Monday Grab bag

Travel week here: I’ll be speaking on Wednesday at the NALP annual conference, on Facilitating a Successful Transition from Student to Lawyer.

Since the conference is in Keystone, CO, I seized the opportunity to spend some time in Colorado and Wyoming over the weekend and into this week.  I flew into Denver (home of Stephanie West Allen, though unfortunately my schedule will preclude a visit this time) on Friday and won’t return til next Friday, when I’ll fly out again.  Though Denver is a lovely city, I love the smaller cities and, better yet, empty spaces.  Although the weather in Cheyenne today is overcast and drizzly, it’s a treat to be here.  We visited Boulder (where I spent a very snowy freshman year of college), Estes Park (home of the Stanley Hotel, where The Shining was set) and the Rocky Mountain National Park (where we saw literally hundreds of elk, as well as prairie dogs, coyote, and even a moose!), the Canyon Wine Cellars tasting room (featuring surprisingly good wine; we even bought several bottles and plan to return to the Grand Junction area with its 65+ wineries later this year), and Vail and environs over the weekend, in much better weather.  We were stunned to find that the slopes are still open in Vail, but I suspect that won’t last much longer.  Sadly, I forgot to bring a camera with me… But perhaps I’ll pick up one today.

All of this is to say that my posts will likely be short this week!  But there’s plenty of interest going on, so I’ll point you to some good posts and news stories elsewhere.

Eliminate clutter that can derail your professional success.  Suzanne Dupree Howe of the Counsel to Counsel blog links to a WSJ Career Journal article titled Decluttering Your Career.  It suggests removing “career clutter” that can pull you off the course of your day — or your career.  This clutter includes distractions from the pursuit of your career goals, conflicts, email overload, and social chit-chat at work.  I’d expand the list to include anything that drains your energy, including home tasks that are overwhelming (perhaps hiring a weekly housecleaning service?), physical clutter in the office or at home, and physical habits that don’t support you.

Living in the Moment: Executive coach Doug Constant has written a thought-provoking post on how we live our lives in the “dash” between birth and death.  The post is definitely a step outside what I ordinarily mention on this blog, but it’s well worth a read and some reflection.  Doug offers 5 principles and one law that will guide the reader toward truly living in the dash:

Principle 1: You are either living YOUR life or someone else’s.
Principle 2: The people that enter your life are the right people…  good and bad.
Principle 3: Whatever happens… happens.
Principle 4: Whatever happens is the right time.
Principle 5: When it’s over, it’s over.

and

The Law of Two Feet. Stated succinctly, if at anytime you find yourself in a situation where you are neither learning nor contributing, use your two feet. Go somewhere else. Do something useful. Live Your Dash. Stay in the moment and don’t get stuck in the moment.

Some of these ideas may be tough for Type A types, but there’s at least a grain of truth to each.  I admit that I’m not quite as zen as these principles would encourage me to be, but finding the ability to take a deep breath and let it all be ok is a helpful skill, particularly when tempered with the Law of Two Feet.

And now… I’m taking my two feet out to explore Cheyenne before the rain arrives.