Blog of the Gate 3 WorkClub

The Big But! – Overcoming the “behavior modification” hurdle.

One of the most heartening elements of this Gate 3 adventure has been the almost unanimous positive feedback from almost everyone who hears about it. “What a great idea, when are you opening one in..(enter name of a city or town).” And “It’s amazing no one has ever done this before”. And “this is really needed, there are so many people I know who could use it”. And “I would join but…”

And that’s where the problem is coming in – it’s always “someone else” who could use it – well very often. And there’s always one insurmountable problem that makes this a bad time to modify work patterns to include the WorkClub in you your work-style. So while interest is high, it feels like a lot of people are still standing on the sidelines, observing, watching, and waiting to see what happens. And we all know what happens if everyone becomes a spectator and no one wants to throw his or her hat into the ring.

So we’ve been thinking a lot lately about why this is and what we can do about it.

Getting Back Into It

Finally getting back to the blog – the first time since I wrote from Findhorn, and what a long time ago that was; and what a lot has happened since then. We opened with a big bash on October 7th with 400 or so friends, supporters and people who came out of pure curiosity. We had a great time and it was worth every bit of the effort – but it took its toll. It drained the team’s energy and in some ways we’re still recovering.

In the past couple of months the WorkClub has “come to be” – we have had a flurry of activity with a lot of people joining and starting to use the club – and of course in ways that we did not predict.

Once More ...

In September, I mentioned KidsNCommon, a site that helps divorced parents co- manage the lives of their kids. The Wall Street Journal's Sue Shellenberger writes about the same topic today, and mentions OurFamilyWizard, another website that helps parents stay organized (you need to be a subscriber to WSJ). OurFamilyWizard is $99 per parent per year, but seems to offer a wider range of benefits. You can watch a Flash or Quicktime movie of what you're buying. If you use either of these sites, or know of others, drop us a line: we'd like to hear from you!

Hey Ho, Hey Ho, It's Off To Grandma's We Go ...

Did you know that some 75 million Americans will be traveling to and fro during the holiday season?  Donna Williams, writing for Fast Company magazine, has come up with a delicious list of timely tips directed toward the leisure traveler. However, I know from experience that some business travelers are guilty of the trespasses Ms. Williams has outlined, just as some leisure travelers are not. (It seems to me that what we do not need is yet another point of diviseveness during a time of year that can already be harrowing.) Frankly, if leisure and business travelers came together and followed her suggestions, we would all experience friendly skies. Read A Holiday Proposal for Plane Travel Etiquette, then add your own suggestion to her list. Here is my addition:

Don't cough or sneeze without covering your mouth -- with something more than just your hand. Need I say more in this time of flu vaccine shortages?

The Road Well-Balanced

Do you travel to see prospects and clients? If so, then you know that though your meeting may be just a few hours, hotel stays can make all of the hours you’re away from home feel like "work." You miss your significant other, your pets, your kids, your noisy neighbors – even that lumpy mattress you’ve been meaning to replace (but who has time, and at least you know where all the lumps are, and you put them there). Christopher Elliott, a journalist who writes about business travel, has written a no-nonsense, entertaining article, Finding Balance on the Road, that will provide you with a few cogent ideas to counter the stress of retaining your balance between work and life. And if you feel you've mastered the tug between being on the road and being at home, it never hurts to give yourself a brush-up: check out Elliott's Business Travel section.

How to avoid spam instead of stopping it

Nobody likes email spam. Spam messages cost us time and money when they are downloaded, they clog our mailboxes, and some present a security risk. No wonder that a zillion programs offer you their services in removing spam messages. These applications mostly work this way: they still let spam be downloaded to your computer, they will still let spam clog your mailbox, and downloaded spam viruses will still reach your PC. However, by using a spam “filter” application, you will presumably get a big satisfaction knowing that those evil spam messages are killed on your own PC. Hmmm - must be a better way, right? Well, there is.

Dealing With Kids After Divorce

Could you use a simple way to handle your child-related divorce decrees? If so, KidsNCommon may have the answer: the site offers an easy-to-use online tool that can make the job easier while reducing some of the emotional hardship divorce can bring. The site promises to let you:

• schedule shared bills, and events;
• communicate via online messages;
• share documents; and
• join an online community for support.

Two plans are available: one for parents and other supporting family members (free), and a premier plan ($99). The premiere plan allows you to provide access to advisors and attorneys, useful for sharing documents with your former spouse. Whether you choose the free or fee version, according to the site, you must be a parent to use KidsNCommon. If you try it, please post your experience here for other Gate 3 members to read.

Beyond Google

Google's marketing and financial success crowns it as the current king of the search hill, but that does not mean there are no contenders for the crown. Here are a couple a couple of search engines that are not really new, but have became more popular, judging by their traffic and the references they pick up in blogs. I would give these guys a run, just out of appreciation for the sheer determination they display in getting into an arena crowded by giants. Well, on a closer inspection, one of them is actually backed by a giant. In any case, these two believe that they have something new to offer in a realm where most of us are quite happy with what we already have.

Providing For Parents

If you are responsible for the care of an elderly parent or relative, either directly or indirectly, you may be struggling with balancing those demands with those of your work, your children and your partner. If so, you are not alone. Estimates for California show that there may be as many as 1.8 million families that care for someone age 50 or over. According to the National Family Caregivers Association, some 47% of family caregivers are employed. Of those, nearly three-quarters work full-time. And if you run your own business, there's a good chance that you define "full-time" in excess of 60 hours a week. A recent survey* of working adults who are caring for elderly relatives showed the following results: 46% cited dealing with emotional issues took the biggest emotional toll; 26% said taking care of financial and legal concerns as the biggest cause of stress; 20% chose providing day-to-day assistance; and 8% cited spending time on the phone or in person with their elderly relative. While you may not be able to afford the types of employee assistance programs of large corporations, here are resources you (and your employees if you have them) can turn to that will provide you with information and support. Government Eldercare Locator National Organizations AARP National Alliance for Caregiving Local Organizations SF Bay Area Caregiver Services Local Caregiver Resource Center Online Caregiver Support Link2Care [Registration required] Caregiver Support Group [Registration required]

*Source: ComPsych

The Seven Palm Applications of Highly Effective People (2)

Life Balance for Palm was developed by a computer professional who grew tired of having the borders between her life and work become blurry. So she coded a time management application. Right? Not exactly. Well, Life Balance can be seen as a time and task management program. It does handle tasks and appointments. However, unlike most such applications, it has left the paradigm of the scheduled date book altogether. In Life Balance, there is no ledger book – instead, it boldly moved towards a non-linear model, and proposes using a complex tree of tasks starting from life goals and ending in minute tasks. The too-complex-to-comprehend tree is dynamically sorted, and the important tasks for a certain time and place bubble up to the surface. “Life Balance helps you focus on what is important to you and actively balance the often-conflicting demands of career and personal life”, the creators of the software program say. We are dealing here with a new breed of application, and I agree to its creators definition: it is coaching software.