Tag Archives: Professional

Feb 21 2013
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Education, Professional

What’s your ideal work day?

Home Office

Home office

IMG_1319

School office


Have you ever thought about what it’d be like to do whatever you want every day (at work)?

This week I’m on a reading break (No class! Woo!) and I’ve been able to experiment with how I spend my time each day. I’m always trying to figure out the most effective way to schedule my time and prioritize my tasks to be as effective as possible. And, the beauty of being a graduate student is that most of my time is in my control. Of course, I still have to meet with professors and schedule time to perform TA duties (in class and outside of class), but most of my time is my own. I’m pretty lucky. But, sometimes the lack of structure can have a crippling effect: where are you supposed to start?

For most people, their day-to-day activities are more or less controlled by where they work, and what the boss’s expectations are. But, if you did have the flexibility or freedom to do whatever you wanted, how would you organize your work day?

Would you sleep late and work late, or rise early and get done as quickly as possible?

Would you want to work in a quiet or a loud space? Coffee shop or home office?

More and more people are able to control what their workday looks like.

Maybe you have a more flexible start/end time. Maybe you can work remotely when you have big projects on the go, or perhaps your main office is in another location, so you always work from home. Maybe you go to the gym on a longer lunch break.

For the vast majority of professionals, some elements of choice are now baseline expectations in establishing what type of work environment any individual wants. The way we measure productivity, especially in the business of services, is constantly evolving. More and more managers are of the “get it done right and well, and I don’t care when it got done” mentality, and I know that’s good for morale.

Personally, I’m a bit of a traditionalist.

I like going into the office around the same time, and having a consistent schedule, day-to-day. I sometimes work from home when I have a large project on the go, or need some time to think things through without interruptions.This week I’ve been working from home in the mornings and going into the office for the afternoons. It’s a nice way to build a break into the day and also make sure that I keep my effectiveness up by changing up my environment.

I guess I’m not all that different from most 9-5 professionals, but I like knowing my time is my own.

So, what does your ideal work day look like?  

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Aug 16 2012
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Professional

Everyone has a job in “sales”.

Sometimes, I wish I was an amazing salesperson. I wish that I was the “top dog”, the best sales person at a big company – I would wine and dine clients, wear awesome clothes, have a sweet ride and life would be grand!

However, that’s just not me. Nor, will it ever be me.

I want to be a good salesperson for a lot of other reasons:

  1. Selling ideas to co-workers
  2. Selling myself on doing new things
  3. Satisfaction derived being successful at selling

I aced Sales 403 in university. Reason being, I know the sales process really well and I know how to apply it to lots of other situations.

I also know how to present ideas really well, and I love to talk to people. I love to share ideas.

Everyone has a job is sales, they just don’t realize it. 

Consider these situations:

  • Choosing what movie you see with friends or a loved one. Who gets to pick? Do you have to “sell” through your choice to the rest of the gang?
  • Shopping for everything from new furniture to a new car. What criteria reigns supreme? And, who does a better job pushing their agenda?
  • Asking for a raise. You better believe this is a sales pitch from you to your supervisor. After all, why do you deserve more money?

Selling is something we do day in, day out. We’ve been doing it since we were toddlers, begging for dessert before the veggies were finished.

Everyone has a job in “sales”.

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Feb 02 2012
10 Comments
Gen Y

The new 20-something benchmarks for life, in general.

How do you measure your life?

You know what I mean. The successes, the failures, the wins, the losses; the things that we use to benchmark ourselves against our peers.

In the past, marriages, kids, buying houses, cars and material things were used as the true “benchmarks” in life. Just look at our parents – a mix of boomers and Gen-X’s – who measured things by getting married at a certain age, having kids at a certain time and making sure that they picked the right neighborhood and schools for their kids and did everything on the pre-defined “life” checklist at just the “right time”.

We can’t – and don’t – measure life that way anymore. There’s simply too much variety, choice and change.

Not only can’t we measure this way, but what’s the point of trying to do so, anyway?

I know I don’t want to be perceived as a “failure” because I’m 25, unmarried, living in  bachelor apartment with student debt that prevents buying a house.  I want to be recognized by my personal achievements – whatever they may be – and celebrate the life I’m creating for what it is: uniquely mine. And for those I know in my age bracket that have the aforementioned things, I don’t judge, but I do applaud. They’ve make choices based on their life, and I’ll continue to make choices based on my life.

But, I wouldn’t be a Type-A if I didn’t want some way to measure. Don’t you want to know what the new benchmarks are?

If I had to make a new list to replace the marriage, having kids, buying houses list, here’s what I think fits the current generation.

Introducing:

THE 20-SOMETHING LIFE LIST

Continue reading →

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Jun 12 2010
2 Comments
Things I Like

Happy anniversary, blog.

It’s a year later, and this blog is now the ripe old age of 1.

I’ve already reflected deeply on the year that was 2009 and the decade that is just beginning, but I haven’t yet reflected on the full year that has elapsed since putting fingers to keyboard. In the span of 12 months, a lot in both my offline and online life has changed.

In one year of channelling my thoughts in writing I’ve gained experience in my career, life, friendships and relationships. I challenged myself to move provinces, take time off and learn the value of empty time, find a new job career path, ask more questions, think differently about problem solving, learn how to know when to quit, and begin to just take a chill pill (some of the time).

All good things, I think.

I’m much happier now that I was a year ago and I’m only looking forward to bigger, better things down the road.

But since I’m looking back and reflecting on things, I’m going to get a bit critical.

You see, I had a professor in University who was very hard to impress. (I like to impress people, so I took the need to impress as a core requirement for everything I did.) Over the course of projects, job opportunities, and personal struggles, one thing was always clear with this professor; there was always room for critique.

Critique in the sense that even as good as something might be currently, if you absolutely had the chance to do it just one more time, what would you do differently to make it just a little bit better?

So, in honour of the small changes that ultimately make big differences (thanks, prof!), I’m confident I can make improvements over the course of another year. I’ll continue to channel my thoughts through this forum and see what results, and in the next 12 months I’m going to try and be more personal, ask lots and lots of questions, and share as many ideas as I can.

Here’s to year 2.

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May 17 2010
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Education, Gen Y, Professional

My “inner university student” and why I channel that version of myself periodically.

I may be looking at things with rose-coloured glasses, but every now and then I look back on my long, hard, days as a university student who worked extremely hard and I wonder just where that girl went after graduation.

I still work extremely hard, but sometime I feel much less effective. (One would think things just got easier after completing such a big milestone, but noooooooo things just get more challenging in different ways. Well, all I can say is: Bring. It. On.)

When I’m in need of a mental push to the proverbial finish line, I have no choice but to channel my “inner university student”. The effective girl I remember being when I was hungry for knowledge, excited for every task that was set in front of me and ready for whatever came my way. And for the record, I’m still the same girl, but sometimes I need a gentle reminder of just that.

Surely for some folks, channelling their inner university student would just have them doing flip cup in the boardroom instead of getting work done more efficiently and more effectively, but I can find the version of myself that got things done, and got them done well.

So when things get tough, I remember the days that I got papers done in 24 hours or less. I remember the days that involved massive research documents and too many readings at 3AM before an 8:30 AM class. I remember how I somehow created powerpoint presentations and video projects while also taking active roles in extra-curricular activities.

Work hard, do your best, and meet your deadlines.

Same thing now, just a different application.

Looking back, I know I worked hard, but hopefully now I work smarter. More sleep means being more effective the next day. More deadlines means learning how to increase prioritization.

Work hard, do my best, and meet my deadlines.

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