by Solange Lopes | Dec 24, 2015 | Career |
For today’s corporate catwalk style, I’m loving this color blocked sweater from The Limited. The contrast of orange and blue colors, as well as the contemporary patterns on this modern classic make it a great asset to your wardrobe.
This top can be paired with any bottom, from a pair of basic slacks to a polished pencil skirt. It can even be recycled with your favorite jeans for an elegant casual Friday look, or a refined week-end style.
Bonus: It’s on sale for $41.96 at the Limited!
With Love,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 24, 2015 | Career
If you’ve ever tried working as productively as possible around the holidays, you know how much of a challenge it is. From googling the Christmas menu to wondering which dress will hide those extra 10 pounds from the holidays before, not to mention trying to close those year-end projects that always come with some stinky complications here and there, your mind is continually in overdrive.
There you are, making dish lists on Post-It notes, sending emails to the wrong people, and changing your password for the 12th time in a day.
Well, of course there’s an app for all this mind craziness. Actually, there are 7 apps that can help you turn your unproductive, unprofitable, and unsuccessful day into a productive haven.
- 1Password: Imagine never having to remember another password again? Or even better not having to fight with your (short-term)memory to decipher the chicken scratches you’ve printed on some sorry, wrinkled Post-It note? This password app manager gives you access to all your accounts with one single password. And the bonus: it works on computers as well as mobile devices.
- HIDEMAN: Working from the corner cafe? You may want to watch for network security, just in case those confidential forecast numbers would be revealed to the entire barista crew. This app helps you create a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that encrypts your data for added security.
- Quip: For all the times when you create a document in one app, share it with someone else, and then text them to tell them. This app allows you to do all three on the same interface. You can create spreadsheets, documents and lists, share them with others and chat about it all in the same app. Genius huh?
- Pocket: Ever found a great article you had to drop the year-end report to read? If you’re a big reader like myself, you know how it can throw your entire productivity off. This app lets you save articles and content you enjoy for later, while you focus on the task at hand and actually do some work. Yes you over there…
- Evernote: I often say this is my backup brain. Got a great idea you don’t want to forget, or a sentence that would be perfect for that report you dread submitting to your boss? Save it all on Evernote, along with the last minute gift on sale for your hubby…
- Snowball: Phone notifications keep disturbing you as you put the last touches on the year-end audit? This app lets you manage notifications on your phone, and decide which ones are important, and…which ones you could seriously do without. Buh-bye Facebook notifications…
- Clear Focus: If the sound of the admin’s voice (or her perfume, or the vibrations of the air vent above, or pretty much anything) distract you, this app is for you. It helps you manage your time by setting uninterrupted chunks of times where you strictly work, and others where you get up and take a break. It follows the Pomodoro time management technique, and helps you track how you spend your time at work.
What other productivity app would you add to the list? Please share with us in the comments.
With Love,
Solange.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 23, 2015 | Career |
Have you ever found yourself planning the evening’s meal, the kids’ dance costumes, and your own bi-monthly self-shaving session all at once, all the while hanging on to your phone as you hurriedly fly through the security gate at work? And then wondering if anyone has yet invented the perfect machine to slice and dice your brain into multi-efficient parts that can both turn in the year-end audit plan as well as Christmas dinner on time….
For many professional women, being successful at work while still doing what’s necessary on the home front is an unending battle. We want to do it all, be it all, and fix it all… And still put our lipstick on right (read, not on your teeth, but on your lips), and wear matching stilettos (and possibly stain-free clothes, but let’s be realistic here…)
One of my aha moments as a professional woman with two hyper-active toddlers, one hyper-immune to mess husband, and one-and-a-half of a hyper-functioning brain, happened on an eventful Monday morning (of course, it had to be a Monday). I found both a bottle of bleach spray in my purse, and an email I had sent to my client asking him to “just give me a sex (I meant, a sec) to get back to him with an answer”…. Both the sex /second and the bleach got me over the edge, as I packed up at exactly 8:05am, went home and started making calls to hire a cleaning service…
The reality is, most women still carry a larger share of the responsibilities at home, while trying to “lean in”, smash the glass ceiling, raise decent human beings, and take a daily shower.
And while outsourcing has become a growing trend worldwide, it doesn’t seem to have much affected the lives of professional women. We still are running from one professional front to the other domestic one, pretending we’re fine and we’ll eventually make it to the gym some day…It may be time for a change…
Here are 7 tasks that the modern, professional woman can, and should outsource to be more successful at work, happier at home and more sane everywhere else (unless of course, there’s tequila nearby):
- Cleaning: I have made peace with the broom and the bleach bottle after hiring a cleaning service, and amicably putting an end to my tumultuous relationship with sticky floors and icky bathtubs. While many of us feel guilty admitting we don’t actually enjoy scrubbing gum off the kitchen floors, the rest of us (read:me, myself and I), have no shame to our non-cleaning game. It’s either I sacrifice my week-ends to have a spotless house, or I calculate my time’s worth (divide salary by number of work hours) and pay part of it to a service like TaskRabbit, while I focus on what makes me really happy. End result: I can shave my legs more often, cuddle with the hubby, and not lecture my kids on the dangers of spilling milk everywhere…for the 100th time. Bingo!
- Grocery shopping: Spending hours on week-ends or even worse, after work, buying groceries (and extra chocolate to make up for the ensuing frustration), or delegating the whole thing and reading a great book? Take a wild guess. Besides, how much time do we really have to consciously shop for “healthy food”? If your answer (like mine) is not much, then why not look into having your groceries delivered with services like Stop& Shop’s Peapod in most of their locations. You an even have the hubby’s beer delivered on -site too, with services like Boston’s Drizly. And voila!
- Daily errands: Dropping off dry cleaning, picking up furniture, and losing your mind in the process? Services like Zaarly and TaskRabbit help with some of these pain-in-the-behind daily errands that make you want to revert back to wearing the same jeans everyday or camping for life…But we won’t go there…
- Virtual house manager/bookkeeper: No time to pay taxes, schedule appointments, or deal with household projects? How about hiring a household manager or bookkeeper, who can perform most of these tasks virtually? This may very well be the solution to the non-existing date night in your couple, or the one way to finally make it to spinning class (or to bed for a nap)…
- Childcare: This one is a non-negotiable. You already use some level of childcare to be able to go to work. What about outsourcing childcare on an as-needed basis as well? Services like Care.com, for instance, are great for finding sitters on call.
- Logistics: It took me three weeks to make it to the post-office to mail a friend a gift I had in my car for months. Dinner reservation calls, doctors’ appointments, hair appointments, trips to the post-office, those are all logistical to-do’s we can never seem to get around. How about outsourcing the whole thing with services like FancyHands, MyTasker, TimeSvr, and TaskBullet for instance.
- Research: Remember that time you had to do a market research for a work report due the next day, as you cursed the entire Internet at 2am trying to find more information? There are services out there like Elance, Freelancer, and Fiverr, that connect you with professionals who can do the job for around $5, while you sleep. Now who’s cursing the Internet?
Which tasks do you outsource as a professional woman?
Love,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 20, 2015 | Career |
What better than a red dress to speak holidays and festivities onto your entire wardrobe? While it can spell confidence and ultimate glamour of her your entire party look, it’s also a style that can elevate your corporate style like no other, especially around the holidays.
My favorite red dress pick this week is this pleated flare dress from Ann Taylor. The simplicity of the jewel neck cut of this dress pairs amazingly well with the impeccable pleats. And the flared shapes is ladylike, yet flirty enough to add a touch of sophisticated fun that will take you from the meeting room to the party.
Other alternatives I really like include this simply elegant seamed A-line dress from Nordstrom, this piped sheath dress from The Limited, and this contemporary high neck midi dress from Zara.
What are your favorite red dresses to wear at work during the holidays?
With Love,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 20, 2015 | Career |
Ask the Corporate Sis_Should I Get My Boss A Christmas Gift?
The holidays are here, and the question on everyone’s mind (and wallet) is: What should I get to whom? At the office even more than anywhere else, the question poses itself as stubbornly as an annoying paper cut at the corner printer.
And when it comes to your boss, what is the right thing to do? Are you expected to get her/him a gift, or can you skip the whole gift office thing and go straight the “cookies and eggnog” phase?
My $0.05: If we’re going to go by the gift etiquette rules, technically-speaking, gifts at work should be distributed downwards as opposed to upwards. In other words, they should go from managers to employees. This is so employees may not feel obligated to purchase gifts they don’t want to purchase or can’t afford, not to mention the power dynamic this may create for managers.
What if you just want to offer a nice token of your appreciation to your beloved boss though? If your office allows for “upwards” gifts, a nice alternative may be to collect some money from your entire team and offer a “team gift”. Or to invest in a nice card and some inexpensive homemade treats.
And if you’re still running out of ideas, here are a few suggestions here, here (if you want to get promoted), and here.
Have you or will you be getting your boss a Christmas gift this year?
With Love,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 18, 2015 | Career
7 things your wardrobe can teach you about re-evaluating your career at year-end
Year-end is when I do my annual wardrobe overhaul. You know, that dreaded time for fashion hoarders like myself, when you pick and choose between the clothing pieces you want to keep and the ones you want to keep let go of. If you’re like me, then you know you always want it all, the 60’s dress and the new mod pair of culottes (yes, there’s such a thing). But you know that in order to build a bigger better wardrobe, you need to periodically re-evaluate the one you have, re-assess what you’ve got, what you need and where you’re going with all that fashion stuff (in addition to considering you may have to ask your bestie for storage room).
The same goes with your career: every now and then, you need to take stock of where you are, what you have, and where you’re going. Except your career tends to pay the bills your wardrobe creates. But I digress….
For many of us, it’s especially timely since year-end is also when we perform our own self-assessments at work. Many employers use this time to conduct year-end performance reviews, or generously hand out year-end bonuses
(which can also be used to patch your wardrobe overhaul, but I digress again…).
Yet in the middle of all the (late) Christmas wrapping boxing (ain’t nobody got time to wrap), how do we find the time, resources and energy to re-evaluate something as big as our careers, when some of us have a hard time deciding between the mock neck black dress and the red pencil skirt for Christmas dinner (did I digress again?). How do we pinpoint exactly the aspects of our day-to-day work that keep us motivated, those that bore the heck out of us, and where we honestly picture ourselves in the next 12 months (other than laying on the beach in Punta Cana sipping on some blue shade of tequila…)
Since I do have to tick to my wardrobe re-assessment this year, I might as well share these 7 tips that all this clothing overhauling year-end business can impart on your own career. Plus it’s more fun to think of your career as a big giant closet of fashion goodies, than your own disorganized, overflowing overhead cabinet at work (you know you have one).
Thing One: Start with asking yourself this question: Is your career (or your wardrobe) still making you happy? Is it still fulfilling you, make you jump out of bed (or at least stop hitting the snooze button for the tenth time)? Or do you think of work like you think of that unfortunate handkerchief dress your aunt wore last New year’s eve? The point is, start by honestly assessing how you feel today about the work you are still doing. If this question is making you break in hives, go to Thing 2…now!
Thing 2: Review Your Career Goals. Just like your wardrobe, you must set intentions in your career (believe it or not, fashion has a purpose, including projecting an image of who you are, promoting yourself all the while having an insane amount of fun). What were the goals and intentions you set for yourself this year? Did you achieve them, or did you fail miserably? Did you modify your goals and take a different direction? Or are you planning on modifying them this year? Pay attention to what you come up with when asking yourself these questions. You may just as much realize you’ve reached a career milestone, or that your closet does not at all represent who you are today.
Thing 3: Review Your Year. Just as you may re-play in your minds all your favorite styles you’ve sported all year long, you may want to replay in your mind the accomplishments you’ve realized this year. Or the ones you’ve unfortunately missed. What new skills have you learnt? What opportunities have you taken advantage of, and which ones have you miserably let pass you by? In other words, are you better today than you were 12 months ago as related to your career? And as it comes to your wardrobe, do you like it better today than you did 12 months ago, floral prints and gladiator sandals and all?
Thing Four: Assess where you stand. You know how you look at your wardrobe, and suddenly realize you’ve been living in the 80’s for the past year or so. Yes, it happens…In the same way, take a look at your career as it is right now. Where are you in your career? Are you where you should be, or are you still living in the same entry-level world you’ve started in? Are you happy with where you are, with your current employer and your current responsibilities? Or are you noticing a load of factors that have hindered (or helped) your career growth? What strengths and weaknesses are you aware of?
Thing Five: Picture Your Future. After all the analyzing-yourself-and-putting-yourself-in-perspective, now comes the fun part. Just like you would envision a brand new, maybe more sophisticated, less 80’s, more professional wardrobe, you would envision the kind of career you would see yourself striving in. What do you want to do more of (or less of) in your career? What’s the next step in your career? Where do you see yourself in the next 12 months, 5 or 10 years?
Thing Six: Determine your career action plan. Now let’s get to work. What will you do to get the wardrobe, or the career, of your dreams? What do you need to get yourself ready for that shift? How should you position yourself to get to the career (or wardrobe) of your dreams? The same way you may need to start shopping at Ann Taylor instead of Forever 21, you may want to consider whether you need to switch employers, departments or even fields.
Thing Seven: Share the Vision. It’s one thing to have a clear vision of where you want to go, in your career or fashion-wise. Yet it’s another to really assess whether your plans are feasible or not. And part of this process is to share your vision so others can act as sounding boards to your dreams. Meet with your mentors, or even a trusted manager or colleague, to discuss your current plans and get additional advice as to how to make it all happen.
So tell me, are these 7 elements present in your Year-End Career Re-evaluation Checklist? And if you don’t have such a checklist, no worries, I’ve prepared one for you here!
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR CHECKLIST!
Now do me a favor, and add a comment below letting me know if you have any additional steps to add to this list, or if you’re having difficulties with any of these.
Now I have some wardrobe analysis to go do…
With Love,
The Corporate Sis.
by Solange Lopes | Dec 2, 2015 | Career
So the clock just rang 5:02pm, and you’re looking at your to-do list, calendar and inbox, only to notice one glaring, obvious message across the screen of your professional conscience (or at least what is left of it): YOU GOT NOTHING DONE TODAY…AGAIN!
Sure, you scheduled a bunch of meetings, answered a whole lot of emails about scheduling those same meetings, piled a ton of paperwork on top of your desk. End result: you did look busy, but really, at the end of the day (week, month, or whatever time period you can still remember), NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL GOT DONE!
In his book “Deep Work”, author and professor Cal Newport discusses the importance of prioritizing the “ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.”
What is “deep work”, you may ask. Here are 3 signs, according to Fast Company, that you’re involved in intense, results-producing work:
- You’re working on a problem beyond your skill level
- You start feeling and being absorbed in a flow
- Your mind starts experiencing a state of “strain”
Translation for the rest of us cube and office dwellers: Stop messing around with unimportant emails and boring meetings! Instead, concentrate on work that will fulfill you, make you better, and actually produce tangible results (other than filling up your already busy calendar).
Really, how many hours have you spent organizing meetings during which only the first 10 minutes were productive, and the rest was spent theorizing, checking your smartphone, or thinking about the next meeting? How much time spent looking for an available conference room (aaargh), a convenient time for everyone (because everyone else is also busy organizing their own inefficient meetings), and a nice meeting header?
And let’s not even start with the unending email chains that turn one simple “Yes or No” question about a whole avalanche of considerations around the sustainability of the entire enterprise in an ever-changing business world? What were we talking about already….
“But what if all this busy, unproductive, and headache-inducing work is imposed on me by my manager? What if I don’t have a choice in the matter?”
If you feel you don’t have a choice in the matter, it may be time to schedule some time to talk with your manager. Here are three questions/observations to ask/make to your manager when it comes to truly doing fulfilling and “deep work” :
- What non-essential activities can I limit to produce more results?
- What type of results would take my performance to the next level?
- Would you support me as I focus on “deeper” work?
Having a results-focused conversation with your manager can really make the difference between being a victim to “busy” work and actually taking charge of the type of work that is best for you, your career and your organization.
The second step would be to actually put this into action. This is where the proverbial to-do list has to be ditched, and your favorite scheduling tool promoted to CEO of your Calendar:
- Schedule real work first. You know, the type of work that actually makes you use those brain cells you’d otherwise waste snooping on your in-laws’ last vacation in Punta Cana;
- Schedule buffer time. Yes, that’s right, time to do nothing. That is, nothing but let your mind wander and strategize. This is where you start thinking about what your career will look like in 3 years, where you see yourself in the next decade, and what priorities you are setting in your life.
- Avoid email as much as possible. Restrict email time to specific chunks of your schedule, and refrain from dabbling with it the rest of the time.
- Use the power of outsourcing. There are entire businesses and organizations in the business of making your life easier by outsourcing most basic tasks, like scheduling or email.
- Spend some time alone. Here’s one you may not get very often at work. However, finding some time to be alone, whether early in the morning, or even when you are at work, is crucial to increase your idea generation potential. So much so that many have started meditating right at work.
Now let me ask you, which one of the steps above will you be applying in your career to do more results-oriented work?
Please chime in in the comments…
Love,
The Corporate Sis.
