Monday, March 30, 2015

Scrum baby - #Microblogmondays

I took the most awesome course last week which was both a life changer for work but also has the potential to be a life changer in my personal life. It is called the Certified Scrum Master course (yes - scrum like rugby) and it is an applied methodology for living an agile life (ok - really it is applied to software development frameworks but seriously, it has the potential to apply to pretty much any situation). 

It is the anti-waterfall methodology for life. Instead of mapping out the details of everything you want to do at the beginning of any project, you set the high level vision of where you want to be. Then, during each sprint (1-4 week period), you prioritize your goals for the sprint, make sure each team member has to be successful and start the clock. The goal is to achieve fully working outputs in small bits, check with your stakeholders along the way, and deliver exactly what is needed. We tend to get stuck in the weeds very early in the project and spend way too much time on stuff that just doesn't matter & that we don't really need.

How much baggage do you have in your life (and job) that you do because you have always done it that way? What if you could cut that stuff out and focus on the real value?! It is so empowering.

At work, my job is the 'scrum master' which means I will be getting stuff out of people's way so they can be as successful as possible. I love it. I was born to solve problems. Woot woot.

At home, I will likely be alternating between the product owner and scrum master. And sometimes the team member. We could decompose tasks for the house into the product backlog and see if we work more efficiently this way. Maybe big tasks won't be so daunting. You know. So I never start. 

Check it out!  Http:://Scrumalliance.org

If you could be agile in your life, what would you do differently?




Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is?Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

Monday, March 23, 2015

... and today's hat is ... #MicroBlogMondays

I was on stay-cation for the last week, and this morning I returned back to work.  Everything is different when I am working.  I get up at 4:50 in the morning so I have time to work out and meditate.  I rouse the family from their beds & let the cats in from their adventures.  I have to shower, find work appropriate clothes, apply makeup, style my hair. I have to get lunches ready and put breakfast is on the table.  I commute at least 25 minutes (unless there is a 3 lane pileup on the way, and then it takes an hour).  Just to be in the office by 8:00 feels like such a production, and then I turn on the computer and have the hundreds of messages waiting for me to take action.  And I have to remember who I was before I took that vacation.  I am still struggling, and it is noon.  Crazy!

I really loved wearing the mommy hat last week.  Sofie learned to balance and ride her bike.  We went to the top of the world (the Spindletop Hyatt) and explored art galore.  We ate gelato and skateboarded.  We rode amusement park rides, baked cookies, went to a coffee shop for hot cocoa and friendship, woke up late, and watched cartoons in the morning.  We had a picnic and a sleepover.  I love these happy days.

The transitions between my hats are hard.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is?Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Spring break - #MicroBlogMondays

Hello All Y'all! It's spring break!

I love the murals that are being put in the Heights and around the town. It's not all concrete jungle.


Monday, March 9, 2015

Most fun toy for little girls ever - #MicroBlogMondays


After my deep connection with the universe occurred last week through meditation, a nasty virus took hold of me and I have been grounded ever since.  I am back to work on day 6 of the plague (feeling a lot better) and trying to function today.  I was drawing a blank for my post, until I remembered the super-amazing-awesome toy that my husband found for Sofie this weekend.

It is called the "Flutterbye Flying Flower Fairy" (say that 10 times fast) and it is a remote control helicopter for 5 and 6-year-old girls (and 40-something year old women). The hardest part of using it (unless you get a defective one - the first one we bought had an issue; we exchanged it) is waiting the 25 minutes for it to charge up.  Oh, and the Fairy does fly like a kamikaze pilot but so does my Sofie.

Playing with the fairy is like having a bag of pixie dust for a friend.  Cosmic.  Why did we not have these in the 80's???

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is?Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

Monday, March 2, 2015

The art of meditation - #MicroblogMondays


I have always been a very spiritual person.  I occasionally feel like I've lost that connection with the universe and the world around me.  It tends to happen gradually.  I will have some change take place in my life (kindergarten starting, Mandarin lessons, house cleaning,... whatever) and I will accommodate that change with time. I'll get tired.  I'll get restless. I'll stop focusing on me and start focusing on all the crap I have to do.  And all the negative feedback that comes my way starts to circle around in my head.  Months go by.  Suddenly, I am exhausted, stressed, anxious and out of touch with my awesomeness.

Last week, after my 30 minute cycling workout (really pathetic, but I am suffering from tendinitis in my elbow at the moment), God spoke to me and said, "[Junebug], take a moment and meditate."  Eureka!

I have meditated by myself in the past, I have tried binaural beats, I have done yoga/breathing, and somehow Deepak Chopra soothes me at a different level.

I started my "Perfect Health" guided meditation and I felt SO MUCH BETTER after I was done.  I was so focused at work.  I was able to function after I got home.  I had an amazing day.  I kept doing it every day last week, and it helped a little bit each day.  I met all my goals for the week plus some.  Today's meditation was all about loving myself the way I am, and I got stuck on Sirius XM Love by chance on the way to work.  Weird, right? I never listen to that channel.  It is too goopy for me, but it was spot on for the day.

Now I am taking steps to make sure that I am feeding my soul with meditation, and I commit to not falling out of the practice.

NOTE: I have purchased a few guided meditations from Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey.  In case you are interested, there is a freebie 21 day mediation starting on March 16th called "Manifesting True Success".  Do it!   I find them to be life changers.  Did I mention it is only 15 minutes?

https://chopracentermeditation.com/ 



Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is?Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.