Exciting... Not Really

I haven’t posted anything lately because, honestly, I don’t have any new and exciting news. And you know what? I love it.

I feel like I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for years. Sometimes I love the packed schedule, the friends, and the excitement. Sometimes I hate it.

Though I guess this "mini-break" is forced. I sprained my knee (MCL) a couple weeks ago and so I have to lay low for a while. The doc said 6- to 8-weeks. I have to admit that it’s hard to take a break when my life is so active. I can’t play soccer, run, or ski, and even going to the gym is hard at this point. Stick me on a recumbent bike with little to no resistance and tell me that I can’t run or lift (or break a sweat, really) = very unhappy Claire. So, I haven’t been working out speak of because it’s just torture.

On a good note, my awesome and stylish friend, Emily, and I went shopping to update my wardrobe! Never having seriously shopped at Nordstrom’s before, I have to say that I’m now in love. With some digging around, we were able to find some classy and affordable outfits that are work-appropriate and that I feel comfortable wearing. As a habit of buying larger sizes from when I had put on my Freshman 15 in college, most of my clothes were far too big for me. It's nice to wear clothes that actually fit! (I'm a size 4---wha??)

But trust me, most everything new is still made of cotton. If I’m allowed to wear jeans at work then I’m going to take full advantage of that, damnit! This has also forced me to branch out and get items that have color. Yes, color. Can you believe it? But don’t fret, I still have enough black and grey in my wardrobe to last a while.

Below is the casual, classic style that I am trying to embody. Well-tailored jeans, a nice, structured top or jacket, and generally a put-together look that's still comfortable and classy. Easy, right?

As the saying goes, dress for the position you want, not the position you currently hold.

I am the first to admit that I’m genetically challenged in the style department but I'm working on it. Shopping takes a hell of a lot of time (ugh!) but with my friends’ help I think I can make it happen.

To further my education, I’m actually going to a Runway Show this week in Boulder. Can you believe it? I’d much rather be at a car show, but like I said I’m branching out. I’m getting edumacated. On the downside, I’ll be surrounded by fussy, high-maintenance women all evening and I hate women. Patience, Claire. Patience.

Less is More

In working under my company's CEO for the past year, I've learned something very valuable: keeping it short and sweet is oh, so very sweet. We're all busy. We're all just treading to keep our heads above water. So do a favor for everyone and stick with "less is more."

Where does this apply the most? In order:

1. E-mails. I have to admit that my old boss wrote pages and pages of text in her e-mails. They were exhausting! Most of this could've been covered in a 5-minute phone call, but instead she took 30-plus minutes to compose this beautiful, typo-free note that no one actually read. E-mail is intended to be a quick form of communication. Anything that involves more time should be done over the phone or in person.


2. Phone calls. It's great to build a nice conversation—talk about the weather, their life—and then move on to the point. Again, we're all busy here. With all the chit-chat it can be easy to lose track of why you called in the first place. Most importantly, be sure to keep a pen and piece of paper nearby to scratch out any details because, trust me, you won’t remember the specifics later.


3. Meetings. Everyone hates them. 'Nuff said.

Generally, it comes down to this: If the paperwork, issue, or person is in front of you then take care of it! It doesn't help anyone or anything to set it aside and focus on it later. It'll take more time to remember what you were doing in the first place than to just handle it and move on.

I’ll need to keep these in mind through my ongoing quest for the 40-hour work week (now, "The Goal").

Update on "The Goal":

Week #1: I hit 40 hours-ish as I was in the office at 8:30 pm Thursday night. So, I obviously didn’t succeed this week. Sigh. I guess will start fresh on Monday.

Workaholic

I work too much.

Honestly.

I'm salaried and I constantly pull 10- to 12-hour days with no overtime pay. The company has also put a freeze on salary increases. I'm often burnt-out and frazzled. In short: What The Hell Am I Doing?

I need to get a grip on time management. The problems are that 1.) I usually get much more done after 6 pm when everyone is gone; 2.) My boss comes in late and works late and thus expects me to stay as well; and 3.) I honestly don't know what to do with myself if I'm home at 5 or 5:30.

I recently read an amazing guest post on Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You To Be Rich (buy his book, by the way, it's amazing!) about how to be accomplished and successful while working an 8-hour day. It's all about time management and productivity. I'm good at my job and I enjoy what I do, but I have to admit that I need to be more focused during the time that I am there! My new goal is to get a lot done, progress within my company, and still enjoy my personal hobbies.

Maybe with a 40-hour work week I will actually have time to get through my reading list. I could run more, make time to see friends, study for the GRE, cook, sleep, and even (gasp!) relax. I have seen so few movies and tv shows that it is hard to hold a casual conversation. True story.

Work less? That shouldn't be hard, right? But it is, trust me. Society commonly defines people by their occupation and we often become emotionally invested in our jobs. Personal success and failure determined by a paycheck. Not good.

Balance is the goal. Time management is the key. And being happy—both at the job and away from it—is worth the fight.

So, this next week my goal is this: To work my a** off (as usual), but in a consistent and productive manner for 8-hours a day. And then go home. This will be hard, and it may take some time, but I think both my personal and professional lives will benefit from it.

It's gonna get interesting.

New Orleans Wrap-Up

I brought my camera with me to the Big Easy. I had all these amazing intentions to take pictures of the city, the conference, the food…


I didn’t take a single picture with my camera. I did take one photo with my phone (my black suit looked great).

Despite my lack of photography, the trip was good! The numbers were low—in both attendance and exhibitors—but I still think it was an otherwise successful conference.

The highlights (and lowlights):

• Dinner at Mr. B’s Bistro. I had their pork chop—delicious.


• The Roosevelt hotel. Gorgeous! Very ornate decorations. Except that it really bugged me when they repeatedly “refreshed” the room and switched on every light and electronic machine possible. I appreciate the service but all I could think about was how much time, money, electricity, and resources that were wasted! My room is clean, now just walk away.


• The hotel had a gym! Running below sea level is fun.


• I collected a number of business cards and chatted about some promising book projects… and some not-so-promising book projects. “Japanese foreign policy in Mozambique”? “Deforestation and wildlife policy in Nigeria”? Um, yikes. Very narrow. Who’s going to read that?


• My coworkers. Had a great time gossiping with our marketing manager and it was nice to see an old colleague.


• The French Quarter. So cute and charming! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out of these touristy areas so I don’t think I got to see the “real” New Orleans (whatever that may be).


• The attendees—full of life and character! We had African music outside our booth. One man wanted to buy a book so badly (at the sale price, of course) that he took our only copy and carried it around the book exhibit until the "fire sale". Heaven forbid that either 1) someone else bought the book, or 2) he had to pay full price.


• Lowlight: the conference was poorly organized. Two-thirds of us had to sharpie our names on the name tags. Not very professional for being a “professional” conference and all.


• Lowlight: unless we sat at the bar (where we often made good friends with the bartenders!) the service was painfully slow. I’m not sure if this is a “Big Easy” thing or what, but it’s a good thing that we weren’t ever in a rush.

Despite the downsides, it was all-in-all a good experience! It’s nice to be back in my own bed and I'm even more excited for the long weekend out of the office. (My e-mail inbox still scares me.)

More to the point, I hope that being at the meeting will help to circulate my name among our authors and even more important, potential authors. My goal is that people will realize that they can come directly to me with their questions and their book projects.

I have to admit that just getting out of town for a while was nice, but there is one thing I really took away from this conference: Don’t worry so much! Things inevitably go much better—in business and in life—when you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Which badge looks more professional?