Recently I was at a conference for female entrepreneurs when a young business owner got up to ask one of the panelists a question: “How do you deal with Mommy guilt?” I wasn’t inspired by the answer, which consisted of the usual fudge along the lines of spending ‘quality time’ with the kids.
I wish she’d said what women need to hear, which is, essentially, “Don’t feel guilty.” Read More →
This is the second part of a three-part blog series by Elaine Grogan Luttrull, CPA, founder of Minerva Financial Arts, and author of Arts & Numbers (Agate B2, 2013). In her first piece, “The Secret to Happiness,” Luttrull addressed the connection between budgeting and happiness. Here, she’ll outline the five-step budgeting process she finds most effective. Next, she’ll conclude the series with tips on managing cash flow challenges within a budget.
Few tasks overwhelm us as much as budgeting. We worry the budget will be wrong. We fear that we’ll omit some key part that makes it “work” or worse, makes a working budget fail. We cannot begin to summarize our existence in a few key budget categories.
We associate budgeting with guilt. We are bombarded with messages that we “should” budget, track our expenses, and know how much we are spending on our basic needs, our indulgences, and our professional pursuits. Read More →
Not all internships include a creepy little dude following you. But some do.
by Tyler Bradford
We recently wrote about how to act (and not act) during your entry-level job, but, admittedly, I skipped a small step: actually landing that first job. Gone are the days when companies willingly hired scores of college graduates, paying them a living wage and starting them on the upward professional track. Twenty first-century twenty-somethings can no longer rely on such linear development, faced instead with such ambiguous prospects as scores of unpaid internships which may or may not convert into full-time employment and companies who simply refuse to invest in the emerging work force.
In this weekend’s Style section, the New York Times featured profiles of several such disheartened young professionals, exposing a life defined by nonfat soy lattes and incessant iPhone 5-checking (this is the Style section, after all). If you’re in your 20s (I am) or care about the state of employment at all, the article might just make you cry. Maybe you’ll want to throw your computer against the wall (not going to help your career). But if you take a second to take some deep breaths, there are actually some key points to take away. Besides, you’re never going to be able to beat the odds if you don’t know what you’re up against (that’s what we tell ourselves, anyways). Read More →
Long before Marissa Mayer upset the Yahoo cart (and the well-articulated response to that overturned cart in The New York Times), I’ve had to weigh out the pros and cons of what it means to have a work life when you don’t have an office. In the solopreneur world, it isn’t one way or the other, but rather a blend of both. And that blend is something bigger companies can learn from. The best part is that we set the policy and we can change it! Read More →
One of the most difficult transitions you’ll make in your career is the switch from sheltered academia life into the dog-eat-dog world of corporate America. The Red Bull-powered all-nighters in university libraries and the professional work environment can seem like two irreconcilable worlds, but surely four years and $200k must be worth something more than one line on the resume. Entry-level jobs are also often hotbeds of user error: they’re where we screw up our work the most.
But entry-level jobs aren’t just for recent grads; often when switching careers, we have to restart at the bottom of the food chain to establish a new professional record. So wherever you are in your career, if you’re planning to enter a new industry, here are a couple tips to bear in mind, courtesy of LifeHacker. Read More →
The Hired Guns are exceedingly proud to reprint this piece by Tony Schwartz, noted author and President and CEO of The Energy Project. The piece below originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review, for which Tony is a popular blogger.
Two years ago, I began hearing the phrase “It isn’t sustainable” over and over from senior executives. They were talking about the everyday demands at work.
The day of reckoning seems to have arrived. During the past month alone, no less than a half dozen senior executives have told me that fatigue, exhaustion and even burnout are the biggest issues they’re facing both for themselves and among their troops.
Sustainable capacity — meaning sufficient fuel in the tank — is what makes it possible to bring one’s skill and talent to life. Not even the most talented and motivated employees can run on empty. Read More →
He's going to need a bigger desk.
“People do best, what they like best to do.”
That’s an old adage by Frederick W. Taylor, the original management guru. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? And yet, so many people hate their jobs.
So why is that?
Well, think about your hobbies. You know, the things you do for fun. Whatever it is, whether it’s playing a sport, a musical instrument, practicing a craft, or whatever, you probably do it for at least one of the following two reasons: you’re good at it and/or you enjoy it. Otherwise, why do it? Read More →
In the latest installment of our Community Profiles series, we sat down with Todd Tarpley, longtime Gun, twice-published children’s author, and Digital GM for the Parents Network. Todd’s latest book, Ten Tiny Toes (Little, Brown 2012), was released last month to overwhelmingly positive reviews. He was gracious enough to share his thoughts on writing, kids, and the elusive work/life balance. Read More →
This is what zen looks like.
There was a time, not too long ago, when I was traveling for business every week. That meant packing for three or four days on the road at a time, and it used to take me forever to decide which suits and shirts and ties I was going to wear. Once I got through all of that, I still had to choose the appropriate socks to match each of my outfits.
This may seem trivial, but I had about 30 different varieties of black or navy dress socks in my drawer, each with different designs, patterns, stripes, shapes, thread colors, etc. It began to take a toll on me. I stared deep into the drawer and questioned my decisions in life. Something had to change. Read More →
To kick off our Community Profile series, we caught up with Jeremy Goren, a longtime Gun who’s made a daring foray into theater direction. In his professional life, Jeremy was a market research specialist for a number of big-name Wall Street firms. But before we get into the interview, here’s the skinny on his directorial debut:
Drawing on material as diverse as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, medieval pageant plays, ’90s suburbia, My So-Called Life, and the performers’ own stories, You Will Make a Difference explores our current moment – career, love, babies and success. An ensemble leads its audience through various spaces on several floors of the beautiful West Park Presbyterian Church. Formed over an atypical, six-month process, this collaboratively devised performance invites the audience on a journey to discover where they really are. The communal ending of You Will Make a Difference includes a small, shared meal, along with music and a hoedown or some other happening, to create an experience unlike any other. Artist/chef Anne Apparu will also create full meals as part of extended performances on October 20th and November 11th. Tickets and further information are available here. Read More →
This week’s Economist ran a more-than-a-little nostalgic piece about the disappearance of the wet workplace. The article wastes no time in establishing historical precedent for workplace tippling, noting that workers on America’s earliest government buildings were often paid in brandy and that 19th-century railroad laborers apparently drank like crazy. Of course, there’s an obligatory Mad Men reference. But has the tradition of the three-martini lunch really gone the way of the dodo? Don’t be so sure. Read More →
I have been following with great interest the reaction to the news that Yahoo just named Marissa Mayer as their CEO. Mayer is young (37), female (now one of only 20 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies), and 6 months pregnant.
Most of the commentary I’ve read on her big break starts by acclaiming that this is a great thing. Yahoo is being super progressive! One giant step for womankind! Champagne all around!
But fairly quickly that celebratory tone dies down and the articles and posts move on to a different theme. Read More →
As you may have heard, the Big 4 accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has a program that matches experienced working moms with moms-to-be about to go out on maternity leave.
What an excellent program! It gives new moms an experienced “mentor mom” to talk to about all of the issues they are concerned about while on maternity leave and in those first few super-hard months back on the job. Issues like how to function on very little sleep, how to handle the separation from your little one, and the practicalities of pumping on the job. Love it! Read More →
Next Tuesday, May 8, The Hired Guns will be hosting How Does She Do It? — a panel and discussion that we believe working moms at all stages of their career will find inspiring and fun as well as incredibly useful. We’re interviewing each of the panelists to find out where they’re coming from. Today we chatted a bit with Kelly Day, who has two daughters and whose husband is the primary caregiver. Recently appointed CEO of the web network Blip, Kelly has a career that comes with a hefty amount of travel….
How do you deal with all the business travel you do? How do you make it all work?
I’ve always traveled a lot, so my family is fairly used to it. I work hard to try to condense my trips as much as possible. I (almost) always try to make sure I’m home for the important things — school plays, recitals, etc. And I try to be as engaged with my kids as possible on the weekends, when I am home. I’m also a planner. I make sure that on Sundays everything is ready to go for the week — lunches planned, homework checked, appointments on the calendar, etc., to avoid as much chaos as possible while I’m on the road. Read More →
The first in our series of mentorship panels will be on Tuesday, May 8. Titled How Does She Do It?, it’s for working moms at all stages of their careers. As the date approaches, we wanted to find out a little more about the many ways in which the panelists approach working outside the home while also being caregivers. Today we spoke with Meeta Kapadia, whose career has taken her from a high-ranking corporate job at a large bank to being the head of digital operations at a startup. During the panel, we suspect she’ll have a lot to say about how different styles of work end up affecting life at home as well as at the office.
Do you have any advice for working women who are about to be moms? What should they be doing NOW if they plan on going back to work later?
Talk to as many women who have done it as possible. This really helped me with figuring out what conversations to have with my manager (and which ones not to have). Get to know your company’s leave policies very well, and talk to someone in HR if you’re unclear on anything. Talk through a plan for reconnecting with your manager prior to coming back so that you know what to expect. Try not to commit to working remotely (i.e. just a conference call here and there, etc.) during your leave before you actually have your baby and know if that’s going to be possible. And it’s important to try to appreciate the time you have with your new baby before you go back to work, whether that’s six weeks or six months. It’ll be over before you know it. Read More →
Taking a break for some exercise in the middle of your workday may have you getting more done. A Swedish study that was published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that physical exercise can improve productivity, even with a reduction in working hours.
In the study, employees at six “dental healthcare workplaces” were excused from work for 6.25% of the time (about 2.5 hours a week). One group had two mandatory exercise times, and the other group just got the reduced working time. The results? Both groups showed increased levels of productivity, even though they worked fewer hours. The exercise group also had fewer sick days on average. Read More →
Have you ever had one of those days? When the carefully crafted “balance” between work and home just comes crashing down on you like a house of cards?
Maybe it’s your babysitter getting sick while your husband is on a business trip (true story – mine), or the call from the day-care center to say your child has a fever in the middle of an all-day client meeting you’re leading (true story -– my sister’s), or your kitchen ceiling caving in from a burst pipe just as the babysitter shows up so you can get to an interview (true story –- my friend’s). Read More →
Google yourself right now. Do you like what you see? You better!
The Internet is like a mirror. Take a good look into it. Why? Because the image it portrays is the one that your potential next employer is looking at.
So, do you have a neglected LinkedIn profile, a half-baked presence on Quora, and a resume on Monster that’s from 2009? Not good. Read More →
In the days leading up to SXSW Interactive, we’ve been looking at the Hired Guns and Hired Guns pals who will be there. Up today: artist Noah Scalin:
Unstuck: Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing
Friday, March 9, 3:30
Book signing: 4:05
Presenter: Noah Scalin
Your Twesume
(your resume in 140 characters or less):
Artist, designer, activist, and author of 365: A daily creativity journal and Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing at Home, at Work, & in your Studio. I made a skull a day for a year and it changed my life!
Why did you want to speak at SXSW?
I wanted a chance to share my story with the terrific range of folks that SXSW attracts; and of course I love having the excuse to visit Austin again! Read More →
Do you wait for things to happen . . . or do you make things happen?
Do you find yourself stalling for the “right” time to take action. . . or do you make “now” the perfect time?
Do you always find yourself one or more steps behind. . . or comfortably ahead?
Whether we’re talking about your personal life, your career, or your current job, one of the most overlooked keys to success is your degree of “proactivity,” which can help you get ahead of all the barriers, obstacles, and challenges that stand in the way of making things happen. Read More →
Dessert for breakfast? Who’s in? A March 2012 study published in the international research journal Steroids emphasizes that meal timing and what you eat for breakfast (including, in some cases, cake and cookies) can be the key to losing weight and keeping it off.
The study was done on almost 200 subjects, who were split into two groups. The main difference between the two groups was their breakfast. One group had a 300-calorie, low-carbohydrate breakfast, and the other group had a high-carb, protein-enriched breakfast of 600 calories, which included a choice of dessert: chocolate, cookies, cake, ice cream, chocolate mousse, or donuts. The results made some headlines: the group that had the bigger breakfast with the dessert lost more weight and kept it off longer than the non-dessert group. But don’t reach for that donut yet. Read More →
Jan Brown recently left corporate life to work as a life and career coach. She blogs for The Hired Guns about ways that working moms can achieve balance in their life, and also about methods that stay-at-home moms can use the reenter the workplace effectively. Before heading out on her own, Jan advised Fortune 500 companies on philanthropy.
If you are a working mom like me, you already know what’s hard about it. And pretty much every portrayal of a working mom on TV and in movies and magazines depicts the stressed-out, crazy nature of it.
I’m not saying it ain’t so. But just as there are so many things I love about being a parent, there are also many things I like — sometimes even love — about working outside the home. To kick off the New Year, I want to spend some time celebrating a few of my favorite things about working. Read More →
Todd Henry runs The Accidental Creative, a speaking and consulting firm that helps teams do their best work consistently, not haphazardly. His book of the same name, about “how to be brilliant at a moment’s notice,” is out now.
It’s the time of year when many of us dream about what the new year holds in store. For many of us, this means setting goals and trying to decide which new ventures we’ll take on, which objectives we’ll set, and how we’ll engage life and work in the coming twelve months.
In other words, it’s a time of renewal. Renewal of expectations, renewal of action, renewal of hope. Hope is critical for the creative spirit. Without hope, we have no expectancy. Without expectancy, we have no reason to create. Read More →
It’s that time of year again, when we start making promises to ourselves to live a better life. According to various polls throughout the years, 40 to 45% of adult Americans make resolutions each New Year’s. The top resolutions tend to be about weight loss, exercise regimes, and quitting smoking. But it’s hard to make these good intentions stick: a 2002 study in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that less than half of those who resolved to do something were able to maintain their resolutions six months later.
Going by all the blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking of my colleagues and other health professionals, lots of them say that resolutions can set you up for failure and that you should focus on a healthy lifestyle year-round instead. While I don’t disagree with these sentiments, I’m still in favor of resolutions. I love the idea that we can get a fresh start each year — as long as it doesn’t set us up for failure or postpone what could we could have started today. Here are some of my B Nutritious tips for healthy resolutions: Read More →
And from The Hired Guns blog:
For many people, the new year is a time to reflect. That’s because they still cling to the quaint belief that they can become happier and more productive. Enlightened managers like you know that self-reflection is like 10,000-mile maintenance: if the wheels haven’t come off yet, just keep driving.
Here are five ways to avoid thinking too much about the future, so that you can concentrate on repeating the same mistakes year after year:
1. Don’t make a plan for what you’d like to be doing in one, five, and ten years. Those things are so embarrassing to look at later on, when you’ve failed miserably. Better to not even think about it. Then, ten years from now when you’re selling batteries at Radio Shack, you can claim success and say, “Yeah, I planned it this way.” Read More →
You’ve worked hard all year. Now it’s your time to make a total ass of yourself in front of everyone who could possibly be beneficial to your career. So relax and let your true personality shine. Here are some tips to make the most of the situation: Read More →
We’d like to welcome to the blog Jan Brown, a life and career coach who will be blogging for us about working mothers and the unique challenges they sometimes face. As she does in her workshops and coaching sessions, she’ll cover ways that working moms can make their lives more fulfilling and a lot less stressful; she’ll also be providing guidance for stay-at-home moms who are thinking about going back to working outside the home. Before heading out on her own, Jan served as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, advising them on their philanthropic giving.
I have a lot to say about guilt this week — recently, my six-year-old daughter declared that she “wished there were no babysitters. Only mommies and daddies to take care of their kids.” This was after I explained that she was about to start swimming lessons (yay!) and that her after-school babysitter would be taking her instead of me (boo!).
I am no stranger to guilt. There was a period from when my daughter was 1 ½ to 2 ½ when I swear every single morning when I left for work, she would literally cling to me — my leg, torso, bag, whatever she could reach — and sob “Mommy don’t go!!!! Staaaayy with me.” Our nanny would have to physically remove her from me. I would then cheerfully say goodbye and head to the subway platform to cry. Every. Single. Morning. It was rough. So what to do about guilt? Read More →
Every year around this time, my clients start stressing about the holidays and the weight gain that supposedly always happens. People always quote the statistic that the average American inevitably gains at least five pounds during the holiday season, but I have some good news here folks, it hasn’t been proven.
There have only been a few studies that even examine holiday weight gain in Americans. The most well-known one, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that most people only gained a single pound during the holiday season. One pound, not so bad, right? The problem with this single pound is that the study also found that this weight gain wasn’t corrected for afterwards, leading to adults gaining at least one pound each year. After 10 years, that weight is more than just a little issue. Read More →
Yesterday Top Gun Allison Hemming spoke to CNN.com about employees announcing that they are quitting in increasingly creative, if not downright showoffy, ways.
The splashiest recent example is Joey DeFrancesco. The 24-year-old’s video of himself quitting his hotel job with the noisy help of his bandmates in the What Cheer? Brigade, a hipster brass band, got nearly 2.5 million views after it was uploaded to YouTube on 12 October.
As Allison said to CNN, “Joey is the hero of all downtrodden workers because he is the embodiment of ‘take this job and shove it.’ He’s living out the fantasies of countless workers who also hate their bosses.”
But since the internet is forever, does this mean that Joey risks being a victim of unemployment for the rest of his life? Find out what Allison and other experts had to say about his chances:
‘Joey’ becomes recession hero after using marching band to quit job
And if you’re contemplating having What Cheer? brighten up your workplace, here’s a taste:
Recent articles in the New York Times and elsewhere about the possible downsides of taking extra doses of dietary supplements have had my clients grilling me about vitamins. Not whether to take them or not, but whether or not to stop taking them. The article referred to two new studies that showed that taking vitamins may be harmful to your health. One study, which focused on vitamin E and selenium, found that men who take these vitamins had a slightly higher risk of developing prostate cancer. The other study found that women who took multivitamins and other supplements had a higher risk of dying than those that did not.
So how do I answer my clients? It seems legit to be fearful after reading a study (or two) like this, but my answer hasn’t changed. Read More →
As the man behind the Skull-A-Day Project and 365: A Daily Creativity Journal, Noah Scalin knows about inspiration, and on Monday, October 3, Noah will teach a class for The Hired Guns Academy on something he knows a lot about: getting your creativity unstuck. Here’s a bit more about him:
Hometown:
Richmond, Virginia
Current ‘hood:
Richmond, Virginia (after 10 years in NYC)
College/Grad School:
New York University
Current Job:
Owner, Another Limited Rebellion, a socially conscious design and consulting firm.
Where do you plan to take your column this year?
I plan on teaching the skills I’ve learned about generating creative energy and providing the inspiration people need to commit to real creative change in their lives.
What do you hope to accomplish with your Hired Gun posts?
Have more people making more things more often. This will make them more successful, and more important, more happy. Read More →
“Miss Education” is a public-school teacher in the New York area. Until she finds herself a shiny new career and can leave the blackboard jungle behind, she’ll be posting anonymously.
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”
Ever since I became a teacher, people have spouted this delightful little cliché in my direction, helpfully reminding me how this country views its teachers and its education system: as overpaid babysitters who had no real knowledge or marketable skills, and who only pursued a career in education because they couldn’t get a real job and because teaching seemed easy. (Those people have a point—it must be easy, since a mere half of all teachers quit after the first five years).
I always knew that the saying was a whole lot of hogwash, and I paid it no mind. I would leave the profession at the end of the school year and spend the summer vacation looking for other work. Surely I had marketable skills other than teaching…right? Then I began the job search and started to wonder if perhaps it was true, after all. Read More →
She was right! That’s your mom I’m talking about—the one who always said breakfast was the most important meal of the day. And now it turns out that it should also be heavy on the protein.
A new study published last month in the journal Obesity found that a high-protein breakfast increased satiety and reduced food cravings. The study took three groups of teenagers. One group skipped breakfast, another had a regular breakfast with what was considered a normal amount of protein, and the third had a high-protein breakfast consisting of a protein-enriched Belgian waffle with syrup and yogurt (why they couldn’t have just used eggs is beyond me). The subjects who ate the high-protein breakfast had increased satiety and reduced food craving.
Don’t jump for the meat lover’s omelet yet. This was a small study, and more research needs to be done. But the findings do make sense. Breakfast is an important meal because it’s the first meal you eat after fasting through the night.
Keep in mind that protein comes in many forms that aren’t filled with saturated fat; opt for healthy choices. So instead of that bagel with butter, here are some high-protein breakfast suggestions: Read More →
Frances Codd Slusarz is an attorney based in Stamford, Connecticut. In this guest post for Father’s Day, she writes about some of the best advice her dad gave her, whether he knew he was giving it or not.
So you graduated from college and actually have a job. Or you landed an internship that will help you land a full-time gig later. You’ve got your clothes picked out, you’ve mapped out your commute, and you set your alarm clock extra early so you will not be late. Now, what do you do? With Father’s Day around the corner, I am going to share the wisdom of my paterfamilias.
My father was of a different time—the days when you were practically guaranteed lifelong employment as long as you kept head down and your nose clean. And you collected a guaranteed benefit pension when you retired.
My dad hated his job. He spent at least seven hours a day, five days a week, for twenty years, doing pencil-pushing, deadly boring work, to support the family he loved. But this post isn’t about redemption through suffering. My dad’s best lessons come from his life outside work.
1. Do What is Right for Your Client. My father served as a field medic for the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was awarded the Silver Star—one night, the enemy overran his field hospital. Everyone who could evacuate did. But some of my father’s patients were too sick to be moved. My father volunteered to stay behind to care for them, risking his life. It was what his patients needed.
Who is your “client,” you ask? Whoever gets your work when you say you are done. Never forget: You are creating a product for your client. If you want to succeed, make your product something your client wants. No one is asking you to risk your life. Just make sure that you choose wisely when you have a choice between what is easiest for you and creating the best product for your client. It might mean missing a happy hour or three, but trust me on this one. It’s worth it. Read More →
LinkedIn’s stock price may be going through some turbulence after its IPO last month, but the site continues to expand its base of over 100 million users, and its perceived importance is on the rise, too.
That got us wondering—is LinkedIn going to be so ubiquitous in a few years that its profiles will actually replace the traditional do-it-yourself resume? After all, most people seem to be better at keeping their profiles up-to-date than they are at keeping their resumes current . . . .
After getting through the Game of Thrones winter we just had, I didn’t really care that I was broke and with no prospects. As long as I had my bike and enough money for rent, cable, electricity, and dog food, I was good to go. I wanted out of my apartment. I wanted to burn my winter clothes on the beach, in a huge effigy to the evil god of winter.
Yet just as the days got longer and warm enough to hint that it actually may not snow again, I got a job offer. A full-time job offer from a very generous friend who owns a digital design agency. The fact is, I didn’t really have the money to pay the aforementioned bills, so this offer couldn’t have come at a better time, financially speaking. (But summer, my sweet summer!) I took the job. Alas, the dog has to eat. And I have to watch Game of Thrones. Read More →
We recently talked with Mark Hurst, the User Experience entrepreneur and writer behind the Gel Conference and Creative Good consulting firm, about his background and some of the simple steps that people can do to avoid getting overwhelmed by email, media, and information in general.
I think lots of people may have an inkling that they have a problem with information overload. But where should they start? Are there any simple steps that people can do?
Move your action items to a to-do list. Just try working from a to-do list, rather than the inbox, for a few days. There are other helpful things that people can do to reduce stress and overload, but that’s where I’d start.
Has changing technology, such as the rise of social media, made the problem worse, or has it always been this bad? Keeping up definitely seems like it takes more work these days. . . .
There are certainly more sources of distraction today, more easily accessed, than we’ve ever had in human history. However, I’d also point out that even 15 years ago, people were complaining about being overloaded by email. Personally I find that it’s just as easy today to solve overload as it was in the mid-90s. Empty your inbox and then focus on a to-do list to get your work done. Read More →
Whoever coined the phrase “work/life balance” probably understood that the key to long-term productivity is a positive work environment, a range of outside interests, and job satisfaction. You don’t want people like that working for you.
Instead, here are five ways to keep your workers focused on work 24/7:
1. Don’t have a spouse or family, and forbid your employees from having them. Families have a tendency to be involved in school pageants and athletic events, they don’t like to move or change schools, and they suck out a lot of energy that could be better spent on Six Sigma productivity training. If members of your team have preexisting families, encourage them to jettison them immediately. At minimum, require them to replace their personal photos with framed motivational posters. Explain to them that “this is your family now.” Read More →
You are some extremely organized folks, and you’re not afraid to tell others about it. According to our most recent poll, a whopping 43% of you believe in a totally empty in-box. The rest of you were more or less split between either strictly managing your messages (“Filter. Delete. Unsubscribe. Repeat.”) or just letting them all pile up. The full results are below.
They’re dealt with immediately. I’m a proud member of the Zero Inbox club.
43%
I don’t move, archive, or delete anything. If I need to find something, then I use search.
29%
Filter. Delete. Unsubscribe. Repeat.
24%
I ignore my inbox as much as possible.
5%
No cc’s for me. I use the semi-nuclear option and delete any emails that don’t have my name in the To field.
0%
I have only a few emails in my inbox at any one time. On the other hand, my archive holds 369 folders, and I hate it.
0%
Brooke Alpert is a nutritionist and the founder of B Nutritious, a private nutrition counseling practice based in New York City. She blogs for us about how to stay healthy, fit, and centered during even the craziest of work weeks.
As if you needed a new reason to drink coffee: a recent Swedish study, published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association, found that women who drank at least one cup of coffee a day had a 24% reduction in stroke risk over a decade. (It should be noted that drinking more coffee didn’t lower the risk of stroke any further, and that the study is silent on how coffee intake may affect men’s risk of stroke.) Such a limited study isn’t a reason to start drinking coffee if you don’t already, but it can put you at ease if you consider coffee a coworker and a friend.
I’m fine with my clients who like their coffee, and I have no shame that I pray at my Nespresso machine every morning. Coffee has antioxidants and other compounds that can lower inflammation as well as improve insulin sensitivity. But–and this is a Venti’s worth of but–when done wrong, coffee might as well be dessert. When I ask my clients how they like their coffee, I’m often surprised at what they put in it. Between the cream, the whole milk, sugar (or artificial sugars), syrups, and whipped cream, we can certainly not expect much in the way of heart-healthy or waist benefits here. Read More →
When I worked in an office, the commute absolutely killed me. (Let me clarify that my last full-time job was a whopping nine blocks from my apartment.) There was just something so robotic and depressing about riding the elevator with the same sad drones every day. Getting watery coffee from the same cranky deli guy. Seeing the same tired souls dragging their asses to those lonely gray cubicles. Heavy sigh.
Now that I’m a “homey,” I come and go as I please, and I love it. While the rest of you are counting the minutes to your next Starbucks run and fantasizing about what to order from Chipotle for lunch, I get to see who is roaming the city in the light of day. I am always discovering new and interesting people, and let me tell you this–the freaks come out at noon. Read More →
Product Management, User Experience, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Usability Testing
Project Management, Program Management, Production, Content Production
Animation, Art Direction, Creative Direction, Corporate Identity, Flash Design/Dev, Graphic Design, Web Design
Content Strategy, Editorial, Copywriting, Copy Editing, Research, Blog Outreach
Brand Management, Business Development, Sales, Product Marketing, Event/Conference Planning, Promotions, Marcomms, Corporate Comms, Direct Marketing, E-Marketing, Public Relations, Market Research
Account Management, Account/Brand Planning, Media Strategy, Communications Planning, Media Planning/Buying, Social Media, Search (SEM, SEO), Web Metrics & Analytics
Web Development, Front End Development
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