Managing Transitions
Transitions happen throughout our life! It’s important to plan for them whenever possible by anticipating changes and preparing.
This week was a BIG transition for not only me, but for my entire family, including the dog! After running my International Coaching & Training company from my home-based office for nearly 15 years, I went back to work FULL-TIME in the corporate world. Although I will continue to serve my current clients I will selectively decide which future clients I will work with both as a speaker and a coach.
There were lots of ups and downs this week and key lessons both applied from my work and learned as a result of this huge transition! Here’s some of the key highlights. Let me know what you learned from my personal experience…
- previous Wednesday: got formal offer and request to start on Monday
- weekend: stocked up on groceries, caught up on wash, cleaned and straightened the house, planned meals, purchased train ticket, researched parking, gased up car, went clothes shopping, met a friend pre-made kids’ lunches and refrigerated part of it overnight, took dog for an evening walk, prepared singles for parking meter, showered
- Monday: ESTABLISHED NEW ROUTINE!! got up extra early, took dog for half the regular walk, fed him and ate my breakfast then finished kids’ lunches, got dressed while listening in to the news, applied makeup and fixed hair, got kids up, dropped off daughter at bus, trusted son would get to school on time (MISTAKE #1), went to work and met many new people and attended new hire orientation with about 8 others, panicked when I received a call from the school that my son was truant at 10:50, connected with husband and he handled it, ran to catch the 5:17 train home and battled with traffic from the train station to get home to a lovely dinner prepared by my husband, took dog for second half of walk, finished emails I didn’t finish on the train ride, showered, prepared sandwiches for next day, read through materials from work, was in bed by 9!!
- TUESDAY: pretty much same routine but my daughter asked to walk up to the bus stop and I made sure my son was out of bed before I left the house and not just awake. Got to work a little early again! Grabbed a cup of cocoa at DD, met with team members and contributed my ideas at a meeting (which were well received!). Had sessions with scheduled coaching clients and did evening prep again
- WEDNESDAY: same am routine and every seemed to work smoothly till I got to the train stop just a few minutes behind schedule. Did a load of wash before work! Brought my own lunch with me to save from having to go down to the cafeteria again. Through in a load of towels before walking the dog and put them in dryer when I returned. Nearly missed train as I folded bills to get them into the meter. (NOTE TO SELF: HAVE BILLS PRE-FOLDED AND READY TO GO!). Worked on learning new systems and getting acclimated at my new job. Hurried home to attend Grandma’s birthday celebration with the family.
- THURSDAY: had a little trouble waking up because I got to sleep a little later last night. Brought my lunch with me again. Ended up getting the next train (which wasn’t an express) and got to work just 20 minutes later. (NOTE TO SELF: DON’T PANIC, THERE’S ANOTHER TRAIN EVERY 15 MINUTES OR SO; LEAVING EXTRA TIME HAS BEEN A BENEFIT BECAUSE I AM STILL THERE BEFORE 8:30). Hubby had to work late and daughter arranged a ride home from cheer practice beings son was working. Held scheduled coaching sessions in the evening, then completed evening routine.
- FRIDAY: good morning, everything flowed smoothly! Got a lot of things accomplished at work and am running fairly smoothly. Enjoyed some lunch on the company and goodies left over from a training so I didn’t have to buy lunch. Took one train earlier and left a little more time to get down the elevator because I’ve been rushing to the train every day. Got home in time to meet husband and a friend to travel an hour to our daughter’s HS cheering at the FB game. Fortunately, lunch held me over and I wasn’t hungry for dinner. I’ve been stocking up on healthy snacks and water to keep in my office so I had plenty choices. Hit a deer on the way home from the game. Are you kidding….what a way to end my first week back on the corporate job! We’re ok but the car and the deer didn’t quite make it!
- SATURDAY: Got to the gym for a good solid workout! Brought my daughter to cheer practice. Started cleaning and straightening. Did more wash. (WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM??)
So, I’m proud to say that I got through my week! Without my husband stepping up to prepare dinners and pick up what he saw I wasn’t able to get done, it would have been much more difficult. So, thank Goodness I have such a wonderful husband. I miss dinners with the family all together and miss communicating with each other more than anything.
Preparing, planning, organizing, communicating and staying calm were the big winners this week!!
Distractions at Work
Read about the top five offenders and some solutions you can incorporate into your own life:
Tips for Working from a Home-Based Office
The current issue of Treasure Coast Parenting features an article I wrote about the “Top 10 Tips for Working from a Home-Based Office” . Read this article on page 36-37 of the magazine to learn how you can be productive and effective when working at home.
http://www.tcparenting.com/0611%20-%20June%20Webzine/index.html
Surviving Work Overload
These days I continually here about employees at every level of the organization who are overloaded with too much work. This chronic problem is mostly a result of numerous workforce reductions and vacation schedules. Many of us have experienced that dreadful sense of having far too much work to do and too little time to do it in. The option is to ignore it because you are “too busy” and to work unreasonably long hours just to stay on top of your workload. Unfortunately, the risk is that you may build up resentment, exhaustion and frustration that leads to poor quality work while you neglect other areas of your life and eventually experience intense levels of stress.
Some of the key signs that you or others may be overloaded include:
- A boss with no real sense of your job
- Increased sick leave
- A sharp rise in complaints
- Poor synergy with a team of co-workers
- Conversation breakdowns
- More consistently working longer hours and weekends
- Increase in turnover
- Increase in customer complaints
- Inefficient meetings
- Improper delegation of tasks
- Constant interruptions & distractions
- Too many emails, text messages, etc.
- Feel totally out-of-control or overwhelmed
- Employees complaining about work/life issues, limited career opportunities, or lack of skill development. If you colleagues are leaving in droves, find out why!
Work more intelligently by focusing on the things that are important for job success and reduce the time you spend on lower priority tasks. I found a tool on line at the Mind Tools site, which can help you take the first step in looking at your work, Job Analysis. According to information on their site, job analysis is a key technique for managing job overload – an important source of stress.
Also, try out some of these simple, popular and often effective solutions to many of the problems frequently encountered in the work environment:
- Proactively discuss with your boss the inefficiencies related to constant change and propose some realistic boundaries.
- Establish boundaries around when you can and cannot be interrupted by employees or colleagues.
- Turn on your phone only during designated hours or have your secretary impose a heavy filter on the incoming phone calls. If you are the secretary, keep conversations brief and get all necessary details during the first call.
- Prioritize your e-mail and correspondence. Don’t leave the email indicator on unless it’s absolutely critical for your job.
- Accept the possibility of a complete turn-about in your work as a result of uncertainties. Learn to reprioritize when change is necessary.
- Only permit emergency calls at work from family, friends, and neighbors.
Unconventional Productivity Tips
A professional colleague of mine, Avish Parashar, the creator and owner of MotivationalSmartAss.com, is a motivational humorist who prides himself on being a little different than other humorists and very different than other motivational speakers. He has an edge about him that may motivate even the most ‘unmotivatable’!
Avish recently shared his “5 Unconventional Ways to Increase your Productivity” in his blog.
Click here to read his entire post. Realize it is not the standard advice but could certainly work for you!! Here is the gist of it but read his explanation in full to gain the understanding that will help you adapt this unconventional nontraditional thinking to help you improve your productivity!
1) Work on Stuff that “Has to be Done,” Last
2) Increase Your Commitments
3) Throw Away Your Goals
4) Stop Planning, Start Flowing
5) Stop Trying to be Productive Every Day
You may surprise yourself that after trying a good handful of the traditional approaches, an unconventional approach can net you some very powerful results!
10 Tips for Balancing Work & Family Life
Read this article in the May issue of Treasure Coast Parenting to learn tips you can use in your own life to gain more balance.
http://www.tcparenting.com/0511%20-%20May%20Webzine/index.html
Prevent Burnout
Help for Managing your Full Plate
Your burgeoning work load—not to mention the rest of your life—means you have a very full plate. But managing the mountains on your full plate just got easier! You have all the utensils on hand to more effectively handle those competing demands and conflicting priorities!
Read more….
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=195973563775485
Spring Cleaning
It’s time for spring cleaning. While you’re doing that, see what clutter you can remove from your life so that you can create more space for the things that bring you joy and success.
Read my latest article in March’s Treasure Coast Parenting magazine, “Spring Clean the Clutter from Every Facet of Your Life” on page 34-35 (http://www.tcparenting.com/0311%20-%20March%20Webzine/index.html)
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Adjust Priorities
When emergencies or catastophes strike, cars break down, accidents occur, or health issues arise, priorities often shift on a dime. It could take just seconds to temporarily or permanently change your entire life.
As your time and attention changes to more pressing matters, what do you do with whatever is still left on your plate? How do you continue tending to the important when the urgent is so compelling?
Reflecting on the recent tragedies in the world, including the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, the major flooding, the bus accident on Route 95 in New York and other such events across the globe I wonder how people cope. Although I had no one personally from my family, friends or professional colleagues in the World Trade Center when the tragedy of 9-1-1 occured, we were fixated with the events. Those like me, in the peripheral, went on with our lives and work and continued to focus on other priorities.
However, when it affects you personally, you may be immobilized and fixated on the necessary actions although other priorities continue to exist in your life. Balancing your other needs and those of your loved ones is likely a challenge. For those who have lived through a death of a loved one, accident, sudden emergency, natural disaster big or small….how did you cope? What are some suggestions you have for others who may now be going through similar experiences?