Three Things
The German expression, “Aller guten Dinge sind drei” means good things come in threes. As with all languages, there are various ways to translate a piece of text. For the sake of this column, let’s work with this concept using this particular translation.
Here are three good things to consider which will, hopefully, help you to become more effective at work, school or, simply, in life in general.
Write it down – Do you suffer memory lapses? Do you find, at times, that your ability to comprehend new material is faulty? If you do, pick up a pen and get writing. That’s right, a pen. Today, many people seem to have forgotten how to write complete sentences. We are consumed by texting mania – all fragments of thoughts and abbreviations. I believe the act of writing something down “the old fashioned way” can actually work to help our memories.
Are you really interested in learning new material? Write down what you are focusing on with pen and paper and then, later, transcribe it to your computer, creating a document. You will have now listened to or read the new information and written it down twice and, consequently, read it a couple of additional times. That should help you absorb things better.
Laugh – Are confronted with lots of work? Do you have a task before you that you feel you have no way of accomplishing because attempting to do so frustrates you to no end? No worries, start laughing. Now, before you do this, make sure you are not laughing in the presence of your boss, a superior, your professor, etc. The idea of laughing is not to mock the person who has given you the tough assignment. Rather, it is to reduce the stress we feel when confronted by a daunting project.
Laughing reduces stress. Lower stress levels will help us accomplish whatever our task at hand is better than if we feel we are going to fall apart under the pressure of needing to get something done. Laugh, just be careful where and when to laugh.
Break it in three – Remember that expression, “Aller guten Dinge sind drei?” Well, not only do good things come in three, but breaking things down into three parts seems to be an easier way of overcoming a task than attempting to accomplish it in one fell swoop. The more complex the task, the more tripartite divisions you need to make. Break things in three and break what you have broken down into three and the seemingly complex becomes simple.
Image courtesy of [Danilo Rizzuti] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
*Authors note: You might see this column pop up online in a newspaper, under the name Both Sides. I am publishing this column here first at CYInterview.com. For a bunch of years, I have been writing newspaper columns. Since my columns have received a good response on CYInterview, I thought I would share it with you. Hope you enjoy.
You can reach me with your questions and comments at Jay@CYinterview.com Like today’s column? Check back frequently.