Choosing Between The Inbox And The Stream

Like it or not, the stream has entered the workplace. While this may fill some with anxiety, and others with derision, on balance it is a good thing.

Since its use exploded in the late 1990′s, the email Inbox had dominated and controlled most professional people’s lives. It is a never-ending to-do list, created by other people who send a constant flow of messages that arrive on the screen and just sit there, waiting for action. Some are important; others are trivial. The Inbox makes no distinction. It just grows.

But with the advent of social network status updates and “feeds,” there’s a new avenue for new information and messages. And, for things that are not urgent and do not require action, it is far superior to the Inbox.

The Stream is just a constant flow of updates from those whom we have deemed important enough to follow. For some, it’s a large number and for others it is small. Into this Stream, our connections post their thoughts, interesting links, observations, jokes, more links, quick comments back and forth, news not critical but of use, and more. In other words: much of what now clogs your Inbox.

The difference is that, with the Stream, if you miss something it’s not a huge deal. The whole point is that you can miss something.

(There’s more after this video, keep reading:)

Think of it this way: It’s an Inbox with a time limit.

This implies that, as people become more comfortable with the Stream, they will begin to use it more effectively for work.

• When you are sharing something, if it is interesting but not critical, add it to the Stream (by sharing on Facebook or Twitter, for instance).
• Don’t get upset if someone misses something you put in the Stream.
• Try to reserve emails to people’s Inboxes for things you really need them to see or act on.
• Some other rules . . . that we have not even thought of yet, and that will emerge as people use the Stream more and more.

As we all embed these ideas in our workflow, our day-to-day life can perhaps lose some of its anxiety!

What’s Your Rhythm?

I recently had an exchange with a friend during which I recalled that at different periods, his energy level on certain issues seemed to go up and down.

 

Sine Wave

That got me to thinking about my own energy and attention levels. I have long been aware that my effectiveness and energy follow a pretty strong sine wave. It’s not as severe as a bipolar thing — just a sine wave. Sometimes I am way engaged and on top of it . . . othertimes it is a struggle to mark even administrative work off of my to-do list.

No surprise there. I suppose everyone goes in the same sorts of sine waves. But then I got to thinking about the period of my particular wave. I think it is about fifteen days from zero to zero.

In other words, If I start the month at zero (or “neutral”), I’m likely to have a peak of energy around the 7th, get back to “neutral” around the 15th, and then be in the dumps around the 21st.

In my experience, the peak time can be pretty awesome and include prodigious creativity, indeed the whole upper third of that part of the curve is cool. The lower third of the “down” curve is not exactly torture — but I am in trouble if there is something I need to really push on at that time. I get things done, but it is hard to do my best work.

(I know this is similar to biorhythms, but I do not know enough about that to render an opinion. I am just going on my own observations, and leaving the whys for another time.)

All this makes me think a few things:

1. It would be worthwhile to test this and catalog it. Give myself a “score” every day in terms of energy and effectiveness level, and track that for a couple of months. That will show me (a) whether the hypothesis is right; and (b) what my period is.
2. If I do have such a sine wave, it might be a good idea to predict the peaks and valleys and jigger my work schedule accordingly. 
3. I assume other people have such a wave — what is their periodicity? If I can figure that out for colleagues, I can more effectively work with them (in the same way that it is helpful to know my own and others’ Myers-Briggs temperaments). 

What’s your rhythm? How do you know?

A Vision For 2009

Through my friend Cynthia Cotte Griffiths, I discovered a great way to put together a vision to guide oneself.

Just in time, too! Most years I spend New Year’s Day writing out my goals for the coming year. This year, for some reason, I did not do that and I have been hankering to get to it. However, I have felt for some time now that my efforts in this regard have been too clever and cerebral — I would create these interlocking systems that, come April, were unworkable.

But my friend pointed me to Cindy Ronzoni’s “vision board” idea. This is really just a posterboard with a bunch of photos or drawings on it, a lot like the collages my daughter often makes. The images are meant to evoke things you want to do in the coming year.

This is obviously not rocket science, but it’s a useful way of looking at the task. Even more useful, though, is a set of questions to ask myself in order to generate the vision board.

Here they are:

• Where would you like to vacation this year?
• What inspires you?
• What would you like to learn this year?
• If you want to change jobs this year, where would you like to work?
• What are some of your passions?
• What have you always wanted to do?
• Who inspires you?
• What “words” reflect who you are?
• Do you want to exercise more or change your diet?
• What goals do you have for work?
• What financial goals do you have?
• Do you want to volunteer and if so where?
• What colors depict you or designs?
• What kind of relationships would you like?
• Is there an item you’d like to buy yourself?
• Are there any fears that you would like to overcome?
• Any groups you want to join?
• Any events to attend this year?

I love these, because they are so concrete and not airy-fairy.

Now I just have to answer them!

Thanks, Cindy.

The NFL’s Panopticon

The NFL has built a perfect version of the Panopticon.

What is that, you ask? I have long been fascinated with the Panopticon. In an essay about four years ago I described it:

In 1787, one of the great thinkers of English history, Jeremy Bentham, proposed a new design for a prison. He called the design the Panopticon. The idea was simple: from one point in the center of the building, a single guard could see any inmate at any time. All of the inmates knew this, but could not tell when, or whether, they were being observed. The concept was intended to promote the moral development of the prisoners, as the constant possibility of scrutiny would serve to make them less likely to behave badly. The Panopticon was a leap forward in its day. Designed to replace the infamous Botany Bay, it was among the first prisons to incorporate the idea of rehabilitation rather than punishment. Instead of being seen as beasts, prisoners were now assumed to be able to regulate their own behavior. Bentham’s design would have provided the motivation for them to do so.

The NFL has created its own Panopticon by instituting a new system where fans can discreetly send text messages to a central location during a game in order to report unruly and obnoxious fans. Now, when you are at an NFL game, you must always assume you are being watched and that your actions may at any time be reported.

That sounds scary, but why? It’s my belief that one of the reasons people behave so poorly in public is that they have no sense that anyone else might actually care or call them on it. The NFL’s system creates a feedback mechanism where one didn’t exist before.

What’s interesting to me is how long it has taken for this to come about — and what the possibilities are for the future. Where else might a system like this be instituted?

Even more interesting: Where might the Panopticon grow organically, without an institution having to build it? Neighborhoods? Shops? Dog parks?

Thieves: Don’t Take My Phone!

My wallet got stolen yesterday. I fell victim to a rash of thievery at my gym: at least four other guys got hit. I had locked my locker like I always do; when I returned after my workout and started turning the knob, something felt funny. The knob turned harder than usual.

Then the combo didn’t work. Someone had replaced my lock with an identical one. I have a generic blackface Master, so this is not difficult. Ashen, I asked the desk guys to cut the new lock, fearing what I would see. Everything looked as I had left it . . . only my wallet was gone. Other guys in the locker room were in the same boat, I soon found out.

Waiting for the lock to get cut off, my reaction seemed odd even then. I was worried about my wallet and identity, of course. But I was even more worried that my cell phone was gone! And not just because it is a snazzy new Google Phone. It was the feeling of suddenly being out of contact, unable to connect with people when I need to.

It was the same fear I approach a lengthy camping trip with: What will happen while I can’t connect? Will the world fall apart?

In reality, I would have just gotten a new phone, no real problem. And I am already in the midst of getting new credit cards sent out (the thieves had already racked up $3,000 in charges at Best Buy and Circuit City in the two hours it took to get home and get on the phone with the finance companies).

I guess overall it’s just a bump in the road, but it comes at a difficult time as I have serious deadlines for clients and a business trip coming up. I am handling what I can handle and letting go of the rest. Meantime, I have gotten Lifelock.

But, what an interesting reaction. I assume the need for connection will only get more intense as the world comes to expect instant response more and more.

What do you think? If your wallet or purse has been stolen, how did you react? How would you? What if your cell phone were taken?