Respecting other people's time

Have you ever received an email with only part of a message and ended up having to reply asking for more detail? Well, I have been getting a lot of these types of messages in the last little while and it really bothers me.

If you are sending someone an email to ask a question or to ask for something be sure that you really do ask for what you are looking for instead of just being unclear. The reason I am saying this is it wastes a lot of time to have to continually email back and forth getting clarification.

Another part of emailing is if you are looking for a number of different things try and put them all in one email instead of an email every few minutes. If you are working on a few things try and delay sending the first email for a few minutes to see if you need anything else. The person that is receiving all these emails is continually being interrupted if they are notified of all messages that are received. The person you are sending to may change their notification so that they don't get the notification and in an emergency will miss something.

It is important when you send emails you make sure you give all the information that is necessary for the individual receiving the email to act quickly and effectively on it. The information you are looking for may be easy to send if the person understands what you are looking for and doesn't have to guess at some of it.

Sending numerous emails to one person is like picking up the phone and calling them with every little question instead of thinking things through and then making one contact. The person that is receiving this type of message would really appreciate the one message instead of tons of little messages.

Remember email is great in some ways but you also have to remember that you could be interfering with what someone is working on if you continually email them. They may be working on something for you and it will take them a lot longer to get you the stuff if you don't respect their time.

Being on social media

I have recently been looking at social media a little differently and have some some things that I really don't understand.

1. Why are your twitter posts just a link to a Facebook post?

2. You are on tumblr but your twitter posts are just other people's pictures with no real meaning.

3. You post intagram pictures and they are your twitter posts with no meaning.

4. Your twitter posts are your Facebook posts.

Now what I am seeing through all of this are some people figure that they have to be on all social media but really aren't. Yes the posts end up all over but in a lot of cases they are meaningless because there is no real content.

With regards to twitter posts going your Facebook posts. Don't complain if I don't follow you are twitter because we are already Facebook friends so I see all your twitter feed. I have actually had a friend ask me why I don't follow her on twitter and I simply said “I see all your posts on Facebook so don't need to follow you”.

It is fine being on social media but you also have to remember that email is the main means of communication so don't ignore that. In some instances we see people posting on tumblr and instagram but they ignore their email because they are too busy. Well, maybe if you spent less time posting on these two other spots you would have time to respond to emails.

There are some people that I enjoy their twitter posts because yes they may have an instagram picture attached but their tweet explains the picture. A story in 140 characters and that is great. Seeing a picture helps to tell a bigger story and I do enjoy that. The tweet with just an instagram image attached tells me nothing.

What people need to do is figure out what social media they are going to be on and be on each of them separately. Remember not all your friends on Facebook want to see your Twitter feed and vise versa. Social media does have it's place but in some cases I think people figure that they need to be on everything so that they look important. If you use each of the platforms correctly you can look important but if you don't you can look bad. Social media is a means of communicating with different groups of people depending on the media so please remember that.

Re-examining things

There are times that we do something because we love doing it and that seems to be the entire reason for doing it. It may be supporting a cause or even doing a job and it might not be the job that you really want but you enjoy doing the job so you do it.

It is a challenge to look at what you are doing and figure out why you are doing something. Basically what you need to do is ask yourself “Why am I doing this job?” You may find out that it isn't for the reason you really thought and now need to rethink things through. Of course the rethinking is going to be the challenge because it also means facing a lot of the difficult decisions that may need to be made.

When you re-examine something you have been doing for a while don't make fast decisions because that decision might be the wrong decision in the long run. Take some time to do this and maybe even document your thoughts so that you can go back to them at different times to make sure you are seeing things clearly. The worst time to make a decision is when you are stressed about something and will only make an emotional decision.

There are questions that you should ask yourself and sometimes you may not like the real answer:

1. Why did I start doing this job/task?

2. I am still enjoying what I am doing?

3. What would I do if I wasn't doing this job/task?

4. What could be improved to make me happier again?

5. Who should I talk to about getting the changes made?

Ok, this is just a start to questions that you should be asking yourself but at least it might get you thinking about the entire situation instead of just one little area of it. It is also great to have someone that you can talk to about your feelings because they may see what the issue is and help you with ideas of improving the situation.

When you re-examine the issue you may find that it is time to leave it alone and walk away or you may find that it is other things that are bothering you. Taking the time that is required to re-examine something is the best thing you can do. Don't make the fast decisions as they may be the wrong decision in the long-run.

Day light running lights

Have you noticed how many people drive at night with just their day light running lights on? I have been noticing that quite a few people don't remember to turn on their full headlights when they drive out of a parking garage. I think of the reason for this is because when they see some headlights from their vehicle they think they have already turned on their full headlights.

We recently followed a person out of our garage and they didn't have their full headlights on. In some ways I think the day light running lights are not helping drivers. I know when I took drivers education we were told that even in the day time we should put our full headlights on. I think it is a lot safer to just drive with your headlights on at all times because you are easier seen. Also it means that if you get into the habit of always turning them on you won't forget to turn them on at night.

The original idea behind the day light running lights was to make cars more visible in the day time but now I think it is making cars less visible at night. When I say less visible is because without your full headlights on your back lights aren't lite. Also the front lights aren't as bright as if the full headlights are turned on.

It would be nice if people got into the habit of making sure that their full headlights were just on at all times and then day light running lights wouldn't be required. Also by turning on your full headlights when you start the car it means that you don't have to worry about when you should be changing from day light to full headlights. I know that full headlights are suppose to be at least half an hour before sunset but they means you need to know roughly when the sun is setting to follow this guideline.

So day light running lights may be helpful in some cases but I feel it is better just to turn your full headlights on when you are driving a vehicle. At least this way you are making sure that you are seen by others.

Writing for work

I have made quite a few references to, “I write for work” and that is exactly what I do. I am one of those rare IT individuals that enjoys writing. No, I don't have one focus that I work on as I enjoy writing a lot of different things. I can write the policies that are required, procedures about how to do something or even the training manual that will be used in a classroom environment. I also like helping people figure out why something is done the way it is and then either document those steps or help them figure out a better way of doing the task.

I am not afraid of seeing a blank page in front of me and in some case I find the blank page a challenge that needs to be met. A blank page is just something that is waiting to be used for words or diagrams to be put onto it. I know that I was one of those that found writing for work a challenge at first but now I have to admit that I really enjoy it and would love to show more of what I have written for work on our website.

Challenges of working for clients is that I am unable to show what I have written because of Non-disclosure agreements. Also in a lot of cases the subjects that I have been writing about are for the specific client and cannot be used in other situations. I am now developing means of writing some general procedures or policies to show some of what I can do.

Being able to write for the love it it is also rewarding because through my writing I have assisted others in seeing what they do and why. I have also been able to help clarify some steps of a process and even make it better or at least easier to do.

For me seeing a work-flow and how things progress is wonderful and I know in a number of cases I am the one that is documenting the work-flow because no one knows the entire process. Now, of course all of this writing does take a bit of time and that is something that people don't understand. No, I cannot snap my fingers and get a document ready immediately because it will need some research and then revisions because of issues or even possible changes that can be done.

The love of writing has got me to where I am now and I hope that I will be able to use my writing skills more in the future by assisting organizations in meeting their needs.

Relatives, who are they really?

So many people think that a relative is only someone who is related to you by blood. A relative can also be someone who is close to you, but has no blood ties at all.

What I am talking about are those people that call me Aunt because they want to and I am not related by blood or marriage to them. I have four such people that fall into this category and I am proud of my role. Each of these are kids of friends and I am happy I have achieved that role in their life.

Of course, I also have one nephew who is related to me by blood and he calls me “Auntie”. I am proud of this role as well because we are close and he knows I am there for him.

I also had a lady that I was very close to and referred to her as “my other mother”. She was someone I could talk to when I needed a different opinion on things. She encouraged me to be who I am and not let others walk over me. I lost this wonderful lady to cancer in 2013 and I hope she knew what she meant to me.

So relatives can be through blood, marriage or friendships. A relative is there in the good times and the bad times. They give you the kick when you need it and the hug (virtual or physical) when you can use it. They are there to listen and to be a shoulder.

I am very lucky because I have five people that call me “Aunt”. I hope each of them know that I am proud of them and honoured to be their Aunt.

Life only throws at you what you can handle

Sometimes it feels like life is against you but everything happens for a reason. There are times when things are rough and it seems like life is against you and then there are times when everything goes right.

People say “life only throws at you what you can handle.” Sometimes when the bad things are happening it feels like life is against you. Of course, bad things sometimes seem to happen in bunches which makes them seem worse and harder to handle. Knowing you can handle the bunches of bad doesn't feel easy when they are happening but quite often they make you a stronger person all around.

When the good things are happening remember that feeling. That feeling of joy can come in handy at other times. Also remembering that the world really isn't against you but sometimes has rotten timing.

So when life is throwing you a lot of things at once remember you can handle it, you are strong enough.