Empowerment

More Tips for Improving Your Workday

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope that your week has gone well and you are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Today I have a selection of articles that I’ve enjoyed and thought might be helpful for you, too. Because, really, who doesn’t want to improve their workday a little bit? We spend a lot of time at work, so we might as well make the experience as pleasant and productive as possible.

So, while I know there aren’t only two communication styles and that everyone communicates in multiple ways, it is still useful to read up on some ideas of how to listen better when confronted by a colleague who may not use your preferred way of communicating. At the end of the day, communication is the most important thing (in my mind) for making it easy to work productively and happily. So understanding communication styles is really important for that to happen.

I have to say that I’m very lucky in that I share an office with one other faculty member and we get along really well. I don’t think I would do well in an open office environment. But if you have to endure the fad of open working environment, you’ll most likely want to check out Lifehacker’s article on how to stay productive.

Communication and productivity are both crucial for having a good experience at work as is confidence. Everyone suffers from a lack of confidence sometimes, so I think it is helpful to read up on how to build your confidence. And also check out the top 10 tricks for a healthier high energy workday.

Finally, who isn’t excited that October equals complimentary access to all Sage journals? Share with your friends.

I hope you have a lovely weekend. I’ll be back next week. Allons-y!

Blog Action Day 2013: Human Rights

/ dwakimoto

Happy Blog Action Day 2013! This year’s topic is human rights and I wanted to just share a few thoughts on how I think about human rights and libraries and archives.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in part that “everyone has the right to education” and Article 27 states in part that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” I believe that libraries and archives support these rights and that librarians and archivists do important work in ensuring access to documents, objects, and materials that allow people to learn and to remember. Our work is vital to the communities in which we work, whether we are in academic, government, special, or public spheres.

Libraries and archives provide access (and help accessing) documents that allow people to learn outside of formal classrooms, supplement what they are learning inside of classrooms, and explore new interests and passions. While there may be a wealth of information available online, librarians and archivists are still vital in connecting people with that information and helping people to realize that not everything is available online (especially with regards to archives). We are not just collectors, but vital connectors, not gatekeepers, but teachers in making sure that information and resources are not only available to the wealthy, but to anyone who is curious and wants to know more.

Many of our organizations provide programming and spaces for exhibits, shows, and meetings. We help maintain the “cultural life of the community” and provide safe spaces as well. Often known as the “heart of the university” on college and university campuses, libraries are often the heart of the community as well, just as archives are the memory of the community.

I believe everyone has the right to access information, to read freely and widely, to see documents from the past that help us to understand who we are and where we are going, and to be confident that the library and archives will always be places that are accessible and open. I believe in upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with our work and our lives and am happy to be part of two professions that care. We care and therefore we do great things.

So on this Blog Action Day 2013, go visit your nearest library or archive and be glad that librarians and archivists care enough to keep fighting for funding, for time, and for recognition to ensure that access to information remains open to all.

Take care and I’ll be back on Friday with more. Allons-y!

Tips for Office Collegiality and Career

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope your week has gone well and you have lovely plans for the weekend. I’m looking forward to doing some reading, hopefully refinishing a nightstand (in dreadful need of a few new coats of paint), and maybe even taking a nap. But that is neither here nor there, as first I need to share a couple of articles that I think should be shared widely to help those starting off in new jobs and any of us introverts who still struggle with the whole “networking” thing for “personal branding.”

I haven’t been an office greenhorn for a couple of years now, which is actually kind of nice. But I do remember the stress and desire to make a good impression and not put my foot in my mouth too many times a day when I first started at my current organization. It can be difficult to fit in and easy to make unconscious mistakes when at a new organization. I think this short article is a really good read for anyone in a new job and should be shared with those you know who are starting a new job: 4 Mistakes the Office Greenhorn Should Avoid. By following this article’s advice and tips, you should not only avoid some mistakes, but make it easier on yourself (and your colleagues) to be collegial. And working well together is always a good thing.

No matter whether you are the new person at the organization or the senior colleague, networking can be difficult. I hate even calling it networking or thinking about “personal branding” which to me brings to mind cattle branding since I grew up in a rural area. So I appreciated this article on how to tackle personal branding when you’re an introvert. I’m sure you or some of your colleagues will enjoy it, too. (Also, two thumbs up for Quiet, a must-read for everyone, introverted or not).

I hope you have a relaxing, productive, recharging weekend. I’ll be back next week. Allons-y!

Technology and Traveling

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope that your week has been productive and that you’ve been able to fit in a bit of fun. Today I have a few articles on technology and traveling that I thought were useful. I know we are just about the end of the high season for summer travel (for the Northern Hemisphere), but holiday travel will be upon us before we know it. So it is always good to keep up on travel and technology tips.

This article on the price of air travel by Freakonomics I think is a very interesting read. I’m not sure what one should do with the information in the article, but I was thinking about this article a lot when I was stuck in the airport a few weeks ago and all the planes in the terminal I was in were delayed for multiple hours. If nothing else, I think the article reminds us to be prepared for delays when flying.

On a more actionable note, check out Lifehacker’s article on how to protect yourself from apps that make wi-fi hacking simple. Good to know before traveling and using wi-fi.

I also quite like this graphic that shows how to keep your browsing, email, and chats private. We’ve all been hearing a lot about various surveillance programs, so you may want some ways to keep more of your information private. As we all know, the only way to keep something totally private is not to tell anyway, but since we need to communicate digitally a lot now, it is nice to know how to keep our conversations more private.

I leave you with this awesome comic from xkcd to make your day a bit brighter:

birds and dinosaurs by xkcd

birds and dinosaurs by xkcd

Have a wonderful rest of your day and lovely weekend. I’ll be back next week. Allons-y!

There is No Secret

/ dwakimoto

Hello, dear readers. I hope you are all well. I wanted to share a bit of a different post today than my usual tech, library, and archives related findings from around the web. Today I want to let you in on a secret of success; there is no secret. I feel the need to elaborate on this a bit after another year of teaching and also talking with undergraduates, graduate students, recent graduates, and early career librarians. There is no secret, only intelligent, efficient hours of work that create success. And I promise to only stand on my soapbox for a little while and leave you with something fun at the end.

Now we could talk about nepotism or how favoritism undermines a true meritocracy, but I don’t want to. Life isn’t fair and sometimes people get to ride on other’s coat-tails or seemingly get all the luck with finding jobs or being successful. But I believe the majority of people in our professions, speaking specifically about libraries and archives because they are what I know best, become successful because of hard work, grit, and an ability to see past the day-to-day grind and use what they are doing today to create the opportunities for growth in the coming years. Not to mention they have these two qualities in spades: a simple recipe: empathy and generosity.

I think that sometimes people have the false assumption that they have to be mean or unkind to get ahead at work, but I don’t believe that is necessary. It hasn’t been the case in my career thus far. Showing genuine empathy for others, being generous with sharing expertise and sharing the workload for getting things done at my work have helped me far more than being negative and unwilling to help out when needed. Being generous and kind almost assuredly makes me a more pleasant person to be around as well.

Also, putting your head down and getting work done that is important for the entire department is integral to success. You can’t just do the flashy projects, and you probably won’t get much chance to do the flashy projects, if you don’t first show that you can be counted on to get the work done that keeps the department moving along. I do a lot of scheduling and coordinating for our teaching program that isn’t flashy work, but it is incredibly important work so we can serve our students and make sure they get the classes they need. Follow-through is a key ingredient to success and that takes time and commitment.

This year has been a great year so far, with lots of long-term projects finally coming to fruition, which has been lovely. But none of it would have been possible without years of hard work and persistence for my long-term goals.

So basically what I’m trying to say is keep doing your work, keep helping others, and do make sure to tell people about what you are doing sometimes, too (while hard work will eventually get noticed, you do need to let your supervisors know what you are doing, too). It’s not an overnight way to success, but it is a lasting way to build success.

And for fun, check out this lovely TARDIS Easter Egg courtesy of Google Maps via Gizmodo.

Have a wonderful weekend! Allons-y!

Work and (Some Semblance of) a Balanced Life

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you have had a good week and have a lovely weekend to look forward to, too. Today I just wanted to share some good links on advice for trying to find and maintain some semblance of a work life balance. I think it is really important to do more than just work and to also understand how to try to create boundaries, especially with the ease of being connected all the time to work. So let’s get into the work advice.

I think this article on Lifehacker is fantastic, Don’t be a work hero. It is so important to have boundaries and be firm about those boundaries so you don’t allow work to swallow your entire day. Balance, however you define it personally, is a very good thing.

Even though you don’t want to be a work hero, you might want more responsibility so you can advance your career. Lifehacker has another good article on how to take on more responsibility at work without being a pushover. It’s important to figure out how to take on more when you are ready for growth, but avoid taking on others’ workloads. Again, boundaries are a good thing.

Finally, as long-time readers of this blog know, I am a huge fan of productivity and efficiency. One of the best ways to get more done is to be organized. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I like this article on the top 10 ways to organize and streamline your workspace. Yay for organized workspaces! I always think better with an organized and clean workspace.

So enjoy your work, but do find a balance that works for you. I truly believe that there isn’t a one size fits all for people, but remember that burning out at work does no one any good. Doing so much that you are constantly stressed and frazzled is bad for you and bad for your colleagues, too. So remember to work well and relax well. What do you do for balance, dear readers? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

And now, I’ll leave you with a lovely photo from the Great Ocean Road:

12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

Have a great weekend, full of whatever balance of play, work, fun, and productivity works for you! Allons-y!

Defining and Achieving Success

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you’ve had a good week and are ready for the weekend. I’m happy that this weekend I’ll be able to visit with a friend and relax a bit. I can hardly believe we are into August already. Where did July go? So for this Friday, I thought I’d share a round-up of articles on reaching your goals that may get you thinking over this weekend. I think that weekends are good times for planning goals and working towards achieving them. But first, of course, you have to define success for yourself.

I don’t believe that you should let anyone else define success for you and that it’s okay if your version of success isn’t the same as your parents’ or your siblings’ or Wall Street’s versions. I think success is personal and how we define it is personal. Just because I consider a career as an instructional librarian and archivist a success doesn’t mean other people do. But I think it is important to sit down and reflect on what you consider a successful career and a successful life because life goes by too quickly and if we don’t go though life with purpose and with mindfulness then we will most likely not reach our goals. But after you figure out what your goals are and what success looks like to you, it’s nice to have some help getting there.

Okay, now on to some helpful tips to get you on your way to success! This is a good post on how to hack the beliefs that are holding you back. We all have some that we need to get rid of. Plus here’s another post to help you understand how our brains stop us from achieving our goals and how to fight back.

I’m totally into faking it until you become it, a la Amy Cuddy and power poses. And this post shows that if you Feel like you’re faking it? That might not be a bad thing.

So how do you define success and what steps do you take to achieve your idea of success?

Have a wonderful weekend full of fun and maybe some work towards your goals. Allons-y!

Tech Tips for Friday

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you had a lovely week and have a lovely weekend planned. Today I just want to share a few articles with tech tips to help you and for you to share with others.

As anyone who has read this blog for a bit knows, I’m at least slightly interested in productivity. I really liked this article from Lifehacker on 4 lies you tell yourself about productivity and how to stop them. I always enjoy articles that tell me not only what may be a problem, but also how to fix the problem. Also, pro tip, huge fan of single tasking. I get so much more done, in less time, and with less stress than when trying to multitask.

Are you a fan of the cloud? I am, especially for backup storage when I’m working on projects and since I probably work on around 4 different computers on any given day. I’m also a fan of privacy and keeping my documents private until I want to have them shared. So this article on the best cloud storage services that protect your privacy is of great use to me and I hope you, too.

Also, why do services have to continually change their user interface? I just don’t get it. So if you use Gmail, check out this post about how Gmail has new ads that look like emails; here’s how to turn them off. Take back your inbox!

Finally, for something empowering, hop on over to Ink and Vellum to read I am a Librarian. It’s just lovely.

I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day and I’ll be back next week. Allons-y!

Negotiation

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope the week has been kind to you and you have something fun planned for the weekend. Today I just wanted to share a couple of articles that I found useful for learning about negotiation. Many people find negotiating intimidating, so sharing tips is always a good thing.

I like this Lifehacker article on how showing a little appreciation can improve your negotiations. Also from Lifehacker is a useful article on 5 tips to negotiate better.

I think my favorite book on negotiation I’ve read is Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever’s book, Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want. I found it useful, especially when it comes to negotiating for me and not on behalf of someone else, and maybe you will find it useful, too. What are your favorite tips and resources to become better at negotiating?

And, since it is Friday, we should end on something fun. How about e-reader versus octopus? I’m on Team Octopus, just saying.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend filled with lots of summer fun. I’ll be back next week with more. Allons-y!

Getting Rid of Clutter

/ dwakimoto

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! I feel that Tuesday often is an overlooked day of the week as it isn’t the dreaded Monday, nor over-the-hump day, or the much anticipated Friday. So I’m trying to post on Tuesdays, as well as Fridays, to at least mark Tuesdays here on The Waki Librarian blog. And today, I want to talk to something dear to my heart, getting rid of clutter.

I really enjoyed this post from Lifehacker on how clutter affects your brain and what you can do about it. I suggest reading it. I’ll wait if you’d like to click through and read it now. No worries.

Now being an archivist and librarian, a lot of people assume that it is hard for me to get rid of things or that I must have a hoarder mentality. Neither is true. What is true is that I like organization (not surprising given that archivists and librarians organize a lot of information) and do firmly believe that physical clutter makes it harder to be productive and creative. It also just saves time because you don’t always have to be searching for tools or resources to complete your project.

One of my favorite tips is being disciplined about not checking email at all hours of the day (definitely clears out mental headspace). I’m also a big fan of single-tasking; I get so much more done, in a shorter amount of time, than if I tried to multi-task. For physical clutter, doing a quick pick up in the evening helps keep everything put away in its proper place. Plus, I like to go through a do a bigger sort and clear out items at the change of the seasons. Also, for a fan of office supplies like I am, keeping organized and clutter-free is an excuse to get some new office supplies.

So what are your best tips for clearing out physical, digital, and mental clutter? I’d love to read them in the comments.

Have a great rest of your day and good week. I’ll be back on Friday. Allons-y!