​homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5200

The homeplaceofthefuture has been a busy place these past few weeks with trips, trips and more trips. Events, conferences, in-person meetings all seem to pop up at the same time and I’ve had to play eeny meany miny mo for where to go and who else could go in my place – last I checked most of us can’t be in 2 or 3 places at once and if you can be please reach out to me, I’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime.
 
In-between these bursts of activity and having to be presentable in my non-homeplaceofthefuture uniform, I have been deliberate in getting up more and being active….and I hope you have been too. In September I felt my age and then to get these health updates around my bloodwork I have been determined to mix up my working from home routine. Averaging 8000 steps a day and eating way less meat, how much is way less? Let’s just say I have cried at some work dinners where I’ve gotten the chicken or fish vs. the steak. First world problems I know, but boy is it tough!
 
Let’s cover one last piece of the health puzzle and it is social. Working from home is isolating. Most of my conversations all day are directly related to work and much less about sports, technology or really anything not related to work. The longer and longer I sit at home I am finding that I really like my home and I’m grumpy when I have to leave – there is a comfort that has set in and a sense of being bothered when I have to be presentable. I am so used to getting my job done in my space, in my uniform and with my pets at my feet that the thought of going anywhere makes me question the why. 
 
In the early years of the homeplaceofthefuture there was definitely a dark spurt of never leaving and feeling sorry for myself – I know this is common for all of us. Once you realize it, you have to make some changes and that includes going somewhere. Mrs. Homeplaceofthefuture never lets me pass up a guy’s game night or a tap takeover at the local bar – anytime there is an invite to go somewhere socially I have an encouraging spouse that says GO! Does it mean I go out all the time? Absolutely not, but I find that just having something in the books every other week is good enough for me socially during the week to branch out. Other homeplaceofthefuture folks I know will go out to dinner almost nightly just to get out of the house – whatever you need to do to get out of the house and ideally be with other people is encouraged.
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• Does being social help with cholesterol? Doubtful.
• Does being social help with stress? Depends on what kind of people you’re with?
• Does being social help, me stay skinny? See first question above.
• Does being social help with hygiene? Yes, you took a shower I hope
• Does being social help me realize there is still a life outside of my home office? YES

 
Pretty simple concepts here from a pretty simple guy who works from home. Go for a walk, eat less meat and for God’s sake take a shower and hang out with some people.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4865

Oh LinkedIn…….there’s such a love/hate relationship there. The longer I have been virtual the more I seem to loathe LinkedIn, maybe this is a sign of getting old or comfortable in a position/field. Let’s dive into a few observations.

1. The LinkedIn feed is typically a mix of colleagues from Bill in Accounting to Jim from your first job after college. You have known most of these people in real life and find it ironic that Bill is a dirty old man who has had a corporate job for decades, but yet likes to post about 5 tips to stay entrepreneurial. I also enjoy the colleagues who post the motivation quote. For example how many times have you seen the Steve Jobs quote, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do, We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”  It’s a great quote, but do these people know that this quote is literally seen on most people’s LinkedIn feed at least 3 times a day? Maybe this quote and others like it are a cry for help from that person posting it.
   
   
2. In any social setting there are the super networkers. Onsite you can pick these guys out right away with their oversized sportcoats & tasseled loafers. Is that heat I feel on my name badge? Nope it’s just a super networker’s crazy eyes laser focused on my name, title and most importantly company name.  LinkedIn super networkers are the same way, constant headshots and updates from people I would normally avoid in just about any setting…..any setting unless I’m shopping for tasseled loafers.
   
   
3. If you send direct LinkedIn messages to me that say let’s chat about a strategic partnership and/or trying to connect with me on LinkedIn during a holiday we are not going to be connections. Just this past Thanksgiving, I’m eating turkey and hanging out with my family and an alert comes on my phone. Since I’m not in the 1% of people who can ignore their phones I pick it up to see that Super LinkedIn Networker (their name has been changed) was viewing my profile. REALLY? On Thanksgiving Day, a fellow American was looking at my profile on LinkedIn? The whipped cream on the pumpkin pie was that this person said those funny words to me in a direct message “Let’s chat about a strategic partnership”.

Whenever I have doubts about my career and winding up in the homeplaceofthefuture I turn to LinkedIn. The sheer amount of crazy people and gibberish coming from their posts helps confirm to me that I’ve made the right decision for now of staying home and focusing on doing good work in my uniform. Let us not forget to that crazy in look in their eyes on LinkedIn, are they staring into my soul??? Not yet, they’re just looking for your name badge!