I had a great time this summer. I went on mini vacations, I visited other cities, I went out to dinner (a lot!) and in general, spoiled myself. But, now that fall is right around the corner, I have taken a look at my life and my wallet and decided I really need to take it easy on the spending. I have some big financial goals I want to hit this year and picking up a $35 YSL lipstick every week is really not a necessary expense. So, for the month of September I am going to partake in what I am calling a commercial detox! This means that during the month of September I am not going to spend any unnecessary money on clothing, food, makeup, whatever! This doesn’t mean I don’t spend any money at all on the extras, but it means that if I want a new tube of foundation, I have to use up my old one first. Or if I want a yummy gourmet diner, I am going to have to make one myself! I am going to write-up a list of rules for myself to follow with the specific parameters I have for myself and my expectations, but the point is to reduce my commercial wants!
Now, I am not just doing this for myself, but I hope that some of you may want to partake in this with me as well! So, to go along with this personal spending freeze, I am also going to spend the month of September writing articles for this site that will also hopefully encourage you to stop your excess spending as well and use the things you already have instead of buying new! That concept of using what you already have is going to be a major theme for my posts in September! I am going to show you how to make the most of the things you already have and show you that you don’t really need those shiny new objects you have been lusting over!
So, what do you say? Will you join me for a month-long commercial detox? Do you have financial goals that you are hoping to hit this year? Saving for a home or perhaps a vacation? Let me know in the comments, tweet or email me to let me know I am not going it alone this September in my attempt to detox myself from my bad spending habits!
One of the things I have been working on for the blog is free printables. I love printables because they are like instant office supplies, so I thought the first item I would create and release to you should be a nice clean calendar for the balance of the year! I love full page calendars and I have been using these as the editorial calendar for my blog. I especially love the notes sections that I included on the right sidebar of the calendar, goals this month, books to read, blogs to follow, and places to visit! That way you can keep track of suggestions and recommendations you hear from friends and colleagues. I hope you enjoy these, and please, if you download them and like them, please make sure to share the link to this post via your social media feeds! Sharing my work helps me to continue to help you with free items like this that I have worked hard to create for my readers!
With a fresh season about to start, I thought this was the perfect time to discuss my top 5 things that I believe a woman cannot live without. In this day and age it’s no surprise that a woman in her twenties or beyond should really have a few things settled in her life in order to start developing her career, life and future plans. Some of these things are tangible, others not, but they are all equally important for any woman to have in her life!
1. A College Degree
A college degree in this day and age is pretty much a must have for a woman to succeed in any traditional career path. I realize that there are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, if you don’t have a college degree you can’t expect to develop a dynamic career in most industries. Even if you expect to start and run your own business, a formal education will help you develop those base skills and critical thinking techniques that will help you to build your business and your brand. And of course, in unstable economic circumstances where you may need to find employment the traditional route, a degree will help set you apart from other, less qualified candidates.
2. A Trusted Confidant
Everyone woman needs a friend that she can trust 100%! From sharing secrets, to having a shoulder to cry on or an ear to vent to, a trusted confidant is a necessity for a woman. It is very important, of course, that this confidant be someone you know personally and not just some anonymous friend on the internet. It’s important that your confidant really know you, nearly as well as you know yourself so that you can trust her opinions and value her advice.
3. A Signature Makeup Look
By the time you hit the workforce, it’s very important to have a signature makeup look established for yourself. I don’t necessarily mean that this look has to be incredibly unique, you just need to know how to apply a face of makeup that looks great on you. Nothing to heavy, just an everyday look that can carry you from day to-night with only the change of a lipstick or an extra bit of pizzaz to your eyes! If you are a working woman and you don’t feel like you have your makeup look established or struggle with application techniques, I highly suggest making an appointment at Sephora, Ulta, or your local department store to have your makeup done and to learn the basic techniques you need to know.
4. A Place to Call Your Own
Whether this is your own home or apartment, or just a room in your parents house while you get your life and plans in order, every woman should have a place to call their own, a retreat if you will! It’s no secret, as a woman you need your own private space to just be alone with your thoughts and feelings. It’s cathartic in a way to just be by yourself on a couch or on a bed, able to feel at ease and completely comfortable. This can be especially useful if you live with a significant other or roommates, because you need your own space to just chill out and be yourself. A woman without the ability to unwind in her own privacy will quickly buckle under the stressors of daily life.
5. A Can-Do Spirit
A can-do spirit is very necessary as a woman. Too often I see ladies who refuse to help themselves, get stuck in ruts and rely too often on others. A can-do spirit can benefit you at home and in your professional career. This can include things like a willingness to do home repairs, taking the initiative at work, and changing your own flat tires. It’s the twenty-first century after all, and there is really no excuse why you should be relying on others, particularly men, for anything you could do for yourself!
So, do you agree with my must have list? Is there something you would add or do you have your own list? More importantly, do you have all these things in the list or in your own must have list?
In order to help me stay more organized and focused on my blog and creating great content for my readers, I recently put together a “Blog Binder.” Basically, I bought a three-ring binder and filled it with things to help me keep track of my blog post ideas, editorial calendar and any and all inspiration I have for my blog!
First, I started off by finding a binder that was a physical representation of my blog. I know that sounds a but silly, but I really needed this binder to look like my blog so I chose one that was a nice modern print that I found interesting and of course the color scheme for the binder was in line with the teal and grey of my blog! I also adorned the binder with a binder strap from the Martha Stewart for Staples collection. It, of course, is a teal/aqua color!
Next, I filled the binder with tabbed sections. For this, I used my Martha Stewart large tabs, again from Staples! I knew I only needed a few sections so I broke them down into three important ones; Current Month (for my editorial Calendar), Inspiration, and Articles.
The first page of my binder is my Manifesto for my blog. Once I typed it out, I used Adobe InDesign to format a page that incorporated the look and feel of my blog. So much nicer than just printing out a statement with no life or color to it!
The next page is a mini inspiration board that defines my Target Audience. It’s important for me to keep my ideal reader in mind so that I consistently write for her. For example, my target reader is a female working professional, is interested in technology and loves good design! When it comes to my blog and my expectations, its important for me to always keep in mind that my blog isn’t for everyone, it’s for a very specific type of person. If some people don’t like my blog, that’s okay, if they aren’t my target reader I can’t expect them to like what I am writing!
Next comes my editorial calendar. I have a few months planned out in advance so I keep the Current Month tab on the active month. These calendar pages were also created using InDesign to match the look and feel of my blog. See a pattern here? It’s important, for me at least, that I keep a consistent image so that I don’t clutter up or confuse my brand. I will be releasing these calendar pages in the next few weeks in case you are interested in using them for yourself.
After the calendars are my inspiration pages. They start off with a page filled with some of my favorite quotes that I pulled from Pinterest. I also have some infographics about productivity to keep me inspired when I feel too lazy to write!
The next section is the tab Articles. Here I have printed out some of my favorite articles that pertain to blogging and/or productivity. Laura Vanderkam’s What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is one of my favorite articles that I constantly return to when I need an extra push in my day! In this section I am also thinking about adding some of my favorite blog posts that I have written over the years just to show case for myself some of my best written work!
Next I have also included this adorable teal chevron wire bound notebook. Its filled with lined pages and is three hole punched so it attached nicely to my binder. I use these pages to just list out post ideas and items I want to keep track of.
The final section is filled with squared planner paper. Since I have been getting more into the graphic design elements of blogging and designing printable calendars and planning pages, I use this section to sketch out ideas that I will then create using Adobe CS6 software. This image shows a rough idea for a planner page I would like to release as a printable for my readers in the near future.
So that is it! I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my Blogging Binder! I hope this gave you some ideas of how you too can organize your blogs or any large and ongoing projects in your life!
Do you have a blog? What sort of organizational methods do you use to keep yourself on track? Have you seen an improvement in the quality of your work since you have started using an official organizer like this?
Late summer is one of my favorite times of year. For a long time it meant back to school for me, which I loved, but now it means back to work after a summer filled with vacation days and long lunches outside in the sunny weather. This is also the time of year when I feel a burst of energy to get myself reorganized, and I don’t know if its because academic planners are just everywhere this time of year, but its the perfect time to check up on your planner and calendar system that you may have set in place at the start of the new year or to implement one if you are not currently using a reliable system!
When it comes to using a calendar and planner system, the biggest choice you have these days is to choose digital or paper. Each system has their own benefits and drawbacks, but your habits and needs will ultimately affect how useful one type of system is over the other.
iPad or other Digital Calendar System
Pro’s: iPads really excel as personal planner and calendar systems because of the variety of applications you can use to get yourself organized. While there are plenty of apps for individual note taking and calendar optimization, there are also plenty of all in one apps that can keep you organized throughout your day. IPad’s are also great because normally within the apps you can choose to view your information in a variety of ways, like in daily, weekly or monthly formats. If you need flexibility in your daily life in order to get things done, an iPad may give you everything you need.
Con’s: While iPad’s make great planners because of their array of apps, they are still sometimes cumbersome to use. Many people find input via iPad difficult and slow. Since the iPad also needs to be charged in order to function, your planner system is completely dependent on your ability to keep it charged or have access to an electrical socket. Now, of course there are many portable charging systems you can purchase for your iPad if you work in the field or out of an office, it is still more cumbersome than a traditional paper planner.
Pro’s: One of the best things about a Filofax organizer is that they are nearly infinitely customizable. There are a multitude of planner pages, calendar views and notepads you can use with a Filofax that it makes finding your ideal system a breeze. You can also use a Filofax to store additional papers, sticky notes, and business cards so that you can keep important information close by. Since your dealing with paper and pen/pencil, you never have to worry about being without your notes or calendar, no matter how long you are away from your office. As long as your Filofax is by your side, you can keep yourself organized and on task!
Con’s: Although Filofax organizers have a variety of formats for calendars, notes and to-dos, once you have written in a to do item or scheduled a meeting its permanently there and if you need to change or update information, you often need to erase and rewrite it over again. The flexibility of editing information is much more difficult with paper planners and once you are set with your “view” (daily, weekly, monthly, etc) you cannot easily convert to a new one without purchasing more inserts and rewriting all your information over again.
So, what sort of calendar system do you use? What apps do you keep on your iPad or iPhone to keep you organized? Are you a paper planner person? Which planner system do you use?
With half of the work year behind us and mid year performance reviews to look forward to shortly, now is the perfect time to discuss how to stand out at work. Whether you are hoping for a raise or a promotion in the upcoming year, learning to stand out from your coworkers is an important step to bigger and better things in your professional life. How to Stand Out at Work will be a 5 week series where we discuss different ways to improve your image to set yourself up for success.
Make your boss’ priorities your priorities
One very common gripe that workers often have is that they work so hard and yet their boss does not seem to acknowledge everything they are doing. Perhaps you have taken on some extra work or been working overtime on certain projects, but still no acknowledgement from your boss to let you know your extra efforts are appreciated. This issue may be caused from the fact that your extra work isn’t exactly helping your boss and his priorities. It may be helping you, or other team members, or just be work that needed to get done as part of your job, but unless your boss feels like your efforts are helping them specifically, they aren’t likely to bend over backwards to applaud your efforts.
It is a very strange fact, one that took me a long time to realize, but all your work does not necessarily align with your boss and his priorities. We all have a multitude of tasks and projects that we perform each day and taken on at certain times, but that is just part of our jobs. For most of us, our boss is at a higher level, perhaps overseeing dozens of people who each do a multitude of tasks each day, so its hard for them to be impressed with one particular employee and the minutiae of their tasks. But what a boss will be impressed with is an employee whose work is directly impacting the progress of certain larger goals that are the responsibility of their manager.
For example, in sales, it may be your job to sell new products or services to your customer, grow their business, close distribution gaps, etc. That could be your day-to-day function as a sales person. Your boss, however, may be focused against finding new business and clients in order to grow his overall business, especially during times when the economy is stagnant and existing customers aren’t growing at a sufficient rate. So, you could be working very hard doing your job, making small wins at the customer level, but if your coworker with the same job is winning new accounts left and right, expect them to be the one getting attention from your boss.
With everything in business, it’s about what you can do for others. Your boss may not expect you to be executing against his particular set of priorities, but you can bet that they are going to be very appreciative to the employees that end up progressing their plans and goals for the year. So, if you want to stand out to your boss and position yourself as a hard-working member of your team, you need to get with your boss and figure out his priorities. You may already know what he is focused against, but perhaps haven’t paid attention to it because you have your own work to do. Either way, you need to align with your boss on what they are trying to achieve and make it happen for them. Only good things will follow!
Read the rest of this series by clicking a link below!
I know I rarely discuss personal topics here on Strange & Charmed, but I have really been wanting to talk to you, the internet and my readers, about a subject that has given me a little bit of grief over the past year. You probably don’t know many specifics of my life unless you are a friend of mine in real life or follow me on a few different social media feeds, but last November I got married and since then I have yet to change my last name to match my husbands. It wasn’t something I intended not to do, but the whole situation started out of necessity for me and has now turned into something else entirely. Let me tell you the story.
So, after I returned from my honeymoon at the end of November 2012, I was immediately informed that I had been given a promotion to a job I had applied and interviewed for a few months earlier. Initially, I was worried that if I changed my name right when I accepted my new position, that people within my company and clients that I had developed relationships with may not know who I was if they suddenly saw a new name and a different title on my email signature. So, I decided that it was best for my professional life if I kept my last name until everyone I worked with on a day-to-day basis and all my customers knew who I was and all about my new role.
Then of course, once I returned to work for a few weeks, I began to get questions from co workers and of course family members as to what my new last name was. “I don’t have a new last name,” I would respond, but their questions really bothered me. Why did people expect that a woman would just go ahead and change her name just because she got married. This is 2013 for heaven’s sake (or 2012 as the case may be!), a woman can be a single mother, have a professional career, go to space, why does she immediately have to change her name just because she got married. I was even accused by a co-worker of not being committed to my marriage because I wasn’t interested in changing my name. Seriously? I am pretty sure couples with the same last name get divorced all the time! What is with all this unnecessary pressure?
So, I started thinking about whether or not I was going to change my last name and when I would do it. I had a few friends who were also married around the same time as me and by the time they returned from their honeymoons they were already using a new surname. Why did these bright professional women want to give up their name so easily? Hadn’t they worked hard to give that name a good reputation? Wasn’t it the name that defined them for two to three decades? Once I started asking myself those questions, I found that I didn’t want to part with my last name, it was mine and I wanted to keep it!
I still get questions all the time as to when I am going to change my name as though I have been lazy and forgotten to do something very important. The truth is, I don’t know when I am going to change my name, and I still don’t know if I am going to change my name. I like my husband’s last name, it’s a nice name and I wouldn’t be opposed to taking it in theory, but I just feel like my name is me and I’m not ready to give it up. Oh, and you may be wondering what my husbands thinks about all this. At first, I think he wanted me to change my name so that we would feel more like a family, but after discussing it with him and being married for the last nine months without a name change, he says my last name doesn’t bother him. He says I can keep it or change it, whatever I want to do is okay with him.
So, what do you think? Should I change my name or should I stick with it for a while? Did you change your name when you got married or did you keep your own? Perhaps you changed your name because of a life event like the birth of a child or the purchase of a home with your spouse? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Everyone knows someone who misuses social media. Maybe you do it without even realizing it, or maybe you get annoyed when your friends use their social media feeds for purposes that clearly go beyond the intended scope of socializing and sharing information. You may think that when it comes to social media, there are no rules, but with everything social, there are of course unspoken rules and mores that dictate proper usage and behavior. Some of it is common sense, and some of it is common courtesy, but either way you need to know the rules to play the game!
Be Polite, Please!
Although our Twitter and Facebook interactions seem very informal, they still deserve a certain level of respect. Whenever you are conversing with others, no matter what the medium, be polite and use appropriate language. Now, I do understand fully and am also completely guilty of using fowl language on social media, but just remember to do it when the moment is right and not just for the heck of it. I say this because communicating with others through the internet is hard (heck, its hard in real life too!) and words are often misconstrued even when you have the best intentions. So, just try to keep it clean and as polite as possible. Remember, everything on the internet is basically public, even if you think your Facebook profile is private, your words can still get out!
Don’t Argue Online
It has taken me a long time to understand that arguing with others is a futile effort, that applies to real life scenarios and virtual interactions as well! No matter how right you think you are, everyone has a valid opinion or at least thinks they have a valid opinion, so calling people out online for their mistakes, judgements, opinions, etc is a bad idea. This even goes as far as negative comments made on websites and YouTube. Let your commentors have their opinion and respect their right to it, don’t try to pick a fight or engage others trying to pick a fight with you, it’s a lose-lose situation!
Stay Positive
One of my biggest social media pet peeves is internet complainers (yep, that is ironic)! When it comes down to it, most people do not care that your foot hurts, or your cat threw up, or you’re having a bad hair day. Its one thing to mention something negative that has happened in your life, but don’t be that person who is always using social media to complain or make negative remarks. Not only does it turn most people off, but it puts others in an uncomfortable situation. Being positive 100% of the time is probably impossible, but remember, positivity does spread and you want people on social media to associate you with positive things so they keep coming back to see what you’re up to!
Keep your Pictures PG
Unless you are running an internet porn business or are a lingerie model, there is no reason why you should be posting pictures of yourself or others that are risqué. First of all, you never know who is going to see those pictures, like employers, future customers, or your grandmother. Second, you should have enough respect for your own image online that you don’t make yourself a target for negativity or sexual provocation.
Stick to the Intended Use
With so many different social media sites popping up everyday, its easy to confuse how you should be using each different one! If you don’t happen to understand the proper use of a social media site, you should probably do a little bit of googling to figure it out. For example, Twitter is used for short, quick to the point messages and sharing information, articles, and photos with a large group of people. Most interactions on Twitter are completely public or can easily be made public, so it’s not the place to post private photos or have a lengthy or private discussion with a friend. Pinterest is a place to share ideas and inspiration in visual form, like a virtual pin board! You want to post and share information like DIY ideas or recipes, not photos of your daughters high school graduation or your family vacation. I think you understand what I am getting at here, use each social media site the way it was intended to be used and if you aren’t sure, google it!
With half of the work year behind us and mid year performance reviews to look forward to shortly, now is the perfect time to discuss how to stand out at work. Whether you are hoping for a raise or a promotion in the upcoming year, learning to stand out from your coworkers is an important step to bigger and better things in your professional life. How to Stand Out at Work will be a 5 week series where we discuss different ways to improve your image to set yourself up for success.
Give Praise to Others
If you are trying to get ahead at work, it may seem counterproductive to share praise with others, especially when you are trying to stand out yourself, but it will actually help you to cultivate yourself as a leader. Don’t get me wrong, it is very important that you be seeking out ways to get praise from your superiors in order to show that you are a good worker and worthy of advancement, but being a team player means sharing the spotlight. No one wants to promote someone who is always looking out for themselves and for their own self-interest. Of course, everyone is doing those things as they are expected, but team players and leaders are more likely to advance and be seen in a positive light.
Think about it, although you may be very good at your job and getting work done and projects accomplished, you most likely needed the help and support of others to get you there, and acknowledging that is a very important thing. In the workplace, a staggering number of employees claim that they are under appreciated, you yourself may feel that same way. How would you feel about a coworker who took the time to thank you for doing your job and perhaps even went so far as to acknowledge your help and sing your praises to others? You would most likely feel indebted to that individual and perhaps be motivated to continue assisting them in the future. And that’s the magical connection! When you praise others, others want to help you and support you more!
So, I challenge you to think about the people around you at work who support you in getting your job and your tasks done. Next time you see them, make sure to thank them for what they have done for you and give them positive praise when speaking to others. You may think that if you don’t praise them in their presence they won’t hear about it, but don’t worry they will! One of the great things about praise is that it spreads like wildfire and will certainly get back to the ear of your subject! Of course, public praise is also a great way to acknowledge people, although we don’t often get many opportunities to do this. So, if you do have the opportunity to praise someone in a meeting or in a large gathering of coworkers, by all means go for it! Just don’t let the lack of a public stage for your praise stand in the way of you giving it! Even private conversations with supervisors or coworkers are great times to give praise to others and help you stand out as a leader and a team player!
Now that iPhones have become an acceptable mobile device within a majority of companies, many working professionals are able to use all the benefits that the app store has to offer to help them with their daily productivity goals. From getting hard business deals signed, sealed and delivered, to making new connections and reaching out to new customers or clients, there is an app for just about any business scenario. Here is a list of some of the best apps that all professionals should have on their iPhone!
Documents to Go {$9.99}
It’s true that for most of us our professional lives revolve around the Microsoft Office Suite of Applications. Even if your company is up to speed on integrating iOS into the day-to-day workflow, you still lack the ability to view, create, and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents on your iPhone or iPad. For this, Documents to Go is a must have app. It’s a bit pricey, but then again all of the MS Office integrated apps are and this one is reasonably priced without loosing any key features. Remember, you won’t have the full functionality of your desktop version of MS Office, but this is a pretty good substitute for your on the go needs!
DocScan {Free for basic use and $1.99 for Pro}
Since we still do not live in a completely electronic world, we need to find ways to deal with paper on a day to day basis. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a little, easy to use and reliable scanner you could carry around in your pocket for those times when you need to share printed documents or forms with others? Guess what, you do! Its called your iPhone and with DocScan you can turn it into that portable scanner of your dreams! I cannot tell you how many times this app has saved my butt, it is awesome for quickly snapping a scanner quality (or better) picture of a document and then sending it off via email, text, etc! It even works well with multi-page documents. Give the free version a try, and if you find you get a lot of use out of it, I recommend upgrading to the Pro version, if only to thank the developers for creating an immensely useful application!
Hootsuite {Free}
If you are a professional who needs to keep up with their social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, Hootsuite is a great free app that puts all your social networks into one place. If you are constantly connecting to colleagues, potential business partners or other organizations you will certainly find Hootsuite’s scheduling feature for tweets and posts to be a major time saver! You even have access to Facebook Pages so you can manage your online business or identity from the convenience of your iPhone!
Feedly {Free}
If the death of Google Reader turned your world upside down, may I suggest another rss reader for you called Feedly. It has a nice simple interface and works the way you’d expect. Since Google Reader was shut down, Feedly has been the most popular free option to replace the service. It looks like in the last few weeks with the migration of users from Google Reader to Feedly, things have started to go a little wonky with their servers, but I expect that this will all be rectified soon. It works on iOS and also has a web app that is very handy so that you have access to your feeds on the go or in the office!
HelloFax {Free or Tiered Subscription Plan}
Okay, so this may not be an iOS app per se, but HelloFax is an online service that you can subscribe to that essentially turns your iPhone into a fax machine. Depending on your needs you can subscribe to a free or paid membership plan that gives you access to your own unique “fax number”for your phone and then you simply create emails with PDF attachments and email them to the recipient fax number with the addition of @hellofax.com in the send to field. That’s it! Your email becomes a fax machine and likewise, receives faxes as well. Its a major game changer for working professionals who hate having to track down a fax machine or pay per page to send a fax at an office supply store!
Everest {Free}
Lets say you are the type of person who sets goals for themselves but has a hard time achieving them. That sounds like most of us doesn’t it? Well, Everest is an app that addresses that issue within each of us to help us work towards achieving established goals. Whether you are trying to achieve personal or professional goals (or both!) this app can be a working gals BFF. If you have lots of priorities to juggle but find that you have a hard time seeing things through to the end, give this app a try!
Evernote {Free or Unlimited Paid Subscription}
Keeping track of notes and ideas is a major part of professional life. No matter what your career path, company or cause you are bombarded by information all day long, but you may or may not have a current method of capturing all that information so that you don’t misplace it. Evernote is one of the most popular all in one note taking apps that gives you multiple means of capture. Make lists, take a photo or snap a webpage to import information into Evernote. Once its been input, you can add tags that will help you find your information in the future and even arrange information in notebooks within the app. Pretty nifty!
