Work, work, work

Since my coworker left a couple of weeks ago, I have taken over some of her duties. I don't mind this in the slightest. I'm doing admin work for my boss, which is no big deal. Now that our company is smaller (6 people including me) I didn't have quite enough to fill my day. Things were perfect - my day was full enough to keep me at a brisk pace, but not enough to stress me out. Then my boss decided that he wants to exhibit at ICSC ReCon 2008 in Las Vegas - in three weeks. No problem, I've already confirmed our booth spot, paid for it, ordered and paid for the furniture, booked the rooms, and booked the flights. Everything that is left will be finished by Monday of next week. Now he wants me to do data entry. You know, I love my job. I like my boss. I hate data entry. With a passion. It is tedious work. While still taking care of my regular duties and my newfound admin duties I've also been doing data entry and teaching employees how to use our database. (Which, by the way, they should know.) After two days of this mayhem, I think my boss realized he was spreading me too thin. The solution?
A great one, actually. He has hired a temp to come in for three to four days and do all of the data entry he wants. That's all she has to do. So I just need to teach her to use the database (I promise, it's not difficult) and show her exactly what the boss wants. Piece of cake! I'm thrilled. And, on a side note, it will be nice to have another girl in the office for a couple of days.

Great Careers

I'm sure that everyone by now has read Yahoo!'s "10 Great Careers You've Probably Never Heard Of." I have to agree, I hadn't heard of some of those jobs. What I found so interesting about this article is that these jobs represent the evolution of our society. How?

20 years ago, nobody would wake up and say, "I want to be an Experience Designer." Probably, nobody really knew what that meant. Now, it's being hailed as a great career choice. Why? As the article points out, companies are trying to create experiences. Starbucks wants you to spend all day there because you will drink more coffee and buy more eats and treats. So their Experience Designer tells them to put in comfy chairs with side tables, play low music that appeals to wide variety of people, offer wireless internet services, etc. And, of course, it works. Starbucks has become the place to be, especially for student types. Now, that sounds like a fun job.

What position stands out to you why? Why do you think these are such great careers?

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Just wanted to give a shout-out to all hardworking administrative professionals (virtual and otherwise). We all know how hard we work and how often it is unappreciated. Even though we take pride in our work and would do a good job no matter what, it is nice to know that our hard work is appreciated. Remember that the admins generally keep the office running smoothly and take a lot of stress off of you. So bosses - Appreciate your admin with a small note, flowers, gift card, or even lunch. Small things go a long way.

The Answer to My Problems

I have finally found it. You know, IT. The answer to my problems. No longer do I feel tired, unmotivated, lazy, stressed, overwhelmed. All due to a miraculous thing - coffee. I'm serious. I used to be a die hard coffee drinker. Then I decided that wasn't healthy and I started drinking green tea. Then I decided to not have any caffeine at all because I was working out a lot and I had enough energy. Well I haven't been working out lately (which is another post in and of itself) so I have no energy. But today, oh yes, today I drank coffee. Not just any coffee, either - Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee. And not just a little coffee - four cups in one afternoon.

The result? I feel great! I worked over nine hours, drove home (hitting every red light), cooked dinner, caught up on my reader feeds, and am now posting on my blog. Coffee is a miracle elixir!! Apparently, it has even been linked to liver health, fewer gallstones in women (who are 50% more prone to them than men), and clearer skin.

I pledge to never swear off coffee again. Hooray for coffee!!

Is the Internet Making Me Crazy?

Well . . . yes it is. I love the internet. It is a magical place full of interesting people, fascinating information, odd things, cool things, weird things. The internet has made my life better; I've learned, found my husband, networked, and started this blog all because of the internet. But lately I started to feel overwhelmed. I had SO many unread posts in my reader, SO many things I should blog about, SO many people to follow on Twitter, SO many things to do that it got to be too much. So I took a break. I just stopped. I didn't read the blogs, I didn't follow Twitter, I didn't even post on this blog. Do you know what happened? Life continued. The earth kept turning. I felt calmer. I read a book! Shocking!

Of course I can't really live without the internet. Why would I want to? But taking a few days off from it helped me to put things into perspective. It's okay to *gasp* not be online and to not necessarily know the very instant something happens. It's okay to not read every blog post in your reader. It's okay to feel . . . very 20th century.

So now that I've had my breather, I'm back. I'm loving Twitter in all it's glory, I'm caught up on my blogs, and here I am posting. But who's to say I won't get overwhelmed again? Well, you guys (yep, you, reading this) are some smart people. What do you do so that you don't get overwhelmed by everything on the internet?

I'm Sorry

I just wanted to post a quick note. I'm so sorry I didn't post my goals today. We were extremely busy this weekend and today was a loooong day. And I really haven't gotten the hang of blogging yet. So look for a real post tomorrow evening. :-)

April Checklist

I just have to recommend a site I found a while back. This site has taught me so much and is a great resource. What is it? LifeOrganizers.com. The site is organized into areas that you probably want to organize. They also have two blogs, Life Organizers and Life Fitness. One of the best things about this website is their monthly e-newsletter. Included in this newsletter is a Monthly Checklist. The checklist is set up with the date and an item for you to accomplish. Some are big, some are small. All are easily accomplished during your day. If you do each of the things on this checklist, it will help you maintain an amazing home and keep your peace of mind. I'm not going to repost the entire April checklist here, because you can get your own free copy by going to LifeOrganizers.com. I do, however, want to post some of the things I'm planning on doing.

Apr 5 Toss old socks that no longer have mates. I swear that the washing machine eats socks. My husband doesn't believe me, but it's true!

Apr 7 Wash and scrub out or hose out your garbage cans. This is an excellent reminder. Oftentimes you forget what the inside of your trashcan look like. But I promise you, you will not be pleased.

Apr 13 Give away or sell 5 books you no longer enjoy, read, or want. Books take up a lot of space in our home. Sometimes we hold onto books thinking we will reread them or that it's just nice to have them. There are some books I will never part with. But some books are easily replaced. Find a bookstore in your area where you can trade the books in for store credit.

Apr 16 Look ahead to the next couple of months and buy ahead some holiday cards. What a great idea! I don't know about you, but I often forget about holidays until they are upon me, and it would be nice to be prepared.

Apr 21 Weed out your wallet or purse. Toss any old receipts, movie stubs, discount cards, papers that are no longer needed. Make sure to shred anything with personal information.

Apr 28 Take a bouquet of flowers to a friend or a loved on you haven't seen or visited in a long time. How thoughtful! I might add that you may want to get a bouquet for yourself, perhaps for your desk at work. It will make you so happy.

What are some things you plan to accomplish this month?

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Musings and Ramblings of a Tired Gal

So I'm sitting outside at the community college near the cafeteria eating dinner. I'm a people-watcher, so naturally I'm watching people. And much to my surprise, I see a girl wearing short shorts, high heels, and . . . a hoodie. Now, I know that it's a bit nippy. Despite it being spring in San Diego, it's not warm here yet. Knowing this, I completely understand the hoodie. I also understand that sometimes the day will start out warm and then become nippy. So I basically understand the shorts. However, the heels? As my husband quaintly put it, "Unless you're in a rap video, there is no good reason to wear heels with shorts." Enough said.

In the course of my people watching, I began to get more of a sense of the people that attend this particular community college. I feel that community colleges attract a wider range of people - young people out of high school who can't afford a university yet, young people out of high school who don't know which university they want to go to, older people who are seeking to further their education and realize that it's just more affordable to go to community college, etc. But there is one type of person who never ceases to amaze me. There are those (usually younger, 18-21) who are enrolled in school and occasionally show up to class that don't pay attention, don't do the homework, and don't really care how they do on the tests. Why are they even there?! They are wasting their time, the teacher's time, someone's money, and a seat in a class that somebody else probably wants. Stop it! Either pay attention and take advantage of the opportunity you have, or stop wasting space!

And with that, this tired young woman is off to bed. Right after I plan my next post.

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Question To Readers - Losing Fat

A friend of mine is looking to lose 10 pounds of fat. I'm not really sure what to tell him. I know how to lose 10 pounds. But I think that losing just fat is probably different.

What do you guys think? Do you have any recommendations or know a good website to refer him to?

How to Acheive Your Goals - Steps 6 and 7 of 7

I've been posting a series based on Marcia Francois' wonderful seminar "7 Things You Must do to Achieve Your Goals." If you haven't subscribed to my blog yet, then please go check out my first three posts - Step 1, Steps 2 and 3, and Steps 4 and 5. And then, go subscribe!

Step one was to know your mission. Step two was to set big, juicy goals that stretch you a bit. Step three was to write down your goals, and follow that up with sharing it with someone to more fully commit yourself. Step four was to evaluate your lifestyle. Step five was to realize that you always have a choice (and therefore can say no to things that hinder your goals). Let's see the final two steps.

Step 6 - Plan your goals. In project management, you spend three hours planning and one hour doing. Why? Planning saves you time. Take a look at your big, juicy goals you've written, and formulate small action steps. This will help you not be overwhelmed. Write down eight to 10 action steps. This puts thing in perspective. You can realize that these small steps take just a few moments, but which contribute to the large goal, the big picture.

Step 7 - Prioritize your actions. Now that you've written out your action steps, you need to prioritize those actions. When you write your to do list, you know that some things are more important than others. Most people spend their time on low value tasks and never get around to do high level tasks that support their goals. She suggests using a four-quadrant system of "Do It Now," "Got a Minute," "I Really Should," and "I Really Shouldn't." This will help you make sure that the most important, urgent things always get done. The box, "I Really Should," is the box that always gets annoyed. We know we should write that post, join the gym, buy healthier food, etc. These are things that are going to contribute to our goals. We have to focus on these items to make sure you attend to them.

Whew! Marcia has really put together a great system here. To recap: 1. Know your mission. 2. Set big, juicy goals. 3. Write down your goals. 4. Evaluate your lifestyle. 5. Realize that you always have a choice. 6. Plan your goals (action steps). 7. Prioritize your actions.

Now that I've listened to all seven audios, it's time for me to put these things into practice. On Monday I will post about the major goals I set and how I plan to accomplish them. You guys are going to be my involuntary support group. ;-) I promise not to dwell on my goals, but do stay tuned to see how things work out.

What goals are you planning to work on?

If you would like to receive a free copy of Marcia Francois' series on 7 Things You Must Do to Achieve Your Goals, please click here. To learn more about Marcia, her qualifications, and how she can help you, please visit her website by clicking here.

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What Am I Signing?!

This is a somewhat political post, which is not something I normally blog about. I try not to blog about things I know nothing about. Ha!

Anyway, this happened to Chris and I at the grocery the other day. You know those people who sit in front of stores and try to get you to sign things? Petitions and whatnot? Well, one of those guys was there. We didn't want to stop on the way in, but we felt it was a worthy cause, so we stopped on the way out. So we signed the first one. Then he says he has another and explains what it is. We sign that one. He has another. We sign. Another. Sign. Another. No signatures. Another. Seriously? Come on!

I felt sort of violated. I came over to do my duty as a citizen and then all of a sudden I was being led down a path. The idea, I guess, is to get a person to where they don't know what they're signing and they just blindly sign. I'm not one of those people. But it's frustrating to think that when you stop to do something good, someone will try to take advantage of you. Especially considering that I completely disagreed with one of the things he put in front of us.

The moral? Read what you sign. Don't be easily led down a path you don't really want to be on. Be proud of your beliefs and stick with them.

For My Lovely Readers

Thank You! This may seem silly, as all posts are technically for the readers, but I wanted to make a special one for you all. When I began blogging, I wasn't sure what my mission was. I just blogged. But since then I am beginning to realize what a great community blogging is and what wonderful opportunities there are. And of course I enjoy it. It really warms my heart to know that people (a) read my blog and (b) enjoy it enough to subscribe.

So, thanks to all you readers and subscribers! Remember to pass on my blog to your friends, families, and coworkers! And if you don't already subscribe, follow the link at the end of this post to learn how.

P.S. Don't forget to also hook up with me on Twitter!