Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

by Jon Haarstad on July 18, 2011

This is a bit of a confession mixed with a personal challenge. I love learning and talking about the idea of living a minimalistic life where less is more. There comes a tipping point for some of us when it comes to the “stuff” we surround ourselves with and for me, I have found that I’m at my best when clutter is at a minimum.

Confession – I have times when I have surrounded myself with that ugly “clutter”.

Realization – I’m at my best when the clutter is gone and my mind is not distracted by all the half-finished projects and someday-maybe items laying around.

So what’s the fix? How do we get out from the clutter of our lives and create a life story we love waking up to every day?

First of all, there’s something incredibly powerful about the word NOW. “Later” is the lure that keeps us living a life we’re just not quite happy with. NOW is about this exact moment. What do we do with this moment? Do we think about what we have to do or do we do it? Do we fret about what’s not done or do we take that single step that can start momentum in the right direction.

Instead of waiting for things to either come to a place of urgency or waiting for a 10-hour block of time to magically appear in your schedule – START with that first step. What’s the next small and simple thing you can do? Do it. Do it now. Don’t have a 3 hour block of time in your schedule today to tackle that big project? How about 15 minutes? You must have 15 minutes you can free up to do 1 or 2 tasks related that big project.

Making things happen is not about the daily sprint…it’s about the marathon. Daily sprints are short and furious and typically lead to burn out or the need for lots of recuperation time. Plan life as a marathon and break things up in management (and trackable) sections and rejoice as you reach the milestones.

Popularity: 33% [?]

{ 0 comments }

Getting Technical : Yammer

by Jon Haarstad on June 7, 2011

I’m going to take a little break from the personal stuff and offer up some completely non-personal, “it’s-all-business” thoughts. One of the common things I’m asked about is what tools I use in my daily workflow.

For today’s entry…let’s talk about Yammer.

First off…ever heard of this little website called Twitter? No? Well…trust me, I think it’s going to be big. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and call it’s potential HUGE. Well, Yammer takes a different twist on the basic functionality that Twitter offers and brings the corporate environment oh so much more.

So, what’s this Yammer thingy?

Yammer is a free online tool that allows you to create an internal corporate communication system. It works with some of the basic functionality of Twitter except for some very important differences.  Here are two of the biggest differences.

  1. It doesn’t have a 140-character limit like Twitter.
  2. It’s closed to single organizations by being tied to a single domain name.

All communications flow in a single feed but you can divide things out with the use of groups. So…you can view a master feed list or create/access a particular sub-group tied to your department, team or topic.

We’ve implemented Yammer at my day job at Portland Christian Center and it’s been slowly getting more ingrained in our communication flow. The hardest thing is getting people to break the long-time addiction to email. But the problem with email is that you quickly get buried in a never-ending sea of comments on top of emails on top of comments on top of emails which tend to lead to frustration in finding that one thing you remember someone asking or saying. You know it’s buried in a CC: or and RE: or a BCC: somewhere…but where?! Folder? Inbox? Sent? Deleted? Junk? Ahh!!!

Yammer, on the other hand, allows for a constant flow of information in a way that you can either add to the team-wide flow of communication and/or focus your message at certain individuals by using the now-familiar naming convention of the @name_here method. There’s also the option to Direct Message or “DM” if you need to take the conversation “off-line” and outside the team-wide message flow.

For my team, I’ve often used it to send out concept previews of designs we’re working on for feedback. Others on my team can either “Like” the post or comment on the post. Comments can be set to track under actual conversations for easy reference and dialogue.

Where my day job has been slow in implementation, a company I consult for has really taken to the system and it’s become the de-facto mode of communication. I can hop on at any time and track things and see where any trouble-spots are at…and interject as needed. From watching that evolve, the big advantage of this system is that everyone can “be in the loop” very easily by merely keeping an eye on the flow of information being posted. Win.

While the service is free, they do offer a Premium service that costs $5/user/month. The premium option gives you the ability to brand your Yammer feeds with some other additional resources. I’ve been just fine with the free versions myself and haven’t seen the need to recommend the premium versions.

I know there are other similar communication tools out there but this is the one that I’ve been using a lot. If you’ve used Yammer or any other similar communication system, what are your thoughts?

LINK: Yammer.com

Popularity: 78% [?]

{ 2 comments }

Obligation or Justification

by Jon Haarstad on May 31, 2011

I was browsing some recent photo collections from my recent travels to Ethiopia and seeing some images that were posted to my church’s online photo collection brought back some memories.

2011 Project Oromia

This was a unique stop on our way back to the capital city of Addis Ababa after we had spent a few days in the remote region of Oromia.  The story is one that would be easy to hear. Most would note the significance and maybe give an “oh my” in response to the account…and then quickly move on with their lives giving it little thought or consideration beyond a “oh, that was a nice story”.

The events leading up to the above photo are a mix of both wonder and tragedy.

The Background

My church (Portland Christian Center) has been actively involved with the beloved country and people of Ethiopia.  We have embarked on a mission as a church to bring the Gospel to the remote areas of Ethiopia by providing the resources for local Ethiopians to fulfill the call given in Matthew 28:19 to “go and make disciples”. Our role as a church is to partner with the people of Ethiopia…enabling them to do the work of spreading the Gospel.  In just a few months, the results have been nothing less than overwhelming (for updates on the progress there…click here).

The Story

I began to write out the account as best as I could recall it but then remembered that my pastor had posted the account on this blog so, to ensure that the facts are straight, I’ve decided to link to his article which can be found here.  [ click here ]

Reconciliation

One of the testimonies that has come out of this story is that of the immediate sense of reconciliation between the pastor’s wife and the killer’s wife – two women who both lost husbands with the act of one man.  I was struck by the accounts given as the two women, instead of holding bitterness towards one other, have formed a close friendship that is taking this tragedy and turning it for good.

How often would we see that kind of immediate response?  Often we find excuses for our behaviors and justify our anger or bitterness with the phrase “I have a right to be ____”.  In this case, what I witnessed was not a “I have a right to be angry” but rather an immediate “I have an obligation to love”.

The challenge to me was to be keenly aware of my reactions to offenses I may feel directly towards me.  Ever notice how quickly we jump to anger and claim justification.  Wouldn’t we be better served to turn our justifications into obligations — not simply because we’re “obligated” but because, ultimately, where hurt and anger only tear us down – reconciliation and grace have the ability to mend and build.

The Image

What you see in the image above is part of a mid-day service that was going on as we stopped by to say hello and pass some encouraging words to the pastor’s widow.  It was a scene with both somber remembrances and joyous celebrations while two woman sat not far from each other.  Two widows.  One church.  One family.  To see more from this stop, check out the Flickr photostream [ click here ].

Popularity: 42% [?]

{ 0 comments }

Faithfulness & Love

May 14, 2011

Today I will be gathering with many familiar faces that I grew up with as a young child and teenager here in my home town of Lyle, Washington. Many of the faces I will see have journeyed far through life since I was here to share this small town life with them on a regular [...]

Read the full article →

The Confessions of a Horrible Blogger…an autobiography

May 14, 2011

Writing. Art or practice. Work or pleasure. There’s something profound about approaching it as something that doesn’t come easily. There’s something romantic about having to fight for it. There’s something beautiful about wrestling with words to create something worth sharing and ultimately…worth reading. This blog has been a loose collection of thoughts over the past [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries