Flowers in Oxford, England
It’s been a whirlwind month. Seven cities, 30 days. Now I’m back home, and starting work at a new job tomorrow. Whew!
Some things I learned abroad:
1. David Hasselhoff was huge in East Germany.
2. Professional Londoners dress very, very well.
3. I like duck. To eat.
But now I’m back, and focused on work. As always with starting a new job, I’m looking forward to my first day with nerves and excitement. What’s your best advice for starting a new job?
I love this sweet depiction of blogger Heather Armstrong‘s day spent working in her home office. She’s accomplished amazing things, and I can only dream of taking charge of my life and career in the way she’s done.
Watch it. It’ll make you smile.
How to Work From Home from dooce on Vimeo.
I don’t have a tattoo, but my fiance does. A superhero emblem on his left bicep that he got when he was 18. He defends it if anyone asks, but I think deep down he wishes he hadn’t gotten it (hi, honey!).
But it’s not a big deal at work, because it’s always covered.
I have some friends with tattoos as well. Generally in places that clothes cover, but some ankle tattoos too. I think tattoos can be beautiful, but I would worry too much about how a visible tattoo might affect my career. Sure, in some professions tattoos are celebrated as a mark of individuality, but in my profession (law), that’s not the case.
What do you think? What’s your experience with tattoos and the workplace?
[via Tattoologist]
I have a crazy amount of love for sweets — particularly pastries. A friend told me that she once gave up sugar for a month (including sugar substitutes) to recalibrate her sweet tooth and get her cravings back to sublunary levels. Not even honey is allowed — the only exception is fruit.
I’m on day three, and so far, so good. To last a month, I’m thinking about letting sugar slide on Sundays. Otherwise, I might not survive. One thing that’s been problematic, though, is snacking at work. I often rely on my boss’s candy bowl to get me through the afternoon hours. Now that I can’t grab a Snickers when I need an energy boost, I have to think more strategically about what snacks to bring to work. (Don’t you just love the word snack? I do.)
Here’s what I’ve been packing lately to stay healthy and satiated:
1. Raw almonds. I have a big sack that’s sitting on a shelf that I can turn to for a quick nibble. As far as nuts go, they’re pretty low fat. Also, maybe I haven’t eaten almonds enough in my life, but these are the first almonds that actually taste reminiscent of amaretto, the almond liqueur, or Italian almond cookies.
2. Veggie chips. Umm, these are awesome. I got a package of these from Whole Foods, made in-store, but you can find them online also (I like the thick cut kind, not the thin wafers that resemble potato chips). Mine are green beans, carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, and squash lightly fried in canola oil. You can also make your own. Filling and delicious.
3. Carrots and hummus. I keep ‘em in the fridge. We don’t have a problem with people stealing food in our office, but if you do — I feel for you. That’s another post for another day. I like getting jalapeno or spicy hummus — provides a nice kick.
4. Laughing Cow Cheeses. I eat them alone, but you can also pair with crackers (obviously). The Mini Baybels are only 70 calories, and very tasty. Plus, the packaging is so cute that you can’t help but eat them up.
5. Bananas. The perfect fruit. Enough said. They’re also ridiculously cheap.
What are your go-to snacks at work?
No more need to mess around with a clunky fax machine, or race to Kinko’s when you’re out of options! (I remember doing this when I was getting all of my bar exam registration materials together… at the last minute.)
HelloFax is a new online service that lets you upload files, fax them, and even sign documents all on the web. With the free account (sort of a misnomer), you get 5 free faxes. After that, they’re $.99 each.
This is a great tool for self-employed, start-up types who don’t have a fully stocked office.
Sigh. Filing another one away in the “Why didn’t I think of that?” category.
I love this. Google noticed that its employees’ productivity was tied to how well their managers were rated — managers who received good reviews had more productive employees. Makes sense. Google, ever the data hound, set out to collect data on qualities successful managers have in the hopes that they could help less successful managers replicate the behaviors.
This project has been dubbed Project Oxygen — and the results show that interpersonal skills are much more highly prized in managers than technical skills.
via Once Wed
You know what’s more fun than working? Wedding planning. From the minute he puts a ring on it until you say ‘I do’, even the most rock star career gal can’t help but sneak wedding planning into her work day. But spending hours searching for that perfect jeweled comb and making inspiration boards on Style Me Pretty (as lovely as they are) can get in the way of the things you actually get paid to do. While you’re convinced it’s multitasking at its finest, spending too much time in wedding world at the office can really hurt your career if you’re not careful. So how do you find a balance?
A few days ago, there was this fairly anti-feminist take on how to be a stay at home girlfriend. Today, there’s a realist-feminist piece on how to survive–and thrive–as a woman in a boys’ club. It’s really, really good. I don’t agree with everything, but the author makes good points and I applaud her openness.
The best take away is this:
Befriend The Other Woman: Always. Seriously. Even if she sucks (expansion on “if she sucks” follows below). Otherwise you will be “jokingly” put into competition with her constantly, and you will be encouraged and generally provoked by some dudes to do this for their entertainment to take focus off the fact that they are in homosocial competition with each other. Befriend her and press your boobs against the glass ceiling together (copyright Kristen Schaal). She is not the enemy. She is never your enemy. The enemy is always any guys who are creating situations that limit the number of females allowed. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down.
Often women see other women as their competition — separate and apart from men. This is really, really unfortunate. Equal treatment of genders is the goal. But the reality is that women are still treated differently (and worse) than men, based on stereotypes and entrenched power structures. We shouldn’t make things harder on ourselves.
In a talk available on TED, Jason Fried addresses why people never say the office is the best place for getting work done. Most people, he says, will say things like, “I get my best work done early in the morning at home,” or “on my commute.” Employers spend all this money renting and outfitting office space, but employees don’t view the office as a place for productivity.
The reason? Interruptions.
It’s not too late to send holiday cards to coworkers, clients, and other contacts. If you haven’t done so, you should seriously consider sending some out — it’s a thoughtful, relatively painless gesture that will pay dividends in the year to come.
Here are some things to remember.
