Now on The Interconnected: Staying motivated at work

Sometimes work hits a bad spot. Sometimes mentally you hit a bad spot. Both are OK (which is to say they happen, it’s not necessarily your fault, life goes on).

Sometimes we need a bit more motivation than we’d like to show up at work in the morning.

My August 5 post on The Interconnected was about staying motivated at work. Let me know if you have other ideas I should incorporate into another article. (Or write for us!)

Now on The Interconnected: You are not “The Guy”

“The Guy” is a concept I heard about years ago. The Guy is that one person that the company absolutely cannot live without — The Guy cleans up the messes, works incredible hours, fixes things no one else can fix, and is indispensable. If The Guy is on vacation, work doesn’t get done. If The Guy gets sick, or has a family emergency, no one’s sure how to pick up The Guy’s work.

Thing is, no company over a certain size should have a The Guy. I’ve seen many situations over the years where The Guy was the result of a manager who didn’t want to staff up or provide adequate support, which forced The Guy develop. I’ve also seen many situations where people made themselves The Guy by putting so much personal pressure on themselves that they became The Guy just because.

Neither of those is healthy. My July 12 post on The Interconnected explains why, and what to do about it.

Read You are not “The Guy”.

Now on The Pastry Box: Walk it Off

This was my last post on The Pastry Box, because on December 31st, they posted their last article and closed down. (The archives are still all there, and eventually I’ll move copies to here.)

The Pastry Box gave me the confidence to write and publish in front of the entire UX industry. Without their call for writers, I never would have had the nerve to write for A List Apart, and I never would have started taking my fiction seriously. I will miss Alex and Katy and their advice and encouragement immensely.

(And yes, I’m looking for a new publishing platform, something where I can share space with other authors.)

This last post was filler; I’d provided it because Decembers were always rough for the editors and having a last-minute post for cancellations seemed to help them quite a bit.

It’s also a bit of a personal post, describing how I picked up walking as a “hobby” and/or “lifesaving device” as well as how you too could pick up the habit.

I hope you enjoy Walk It Off.