I like having a day off in each January, February, and March. Other institutions have a run from New Year's Day to Memorial Day without any days off for faculty and staff. That's a long stretch, so I consider us lucky at UC to have little breaks. I believe a number of us needed a break so hopefully, all took full advantage of the holiday.

After hearing quite a bit lately about stress, I recalled a TED talk that illustrates different perspectives on the impact of stress – be sure to watch it all the way to the end to catch the video about stress. The concept that one's mindset influences outcomes may be familiar to most of us. Building on some of the Fun Facts I shared previously, studies conducted by Monell Chemical Senses Institute demonstrate that, when told they were exposed to an odorant, panelists reported symptoms of illness, difficulty concentrating, and belief that they performed poorly on a skill test administered while the odorant was misted into the testing room. In fact, there was no odorant administered, and the group performed no differently on the skill test than a control group who received no information about an odorant. But is leading a low-stress life that simple? Or is the point of the TED talk that we ‘own' our time and commitments to a large degree?

I took the time to watch another TED talk about time management. Rory Vaden talked about purposeful procrastination, a strategy to delay doing something until it is not only important (how much does it matter?) or urgent (how soon does it matter?), the attributes of two-dimensional prioritization, but also significance (how long does it matter?). Because of the ‘significance' factor, this new method to time management involves a Focus Funnel that eliminates, automates or delegates tasks. Tasks sit in the funnel until one is ready for action. I think my To-Do list already functions much in this way, though I don't often automate tasks.

Tomorrow is booked solid with meetings. The rest of the week I am scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., weather permitting. I plan to have a few Zoom meetings while I am away. However, given the weather in the Midwest and East, I opted to purposefully procrastinate today thinking that I might have a few more hours free than I had initially planned. If that doesn't work out, those tasks I could have worked on today will go back into the Focus Funnel.

Remind me – does the saying go that you can or can't teach an old dog new tricks? I'm struggling to learn new things these days. Google Analytics isn't cooperating, and now Interfolio presents a challenge. For those wondering if I read the instructions for either – no, but that's not the point. Eventually, I will figure it out; surely before mid-June.

This week has been relatively slow and Zoom-based. A number of County Directors participated in a call on Monday to talk about the 4-H program. We will repeat that conversation next Tuesday. The REC User's Committee met on Tuesday morning, and the Commodity Liaisons met this morning. Other calls were planning calls for various meetings including the Western Extension Directors and Program Council. I'm still working on developing a couple of agreements, but I need a break from those.

I plan to spend much of tomorrow reading through annual evaluation documents. I recognize that everyone contributes considerable effort in putting their documents together each year. I want to be sure to leave myself plenty of time to review the dossiers of those who submitted documents for merit and promotion consideration. I have a new strategy to consider this year. I plan to separate the 80 portfolios by rank and program area then complete one pile at a time. I haven't determined what I will do with the acceleration packages – there seems to be more of those than I would have expected. Perhaps I will review that pile last.

Wednesday I had a chance to take a trip to Tulare. I didn't make it to the World Ag Expo, but as I drove down, I noted that the weather this year was by far the worst over the past three years of making the trip. I sympathize will everyone around the state wrestling with flooded roads, mudslides, and snow loads. Hopefully, we will have a break from miserable weather this weekend.

I have many things to catch up on over the weekend. Some will probably get done while others will still be there when the week starts. Not on the list – reading instructions.

Weekends go by quickly! I didn't accomplish much, but I didn't try very hard. Instead, I took to heart the words of a fortune cookie I had while in Mexico a couple of weeks ago. The fortune encouraged me to "Relax and Enjoy Yourself." And why not? After all, everything I didn't complete will be waiting for me tomorrow. We can only get so much done in finite time. And we need ‘down time' as well.

One success – Tracy Schohr's recent accomplishment in being named the 2019 Butte County Farm Bureau member of the year! Tracy received the award on February 1. Congratulations, Tracy!

Also on February 1, Dr. El-Kereamy transferred from his CE Advisor position in Kern County to his new job as CE Specialist in Citrus Horticulture in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside, housed at the Lindcove REC.

The team in Imperial County received media coverage of their recent UC Farm Smart community event. The program was recognized for its contribution to the community. Congratulations to the team in Imperial for their successful program!

Another success was Giving Tuesday. During the February 1 County Directors call, we received the news that a record number of employees gave. Also, $121,000 was raised, up from $71,000 the year before. The top 5 counties were San Mateo, Monterey, Santa Clara, Glenn, Humboldt counties. I call that a successful day for all.

UC ANR was successful in attracting Linda Forbes to the position of Director of Strategic Communications. Linda will begin next week in her new position. Please be sure to welcome Linda to UC ANR.

Linda's arrival is just in time. Anne Megaro was Acting Director while we worked to fill the position permanently. However, Anne is now busy with Mary Elizabeth Megaro. Congratulations to Anne, John and Christopher for their new family addition.

Last week was Lunar New Year. We celebrated with Chinese takeout that ended in fortune cookies. This time my fortune was a bit more prophetic, stating “Everything will be okay in the end. If it is not okay, it is not the end”. I will give that saying a bit more thought and, ultimately, trust the wisdom of the cookie.

My mind is racing. At this point, I do not think the thoughts are even coherent.

One question circling is ‘how does one provide information in a way that 1) makes the point to maintain attention, 2) avoids extraneous detail without being considered as ‘hiding' something, 3) can be understood by the many, many different people who absorb information differently, and 4) will be read or heard when time is so precious?

Yesterday I reminded myself that I took calculus twice in high school. The information was the same both times – at least I think so. I cannot be sure because apparently, I did not comprehend much the first time. Mr. Gilbert awarded me with the ‘lowest grade award.' At the time, I declared double digits as overrated. I attributed the change that took place from one year to the next to ‘brain maturation.' After all, I was only 16. Honestly, attendance may have played a role. However, there was also an element of comprehension.

Some say that you need to repeat things seven times before the average person fully comprehends. Who has time to say things seven times to each type of learner? Moreover, what learner will listen to it seven times? Not to mention that the message is far more complex than ‘Just do it!' or ‘Got milk?' I am open to suggestions.

The second question running through my head is ‘who are we, as a Division'? I look at our core values and the elements of the UC ANR Promise, and I have to think that the collective ‘we' are committed to the success of our communities and colleagues. We are a group that helps each other, supports each other, and recognizes that one's success is dependent upon the success of many, many others. We are creative; we are forward-thinking, we are capable of saying ‘no' when it needs to be said, and asking ‘how' even if we can't comprehend why. This is what makes us UC ANR.

I found a pre-Strategic Plan document that talked about guiding principles and core values and compared it to the more recent efforts. Each is quite similar, suggesting that no matter what organizational or structural change occurs, the values remain the same. The values must remain the same if that is who we are. So as we look at changes in UC ANR, what committees review our work, who reports to whom, how we do business, etc. I, personally, take great comfort in the fact that there exists an uninterruptable commitment to improving the lives of Californians and doing it together and not at the expense of each other. I'll take that as enough for now.

Time to prep for Program Council.