“Every other day is a kick in the shin…

…every other day it’s like the day just wins” Thanks to the Old 97’s for putting that so well. Today was most assuredly that day. Any day when two members of your staff resign is that day. The first employee had been with us for about six weeks, and some personal issues – which were actually in the works before she took the job, although we didn’t know that – required her to take a […]

“Welcome to the working week…”

“…I know it don’t thrill ya, I hope it won’t kill ya”– Elvis Costello(This is the theme song for the 6-8 AM Monday show on the ultimate volunteer radio station in the Volunteer State, WEVL 89.9 FM, Memphis) I didn’t have time to get this together on Monday, but for some of us it seems like the workweek is a much more fluid concept nowadays, so a roundup of work-themed posts is appropriate any time. […]

Labor Day, and some people are working…

…or at least writing things to make us think about working. I’ve come to suspect that too much time spent with “productivity” websites can have the exact opposite effect, so I’m looking to sites like Lifehacker and Lifehack.org to find what’s worthwhile for me to check out, and Lifehack’s pointing to a few good ones today. This post about “being selfish with your time” addresses boundary-setting and the ways that “just say no” really can […]

So, what have we learned?

I believe in karma. I believe that what goes around comes around. And thanks to my deep Catholic roots – even if that plant’s not getting much water lately – I believe in penance. I’ve spent most of the last two days doing it. My conflicted relationship with my job is becoming an old story around here. But we’ve spent a lot of time together for the last couple of days – 12 hours at […]

A little “liking your job” followup

Lifehacker points to a post on the Life Learning Today blog that offers “25 Tips to Become More Productive and Happy at Work.” I think I may have mentioned that this has been a challenge for me of late. Like many lists of this type, some of the “tips” are a little redundant, and they won’t all work for everyone all the time, but there are a few that caught my attention: Choose Happiness, Humor, […]

Out of network? Networking ambivalence and me

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Well, honestly, it’s probably some of both, but I prefer to play up the “what” over the “who” because I am a miserable networker. I’m not unfriendly or antisocial (usually); I’m an introvert. Many of the personality traits of introverts are me in a nutshell, such as: · Desire private space and time· Are happy to be alone – can be lonely in a crowd· Become […]

Who’s in charge here? Or, more boys vs. girls…

The Work It, Mom blog brought my attention to a New York Post article citing a new survey suggesting that 3/4 of workers prefer a male to a female boss. I’m having trouble finding links to the survey itself, but the results are consistent with one conducted by Elle Magazine/MSNBC earlier this year. Another study this year found that most people have no preference for a boss of either sex, but among those that did […]

Good girls don’t…negotiate?

A new study authored by three women professors at Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government looks at the (very real, still ongoing) gap between men’s and women’s pay, and suggests that negotiation is a major factor in the difference. It’s not necessarily that men are more willing to negotiate salary, or that women don’t know how to do so. Rather, it looks more like women will just choose not to negotiate because […]

Dear Job, it’s not you, it’s me (mostly)

My work has been quite the butt-kicker this year. My company’s fiscal year ends on December 31, so the first couple of months of the new year are usually focused on closing the books and getting prepared for the annual visit from the auditors. In addition to that, we changed our payroll processor and our accounting software at the beginning of this year, and neither went glitch-free – we still have kinks we’re working out […]

Keeping things in balance…

…is much easier said than done …has a different meaning for everyone …is one of the basic principles of my profession (debits=credits, “the balance sheet,” “the accounting equation: assets=liabilities + equity” – accounting vocabulary 101) …is one of the things writing and reading helps me with, after working with numbers all day …is the theme of my most recent article on Work It, Mom!, which concerns the concept as it relates to work and family. […]

Mom’s making it work

My second article for Work It, Mom! that’s not a “Speak Your Mind” essay has been posted. My inspiration from this one comes from not being one of the entrepreneurs, freelancers, consultants, or other independent workers I’m meeting online these days, and wanting to speak up for the hordes who are still working for the proverbial “somebody else.” We’re not getting rich that way, but it’s still got a lot going for it…and not everyone […]