Lazy Sunday XXXV: Corporate Grind

Starting today, subscribers to my SubscribeStar page at the $5 level or higher will get an exclusive weekly doodle.  Just another perk of subscribing!

It’s been a very busy Sunday, the exact opposite of lazy. My little school hosts open houses for prospective parents and students about twice a year on Sunday afternoons, and as the go-to tech guy, I have slightly more to prepare than some of the other faculties.

I also play piano in my church on most Sunday mornings now (which I enjoy), and I play with a local jazz big band, which practices on Sunday afternoons (which I also enjoy).  Add it all up, and it made for a busy day.

So, with all that going on, not only is this Lazy Sunday late, it’s also focused on professional life—specifically, the rat race, the nine-to-five, the grind:

• “Meetings are (Usually) a Waste of Time” – One way I know that I’m getting old is that I’ve developed my own “best practices” for meetings.  I’ve sat through tons of pointless, lengthy meetings (and pointlessly lengthy ones), so I’ve come up approaches I attempt to stick to with meetings I run:  keep ’em short, limit it to two or three agenda items, and come in organized.
• “Phone it in Friday IV: Conferencing” – I despise meetings, but I love conferences—if they’re done well.  Just as there are best practices for meetings, there are best practices for conferences:  offer relevant sessions, keep the entire conference short in length, and have some decent food and coffee, appropriate for the length and nature of the conference.  A good conference is an opportunity to learn, network, and re-energize.
• “SubscribeStar Saturday: Culture Matters” – Culture matters!  That was the point of an excellent presentation I attended at the conference that occasioned the post above.  The presentation was specifically about the importance of growing and maintaining a healthy faculty culture, which largely means being thankful for faculty efforts, giving them the option to say no, and preventing burnout.  Read the whole thing with a subscription of just $1 a month!

That’s it!  A short, late Lazy Sunday after a decidedly busy Sabbath.

–TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

• Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
• Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
• Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
• Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
• Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
• Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
• Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
• Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
• Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
• Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
• Lazy Sunday XII – Space
• Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
• Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
• Lazy Sunday XV – Work
• Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
• Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
• Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
• Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
• Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
• Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
• Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
• Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
• Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
• Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
• Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
• Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
• Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
• Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
• Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
• Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
• Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
• Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
• Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series