There’s A Bit Of The Slacker In All Of Us

The absolute pleasure of being a part of this whole Ho’ohana Community that Rosa Say has put together is discovering like-minded folks from across this great country of the United States. About the same time that I found Rosa’s Talking Story, I started reading Brendon Connelly’s Slacker Manager. I remember my initial impressions well: I figured with a name like that (as well as a masthead with a guy reclining in his office chair while trying to do some work), this was going to be a goofy, farcical take on management. Oh, how wrong I was. Slacker Manager is a thought-provoking, articulate blog on how to thrive in work by focusing on working smarter rather than working harder.

To get the full, robust flavor of Brendon and his management philosophy, download his Slacker@Work manifesto from ChangeThis. Here’s how he goes on to define the slacker:

We slackers represent the bright side of overachievers. Slackers are as smart, educated, talented and driven as any standard-issue overachiever youʼll find. The core difference is that slackers have the gift of satisficing: we can stop at “good enough” and go home unburdened by what was left undone.

The entire manifesto is brief and has some good ideas on how to be a Slacker@Work. My personal faves are the Four Hour Rule and Mental Health Days. If you do choose to use these techniques in your own work, be very careful about sharing them with colleagues (and particularly your boss…unless you know he or she is a fellow slacker).

Back to the Slacker Manager blog, there are some fascinating finds along the left side which offer further evidence of the kind of colorful character that Brendon is. I encourage you to take a peek at some of his Hot Links like The Art of Napping at Work (an idea that really needs to catch fire in today’s workplace) and NaDa which is one of the simplest product ideas (I really wish I had thought of it first). Then, there are some of his favorite posts. I’m hoping he finds some space to include a recent smackdown series he hosted between Fred Gratzon and Steve Pavlina (check out the March archives for the full series). It was a stroke of genius to see these two guys take on the idea of productivity from very different viewpoints.

Now, seeing that Brendon currently has over 1500 subscribers, I’m hoping that I can get at least a few hundred to make the trek over to visit my blog. While we might pin different names on our concepts of work (his being slacker; mine being soulful), we’re still thinking in similar ways. Perhaps if nothing else he can teach me how to surf.

Also, if you’re not a regular at Brendon’s site, wish him safe travels and warm spirits for his new baby. He’s currently in South Korea this week to pick up Asher Myung Hee. We’re all waiting on pictures of the newest Slacker Baby.