Do you need to solve a problem, be more creative or think of a new idea? Forget playing with toys or brainstorming with a group. Go zone out. That’s right. Just stare off into space…

Daydream.

While daydreaming may be frowned upon in class and at work, it could be one of the best ways to discover new solutions and ideas. Ever noticed how you’ll remember that person’s name after walking away and letting your mind wander.

In a June 19, 2009 Wall Street Journal article, researchers believe that our brain may be most actively engaged when our mind is off somewhere else. That’s when a fresh way of looking at things, a new idea or the solution to a problem pops into our head.

So, please don’t bother me the rest of the day. I will be sitting at my desk with my eyes closed solving complex problems.

Omg u r my bff. LOL

This is how many of us communicate in this new social media world. Whether it’s a matter of convenience in texting and status updates or it’s a matter of necessity in tweets (only 140 characters), our communications have gotten shorter and shorter.

Is this a good trend? Not if the meaning of what we’re trying to communicate is lost. Clarity should always take precedence over brevity.

I agree with the experts that a short concise message is best. But don’t shorten your next text, email, letter, phone call, presentation, etc. to the extent that your message is misunderstood.

TTYL

I’m having another birthday this weekend. So there is no doubt I am getting older. That’s easy. Here’s the really hard question I always need to be asking myself – am I growing?

The NielsenWire recently reported 6 million more seniors (age 65+) are using the web compared to 5 years ago. That’s 17.5 million senior adults who are emailing, paying bills, checking the weather, looking at photos, planning trips, etc. online.

These individuals decided that while they’re growing older they are also going to continue growing. This is a good time of year to ask that question of yourself and for your business. Just growing older isn’t near as much fun.

As an adult, how many of your Christmas gifts do you really like? It seems that the older I get the more bad gifts I get. When I was little boy, all my gifts were wonderful except for the occasional pen & pencil set from a great aunt.

In a recent blog by Symantec, the internet security firm found that 87.4% of all your emails are spam. Now add that to the number of emails which really aren’t very important. There are probably only 5 or 6 valuable emails out of every 100 you receive.

Not a very productive day.

It’s hard to stop spam, but you and I can certainly impact the value of email gifts we send.

P.S. Thanks, but I don’t need another manicure set, shoe tree or fruit cake.