Packback’s Post

What's a work picnic? My 5th grade teacher, Ms. U, excelled at incorporating life lessons into her daily teaching. One of her famous teaching tools was that of a work picnic. Work picnics were something of a legend and rite of passage in my school. Wondering what a work picnic is? It's quite simple. It's working before picnicking in the park. At its essence, a work picnic is the lesson of "work before play." Here's how my teacher did just that. She taught us to: 🍎 Prepare to work. A few times in the spring semester we gathered our books, lunches, and sports equipment and head down to the local park. 🍎 Focus on our work. We laid out some blankets, sat down, and studiously worked from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM. 🍎 Celebrate our success. It was time to picnic! We enjoyed our lunches, treats, and games all afternoon long until it was time to go home.  I thought of this experience today as I wrapped up some work. It's a wonderful memory, and even more powerful lesson that even the most mundane of experiences have something to teach us. How do you reward yourself after a job well done? Want more productivity tips? Get my free work notebook guide and my latest blog post and updates. Link in comments. #mindset #entrepreneurship #lifelessons  #productivity  #bestadvice

"What's a work picnic?" That's what my classmates and I asked my 5th grade teacher. Work picnics were something of a legend and rite of passage in my school. My teacher, Ms. U, excelled at incorporating life lessons into her daily teaching. A work picnic was simply this: work before play. One spring day, we gathered our books, lunches, and sports equipment and headed down to the local park. We laid out some blankets, sat down, and studiously worked from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM. After that, it was time to picnic! We enjoyed our lunches, treats, and games all afternoon long until it was time to go home.  I thought of this experience this morning as I wrapped up some work. I did my work before play, and now I can savor a midday walk outdoors. How do you reward yourself after a job well done? Let me know in the comments. Want more productivity tips? Get my free work notebook guide and my latest blog post and updates -- sign up at https://lnkd.in/eiynz8my #mindset #personaldevelopment #entrepreneurship #lifelessons

Hello LinkedIn! I start every day looking forward to writing about what inspires me on my #walkoflame. I have still walked every day and I realized an entire week had gone by and I had not written one thing--today I was inspired to understand why. To be honest, I was a little concerned that I had nothing to say all week. Had I said everything? Had I drained my creative pool? Was my little flame going out? No, no, and no. I realized that I was pouring every ounce of strategy, thoughtfulness, and creativity into the projects I had agreed to service. My engine has been built to rev at a different RPM over the years and the concept of quiet, creative, pause was unfamiliar. The “NEXT!” mentality of creativity was always present for me. I often talk about harmonizing the drive for results with the time and space needed to be creative, but I hadn’t really practiced it for myself. I always thought the MORE I do, the more accolades I would receive, so I put myself in high-volume situations, in friendship, in life, and in business. Today, I will tell you a story about eating fish. Let’s pretend our day is a plate and every day others bring fish and put it on our plate. Our plates (or days) are set at a certain size, they don’t change. When there is too much on our plates, we end up just trying to figure out how to choke it all down and don’t enjoy one minute of it. With the right ratio of fish on your plate, you will ensure that every moment of clearing that plate with be thoughtful, intentional, and enjoyable. I realized that it is okay that the fish I accepted on my plate this week needed to be selective. Not only did I enjoy it, but my work is also better for it. #createthelifeyouwant #TheSparkStartsHere

Update: It's the last day of the competitive clothing drive. At the end of last week, our team (the Spoons) was falling behind and had dropped to the second spot. We gave each other a rallying pep talk, shared some words of encouragement and WOW check out that Monday/Tuesday pile of clothes around the Spoons table (far right, light blue). I love the teamwork mentality we have at Blue Compass. We all pitch in and work together toward our shared vision (which in this case is most definitely winning). In fact, this whole clothing drive is possible because of our team mentality. Any given year we have 8-12 crews that people can sign up for if they are interested in helping plan and organize events, holidays, etc. It gives everyone the chance to dedicate a little extra time to their favorite things, and build camaraderie with their peers who share common interests. The clothing drive was put on by our fabulous "Moral Compass" crew, formerly known as the volunteer crew. Would you be surprised if I told you that they have three creatives on their team?

What’s the secret to getting the best performance from your team? It comes from your old fair / picnic days: the three-legged race. You remember how it works- you pair people together and then can’t move forward without each other. It’s funny. It’s silly. But in business, it works. Why? Because you get the individual benefits from each team member in your pairing. But you also moderate the downsides that each one brings. The extreme edges disappear and you end up with not just more results but better results. At MotivationCode, we understand that some pairings don’t work well. That’s why we created our premium report to highlight which pairs are best and which you should watch out for. #TeamPerformance #MotivationCode #BusinessSuccess

Simplify's Halloween Bash was a wickedly good time, from spine-tingling decorations to devilishly delicious treats, we conjured up a night of frightful fun for our spook-tacular team. . . . Here's to more fang-tastic moments and eerie excitement in the coming year! #Simplify'sHalloweenCelebration #HalloweenHaunt #TeamThrills #HalloweenAtSimplify #VendorManagement #ContingentWorkforce #VMS #TalentAcquisition #Staffing #Recruitment #TalentManagement

Looking for creative ways to celebrate New Year's at your work? Here are 8 ways according to Grubhub. 😊 1. Host a party for the New Year at work: Consider what food, entertainment, and atmosphere fits your team best. Maybe a fun round of trivia! 2. Set SMART resolutions with your team: Make Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based goals for a fresh and motivating start to a new year. 3. Kick off a company-wide joint mission: Perfect way to get everyone excited about team resolutions. State your mission, share any rewards or recognition programs, and let employees know the reasons behind the goals. 4. Host a joint fitness: Physical fitness is good for both personal and organizational well-being. Challenge employees to fitness goals and/or sponsor a healthy breakfast or team lunch once a week. 5. Adopt a culture of compassion: Give back to the community through volunteer work, whether that’s at a local food bank or a local nonprofit. 6. Schedule a workplace spring cleaning: New beginnings, new space. Start the year off with a cleaning party and reorganize your common area. 7. Foster some friendly competition: Get your team’s competitive juices flowing with in-house contests or virtual games to boost morale and forge relationships. 8. Salute the past year’s accomplishments: Take time to reflect on the past year and celebrate your successes. Which out of these 8 sparks with you most? #NewYear #Resolution #Creative #CelebrationAtWork #Grubhub