Hands on help: Personal

Group, Jul/Aug 1998

Cyber-Effective Help

Want advice or help with a project? Turn to your computer. Studies fmd that computer work-groups achieve excellent results and lead to effective decision making, especially on complex, long-term projects.

Northwestern University's Joseph Walther, Ph.D., says the advantages to communicating by computer are that colleagues can work despite different schedules and they take in information at their leisure when they're relaxed and receptive. Online communication also forces participants to clearly air their differences because they don't have the benefit of body language.

Walther's studies disproved the belief that online communication is impersonal. He assigned a series of decision-making tasks to 16 groups who met face to face and to 16 groups who worked on computer but were never online at the same time and left messages for each other. Six weeks later, the computer groups were more socially oriented than those who met in person because they took time during work sessions to "shoot the breeze."

Rx: Mozart

Go on, admit it classical music is good for you. Well, researchers think so. For instance:

Classical sounds soothe. Studies on critical care patients at Baltimore's St. Agnes Hospital show that composers such as Debussy, Haydn, or Mendelssohn can substitute for sedatives.

Moart boosts the brain. Studies at the University of California at Irvine show that Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major buoyed student's abilities to distinguish shapes and objects-a "higher-brain" activity. And students with musical performance experience scored higher on SATs.

Baroque aids concentration. Some

community colleges in Washington state mix English lessons with Baroque music, reducing the time it takes new immigrants to master the language.

Some experts say classical composers avoided lower frequencies that, according to French researcher Alfred Tomatis, tend to contract muscles. The result? A nurtured feeling that supports well-being.

Wizard or Woods?

Is your life more like pinball or golf?

Pinball rewards the highest score and involves constant activity, speed, and timing. The key: Make motion! Golf rewards the lowest score and values players for keeping the ball on the fairway and reaching the green as strategically as possible. The key: Make progress!

To determine whether you're making motion or progress, answer these questions:

When I notice an area in my life that lacks depth, do I compensate by adding to my exterior, or am I willing to get to the root of my problem?

Do I spend time on things that make me look good or on things that are good for me and my ministry?

Am I motivated to "get busy" or "have impact"?

It's particularly good to ask yourself these questions at the beginning of your ministry year.