I want to give a big shoutout to md for his excellent presentation at Elevate CX NYC! I took so much away from the event that if I tried to list it all, you’d be sick of hearing me talk — assuming that hasn’t already happened. 😄 Matt’s presentation, in particular, was full of perspective resets I really needed. One idea especially stuck with me because it was completely new: “If you work with your mind, relax with your hands.” I had never thought about it that way. I’ve always treated unwinding as a mental shift — painting, embroidery, crafting, or even building the most elaborate block tower possible before Wreck-It Ronin shows up. I always felt better afterward, but it didn’t click that the real benefit wasn’t just “focusing on something that wasn't work," it was engaging a different part of myself. I’ve been trying to be more intentional about this lately, and it’s already making it so much easier to truly wind down. I also just feel a little more... whole in a way.
matts presentation reminded me that i need to brush up on my latin, my professor would be so embarrassed
Semper ubi sub ubi
matt
Yes!! One thing I bring up in one on ones regularly is this concept. "What are you doing in the real world?" Meaning what are you doing with your hands/body. I know when I'm sewing, gardening, or cooking regularly I'm so much happier. I think part of it is that so much of our work is ephemeral -- tickets, presentations, documents are all digital. We can't hold them and get the sense that we made something
Exactly!
I love this. If you work with your mind, relax with your hands is so stinkin simple it just might work. Part of my problem is I also tend to choose activities outside work where I need to use my mind (strategy games, reading, and sadly home project where I need to learn a skill to complete it). I may have to start expanding my plans to include some low mental effort activities. Thank you for sharing this.
Similarly, illigitimi non carborundum, which I thought was clever and had a variation set as my wifi password for years, but I ended up having to enter it for everyone because dog latin is apparently not easily communicated verbally.
