Saturday, October 19, 2013

Improve work productivity

So even though, I am fortunate enough to work in a field I feel very passionate about. Sometimes, it's hard not to get stressed about deadlines, projects, hours needed... etc.

I am going to school part time and I have 270 hours of work that I have to finish by the end of the semester.  I am grateful for this opportunity, however sometimes it can be a little anxiety ridden when I feel overwhelmed by assignments, tests.. etc.

My husband, offered a different way to look at it.

instead of thinking about number of hours to do... instead.. change the story.

How about 270 insights, wonderful learnings.  So I am starting now.  The grateful learnings of my internship.

1.  Iron chlorosis is a common disease affecting many utah orchards.  It can happen when the soils are kept excessively wet.  A possible remedy to this, is to plant alfalfa in the orchard, or the parts of the orchards that don't get a chance to dry in between waterings.

2.  Plants often turn yellow while soils are cool and moist and recover their normal green color as temperature increases.

http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1298&context=uaes_bulletins

3. general work tip of the day.  Stop looking at the clock! In fact, don't even look at the clock.  Unless you are 99% sure you've worked the amount you've needed to.

4. Repeat this mantra, "work is getting easier and easier, the hours are just flying by (while I'm attaining amazing productivity), I find myself getting more excited about work all the time, and it's getting funner by the minute."

5. Just because you have reached a new wall in your area of interest.  Does not mean that you have 'lost' interest in what you originally thought was your calling.  Often professionals, athletes, artists must break through new realms of their work in order to make it to the next level in their desired field.  A pianist doesn't give up after months of working and perfecting a piece of music.  It may become discouraging, and breaks may need to be made more frequently.  But success is inevitable when dedication and perseverance continues.   If you fail 8,000 times at something.  You know a lot of ways not to do something.  Keep trying, keep going. Don't give up on what matters to you.

6. It's possible to combat zinc deficiency in the intermountain west by planting hairy vetch and austrian winter pea in your orchards.  

I wrote the previous six yesterday and have started again today....
My mom always tells me, it's not really about the subjects you learn in school, it's really about all of the aspects of applying yourself to one thing, that really creates the most benefit.


7. When you set the alarm early to do work in the morning, but when morning comes and tiredness seems overwhelming. Just get up, it will take just a couple of minutes of walking around, drinking some fresh water and the tiredness will dissipate.

8.If you have many tasks in a day.  And many of those tasks are long houred projects, don't try to finish one task in one go.  It may cause burnout.  Switch it up, do something different every hour to keep your brain and body energized.  It can be tempting to not do this, but can be lead to more overall productivity by the end of the day.

9.
"Organic materials with low C:N ratios of 15:1 to 20:1, such as legumes, will release nitrogen more rapidly, whereas materials with high C:N ratios of 40:1 to 80:1, such as grasses, may actually immobilize nitrogen during their decomposition before it is made available to the tree roots.
Sawdust, which has a very high C:N ratio and is a very fine material, can immobilize nitrogen for an extended period of time, whereas coarser wood chips are not incorporated into the soil as readily and do not immobilize nitrogen as much" --http://ucanr.org/sites/nm/files/76675.pdf


10.
"Manure, especially if
unprocessed, has very low C:N ratios, and the rapid release of nitrogen together with the salts it contains can injury tree roots."
From same link as above

11."When new trees are planted in the spring, immediate supply of adequate water is essential to settle the soil around the roots, but application of nitrogen fertilizer is not recommended.This is because the initial tree growth is mainly supported by the nutrient reserves within the tree and the uptake of nutrients from the soil is often delayed due to the damaged root system. In addition, it may even cause damage to the roots" --http://fruit.umext.umass.edu/2012netfmg/10-nutrient.pdf

12.  Get realistic about your goals, and your work week.  Don't imagine the 'best' case scenario for yourself and strive to set completely unrealistic deadlines for yourself.  The quickest way to burnout is to set the bar too high and consistently fail to meet that standard.  If it means having to work on the weekends to meet your deadline, it may make more sense, instead of trying to cram it all into a work week.

Thats all for now,  I'll post more as I continue working on my hours


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