The to-do list gets an upgrade

This year I have been trying out a planning tool that I really like. I'm not the first person to come up with this, but several people have liked the idea so I am passing it on to you. It's a to-do list that actually works.*

Basically it's a set of lists. I use Google Docs so I can access my document anywhere and update it easily- that's key. I populate the first list with my goals (professional, personal, short term, long term) and another with my accomplishments. Goals include gaining Twitter followers, writing blog posts, clearing out my studio, and getting an oil change (because for some reason I need the extra motivation for that one). Accomplishments include things like being a guest blogger and having conference proposals accepted but also meeting personal financial goals and writing thank you notes.

I keep adding new goals, making sure to vary short term and long term goals so I don't overwhelm myself. I find I don't mind looking at a big long to-do list if I'm also looking at list of things I did and I'm proud of. And I really like moving stuff from the Goals list to the Accomplishments list.

If you want to take it a step further, this document can serve as a personal archive too. For example, I just used my Accomplishments list to make a year-end summary I'm calling The State of the Margaret. It's a list of things I've done, as well as a few stats (money in the bank, loans paid off, Twitter followers gained, number of conference speaking engagements, etc.). Next year I'll compare my year-end summaries and see how far I've come.

I recommend this to anyone who wants a little personal encouragement for the things you are doing for yourself and your career. It's like a push and a pat on the back at the same time.


*For me. You might like it too.

Leaning in, full throttle

I would have had a perfect score on my motorcycle driving test if it hadn't been for the part where you're asked to perform a "sudden stop". I was so focused on the goal of performing this stop that I let back on the throttle well before my mark. I braked too soon and lost points.

"Don't put on the brakes. Accelerate." Sheryl Sandberg

I'm reading Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In and I just finished Chapter 7, “Don't Leave Before You Leave.” It's all about women putting the brakes on their careers long before children are even a glimmer in their eyes, deciding not to take promotions and pursue demanding positions in anticipation of maybe someday becoming a parent.

From the driving test anecdote above, you've probably gathered that I think ahead- sometimes to a fault. And Sheryl Sandberg clearly states in Chapter 7, "When it comes to integrating career and family, planning too far in advance can close doors rather than open them." This concept makes sense to me. But I know I'm a planner and for now, I'm choosing to work with this tendency instead of against it:

I am pursuing my career with wild abandon because I know I would like to someday be a parent.

Now, I'm reluctant to talk about this because I’m sure it’s frustrating for parents to hear a non-parent talking about parenting. Also it's personal. I'm fighting this trepidation because I haven't heard anyone of my generation discussing this subject and this is a conversation that I want to have with my fellow museum professionals.

For me, being a parent will likely involve dialing back my career for a few years. I'll want to have reached a certain level in my career before I focus on children so I can more easily pick up where I left off. It's also important for me to co-parent in an equitable way so I want to be able to financially support my partner as well as my kids if need be. It may seem a little extreme, but I'm saving up now. I don't want anything or anyone to limit my or my family's options. That said, I acknowledge my privilege as a middle-class individual for whom having a career or a family are both choices.

Oh but you're still young, you might say, What if you change your mind? And you're right, that might happen- I change my mind about stuff all the time. But if when I'm older and have decided not to have children, I'll be reveling in my career and have a whole lot of money saved up. Maybe I'll buy a second home in Paris. Or maybe just some nice things at Whole Foods.

As someone who is excited about the prospect of parenting one day, I'm putting my tendency to plan ahead to work for me. I know I’ll be tapping on the brakes at some point but instead of focusing on that now, I’ll do my best to lay the groundwork for a future in which I can choose how I want to have a career and a family, however that ends up playing out in my life, regardless of my gender.

Confusion, naivete, and walking through walls

On the first day of the Interactivity conference this year in Portland, I shared an elevator ride with a tall fellow with a white beard. He saw my badge and asked where the conference was being held so I told him that that's where I was headed and I'd walk him there. Trying to make friendly conversation, I asked him what museum he was from. He said he wasn't with any museum. A firm? I tried. He shook his head and smiled. On the board? Nope. I gave up. When I said I was confused he smiled again and said it was good to be in state of confusion. A half hour later I watched him give the keynote speech, introducing himself to the audience as John Seely Brown, Chief of Confusion.

Sometimes I can feel self conscious about being the new kid in a group of highly experienced professionals. But the truth was, they were all really excited to give me advice and introduce me to people I should know. The more questions I asked, the more answers I got.

As much as I look forward to gaining experience and some day becoming one of the Children's Museum Elders, I realize that I have something to bring to the field as the new kid. My naivete. And I don't mean ignorance. I think there's something valuable about not knowing your own limits.

One of my favorite science fiction novels is Robert Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. The title character is a cat named Pixel whose naivete is his power:

"...Pixel got the tag 'Schrodinger's Cat' hung on him because he walks through walls."
"How does he do that?"
Jane Libby answered, "It's impossible but he's so young he doesn't know it's impossible, so he does it anyhow."

I like that quotation so much I named my own cat after the cat who walks through walls.

Pixel