UPEACE Centre for Executive Education
Empowering leaders to transform challenges into opportunities
October 2012
In This Issue
Upcoming Courses
What alumni are saying
Alonso in the News
Threefold Nature of Work
Balancing Work-Life
Upcoming Courses
  
  
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This month-long course will give you the space, structure, support and motivation to answer some very fundamental questions regarding your passions, your strengths, your goals, your limiting beliefs, your priorities, your comfort zone, and your key relationships.
  
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Click here for our full course schedule, or contact Alonso Mu�oz (amunoz@upeace.org) for more information.
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"The course 'Educating for the 21st Century', from UPEACE Is a wonderful opportunity to get in touch with the other people's initiatives and learn about skills and values needed to guide our students into the new millennium."  

Lilmarie Ap�stegui
Greetings!
  

I sat down in 34 E, a middle seat. There would be no room to work on my laptop on this 2 hr. 34 min. flight from San Jose, Costa Rica to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was stuck, badly stuck.

 

It had been a short busy trip to UPEACE. If I had space to open-up my labtop on this flight, I would have typed up some meeting notes, gone through my electronic calendar, organized my e-files, and deleted some e-mails. The first couple of hours would have flown by (no pun intended). I would have ended by looking at some family pictures and probably marveling at how fast the girls are growing up.

 

Catch Mohit's final thoughts at the end of the newsletter! 

UPEACE Centre Program Manager on National TV

 

A few months ago, concerned about the amount of garbage that we generate as a society, Centre Program Manager Alonso Munoz started a campaign to raise awareness about the need to change views about plastic containers. He contacted Coca-Cola and Florida Bebidas (Costa Rica's largest producer and distributor of beverages), requesting that they reduce the amount of plastic bottles they introduce into the market. The campaign has quickly grown, sparking the interest of thousands of people. The leading Costa Rican news channel covered the initiative. Watch the nationally-aired 2-min interview clip of Alonso, in Spanish, by clicking here.

 

 

Rollins
Hosting a team from Rollins College visiting Costa Rica. Rollins College is a Changemaker Campus as designated by Ashoka
Start getting things done!

 

With all the technology we have nowadays to make communicating in the workplace 'easier' and more effective, we also need to learn how to deal with all the distractions it comes with. David Allen (2008), in his article 'The Threefold Nature of Work' explains the three different types of work we have to deal with every day and how to actually be able to get it done efficiently and well!

 

Check out his short article and reorganize yourself!   

 
Technology and Work-Life Balance

 

How modern forms of communication affect our work--life balance: the facts
How modern forms of communication affect our work-life balance

Mohit's final thoughts...

 

But instead, not having space for my computer, I pulled out a blank notebook. 154 minutes later, I had filled out about a dozen pages and I was feeling more relaxed than I have in ages. I had poured my heart and mind out into this journal that I had picked up, somewhat guiltily because of its price, at the airport. The 'Return on Investment' had been made up by the time I reached my second page of notes. By the sixth page, it felt like the equivalent of a very valuable coaching session. And by page 12, I had nothing left in my head to process - it was all on paper, and I could finally shut my eyes as the wheels hit ground at Fort Lauderdale International airport.

 

When was the last time that I had done that? Truth be told, I often look forward to long flights as an opportunity to do the 'brain download'. But somehow, as soon as I have a computer in front of me, my ability to really 'capture my thoughts' is inhibited. Yes, I have tried some of the MindMap software and I've downloaded 'NotePad' on my tablet. It may be my age (I'm just a few months away from turning 40) but at the end of the day, nothing beats 'pen and paper'.

 

We live in world where the pace of change is exponential (see the video above). Right now, in order to create a deadline and focus, I have my phone timer doing a 25-min. ticking countdown as I write this (a Pomodoro). I forgot to switch off Skype before starting this, and Alonso Munoz messaged me from Costa Rica a little earlier. We exchanged a few text messages before I continued on. 

 

I love technology! But increasingly, I find myself going 'back to the basics' in several areas of my life. This tension between 'embracing innovation' and 'sticking with tradition' is one of the themes we'll be discussing in the Centre's new online course, Designing Your Life: Innovating From the Inside Out

Sincerely,

Mohit Mukherjee

UPEACE Centre for Executive Education