by Solange Lopes | Oct 24, 2017 | Working Mom & Woman Tips
If you’re getting in the Halloween spirit at work, you don’t have to restrict yourself to only decorating the front of your home. You can also take the season to work and brighten up your cubicle.
Here are a few ideas you can use to add some pumpkin spice and Halloween-style to your workspace:
Halloween Wooden Tabletop – photo credit: target.com
Fun signs are a great way to add some seasonal spunk to your desk area. This Halloween wooden tabletop sign is a sparkly and festive addition to your workspace to direct your co-workers to that coveted candy bowl.
Foam Pumpkin – Photo credit: www.target.com
This lightweight foam pumpkin is a great alternative to real pumpkins (which may rot over time). Place it on your desk, on a bookcase or on the floor of your cubicle or office, and welcome the season!
Happy Halloween Banner Set – Photo credit: www.target.com
How about adorning your cubicle walls with a fun banner set like this Happy Halloween set to welcome colleagues. I also like this fun shatterproof wreath that will look great on your office door as well.
Halloween Ceramic Pumpkin Bowl – Photo credit: target.com
Nothing like a fun serving bowl to add some candy swag to your cubicle! I love this cheerful and whimsical ceramic pumpkin candy bowl, perfect for your desk.
How do you decorate your cubicle or office for Halloween?
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Oct 24, 2017 | Working Mom & Woman Tips
If you look at your calendar as a working woman, you may be tempted to take a dive and just swim in it. As working women, our schedules can be closer to Madness Land if we don’t stop and actually re-focus ourselves every now and again.
I know my biggest struggle when it comes to being productive and effective is managing my time effectively. As a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur, a sister and friend, wearing the many hats life throws at me can be quite the juggling act. When you must be everywhere all at once, setting priorities is crucial.
Here are 7 questions to ask yourself daily to manage your time effectively as a working woman:
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What matters the most?
It’s one thing to make a to-do list, it’s another to determine what matters the most. However you decide to rank your priorities, decide what matters the most in order to accomplish your goals and objectives for the day. What has the most impact on your goals and success? That’s what you should zoom in on.
This may also mean making peace with not getting every little thing done, but focusing on what matters most.
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What can I say no to today?
We may tend to want to include just about everything that may fit into our calendar. However, mastering the art of picking and choosing what to say no to is crucial to meeting your goals. Every day, ask yourself what you can say no to, so you can actually say yes to what matters and has the biggest impact on your success.
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Why am I doing this?
Identifying the “why” behind your actions goes a long way towards setting your priorities in the right order. What is the motive behind what you do day in and day out? If the reason behind what you do is not tied to improving yours or someone else’s success, then it may be worth reconsidering whether it shoud be part of your to-do list.
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How can I do this better and faster?
Managing your time effectively also means creating systems and processes that allow you to perform certain tasks faster and better. Can you look at the tasks and responsibilities that fill out the bulk of your time and devise ways to execute them faster and better?
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When do I have to get this done by?
Deadlines are important, not just as gatekeepers of our time, but also as mechanisms to help us organize ourselves better. What is more urgent? What needs to be completed first? Putting yourself in a position to complete your tasks within their deadlines will not only make you more fulfilled and satisfied. It will also free up time to tackle other tasks on your to-do list.
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How much help am I getting?
Managing your time more effectively also means getting the right kind of support around you. How are you being supported in the achievement of your goals? Who in your network is offering their help and support? Answering this question will help you find out about your support network, and learn to ask for help as well, so you can save time and focus on your strengths.
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Is this going to matter in five years?
Whenever I face a seemingly impossible obstacle, I ask myself if it’s going to matter in five years. What’s the impact of your actions? Is this impact short-term or long-term? If it won’t matter in the future, you may have to either push it to the bottom of the list, or take it out of your to-do list entirely.
How do you manage your time more effectively?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Oct 23, 2017 | Career
Workwear: Striped Midi Sheath Dress – Photo credit: target.com
Our Workwear feature presents various pieces of work-appropriate attire at different price ranges and sizes.
This striped midi sheath scuba dress from Target is the perfect compromise between ’60s cool and modern appeal. I love how the horizontal and diagonal black and white stripes flatter any silhouette, while adding chic originality to this design. The midi length keeps it classic and professional, from the work meeting to happy hour. It’s available from sizes 4 to 14, and is $49.99 at Target.
Striped Midi Sheath Scuba Dress
What pieces of workwear would you like us to feature? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
This post contains affiliate links and The Corporate Sister may earn commissions for purchases through links in this post. Thank you!
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Oct 23, 2017 | Career, Find A Job You Love
Being a woman of color in the workplace comes with many challenges. One of these is the almost constant tendency to be uncomfortable at work. When you’re the only woman of color in the room, when others may not give you the credit you deserve or you may be overlooked entirely, it can be easy to shy away from being your best self at work.
Remember the scene in Something New, when Sanaa Lathan, who works as a corporate finance manager at a top Fortune 500 company, gets overlooked by rich, white clients because she happens to be a Black woman? This scene is one that many women of color face, and live, on a daily or at least frequent basis at work. As a result, we may start internalizing this fear of putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations by speaking up or even being noticed in the workplace.
It takes tremendous effort to keep showing up as our best selves in environments in which we may not be valued or overlooked, especially in professional ones. We may want to go above and beyond to prove our worth, or on the very contrary, recede in the confines of our cubicles or offices and remain quiet. Many times, I chose the latter. I know I’m not the only one…
Instead of beating ourselves up, accept the status quo or burn ourselves out to prove our worth, here are a few ways we can beat our fear of being uncomfortable as women of color at work:
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Acknowledge the fear
The struggle is real, and so is the fear! The first step to challenge your fears is to acknowledge them. You’re not imagining things, neither do you need to beat yourself up for feeling the fear of facing uncomfortable professional situations. Recognize how you’re feeling and make peace with where you’re at professionally, mentally and emotionally at the moment. Instead of putting yourself down for it, accept it and be open to challenge it!
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Stop taking it personal!
Taking things personal at work doesn’t help solve them, in the very contrary. Your career is more important than personal considerations, so resist the temptation to take uncomfortable settings and situations personal. Instead, take your focus off of the people involved and start asking yourself what YOU can do to go beyond your own fears and turn the pain into lessons.
Every challenge we face is meant to teach us something about ourselves, and help provide us with the inspiration to create solutions. How are your professional challenges motivating you to beat the fear of being uncomfortable? Once you start answering this question, you’ll be on your way to turning your fear into progress.
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Do one “small” thing every day to challenge it!
The concrete walls we tend to face as women of color at work can make us feel powerless. One of the reasons for this, is that we may try to solve all the issues we’re facing all at once. There are too many existing systemic and organizational challenges for us to be able to address them all.
Rather, it’s a matter of asking ourselves how we can chip at these issues, one day at a time, starting with ourselves. You know what they say about eating an elephant, one bite at a time, right? What is the smallest thing you can do to address your fear? Can you speak up once during the meeting today? Can you volunteer for a challenging opportunity in the next 30 days? Identify the smallest step you can take today, tomorrow and in the future and act on it!
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Speak up and Tell your truth
It can be hard to face your truth as a woman of color at work, let alone sharing it with others in the workplace. Yet without telling our stories and letting our truths be known, others around us may not be able to understand what we’re going through. In order for better communication to take place around the challenges faced by women of color at work, there must be a conversation taking place.
This is not about making a litany of complaints to whoever wants to hear. Neither is it about confronting every issue at work. What this is about is being willing to clearly articulate, in a constructive yet firm way, our desire to understand and minimize the obstacles in our way.
It’s about saying that you wanted the promotion and do not understand why you didn’t get it. Are you following up with your management to obtain the feedback you need in order to advance? Are you clearly sharing your expectations, even when they’re being overlooked over and over again? Are you asking the difficult questions rather than shrinking back out of fear?
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Stop hiding!
Is the fear of being uncomfortable as a woman of color at work keeping you hidden in your cubicle or office? Are you avoiding strategic meetings or shrinking in the back of the room for fear of being judged? Are you not making your voice being heard because the cost may outweigh the benefits?
If you’re invisible, silent or both, then your power to effect change for yourself and others is seriously diminished. Overcoming your fear as a woman of color at work also means coming out of hiding. It means making your contributions known, advocating for yourself as you ask others to advocate for you.
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Keep showing up
Don’t just show up once or twice, keep showing up each and every day! This means sitting at the front of the meeting room at every meeting. It also means asking for opportunities over and over, long after you’ve been told no the first time. The more you keep showing up, the less fear you feel, and the more you can start turning the tables around you.
This is about persistence and continued effort, at all levels of your career. It’s also about making sure you have the right mindset and stamina to keep showing renewed effort and vigor on a daily basis.
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Encourage another woman of color
Sometimes, the best way to address a fear we have is to help someone who may be experiencing the same fear. Encourage another woman of color who may be going through the same issues silently. This is not about creating a new “complaint department”, but rather using each other as a source of inspiration, strength and motivation.
How do you overcome your fear of being uncomfortable as a woman of color at work?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis
by Solange Lopes | Oct 20, 2017 | Career
Steve Madden Lancer Sneakers – Photo credit: nordstrom.com
Are there sneakers you can actually wear to work? Well, it’s now officially acceptable to wear sneakers to work, especially on casual Fridays (but you may want to check with your dress code, just in case). If you’re wondering how to take a break from your high heels without looking unprofessional, while still being able to rock your “sneaks”, there are options!
I like these sneakers that combine both feminine appeal with functional style:
Heart Sneakers – Photo credit: asos.com
These PUMA heart sneakers from ASOS mix sports and fashion in a clean, streamlined design. And the heart design, just too cute! They’re $111 at ASOS.
Ace-studded embellished sneakers – Photo credit: matches fashion.com
These Gucci ace-stud-embellished sneakers from Matches Fashion are perfect for the fashionista in you. I love my pearls and having them on my sneakers just makes me happy ! These are $670 at Matches Fashion.
Steve Madden Lancer Sneakers – Photo credit: nordstrom.com
These Steve Madden Lancer from Nordstrom sneakers are just the perfect mix of athleisure, comfort and style on those casual days at work! The mid-top style is edgy and modern, yet still appropriate for the office. These are $69.95 at Nordstrom.
What pieces of workwear would you like us to feature? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
This post contains affiliate links and The Corporate Sister may earn commissions for purchases through links in this post. Thank you!
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sis.
