Archive for the 'work' Category

My conversation with the IU School of Informatics Alumni Association podcast

Published by Tristan on March 24, 2008 in Angie's List, education, media, music, podcast, technology and work. 0 Comments

Indiana University School of Informatics Alumni association logoI was interviewed on November 19th of last year by John Blue for the Indiana University Informatics Alumni Association’s “Bits of Informatics” podcast, and I’m pleased to say it’s now online for your listening pleasure. Over lunch at Aesop’s Tables on a cloudy, wintry day, John and I chatted about my telecommunications and new media experiences at the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses; surround-sound production and my 2-song Capstone presentation; how I met my wife in ballroom-dancing class; and List-en up, the Angie’s List podcast, which was in its infancy last fall.

Though my first name’s spelled incorrectly (I’m sure John will fix it soon), I got a kick out of listening to the podcast episode. It’s quite strange to hear my voice in a context outside of List-en up, but it was exciting to be the interviewee rather than be the interviewer. It was a bit nerve-wracking, as well — can you tell?

My generation: too demanding at work?

Published by Tristan on January 7, 2008 in asides, economy, education and work. 0 Comments

This CNN article is about my generation’s increased expectations from our employers. Apparently, we want more money, more vacation time, and better benefits than past generations. Who wouldn’t want those things?

My opinion is that the young people of my generation (why’s it called “Gen Y,” anyway?!? How about “Gen Thundercats“?) were raised with certain expectations, and we’re just following through on what was reinforced throughout our lives: in the US-of-A, a good education and hard work will land you a dream job, good pay, and good benefits for life. Unfortunately, even as corporate profits rise and the rich get richer, the economy’s taken some severe hits (recession, anyone?) that are affecting my generation’s ability to secure the jobs we once thought were ours for the taking. And with rising oil prices and the coming of peak oil sure to drastically affect the economy, the term “job security” might be going the way of Arctic Ice.

Waking up and going to work is stressful. What can you do about it?

Published by Tristan on December 27, 2007 in activism, asides and work. 0 Comments

Grogginess, grogginess, please go away. Grogginess, grogginess, please don’t come back another day.

After 5 days away from work, I had one heck of a time getting back into the swing of things this morning. Though my grogginess probably wouldn’t have been helped with the addition of grog, I felt like I could’ve used some to help me navigate the treacherous waters of work. Luckily, I came across this article called “7 ways to restart your day”, which will hopefully help me feel better about waking up early and slogging away every weekday.

Among the tips:

As soon as the alarm rings …
Spend your first 15 seconds awake planning something nice to do for yourself today.

Get up
The longer you lie there, the more you ruminate, the darker your outlook is likely to become, says Christine Padesky, Ph.D., coauthor of “Mind Over Mood.” So get vertical and make a cup of coffee, take a shower, feed the cat …

Drink …
Two glasses of water upon awakening, the time when our bodies are dehydrated, says Susan M. Kleiner, Ph.D., author of “The Good Mood Diet.” Dehydration causes fatigue, which affects your mood.

Move it
Just a few minutes of movement — a fast walk, for example — raises energy and reduces tension, says mood expert Robert Thayer, Ph.D., professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and author of “Calm Energy.”

Investigate
When you’re dogged by anxiety or the dread you woke up with, try to pinpoint what’s causing it. If you can figure out why you’re upset, that’s halfway to feeling better.

Be kind and thankful
Do something nice for a stranger or friend and see if you don’t feel better about yourself. Also, jot down three things that you’re grateful for. It seems so simple, but counting your blessings just has a way of making you remember the sun is shining.

Laugh at yourself
Look at your own life and try to appreciate the absurdity of what doesn’t go exactly according to plan. Acknowledging how little control we actually have over what happens is sometimes a most freeing gift to yourself.

Hope this helps (you and me!)

Also, this blog has some good points about work and vacation. Additionally, timeday.org is a good place to check out and advocate for. Timeday.org is the website for Take Back Your Time, a major U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment. Sounds good to me!