Play. Work. Repeat.

Because play should always come first.

Career

But Wait, There’s More!

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It seems like every day there is a new stat. A new country on lockdown. Another life lost. Groups of people who rally to help the less fortunate while others hoard 15,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to sell for profit. There’s always…more.

Now schools are closed. Parents are being asked to homeschool while simultaneously trying to keep up with their day jobs working from home…or worse, being asked to choose between working outside of the home to provide for their family or caring for their child while the world tries to slow the spread of coronavirus. With the elderly population one the most vulnerable – like my 92 year old grandfather – we are watching, with breath held, the potential risk of losing an entire generation of people. Not to mention the clear caste system in full effect, knowing that the millions of children that rely on free meals at school may otherwise be going hungry and won’t be able to keep up with their peers via remote learning because they lack the technology resources to do so.

Granted, I’m only on Day Five of this new norm and I would consider myself on the very fortunate end of the spectrum to still be able to provide for my family while working remotely (thanks to a wonderful boss and a flexible employer) and care for my son. I have the luxury of hoping I become a better mother, wife and employee, and I will try to use this situation to learn how to set boundaries between work and home that I’ve otherwise blurred in favor of the former. If anything, I feel like I’m doing a better job shutting off at night to spend uninterrupted time with my family, and I’m doing it by getting an early start each morning with time I would have otherwise dedicated to getting ready for work, school dropoff and commuting. The homeschooling feels like it’s going to kill me at times, but the support I’ve found online from friends and neighbors has been amazing. Even though we’re isolated, we don’t have to be alone.

We’re all struggling in our own way, and the news is more surreal and terrifying every day. Just when you think the worst has happened, there’s MORE. Like others, I have to keep reminding myself that this will end eventually. There will be a turning point for good…we just have to get there, together.

Keep Moving Forward

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A very wise person once told me to not let perfection get in the way of progress, which is exactly what I have been doing with this blog. I thought if I didn’t have the time to make it perfect, I should leave it be. No doubt, I have been insanely busy these past few months, but I was missing a part of me that enjoyed this creative outlet.

So here I am, with all my imperfections available for the world to see. More to come soon.

The Inbox Hostage Crisis

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Email hostage

I have two quirks when it comes to email. The first is when someone emails me (without having called or stopped by my office) and asks me to call them. Yes, thank you for proving how important you are. The second, of which I have no one but myself to blame, is an incessant need to be caught up on unread email.

To see a bold number in parentheses next to “Inbox” is like someone chewing Doritos with their mouth wide open within smacking distance from you. It drives me bonkers. At my last company, a senior executive used to send me an email and time my response for fun. I believe 2 minutes 20 seconds was his longest wait time. Yes, I have a problem.

FOMO? Maybe. A constant concern that I’m needed urgently? Likely in my own head. A detriment to whatever I am working on at the time? DEFINITELY! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been distracted during the day due to an incoming email. It inevitably leads to doing a whole lot of little things, with my to-do list for the day still outstanding. Not exactly helping me check off that productivity box each day.

What’s worse? As I eluded to in the story above about the little joke this co-worker liked to play on me, I’ve set a precedent. 3 am email replies? Check. Working through the night before a holiday on a perceived media concern? Whelp, 2017 Thanksgiving is a blur. It’s unhealthy, not motivating, unappreciated…and, now, expected.

One of the hats I wear as a marketing executive is to handle the communications for my company, which includes media relations. The turnaround time is usually immediate, so there is part of me that will always need to be connected. But I’m a mom, wife, daughter and friend…FIRST. I need to make sure those roles have their uninterrupted time and place as well. And everyone has my cell phone number — if it’s an emergency, work will call.

In the end, I recognized I had a problem and did some digging as to how I could curb my little obsession. If you’re like me and looking for a resolution, you may find some inspiration in this Daily Muse article. One of their tips is to turn off push notifications on your phone, which I will admit recently worked for me while I was on vacation. I would only check email a few times a day, which was easier to manage when they weren’t popping up on my lock screen or being pushed to my iWatch. Out of sight, out of mind. The trick is to applying it to daily life whenever possible…not just special occasions.

There are other tools I’ve been using to help increase productivity and avoid distraction — like the Panda Planner I discovered this year — but I’m taking this new mindset one day at a time. Hopefully, one day soon, I will no longer be held hostage to the unread emails in my inbox. Until then, I’ll see you on email.

Finding Your Entrance Song

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Baseball players have their own entrance songs. Politicians have a signature song that they identify with on campaign. The heroes fight to victory under their signature tune (likely created by John Williams) in action movies. It gives them strength. It makes them feel confident. Perhaps invisible. It bolsters you up to leave an IMPRESSION so that you won’t be forgotten long after your interaction with someone is.

When you are about to walk into a meeting or a presentation where you feel outflanked, outnumbered and likely designed to make you feel intimidated, give yourself an entrance song to boost up your confidence, even if it’s only in your head.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I swear it is effective.  I work in an industry where in each meeting I am 20-30 years younger than everyone else in the room, and often the only woman. Most days I can throw down with the best of them, but some days I really need a boost.  When those days come around, I turn to one of these two songs and play them on repeat in my head (and sometimes my phone) prior to any meeting, presentation or tough discussion…”Immortals” by Fall Out Boy and “Victorious” by Panic! At the Disco.

Find the tune that boosts you up, gives you strength and helps you exude confidence. Find your entrance song.

On the Subject of Being Sick…

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There’s just no right time to be sick.  If there isn’t a deadline, there is a family party.  If there isn’t anything formally calendared, then there are a million errands, chores, loads of laundry just waiting to be done.  Just sitting, relaxing and healing your body is not something I’m particularly good at.  In fact, it sent me to the hospital Thanksgiving weekend 2014. Let’s save that story for another time…

When your time is divided by so many different things, it’s hard to remember to take care of yourself.  Take today, for example…I am technically home sick.  I have a fever, I’m exhausted…and by lunch I had played with my son (heavily sanitized) for two hours, taken him to preschool (again, heavily sanitized, but no other option to get him there), started my work day early, took two conference calls and spent my “lunch time” putting clothes away, cleaning up toys left over from this morning and writing this post.  Oddly, I forgot to eat lunch.

I tried sitting.  I tried catching up on DVRed shows I otherwise fall asleep to at night.  I can’t quit the crazy, and that’s okay, because I can forgive myself.  So even if you can’t take care of yourself as well as you take care of others — and you really, really should if you can — it’s okay.  Beating yourself up over not being perfect can be just as bad.

Besides, I’ll pass out eventually.  Now back to work…

All the Feels

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There has been a lot written about emotional intelligence recently, and the benefits of using emotions to serve you, your team and collective corporate goals.  Leadership is hard, and differences between generation apparent — especially if you are Xennial (it’s a thing) caught squarely in the middle!  Fast Company does a nice job of breaking down these feelings, how to work them to your advantages and recognize when you’ve gone to far in their recent article, “Emotionally Intelligent Ways To Express These 5 Feelings At Work.”

Go ahead, get your feelings on.