This tweet from Geoff Livingston really got me thinking about my last post.  Was I being too insular? In many ways yesterday’s post was intended as purely self exploratory.  It’s not uncommon to struggle with self identify and personal revisions. This awareness often leads to improvements and growth.  However, yesterday’s post should have been less about me and more about our exploring of communal growth.

take a look at how you grow.
How do you improve yourself personally and professionally? Some of us grow in solitude, pulling from within, but many of us value and seek communal growth. Regardless of ‘how’, it’s important to be aware of what you need to improve and cultivate growth throughout the many facets of your own life, profession, and inner self.

others enable us to see what we can’t.
We are all capable of amazing things; handmade creations, intellectual ideas, unconditional generosity, and so much more.  However, we can benefit from the growth that comes from our community of peers. We are able to witness opportunities and potential through the honest lens of others.  Growth in many forms comes from experience and the wisdom offered by those we encounter (online or in person).

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Time to mix things up a bit. We’re headed to the Midwest (as of today). I’ll be resurfacing once we’re settled – or at least once our bed is unpacked and the Internet is up and running. For now, relax and enjoy the rest of what summer has to offer.

Be well.

(Wonderfully appropriate photo, courtesy of ChepeNicoli)

Yesterday I tweeted a resolution for June:

Part I, single-tasking.
Part II, 1 new post per week.
Part III, 2 comments per week.

The first of any month seems like an opportunity for renewal – June’s perfect for this. This is not the first time I’ve decided a revision was in order (here and here). I am, and probably will always be, undergoing a constant state of revision. It’s something I seek to do often. I find great value in personal reflection, growth, and development.

Right now I crave intellectual growth. These three particular resolutions are a start:

I. Single-tasking. With Lucy here, my time is increasingly precious and my need to be efficient and effective is critical. Multitasking simply does not work for me anymore – and perhaps it never really did. It leaves too many tasks, projects, and ideas open and usually incomplete. By single-tasking I am able to tackle one idea at a time. Focus on it, create it, and complete it with everything I have. As a result, I’m producing higher quality work and am able to be much more present to the process.

For more on single-tasking, I highly recommend the wisdom of Tim Walker:

• DAGTOOTAAT (“Do A Grand Total Of One Thing At A Time.”)
• Once again: Do Not Multitask.

II. One new post per week. It’s time to exercise my mind and tease out my ideas (it’s a bit cluttered up there at the moment). Blogging is how I’ve always done that. Recently circumstance and severe writer’s block have prevented me from doing so. The primary culprit – fear. More specifically, a fear of what others will think and of simply making a mistake. Though as I have learned from Sir Ken Robinson mistakes can lead to innovation and fear of them can only harm such creativity. It’s time to face my fears.

III. Two comments per week. Yes, comments. Do people still comment on blogs? They do. In fact, I love commenting and wish I did it more frequently, which is why it’s on the list. I’m sure folks think that there is better use of my time, but I find commenting very value. It’s an opportunity to stretch my own brain and enhance critical thinking skills (something that’s a proactive process for me personally). It’s also an awesome opportunity to engage with wonderfully bright individuals – and there are a ton of them out there.

There you have it. Resolutions aren’t just for the New Year. In fact, the summer is the perfect time to revise yourself, personally and professionally, even if it’s just for the season. What have you been meaning to do, revise, or change? What are you waiting for?

At this stage in my life, freelancing offers me wonderful flexibility, but I learned that there are some unique challenges – especially when you’re pregnant. With no instructions or HR support I needed to create my own post-baby plan of attack.

It was important to tie up my work as well as set realistic expectations with clients and online networks. I needed to be detailed and meticulous as well as flexible, adaptable, and open to the unexpected changes that were no doubt around the corner. How can you create a success maternity leave that works for you:

Identify goals: What do you want your maternity leave to look like? Before I did any other work I needed to set goals. While I couldn’t account for everything, I knew that I wanted to spend as much time with my daughter as possible and check in routinely with my networks.

Define expectations: Length of leave? Once I identified my goals, I was better able to determine how long that leave should be. This also took into consideration what we could financially swing. Downside of a freelancer’s maternity leave – no maternity pay. Be realistic with your time, you’ll probably need more then you think.

Be transparent: I wanted to embrace my time off. It’s hard, but you are doing something amazing and deserve (and need) the break. This is where communication is critical. I made it clear that I’d be a bit MIA and posted occasional updates on my blog, via Twitter, LinkedIn, and sent out periodic emails to select people and clients.

Say no: This is the time to say “no” and do so with confidence. If you’re like me, this is not easy to do, but it’s so important. It will make you better able to focus on adjusting to your new life, tend to your own needs, and address priority items. I am still working on this area, but it’s been invaluable to say no.

Be flexible: As I mentioned before, allow for the unexpected. Planning is great and being as organized as possible going into your leave is a sanity saver, but be flexible and adaptable to the situation. My expectations going into my leave have at times been dramatically different than the reality. I continue to revise my goals and actively communicate the transition to my network.

Final advice, identify what you want out of your maternity leave and own it. This is a special time. Relish in it and be sure to give yourself a break. If you’re open and honest, then people around you (your networks, clients and peers) will be patient, flexible, and most importantly, supportive.

For me, it came down to a little soul searching and identification of personal and professional goals. I determined that my goal was to attain space and balance without become completely obsolete during my hiatus. How’d I do? Well, perhaps that’s not for me to answer, but for the folks around me to critique on.

Image: Lu

Introducing Lucille “Lucy” Rose Rhinesmith!

Lucy was born on March 6, 2010 at 8:34 PM, weighing in at 6 pounds 2 ounces and 18 1/2 inches.  We are smitten with our newest addition!

To fully enjoy every moment I will be on maternity leave from all social networks (other than to gush over life as a new parent) and freelance work until early April mid May. 

In the meantime, please feel free to check out past posts here at Left Behind Bottle Caps or contact me via DM or email to connect this spring.

Please note that the original post was updated on May 5, 2010.