Like millions of other people, I’ve been using an activity tracker during the day, that also analyzes my sleep quality at night. Anyone curious about their sleep quality can get a report that shows a chart indicating times of sleep, restless, and awake times.
Over the past few years, I’ve been working to improve my quality of sleep, and had some success. Yet, I still found my sleep quality wasn’t as good as I’d like, and in recent months it had been getting worse.
Stress can have a big influence on sleep quality. One of the biggest sources of stress for people can be their work, even for those who enjoy their job. Perhaps those who enjoy their job are even more susceptible to stress, because along with that tends to be a genuine concern about colleagues, customers, and the business or institution you work for.
Those who don’t care can leave their work behind at 5 o’clock and go home without giving it another thought. For others, that’s hard to do. Concerns about a colleague, or a problem at work, or perhaps considerations about innovations that might improve the workplace, these things are hard to ‘turn off’ for some people.
I’ve met many dedicated people thought the years — those putting in extra hours, and going above and beyond, not for any recognition or financial compensation, but just because they care about their job and the people they work with, and sometimes because they don’t complain when they are asked to take on extra work. Such people probably take on some additional work-related stress.
Yesterday I decided to make a career change. It was a big decision, and also a big weight off my shoulders. In life it’s easy to wonder whether or not the choices we make are the right move. There are gut feelings, but rarely any scientific metrics to go by.
Last night I went to bed at peace with the decision I’d made. It helped to have the support, agreement, and reassurance of my wife (Makur).
I woke up this morning and looked at my sleep analysis chart for the night like I always do.
Yet this time I saw something that I’d never seen before. I just looked at the chart. I was stunned.
I’ve provided the chart below so you can see it for yourself.
The “Before” chart shows a typical night. Normally there are lines indicating restless times (blue lines) and awake times (red lines). This is what I’ve seen now hundreds of times over the past few years. Sometimes more lines than others, but typically like what you see below in the top chart. In recent months there have been more of those lines.
The “After” chart shows only one blue line over a seven hour period. I’d slept through the night without waking, and apparently without even moving.
At that moment, I really knew that I’d made the right decision yesterday. Not only was I at peace with the decision, but the pressure of the job was gone.
It gives me a lot to reflect on, being familiar with the health impact of poor sleep, it’s a decision that may end up saving my life.
Update: As of 1 January 2016, it’s been about two weeks since I first posted this article. Since then, I’ve consistently seen better sleep each night, and had some great success with weight loss — I’ve lost about 6 pounds since then.
I first started working at the University of Iowa in 1983 as a student in a computer lab. Over the past 30 years I’ve had the pleasure of working at the College of Law, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), and the central IT group. In 2001, I returned to working for the same department (and boss) that employed me as a student, and I’ve been there for the past 15 years. I always imagined I’d continue at the University until retiring.
Those who follow my writings and social media posts know the that I’m often writing about and promoting various companies and products. I’ve had friends and family ask me if the writing and promotions work I do is paid advertising. I take it as a compliment, but explain that it’s just something I enjoy doing.
Last week on Wednesday, I received an email from a small startup company that you’ve likely never heard of. My previous interactions with the CEO had been nothing more than a few short informal tweets. He’d appreciated what I had to say about their company and products. The email last week, with him copied, was from a member of their team asking if I’d like a job with the company.
After considering their offer, I decided to accept it.
I think their company is doing some really innovative work in an important niche market. They’re not just following best practices, but establishing best practices and creating new approaches to doing business. This has the potential to positively influence how other businesses operate — creating better workplace environments and positively impacting consumers. So, it’s exciting to have at least some part in helping them grow.
In my new role, I’ll be able to stay in Iowa City, have flexible hours, and work from home or while mobile. The initial commitment will free up my schedule to do more of my own consulting work, as well as the public interest work I enjoy doing. My work at the University had at times been taking 50 to 60 hours per week. I’m eager to get back to a more livable schedule.
My last day at the University of Iowa will be December 31. I’ll miss everyone, but I’m also looking forward to the opportunities ahead.
I’ll share more details as they unfold, but today I wanted to let everyone know about this big change.
DPD Productions of Iowa City recently produced a exceptional video for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The video was launched yesterday on YouTube and 24 hours later it already has over 10,000 views. The featured song and them is “Great Big Storm” which conveys the abundance and diversity that comes together in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and surrounding area.
The video is a great resource for employers, businesses, educators, realtors, web designers, and anyone wanting to share a glimpse of the opportunities in this area. The YouTube version embeds nicely and looks great on just about any platform. The Vimeo version is also excellent.
As a technologist, I’m always looking for ways to do things faster. For this reason, it’s been hard for me to embrace the Slow Movement (until recently).
My long-time approach to shaving has been to go as fast as possible, using a disposable razor and a can of cheap shaving cream. Other than razor burn, cuts, and dry irritated skin, I felt I’d achieve the optimal shaving experience. I didn’t imagine there could be anything better.
I recently purchased the Bevel shaving system. It’s a high quality kit that comes with a razor, extra blades, brush, priming oil, shave cream, and soothing aftershave lotion. The Bevel shaving experience is definitely more comfortable, and surprisingly, it only takes a few minutes longer than my old less effective and more painful shaving experience.
With Bevel, I discovered the essential missing ingredients to my old fast shave method. The priming oil includes natural emollients (some organically derived) that help soften hair and enrich the skin. The shaving cream contains similar ingredients that are complementary to the oil and aid the shaving process. The soothing aftershave cream moisturizes and protects. The result is a closer and more comfortable shave. The fragrances of essential oils and natural ingredients help enhance the relaxing, invigorating, and grounding experience.
Using the high quality Bevel shaver and products to experience a slower shave, has really caused me to reflect on other areas of life where I’d been moving too quickly to enjoy living. Always racing through life in a rush to get to what’s next results in missing a lot along the way (see the movie Click for a great example of this).
Slowing down, enjoying the process of whatever we’re doing, and using high quality products can be a real life changer.
“A cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting.” (source)
Bevel has really helped me appreciate and embrace the Slow Movement. I wouldn’t have thought such a simple product could change my approach to life, but it has. The Bevel system has inspired a Slow Shave Movement among their many satisfied customers.
If you think you’re ready for a better more enjoyable shaving experience, click the link below to learn more and get started.
Personal Update 201511 | 29 November 2015 | Sunday
Greetings,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.
NPR Interview
On Thanksgiving I was surprised to learn that a radio interview from earlier this year was airing again on NPR, apparently nation-wide. Since it was originally recorded live, it convincingly seemed to be happening on Thanksgiving day. I wouldn’t have known about the interview except that friends and family were texting me to let me know about it. I’d neglected to put the interview on my website, so I took the opportunity to create a post of the interview.
Fitness & Wellness
I’ve been spending more time walking and biking these days, and looking forward to getting outside throughout the winter months.
Bevel
This past month I continued promoting Bevel and having a good time doing that. My original article about Bevel has had 50 shares on Facebook and many readers from coast to coast. This past month, I’ve spent time responding to some prospective customer questions that are showing up as comments in the Bevel Facebook posts. These days, companies need loyal customers to help participate in various discussions on social media. Company employees can talk about their products, but there’s no substitute for a positive review and feedback from a happy customer. When anyone uses my personal Bevel link and signs up, they get a month free, and so do I.
Tile App – Find Your Lost Stuff
If you’ve ever had the frustration of losing or misplacing something, you’ll see the value in the Tile tracking system.
The Tile App is a brilliant system that uses crowd sourcing to find lost items.
Put a ‘Tile’ on your keys, in your wallet, or on anything. Then, when it’s misplaced, lost, or stolen, you can track the item. Click here to learn more.
Thanks!
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 15 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.
As you’ll read in the article, it’s not so much what Rockne’s politics are, but how Rockne’s politics are, that earned my support. We disagree on some issues. Yet, Rockne is the nicest person you’ll ever disagree with.
It’s always been important to me to have people in my life who challenge my views and ideas. I feel it helps me make better, more informed decisions. It motivates me to dig deeper into issues. It helps me find possible faults or weaknesses in my own positions.
In government, governance, and politics, whether at the local level or higher, I think we all realize the value of diversity. As long as people can be civil, it’s really valuable to have a mix of opinions and viewpoints.
Faith in Democracy is to trust that if we work together, intentionally bringing together representatives of diverse views and agendas, we can arrive at a better understanding and help build a better world. We can be united despite our differences.
As Pope Francis has stated:
“It sometimes happens that complete information is not put on the table; a selection is made on the basis of particular interests, be they politico-economic or ideological. This makes it difficult to reach a balanced and prudent judgement on different questions, one which takes into account all the pertinent variables. Discussions are needed in which all those directly or indirectly affected…can make known their problems and concerns, and have access to adequate and reliable information in order to make decisions for the common good, present and future.” ~ Pope Francis, quote from Laudato Si — On Care for Our Common Home (see on Google Books)*
We all need each other. We’re all responsible for one another. The video below illustrates this principle.
So, with these things in mind, I feel it’s important to build a diverse City Council for Iowa City that reflects and represents all members of our community.
Self-Limited Political Influence
I have several businesses that I’ve built up over the years, and those have also grown into various newsletters and social networks. In addition, there are the real-world relationships that have developed over time. I’m hesitant to use these connections and resources for potentially polarizing political causes. First of all, the people who’ve helped me succeed over the years are very diverse — conservative, liberal, religious, non-religious, wealthy, minimum wage earners, etc.
It’s one thing to take a position as a business owner, but to use the business influence, resources, and connections as a platform for advancing certain political causes is something to be careful about. Although not a formal co-op, I maintain the belief that much of what I have, that was collectively built, should be considered collectively owned. I wouldn’t want to fully and unreservedly use the entirety of my collective resources to promote anything that isn’t universally accepted. So, mostly I promote things like education, wellness, racial justice, and sustainability that just about everyone agrees on.
What I’m left with is the belief that the best thing I can do is to foster greater public engagement in the democratic process by informing, inspiring, and motivating people to be involved. I try to add my own voice and opinions along the way, but mainly I don’t want to see any group or individual silenced, marginalized, or ignored.
In forming my own opinions, and refining them, I try to check-in with others who are ‘examining the elephant’ of the world around us.
I’m not one of the billionaire class, but if I were, I’d like to think that I would choose to have roughly the same political influence as the average citizen. I wouldn’t want use my billions to hijack the democratic process, because I know that we’re all blindly trying to understand what the world is about, and only together, through listening to one another, will we come to a more clear understanding.
This is why, I expend the surplus of my time, energy, and resources on infusing the democratic process and getting more people involved.
We’re all at Risk of Being Insular and Isolated
It’s the nature of our day-to-day life and work to be somewhat insular. Unless we’re intentional about reaching out to ‘the other’ we will mostly be surrounded by people who think and live how we do. I’m a business person, so when I hear that 63 downtown business owners, are collectively endorsing Tim Conroy, Scott McDonough, Rick Dobyns, and Michelle Payne, I understand that. I ‘get’ it. I might be endorsing that group of candidates too if I had a downtown business.
As a business owner, many of the people I interact with as friends or clients are business owners (many of them downtown). My main base of customers are people who can afford typical consulting rates for technology support. They aren’t minimum wage earners.
I don’t think the downtown business owners are intentionally organizing as a monolithic voting block to prop-up downtown business-friendly candidates out of an effort to gain a controlling majority of our local city’s governance and thus ensure future TIF money to be invested downtown. Instead, I think what’s happening is that people tend to join with others who have similar interests, and when they join together they probably vote similarly.
Downtown business owners live in our neighborhoods and have the same interests we do — with the added understandable incentive to see more tax money invested into the downtown area. That makes total sense.
How Can the Average Person Have Influence?
For about 5 to 10 hours of consulting time work per week, I offer a sliding scale and do some volunteer work for people and local public interest groups who are on a limited budget. This helps me connect with a broader and more diverse group of people than I might otherwise meet. I tend to do my own informal poling of people to get an idea of what public opinions are on various topics, and I’m often surprised by what I learn. It helps broaden my understanding.
When I heard about the 63 downtown business owners endorsing the establishment-approved candidates, it made me think that it would be hard for the average person to influence local politics.
For our local City Council election, there’s a $100 limit on what a candidate can receive from any one supporter. That $100 is less of a sacrifice for those who have means. So, wealthy supporters of candidates are not as strained when giving. Furthermore, people who are ‘connected’ have resources that can help them have a greater impact. Their friends and supporters also have resources. In other words, 63 business owners will have more influence in local politics than 63 minimum wage earners. Despite there being a $100 limit on cash giving, the impact a wealthy person is potentially greater than the impact that a person without means or connections can have. In addition, many low income laborers (the working poor) maintain two or more jobs, so they aren’t even able to volunteer much time to any campaign.
For these reasons, I look for ways to level the playing field and give people a greater voice who might otherwise be marginalized and ignored. Returning to the elephant parable, it’s not enough to have diversity of viewpoints. We must also do what we can to make sure that the diversity of voices are heard, listened to, and genuinely considered.
Thank You
I want to thank everyone who continues to support me personally as well as those who support my various businesses. My goal is always to promote fairness, inclusion, clarity, and dialog.
~ Greg
Document History
The above article was originally written on 31 Oct 2015 at 12:05 PM. It was updated on 31 Jul 2022 to convert it to WordPress content blocks format. The embedded Vimeo video was updated for the new block layout.
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.
Bevel
Earlier this year I learned about a company called Bevel through their ads on Facebook. I was impressed with their product design, advertising, photography, and also liked the interesting articles on their website. In September I started using their unique shaving system. I wrote an article about Bevel and was surprised to get a nice response from the company CEO minutes after posting the article. [Read Article]
Career
As I mentioned in last month’s update, I’ve been very busy with my work at the University of Iowa — which has required putting in some extra time beyond normal hours to cover some expanded duties and additional responsibilities this semester. My expanded worked included an additional 20 to 30 hours a week of work supporting several departments (for someone who took a job elsewhere). It’s been an enjoyable challenge to take on an additional workload because it gives me an opportunity to figure out more efficient ways to do things. After 8-weeks into the Fall semester, the work load has tapered off and I’ve been able to have some evenings and weekends again — which is good since we don’t get paid for overtime work.
Email Efficiency
Like everyone, I receive hundreds of emails every week, and it doesn’t take long for thousands of emails to pile up in the inbox. Over the past two months I’ve been trying to keep my inbox empty by responding to every email. Some requests that come by email may take more than one day to accomplish. For such requests, I have a task list to prioritize various requests that come in by email, phone, Facebook, and other means. The system has helped me keep my inbox empty (a great feeling) and prioritize my day-to-day work.
Technology
As a consultant and small business owner, I’ve had to take care of all aspects of the business, and the wide variety of requests that come in. I like this diversity. My work at the University of Iowa also involves various areas of responsibility. In a larger institution or enterprise, usually there are separate positions for these roles because for most people it can be challenging to attend important meetings, keep up with administrative paperwork, respond to urgent support requests, and keep up with the repair or setup of computers. This month I wrote an article about the four quadrants of technology service and support and how larger organizations provide technology services and support. [Read Article]
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 15 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.
Growing up, my stepdad Paul was a positive influence in my life. In August he passed away. A celebration of life event was held on October 4, but I wasn’t able to attend so I wrote the following message to share at the event.
Paul Carter Celebration of Life
I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you today for Paul’s Celebration of Life. Whenever I meet someone who knew Paul, I learn something new about Paul, and I grow to respect, appreciate, and love him more. So, I really wanted to be there today.
Paul was in my life at an important time during my pre-teen and teen years as I was growing into who I would be as an adult. Because we had a family business, with the dog kennel, Paul wasn’t just a parent who I’d see in passing. We worked together at the business after school and on the weekends, and he was there in the evenings at the dinner table. That’s a rare experience for a kid to have these days unless you’re Amish.
The lessons I learned about hard work and genuinely caring about people and their animal companions have stuck with me and continue to shape my own business that I began in my early 20s and still have today.
As a parent, Paul wasn’t one to lecture. The most important lessons he taught me weren’t spoken, but lived out, and those are the things that have stuck with me through my entire life. His daily examples of kindness and caring had an impact on me.
Paul was concerned that I be brought up right. I remember at the dinner table, if I was resting my elbows on the table Paul would gently correct me. Sometimes with just a thoughtful glance. He wanted to make sure I was becoming a young gentleman with proper manners. It was a little bit like being in finishing school, but I appreciated it. He instilled in me the little things that shape who I am today.
In my adult years, after going to college and starting a career, it was nice to continue to have Paul in my life whenever I’d go home to Maryland for a visit, and to keep in touch with the occasional phone call.
As is typical in families that are spread out, we’d often hear news second hand. I was thankful that my brother Sherman stayed in Maryland to be close and keep that connection and give us news of how everyone was doing.
I was awake in the early hours of the morning the day Paul passed away. When I heard the news, I wasn’t sure what to say or share with others. I posted a photo online from my last trip to Maryland with these words:
Looking back, we also look forward. Then we know what really matters. Sincerity. Laughter. Smiles. Kindness. Caring.
Today as we celebrate Paul’s life, I’m reminded of so many things to be grateful for.
Personal Update 201509 | 30 September 2015 | Wednesday
Greetings,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.
Career
Since sometime in August, I’ve been working about 50-60 hours per week for my job at the University of Iowa. When one of my colleagues took a new job in Des Moines, I was asked to take over his position, while continuing with my existing full-time job duties. At the same time, we had someone in my office retire. So we’ve been very short handed.
It’s been a challenge to keep up, yet, by creating support documentation, refining workflows, and implementing some efficient procedures I’ve been able to make it all work out.
Some people take a vacation from work, to enjoy life. I’ve been taking an extended vacation from live to catch up on work. Working 7 days-a-week, I’ve done little to no writing, photography, Facebook postings, or socializing. Now into week 6 of the semester, things are starting to slow down a little bit. So, it will be good to get back into a more balanced work-life schedule.
Writing
As you may know, I really enjoy writing articles. Some are commentary, others are product reviews or how-to guides to technology.
After almost two months of overworking, I’m looking forward to returning to writing more. The Bevel article was an important one for me because their products and company integrate a lot of areas I’m interested in.
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 15 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.
