Lurking in the Depths | A Personal Email Challenge

My gmail account is 5 years old, and I have a full 5 years of emails residing in corners and folders and nooks of this particular email account.

So for some unbeknownst reason, I decided to start sifting through the remainder of my youth. Yes that is how I look at it.

I’ve been reading through many of the “eliminate your inbox” articles over at 43 folders, and considered starting to work through this, as I have upwards of 300 emails in my inbox.

I rarely delete things. Well that isn’t entirely true. I delete junk mail. I delete things that do not require replies, or printing out. Everything else I keep (because who knows, I might need that inspirational quote someday?!).

When I first starting the gmail account, I created folders to help reduce the number of emails sitting in my inbox. Because I tended to be a wondering gypsy, I created folders for the various places I’d lived. I.E. Friends from Burnaby, friends from Kamloops, and friends from Chilliwack (not including correspondence from family members in various provinces – they had a file of their very own).

These thoughtful emails (both sending and receiving) were then labelled and archived into their respective folders, and never really looked at again.

Until I started reading them today.

Now, I’m not sure if reading your own emails counts as literature, but my oh my could I get lost down that rabbit hole.

There is something about reading something I’ve written, years ago, that just intrigues me. I think that it is this love of self-reflection and consideration that I continue to write a blog even today – because it means that someday, somewhere in the future, I will be able to read my thoughts from the past. I think it’s somewhat magical. What you chose to publish or send to a friend is (usually) so much more proper, or thought out, than the ramblings that you jot down in a journal.

Sentences and thoughts are more developed, and delivered in an easier way to read years down the road.

So today I’m considering. I’m considering the friends I used to be close with, and I even replied to a few that I haven’t talked to in nearly 3 years. I’m considering how to adapt my carefree teen mentality into my twenty something years.

And I’m considering what the heck to do with 5 years worth of emails that I can’t bring myself to delete?!

They all seem like too much of a part of me, explaining my feelings and thoughts as I was going through the various life events that have made me who I am today. The loves, the break-ups, the spiritual breakdowns and revelations, the friendships formed, the excitement, the freedom of studying from 10am – 10pm and enjoying it, my love for finding tiny corners of campus to call my own, the free spiritedness, the nature walks, my parents repeatedly calling me a gypsy, the memories, the ridiculous memories (I can’t believe I spent 3 hours taking public transit from SFU to UBC to meet a guy).

I deleted a few as I went through them all, I suppose it will just have to be a process thing, only letting go of a few little snippets of memories at a time.

Its just too hard to let go of everything all at once.

Getting Technical On You | What I'm Reading Today

It's no secret that I'm pretty much always looking into the future.

To the point where it probably isn't the greatest thing for me.

I am a self-diagnosed dreamer, who spends too much time with my head in the clouds, and my pen to the paper drawing up business plan and website design ideas.

I'm pretty sure it's an addiction.

As my twitter mentioned (@ordinaryshan), lately I've been going through all my delicious bookmarks, and reading the ones I've been meaning to read.

Today landed me on The Art of Delegating. Bingo

In my line of work, no two days ever look the same. I realize people say this often... but I really mean it (really). It could be invoicing, dealing with a company car accident, broken hot water tank, non-functioning server, office meetings, calming down an upset customer. At our place of work "there's never a dull moment" is our unofficial motto - and we love it that way. It makes the days go fast, and there is always something new to learn, no matter how long you've been there.

I have recently dove into the the Art of Delegating (even before coming across this article).

Needless to say, this article has come across at a pretty good time for me. And although the article is primarily geared towards hiring a VA (Virtual Assistant), it is appealing to me for two reasons. A) Any tool that can help me delegate to an assistant (virtual or not) is helpful to me in the workplace and B) I am considering embarking down this road myself (but in the form of completing the delegations). So all in all, today's read is a win-win situation.

The article does an incredible job of explaining the responsibilities of the worker/manager/person hiring the VA, and I get what they're saying. Too often people hire assistants (again, virtual or otherwise) thinking they are the save-all lifesavers. However, this is not usually how the life-saving works. Little to many managers/business owners/bosses realize, they have a huge impact on how efficient their assistants can be.

If, for whatever reason, you do not trust your assistant 100%, the relationship has a higher risk of crashing and burning. This is not to say that you have to disclose every little detail down to your passwords involving your mother's maiden name, you do have to disclose any and all information that will help them complete the tasks you are requesting.

Too often people assume that others know information that they simply do not, and will not know unless the information is provided to them.

Now before you A) start thinking this post is to technical and business-like or B) start thinking I'm going to go about acting like I am an expert, don't worry. I'm going to put what I learned in a bulleted list in the event that you are interested in learning more about delegating those tasks that you just don't have the time to complete.

Knowing how to properly delegate is not something that is limited to business owners, busy sales people or realtors, or retail managers. It can help mothers of teenagers get them to help out around the house, perfectionists to allow their husbands to clean the basement, or new fathers to be able to admit and ask for help when they need it.

Delegation one of those things we only see in business magazines or blogs, but can easily be carried over into everyday life scenarios.

Think you might benefit a little from lightening your work load (whatever it may be?). Try some of these tips to help you get started:
- Communicate what you are wanting to have done, prior to the work being done. This can help avoid miscommunication or assumptions, resulting in possible errors (and then discouraging you even further from getting assistance in the future).
- Brainstorm possible questions that the delegatee might come up with. By doing this, and writing down the answers in a clear and concise manner, you will prevent any further interruptions to your work day, but answering possible questions in advance.
- Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the people you are delegating tasks to. It is to your advantage to properly match up tasks with those who are equipped to complete those tasks, rather than trying to "make them better" by tossing them tasks that apply to their weaknesses. You may think you are doing them a favor now, but it will only make things difficult for both of you in the future.
- Understand that the time it takes to prepare for the tasks to be delegated is well worth it. I hear you, if it takes you 10 minutes to completed the task, but 12 minutes to write out the tasks for somebody else, why bother? I will tell you why. If you have perfected a task that takes you 10 minutes to complete, that is the fastest you will ever complete this task. The first time you train someone else to complete the task it may take 12 minutes of your time, plus 15 minutes of their time. Here's the important thing to remind yourself of - the next time they complete the task, it will most likely take less of your time, plus less of their time.

Learning to delegate is not all about instant time-savings. It is an investment and, as mentioned above, a skill to be learned. It will not come over-night, and it will not come without resistance.

Thanks again delicious, for allowing me to bookmark my interesting reads for me, and re-visiting them when I have a moment.

Thanks for allowing me to delegate my bookmarking management tasks to you.

[end-note, this entry is a part of our April Blogging Challenge for Literacy Awareness, interesting in joining along? It's not too late! All you have to do is let us know you are taking part, and post an article every day about something you've read. It not only encourages you to be mindful about what you are reading each day, but also provides encouragement to actually review and share your thoughts about what you consumed throughout the day]

April Blogging Challenge | My Literate Childhood

When I was younger, I would read everything.

Street signs.

Books and magazine covers (until I was old enough to read what was in between the covers).

Notes that my mom scribbled on napkins or notepads.

If I came across a word I didn't know, I'd ask. I suppose that makes me lucky, because my parents always took the time to explain those words that I didn't know. They also took the time to read to me on a daily basis - to a point where I had the books memorized before I actually learned to read them.

Again, I realize that I was lucky, as plenty of children do not have the privilege of experiencing this growing up. It is because of this, however, that I plan on making my children lucky in this sense as well.

Today I read about, and thoughtfully pondered what makes some children more literate than others during their developmental stages. I have never had an extensive interest in child development before, however, this challenge has me wondering about things I've never considered before. Such as how and why some children seem to excel at the written word, whereas others do not. I suppose it goes back to the ol' nature vs nurture argument, which has never quite been proven (in one direction or the other). It appears that the common agreement lies somewhere in between the two extremes, with both playing a part in child development (as a toddler, and up throughout the teenage years).

It does, however, seem to significantly enhance learning capabilities of a child if they are read to on a regular basis. Or, if reading is simply taught and/or encouraged by the actions of their parents (other those elders surrounding you). This is probably why the librarians pushed that "read like a champ" program so much.

Once again, I realize how lucky I have been.

So this reading today has left me wondering if it is a matter of ignorance (i.e. they do not quite understand the importance) that a large percentage of parents do not take the time to read to their children, or is it simply because of a lack of time.

It also makes me wonder if they were more aware of the importance of doing so, would it make much of a difference?

Home Studio Inspiration | What I'm Reading Today

I'm pretty ashamed to admit that I've spent the majority of today down the rabbit hole.

The website/blog/art inspiration rabbit hole.

And I'm not taking about a measly hour or two. I pretty much wrote off 5 or so hours.

Mind you, it hasn't all be in one chunk (thank goodness!), but now my head is swimming with colours and happy thoughts.

I'm also currently contemplating between making my "built in" desk space, or my Ikea desk space my main working area. Because of this, I've been paying particular attention to other people's working spaces lately. I've found a few that I really like, such as this one from shopevalicious.com:

Coincidentally, she actually has the same desk as me... except her's looks so much neater than mine does on a regular basis!

I have been considering moving my desk out such as this, rather than having it up against a wall - but unfortunately, I don't think this is do-able, due to lack of space.

Another picture of her studio space made me want to jump in my car and drive to Ikea asap:


I had totally forgotten all about their racking storage option, where you can hang lovelies from the wall mountable bar. We had one of these in our old apartment, and we used to hang our flippers and such from it. Wall shelving would also be something worth investing in, considering the only shelving i currently have is tucked away in our laundry room.

And if I don't see my supplies - I'm pretty much guaranteed not to use them.

Unfortunately, my brain is so fried from all the reading & colourful pictures I've taken in today, that I don't exactly remember anything I've read. So much for promoting being literate (shakes finger at myself).

I'm going to craft.

on writing | to make a difference

I'm all for blogging challenges (as it is most likely evident), so when I learned about this challenge over at A Wooden Nickel, I signed up.

Although there is only four of us now... maybe (just maybe) the cause will grow.

If you aren't a link-hopper like me, I will give you the lowdown on the challenge.

The challenge began as a literacy awareness project, and the goal is to write a new post everyday to promote awareness of illiteracy that still exists around the world. In addition to this, the posts have to be about something you've read that day.

Think of it as current events day in middle school - when its your turn to cut out an article from the daily newspaper and bring it to class to discuss - but just every day of the month. And you have to share your thoughts on it.

Not so bad, right?

Now, as this challenge (as I mentioned above) currently only has a few participants... we need your help. I am currently looking for a worthy organization (non-for-profit of course) that is currently working on promoting literacy throughout Canada and the world. I would love to transform this challenge from a friendly challenge into something that will actually make a difference to others, not matter how small. If you're thinking about joining in, please let us know! We'd be happy to have you in our growing circle.

So, in light of this new challenge, I researched for a few articles that would actually educate me on the currente state of illiteracy issues around the world, and how far we've actually come in the past 20 or 30 years.

It was interesting to note that Canada nor the US has the top literacy rates in the world. In fact, we are both ranked 19. However, there are, ohhhhhhh 15 countries tied for 19, so I suppose that isn't all bad. What surprised me the most however, was that Georgia, Cuba, and Estonia have the highest literacy rates. Which is surprising, considering they are not huge, overly developed, or highly technical countries.

A few of the countries with the lowest literacy rate are Pakistan (49.5%), Ethiopia (35.9%), Chad (25.7%), and Burkina Faso at 23.6%.

I think (as Canadians) that because we are surrounded by literate and technology-able people, we forget about what a difference it makes to be able to read. If you really think about it, when was the last time you came across someone who didn't know how to read.

It's not because there aren't any out there. Even in our country. Trust me.

We've just become so much of an evolving/technologically advanced/focused on post-secondary education type of community, that people who don't know how to read are embarrassed to say so.

Because we would judge.

And I get it. I really do. People who are illiterate don't have as many chances as we do, so therefore we judge.

However, I'm pretty sure we're forgetting that neat little saying we've all heard.

everybody has a story.

Now before you assume I'm going to jump ship and start talking about homelessness and drug addicts - you'll just have to trust me that I won't (because that's a whole other post on its own).

I'm simply saying that in todays world, we still have generations and generations that are older than us. People who were brought up in very different ways than us. As much as us 20-something bloggers would like to think our world is tough, growing up in the 1930s/40s/50s just might have been harder.

So the next time you do come across someone who doesn't know how to write all the letters of the alphabet in lower case letters, or has to sound something out when reading it, try to imagine all they up against, and support them. Rather than simply writing them off as lazy.

It just might change your way of thinking.