Sharing with Neighbors
How do you rank in your group text etiquette?
In 5th grade, my teacher would always exclaim “I can’t have anything nice” anytime our class would ruin a good thing. I seem to use this phrase a lot in my own adult life. The busy road near my house used to allow people to turn left when safe to do so. There were so many car accidents as a result of people running red lights on the other side, that the city had to change the left turns to protected lights (so you have to wait until you get a green arrow before you are allowed to turn).
Group texting is one of those things that I am about ready to take away. As a parent with children involved in sports and other extracurricular activities, I have several group text threads with other parents. There are few things that drive me insane about group texting though, and I’m here to tell everyone to JUST STOP ALREADY. Maybe a little group text etiquette would help….
For those of you who have iPhones, you may not realize how extremely annoying this is. In a group thread (or really even when you are just texting someone). You iOS users have some reactions you can use in text messages. On Android devices though, it doesn’t quite come through the way you intend it.
When you “like” a text message, it actually sends the Android user a whole new message stating that you liked the message, like the end of this thread…
While it’s generally not very annoying when you do it occasionally to an individual person, but when multiple people start “liking” several messages in the thread, the Android users in the group start to get a TON of new messages.
So, please, for my fellow Android users, stop “liking” messages, especially in group text messages.
Sports parents are notorious for this, and it really needs to stop too. When you are in a group message thread, and you need to ask a specific member of the thread something, text them individually. The rest of the group doesn’t need to be privy to your conversation about what time you are going to pick up their child.
The only things that should be discussed in the group thread are things that involve the entire group, or at least a strong majority of them. What time practice is, or where the next game is at are very acceptable for a group thread. However, asking someone specific to bring treats can be taken off the thread.
While many people now will automatically put their phones on silent late at night, there are still people who don’t know how to do that. So common courtesy would be to save your responses to a group text for “regular hours”.
I try to not send any texts before 8 AM and after 9 PM, which is a good rule of thumb for most people. There is nothing worse than trying to fall asleep and your phone starts blowing up with group text messages.
When you are texting an individual, it’s fine to break your message into several different messages to get your point across. However, in a group setting, it may be really annoying seeing 10 texts in a row from the same person.
This also allows the other people in the group to respond to your message. If you fire off 10 texts, someone may try to respond to the first message, even though there may be more explanation coming in a later. Try to get your whole point across in one message to minimize confusion.
Finally, the group text is usually created to talk about something specific. Whether it’s a group of parents for a sports team, or a group of friends coordinating a night out to a Broadway musical, there is usually a reason for the gathering.
Try to make sure to stick with the topic. No one cares about your MLM, Karen, so please keep it to yourself in the group thread.
Using a little common sense can go a long way with group text etiquette. Group texts can be really helpful to get information out that many people need. Don’t make me take it away!
For about 10 years of my 16-year career in the IT industry, I worked exclusively from home. I lived in Utah, but the company I worked for was located in Southern Calfornia. I always said that I could fix anything remotely, short of internet connection issues and hardware issues (since I was unable to be onsite to physically switch out the hardware). From those years of experience, I have some tips to help you work from home.
Now many people are faced with the prospect, or even need, to start working from home. Many think it’s amazing to not have a commute or to be able to work in your pajamas. But, having done this for several years, let me tell you, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Working from home can be extremely difficult, especially if there are kids around, which many will be with all the school closures. These tips to help you work from home will make your life easier.
While it may not be feasible for you to go out and order or purchase the needed equipment, your company may be able to offset some of the cost, or you may be able to borrow some of the equipment you need from your office. Having the right hardware in place can really improve your productivity when working from home.
I always say that productivity increases exponentially with the addition of each monitor. So, if you have 3 monitors, you are 3x more productive than someone who has 1 monitor. It is not based on any sort of scientific research, but I believe it is true.
Using another monitor really makes a lot of the things you need to do for work much easier. Depending on what you are using (laptop, desktop) and the ports that are available on the device, you may have to get an adaptor in order to connect it to the second monitor.
The best way to connect an additional monitor to your laptop is to get a docking station. This way you can also connect other peripherals like a printer, a keyboard or mouse that isn’t Bluetooth capable, and more. I love using the Pluggable brand docking stations, as they are universal to any make of laptop.
Plugging your computer directly into the wall can actually cause some serious problems. In the event of a power outage or a power surge, you could severely damage the hardware you are using. Make sure you are protected through a surge protector. The added bonus here is that you will have several more empty plugs available to you for plugging in phone chargers, printers, additional monitors and more.
If you are using a laptop, the trackpad or TrackPoint (in Lenovo ThinkPad machines) is just not efficient when it comes to getting a lot of work done. An external mouse can be a huge benefit. Even if you have a desktop, purchasing a wireless mouse can really help you not be tied down to one location if you need to move the mouse out of the way for needed paperwork.
If your job requires you to be on the phone, a headset is going to be essential. With VOIP (voice over IP) services, sometimes you can install a “softphone” on your computer that allows you to make and receive phone calls just like you are sitting at your office. Sometimes your hardware phone can even be taken from the desk in your office and plugged into your house giving you the opportunity to use your regular office phone from home.
In either case, using a wireless headset will help you be able to work and talk at the same time. A headset will also come in handy if you have to attend any video conference calls. When you just use the computer’s audio settings there can be some significant feedback on the chat, which can be extremely annoying for the other participants.
There are a couple of different ways people can work from home. Most of it is dependant on what your company has set up for remote work. Many companies have a remote desktop that you can dial into in order to accomplish your tasks.
Remote desktop allows you to sign into a workstation that is at your company, or in the cloud, but connected to your work environment. It is a completely different environment, so any software you have on the computer you are using to connect will not be available on the remote workstation.
Another way people sign into work is through a VPN. A Virtual Private Network essentially takes the computer you are using at home and virtually places it on the company network. Your computer will act exactly like you are sitting at your computer inside the office.
Remotely connecting to your actual machine is another option people can use. Programs like Teamviewer or LogMeIn allow you to remotely access the computer you use at work from your home computer.
Finally, if your company uses a lot of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) tools like Salesforce or Slack, you could log into those services from your home computer. This wouldn’t require you to be on your company network since all of the tools are available online.
One of the hardest things about working from home is staying productive, especially since most of the kids will also be home during the time you will need to work. There are a few things you can do to help keep your productivity up even when you are cooped up with your entire family.
Even if you don’t have a dedicated office in your house, you can still go into your bedroom and close the door. During your “working” hours make sure the door is closed and the kids will have to pretend you aren’t there. A sign on the door might even help out when the kids forget about the situation.
Make sure when you are working that you schedule some break times into your day. If you don’t plan in advance, you could end up taking way more breaks than you think you are taking. Housework tends to blend into regular work when you are home, so make sure you wait until your scheduled breaks to take care of those household needs.
It is really tempting to wake up late, just in time to start your workday. Doing this can really backfire for you though. When you don’t get ready before you start your day, it’s tempting to just run go take a shower in the middle of your day. This ends up drawing out your getting ready for the day and might eat into your workday more than expected.
Also, when you are sitting around working in your pajamas, it can be hard to get focused. Getting ready for the day during the time you normally do, puts your mind back into that “working” mindset to help you focus on the tasks at hand.
With the kids home, there are also Jr. High and High School kids at home. If you don’t have someone else at home that can take care of the kids while you are working, get a neighbor to come help out with your kids during the day. When the kid’s needs are being taken care of it will give you a chance to focus on work and get more done.
Working from home can be difficult, but you can definitely make it work! If I could do it for 10 years with a newborn, you can definitely make it a few weeks during a quarantine especially with these tips to help you work from home! Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
