partner. In my early twenties, I was hospitalized with an extremely complicated allergic reaction to an antibiotic medicine. The ward I was placed on was a non-surgical ward. Here I made the acquaintance of a fellow patient. We spent many hours in deep conversation about life and living. Neither of us was sure if we were going to "get" better. My fellow patient was released a few days before I was. Just before they left, these wonderful people told me "I had lit the way for his recovery" They gave me a lantern, of which at the time I said, "Oh, thanks". I am sure I had a strange look on my face, but they said, "Someday you will understand, thanks for lighting the way".

Another was a great "To Do" list thank you that was printed on a large "To Do" pad. The listed item said Things to do - Thank Terry. I really treasure this thank you note because it shows how someone used the time management concepts in action. It was truly touching to me, personally and professionally.

The purpose of my telling these two stories are not to promote me, but to let you begin to think about how you can make your thank you notes and tokens remarkable and memorable to your recipients.

So who can you thank?

• Thank the leaders and active volunteers of your associations and organizations who serve.
• Thank the server or cashier who smiles, does his or her job with care and enthusiasm.
• Thank you spouse or loved one who goes that extra special distance for you.
• Thank your long time friends for the joy they bring to your life.

Transition Your Life - Elderhood

This is the sixth and final in the series of posts on transition times. Let's visit the transition periods that often occur in Elder years (age 80 - 100+).

Transitioning to patriarch or matriarch of family
Transitioning to a retirement or assisted living community
Transitioning to having help or occasional assistance
Transitioning to grandchildren and great-grandchildren
Transitioning to loss of loved one and friends
Transitioning to evolving spiritual or religious beliefs
Transitioning to a new or chronic health condition
Transitioning to physical restrictions and limitations
Transitioning to changing relationships with your children (adult to elderly parent)
Transitioning to family historian
Transitioning to simpler lifestyle
Transitioning to fewer hobbies and interests


See also
Transition Your Life - Adulthood
Transition Your Life - Early Adulthood
Transition Your Life - Middle Age
Transition Your Life - Golden Age
Transition Your Life - Senior Age

Taking off The Watch

For the last two months I have experimented with not wearing a watch. I have been a slave to "a watch" since the age of 11 when I first started to wear my silver and gray leather strapped Timex. Over the years I have transitioned through many others, several gold metal banded Seiko's, a black leather strap gold faced Hamilton and a silver strapped diamond accented dressy one.

This summer was the year of the fading white narrow band of skin that had adorned my wrist since the age of 11. Some how I made do. After all, my car has a clock, my computer and cell phone also have means of accessing the time. So I made it through the last two months without missing an appointment or deadline. My wrist, now fully tanned, looks good. The only thing I haven't got use to is not turning my head to the left to check the time. I image over time I could give that head turn up.

Will I continue this experiment? I don't think so - but I might wear my watch less now. Using it only for client appointments and days when I have lots of timed deadlines.

Why is it however when people retire they often get given a clock or a watch? I'll let you ponder that a while.