Librarian by Day » Blogging

Time Off for Reflection, Regrouping and Prioritizing

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:42:22 +0000

I am taking the next two weeks off. Your regularly scheduled blog posts will resume on January 4th 2010. Why?

The short version – It’s the holidays, things are slow and it’s always good to take a break.

The long version – I need time to regroup and realign my priorities. Lately I’ve been scrambling like mad to keep up, I feel like I’m letting everyone around me down, including me. There are emails I haven’t returned, emails I haven’t written. I feel disconnected from my friends on Twitter and Facebook. Work takes up a large part of my personal time. I’m beginning to feel a little dazed and confused, like I’ll never be caught up. This is a red flag for me, time to take two steps back and regroup. I was already considering it when I downloaded What Matters Now from Seth’s blog. As I read through it this week so many passages struck a chord, professionally and personally. It confirmed what I was already thinking, I need to pause and regroup.

I am publicly declaring my holiday for two reason, the first so regular readers will know I haven’t disappeared, I haven’t run out of things to say (never!) and I will be back. Second, publically declaring it will help me stick to my plan, I’m not going anywhere so nothing external will change, but I need to slow down and take a breathe. That means no feedreader (and when I get back they ALL get marked as read), a more personal focus on Twitter and Facebook. It will be hard not to click on links posted by others so I may have to give up Twitter too. Disconnecting will be hard, but I also know how much I need it. The end of the year is a perfect time for reflection and regrouping, though I don’t do New Years resolutions.

So what will I be doing? reflecting, prioritizing, hopefully recharging, clearing my head, goal setting, deciding on boundaries and limits, reading, writing and thinking. So I leave you with these things to ponder for the next two weeks between turkey and presents and confetti and champagne

From What Matters Now:

“…constantly we fear we are not doing enough.”- Ease, Elizabeth Gilbert
“The echo chamber we’re building is getting larger and louder.” – Connected, Howard Mann
“Leadership is more than influence. It is about reminding people of what it is we are trying to build – and why it matters.” – Vision, Michael Hyatt
“Be honest, be authentic, and speak from your passion.” – Speaking, Mark Hurst
“Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do.” – Poker, Tony Hsiech
“…the ability to draw lines and boundaries within which we protect and preserve the mental and emotional space to do our work and to be true to ourselves.” Tough-mindedness, Steven Pressfield
” You are immortal. The result of everything you do today will last forever.” Forever, Piers Fawkes
“What IS working, today, and how can we do more of it?” Change, Chip and Dan Heath
“Forget about working on your weakness -> focus on supporting your strengths.” Most, William C. Taylor

From elsewhere

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On Weakness: Identify, Cope, Accept Mistakes Will Happen, Acknowledge, Correct, Apologize, Learn and Move On.

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:06:40 +0000

CC image used courtesy of tv on Flickr

Yesterday morning I stood in front of a group of people and told them to admit their weaknesses, which of course has me thinking about mine. I did this during a time management workshop, so the example I be used for myself is how bad my memory is and how I cope with that. Tuesday another of mine was brought to light on this blog so what better place to admit it than here? (Don’t worry this isn’t going to become a tell-all platform for my over-indulgences in coffee and chocolate. )

I can’t spell. Well clearly I’m capable of writing, but I am not good at spelling. I’m sure my grade school teachers and my Mother would be horrified to hear me publicly admit it. If it weren’t for spell check built into word processors and many web browsers I’d be in real trouble. I often look up words, both in a dictionary and in a thesaurus (ok and Google). It’s also very common for me to leave out words or not notice when a correctly spelled word is not correctly used. No I don’t make the there their they’re error, but I might not notice that I’ve used you instead of your. I will never be an editor or a proof reader. I am deeply envious of friends who’s undergraduate degrees are English, their skill and comfort with language is amazing to me.

What should have been a happy occurrence for me, the retweeting of my blog post, instead felt like public humiliation. As soon as I’d posted it to Twitter I saw the error (seeing it in a different context did it I think) I corrected the title (but I couldn’t correct the permalink or the links wouldn’t work, so permanent reminder) Every time someone retweeted it without correcting the You to Your, I cringed.

The point about admitting your weaknesses is it allows you to take steps to correct or compensate for them. When I write for my library I have a proof reader, almost every time. If I’m writing a paper or putting together a presentation, I get a proof reader. When I’m commenting online I try to reread very carefully before hitting publish, it doesn’t always work. When it comes to this blog it’s a little harder to find a proof reader in a timely manner. Instead I try to write all of my posts at least a day before and reread in the morning (I found 7 errors this morning). I also proof read them in the “preview” mode somehow this helps errors stand out. Errors still happen.

What do I do when I still make a mistake? I cringe, acknowledge it, correct it immediately, hope no one thinks less for me for it, vow to do better next time and move on. It also seems to make me more tolerant of this type of mistake in others (misspell my name and it’s a whole different story). I think the correct way to handle them is to politely and kindly point them out, allow them to be corrected and move on. The end.

So that’s my approach: identify your weaknesses, cope with it, accept mistakes will happen anyway, acknowledge them when they do, correct them, apologize if necessary, learn from what happened (just because you acknowledge doesn’t mean you stop trying to improve) and move on.

What is your approach? We all have weaknesses, what are yours? How do you handle them?Similar Posts:

Put Down the Phone and Pay Attention

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:50:20 +0000

CC image courtesy of Lights Out Photos on flickr

Last week I (and many others) spent a lot of time documenting the Internet Librarian conference, photos, tweets, blog posts, facebook updates. Did the act of digitally documenting the events change anything? Did the process of lifestreaming change my (and others) behavior, perception of what was happening and memories of it. Will we remember it better or worse?

A recent article from CNN Do digital diaries mess up your brain? looks at the effects of lifestreaming. Just knowing others are watching you may change the types of experiences you choose to have, from books to movies to where you eat and what you wear.

“If we have experiences with an eye toward the expectation that in the next five minutes, we’re going to tweet them, we may choose difference experiences to have, ones that we can talk about rather than ones we have an interest in,” he said.

It also detaches you from what’s happening at the moment. If you’re focused on tweeting what’s happening, you’re not fully engage in what’s happening.

But recording everything you do takes people out of the “here and now,” psychologists say. Constant documenting may make people less thoughtful about and engaged in what they’re doing because they are focused on the recording process, Schwartz said.

What does that do to our actual memories of events? Memories are shaky at best even when you’re completely focused. If you’re only half there, will you remember it later without the aid of digital documentation? What would I rather have a memory of something or documentation of it to prove I was there? What if that documentation goes away?

It makes me think, I do want to be living and experiencing life to the fullest. Does this mean I’ll put down the camera, the cell phone, the laptop? I don’t know. Probably not at conferences, but I’ll be thinking hard about doing it in other areas of my life. What good is lifestreaming an experience if I’m not fully enjoying it?Similar Posts:

CLENERT changes its name to LearnRT and gets a new site, what next?

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:55:34 +0000

Well, I’ll be blogging for them for starters! Along with the recent name change from CLENE to Learn the decision was made to move to a new site and add more bloggers. I’m thrilled to be included in the number and working with:

The new blog/website, ALA Learning, will feature training and learning news, information, best practices and thoughtful discussion.

About the Learn Round Table:

LearnRT, formerly CLENERT, is the Learning Round Table of the American Library Association.
LearnRT promotes quality continuing education for all library personnel. We help you NETWORK with other CE providers for the exchange of ideas, concerns and solutions.
LearnRT serves as your SOURCE for CE assistance, publications, materials, training and activities.
LearnRT is your ADVOCATE for quality library CE at both the local and national levels.
More information on the LearnRT
LearnRT membership is only $20 on top of your regular ALA membership and includes a FREE membership to the American Management Association. More information on LearnRT membership
Questions? Please contact: info@alalearning.org.

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Subscribe to this blog by email

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:13:16 +0000

Anyone who’s reading this blog directly rather than in their rss reader may have noticed a new box appear on the upper right hand side – Subscribe via Email I’m happy to have finally gotten around to offer this option. Teaching patrons and training staff has taught me that there are still a great many people who don’t use an rss reader for whatever reason. So I thought it was time for me to get out of my bubble and provide an option for people who aren’t rss fanatic.

Just enter your email address, confirm your subscription and blog posts will be delivered to your email like magic! Similar Posts:

Bobbi Newman — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:19:35 +0000

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Welcome!

Bobbi Newman — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:51:54 +0000

If you’re here you’ve followed the links and I know I’ve moved the blog. You can update your feeds here.

I’ve been toying with moving for awhile now and as I’m already moving across the country to a new job this seemed like a great time! Similar Posts:

What 5 blogs do you think are MUST read?

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:10:27 +0000

Here is the deal, my RSS reader, its overwhelmed, I have waaaayyy too many blogs in it. I’ve tried weeding (something I’m known for being good at around the library) and I’m still not down far enough. I think I have a new plan. I’m going to unsubscribe to everything. If its good and worthwhile it will find its way back right?

So if you were going to recommend 5 blogs to someone starting a new reader account what would they be?Similar Posts:

How I started blogging meme

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:06:35 +0000

It looks like there is another Library themed meme making the rounds, this one started by Meredith Farkas at Information Wants To Be Free, I spotted over on David’s blog weeks ago but never imagined it would get around to me. Both The Bald Trainer & Beth Tribe tagged me for this one, so I better get on it.

Q1) How or why did I start to get into blogging?

I’d had a personal blog for a while and in fact I’d started this blog at one point then deleted all the posts in July of 2007 to get a fresh start. I started this blog as more of a record for me, as I said in one of my very first posts, as a record of my adventures in libraryland.

Q2) How did I gain an audience?

I’m not sure. As I look back over some of my older posts I cringe a little. Some of what I thought were my best posts got very little attention (hey look! There’s the first time I said “if you build it they will come – or maybe not”, I say this in most of my presentations) I’d like to think it’s been by providing useful information combined with my wit and charm.

Q3) What advice would you give to new bloggers who want to make a name for themselves in the biblioblogosphere?

Don’t be afraid to let your personality show through. Think about the blogs you read and why you read them. Know who your audience is, libraryland is really big, it’s hard to aim for everyone. It’s ok to have an opinion, and it’s ok to change your mind later about your opinion. Be honest. Be kind.Similar Posts:

We Want to Know What You Think

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:19:21 +0000

I’ve been managing MRRL’s blog for a couple of months now. Just getting staff used to the idea and getting them excited about it. With the New Year came the “official” kick off of the blog. There are now other contributes on a regular basis and an “official” calender of when posts are sent to publish Robin has even got the blog showing up on the Library’s front page. All in all some very exciting things are happening!

We started something today I think tops all of them. Our “We Want to Know What You Think” question! Each month the Director will provide a question we’d like feedback from the public on. As a public library we’re always looking for feedback from our patrons, this is a great way to get focused specific feedback on the questions we’re wondering about!Similar Posts: