Creating a happy and productive workplace

I am really glad that I don't do my writing in a place where I am tied to my desk.

My workplace is my home, where I am my own boss and have the flexibility to get the most out of myself with the proper "incentives."

This morning when I was writing my Newsmax post, my eyes could not focus. The continued dry heat in my house was getting to me. Another cup of coffee would not do it, but a quick trip to Tailgate Picnic would. I think I just needed some air. I got a raisin scone and told Anna at the cash register that I was betting that magic elements in the scone would help me write.

It worked. I breezed through the Newsmax post (with help from an extra cup of coffee) and finished editing a piece that I am doing for another client.

Back in my early days at The Republican, the atmosphere allowed for taking revitalizing breaks. When there was actually a downtown in Springfield, I might walk alone or with a co-worker down to the bookstore. Later there was only the Dunkin' Donuts next door, but even a coffee run could do the trick.

Increasingly, the atmosphere there became one of watching everything you do, with time spent recharging viewed as time wasted. I am sure this attitude permeates other workplaces as well.

In another life I am going to work at Google, where, according to the company' website, "Our offices and cafes are designed to encourage interactions between Googlers within and across teams, and to spark conversation about work as well as play."

Its goal in offices and campuses is “to create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world.”

I am doing my best to create my own happy workplace. I am going to walk the dog now and when I come back, I will write the other story on my budget today, a faculty profile for Holyoke Community College's next Career Focus issue.

And if I need another scone, I just might get it.

A New Year's resolution with (some) teeth

I am getting my tennis game back…again…but it's good that I did not sign up for the team. I am having fun out there, and at this point I wouldn't do well under the pressure of a match.

Also I'm finding that after an hour and a half I've just about had enough, and in a match you have to be able to last two hours. I don't feel especially fragile, but I think I am in the sense that I'm never sure which part of me will act up next. Pneumonia, the kidney thing, the legs the ongoing saga of the teeth came one after another. But I'm still here.

Time for a little Stephen Sondheim music:

My New Year's Resolution is to save my teeth. Not your ordinary goal. I regret that I just learned through conversation with a friend that AARP has dental insurance. I could have saved a lot of money had I signed up earlier, but I'm on board now. I am getting some extra work done – a crown and a bridge – so that I don't end up chewing on my front teeth too much and damaging them. Those things are not actually covered at this point (I might have partial coverage in a year), but I'm willing to spend the money. My nightmare scenario is to lose my front teeth. But as usual, I'm jumping ahead.

I got philosophical in this week's Newsmax blog, headlined "Time Lost can be Time Gained."

I had been thinking about how I sometimes talk about time lost when I was in treatment for leukemia. But really there isn't such a thing, because you're always doing something (unless, like me, you were in a coma).

To read the post, click here.