Neena Strichart
I was having a rather philosophical chat with my friend and co-worker Rachael earlier in the week and found myself telling her about my morning before-work ritual. By morning ritual I don’t mean the getting up, eating breakfast, showering type of ritual, but rather my habit of sitting down to my home computer to perform a set routine before heading off to work.
First on my agenda is to check the personal email I share with Steve, respond appropriately to any messages and then delete what I don’t want to keep. I then switch to MY personal email and repeat the procedure.
Gearing up for work, my next item of business is to check some or all of our Signal Tribune email accounts— six in all. Work email is definitely the most tedious and time consuming! although one of my favorite work chores. Besides connecting with folks in person or by phone, email is a great way to share information. By checking it BEFORE I go to work, I get a chance to do some planning and problem solving ahead of time. I consider that part of my morning to be an exercise in “looking before I leap.”
My final internet chore is to check my two Facebook accounts (someone else deals with our Signal Tribune Facebook page). Through Facebook I can see what my Signal Hill and Long Beach colleagues are up to— and maybe hit them up for a story or garner an advertising lead before I even change out of my robe. I also take a peek at the account I reserve for family and friends just to make sure I haven’t missed any earth-shaking news.
The last thing I do on the computer in the morning is play games. Yes, I said play games. I play one game of each— Solitaire, FreeCell and Spider Solitaire. When I explained to Rachael why I play games in the morning she suggested I share the information with my readers.
Whether or not you are familiar with the aforementioned games, I think you will be able to relate once you hear my reasoning for playing before work. I find that those particular games help me get in a philosophical frame of mind because they force me into a state of deep concentration where numbers, strategy and logic reign supreme.
With all three games, a do-over can certainly produce different results— reminding me that there is, as my mother would say, “more than one way to skin a cat.” With FreeCell, taking cards out and replacing them in other rows helps me keep in mind that doing the same thing in the same way can do nothing more than give me the same results— sometimes I need to switch things up at work. Solitaire gives me an entirely different message— sometimes I have to go two steps back in order to move forward. Ah, then there is Spider Solitaire; that’s a tough game, especially if I try to play three suits at once. Spider Solitaire is definitely a game of patience and planning— two virtues I need to embrace as a publisher and business owner.
Lucky for me I have a staff who understands that although I may not physically be at the office much before 10am, I AM working hard at exercising my brain in order to give them my full concentration and exhibit my problem-solving skills once I am in the building.
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Also, be sure to stop by Neena’s friend’s Yard Sale:
1917 Raymond Avenue, Signal Hill
Saturday, August 6 at 8am
Household items, furniture, computer stuff, and miscellaneous bargains
