Going Back to Work?

In my time of researching what is happening to us women in the workforce and how we can help each other, I have encountered some amazing women who feel passionate, as I do, to help. Each of these women have a specific area that they are especially gifted, for lack of a better word, in doing what they are doing. In my next articles I would like to highlight these women, some who have their own business, some who have successfully worked out flexible work schedules, and some who work from the corporate side of the house to help others with flexibility in their work lives. My goal is to bring to light what is going on in corporate America and outside to help women to reach their goals of balance between work and family.

I first met one of these fabulous "power" women through a business associate. She reached out to me through my day job to discuss her business. I was thrilled within two minutes of speaking to her on the phone. Since then we have had lunch together and several phone and email conversations. She is a wonderful encourager and wants to truly help. She has started up a company to assist those women who are deciding to re-enter the workforce. Linda Waters from Back to Business, http://www.backtobusiness.org/, has a passion for helping women get prepared and to find positions that suit them. She and her team prepare women to dress right for their body type, have an appropriate resume, make a plan for going back to work, learn how to network again, and to fine tune their interviewing skills.

Check out her site and the services she offers. Linda has had various speaking arrangements such as at Boston College's Center for Work and Family conference on June 4th. Linda is very practical in her approach to helping women get ready to work outside the home.

Let me know of other passionate women in this area and I would be happy to interview them.

Clutter

OK, so spring is finally here in New England. We all thought it would never make it. It was a long winter!! Painful actually. It was 6 months long. The snow started in November. Ugh. Anyway, enough complaining. The sun is out and it is time to enjoy the outdoors, until you realize there are still leaves in the yard and the fence needs fixing. Really I am not complaining. I just spent the whole weekend with the kids raking, planting, buying a new bush or two, and mulching. It was great to get out and get some hard work done. It is so rewarding.


But following the yard clean up which I was quite proud of myself for doing without any of hubby's help. (He was studying for finals and writing papers. Super fun!) I discovered all the other clutter that needed to be cleaned up; on the porch, under the deck, and throughout the house. The clutter takes it toll on us doesn't it? I don't know about you but I feel a huge sense of accomplishment when the clutter is gone. The papers are off the kitchen island, the thousands of kid drawings come down, for at least a day, from the frig, or at least they are thinned out. The toys are sorted. The winter clothes put away and the spring clothes pulled out. It is a ton of work to do all that but de-cluttering the house, our office, our vehicles, and schedules can really make a difference in how we think about our days and ourselves.


Some helpful hints on de-cluttering from my friend the professional organizer.

1. Determine your project and the time you have.


2. Sort. Pull everything out of the container, closet, drawer, box, or whatever it is you are cleaning up. Then sort into piles; toss, keep, give away are the three big topics. From the keep pile, continue to sort into categories.


3. Purge. Take the toss pile and TOSS IT. Don't think "maybe I will need it some day". Nine times out of ten you won't. But if you still aren't sure put it in another pile to check back on it in 30 days. If you have not needed it, toss it!


4. Store. Find the right containers or places for the items you will keep. Make sure you have enough space for growth if it is an area that you know will grow, such as filing.

The picture above is of my filing system for mail and miscellaneous papers. Each bin has an owner. There is a mail bin for each of us in the family plus two more for contact / phone lists and incoming mail. This helps me to keep my kitchen island from being over-taken by mail.

Be sure to go back and purge old items again every 6 to 12 months. I try to clean out my closet every 6 months and my filing every 12 months.

Well now that we know how to organize stuff, how about de-cluttering our professional life too? Resumes, contact lists, professional organizations? With our resumes we can clear out the experiences, or not highlight as much, the ones that are not relevant to the job we are seeking. We can also trim down the verbiage in our descriptions. Tighten them up to have more impact. The contact lists can be weeded through. Who do we really want to keep in touch with? Is the old client contact from 15 years ago still a good one to have? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. What professional organizations are we active in? Are we still paying dues for an organization, just to have it listed on our resume or because it is really useful and an asset to our careers?

What do you think?

Over Indulgence

Hey moms, have you ever had a birthday party for your child? Of course, if you are a mom you have had at least one, or are about to experience your first of many. I am, thus far, a big fan of having kid parties at home but see the advantages of having them out and about. Not having to clean the house before and after a party seems wonderful to me but I also would rather put the money elsewhere. Besides then we get to open our humble home to our friends. And I hope they find it a warm place to be.

I am discussing this with you because I just was forwarded an article from my husband about a woman who spent $10,000 for her daughter's birthday party. Another woman told about spending $5,000. Wow is all I can say. What a waste. The hubby was blown away by that. Of course, the hubby thinks that party favors are silly so anything over $5 would be too much to him. But seriously, how can anyone rationalize spending that much for a kids birthday party? Goodness there are starving kids everywhere in the world.

Don't get me wrong, having a party outside of the home doesn't mean you are over indulgent. I am showing the extreme to gain some perspective. I have been to totally fun birthday parties at the craft and gym places and they have been very reasonable. Actually I think the next kid party in our home will be there. I am not good at cleaning...

So my question to you is; do some woman work more that they need to so they can justify this over indulgence. The "keeping up with the Jones" can really wear you out. Then more and more questions come. Do we have our kids in the right schools? Is little Timmy involved in enough activities to keep him competing with the other kids (or keeping him out of trouble)? The treadmill keeps going and begins to pick up pace at each and every step.

Are we balancing our lives well with the choices we make? If we didn't feel we have to "keep up" could we cut back our work or work differently? What could we do with that freedom of say no debt and a paid off house?

Ladies, can we dream for a minute?

Breathing Room; Not When the Kids are Sick

Do you have margin in your life? Do you have that space to breathe in between all the responsibilities that pull at us? Do you even know that this could exist?


Life comes at us at an alarming rate. Too much email, IM, voicemail, blogs, phone calls, appointments, news, and information. I don't know why but I am regularly asked how do I manage my busy schedule and stay productive. Well today is a day that I feel like productivity has gone out the window. Last week I was home one day to care for my 5 year old today I am home with the kids because our care-giver is very sick with the flu. Both situations are not fun for the sick person but not having any breathing room so when things like this come up can be crushing. If I have breathing room, I can adjust. If not, I get overwhelmed and freeze. So I guess productivity for me relies in making sure I have breathing room for the unexpected. As parents, the unexpected happens regularly. So maybe unexpected is really expected.


Currently the "room" is very small. Work is overwhelming for me and my husband. We both have too much for responsibilities that we can not do in a normal work week. Other volunteer projects we have signed up for are all due soon. Hubby is finishing his spring semester which means papers and finals. You know the drill. I don't know about you but I hate this feeling. I am, or try to be, intentional about what I "sign up" to do for work, social, volunteer, and kid events. Our balance in life is determined by us and when it gets out of control we need to determine how we handle it. Do we....

1. Hunker down and deal


2. Just say NO, to certain things or everything


3. Know that the light is at the end of the tunnel and can get through until then


4. Quit and go on vacation

What do you do?

I think this time, I know the light is at the end of the tunnel and that much of what is on my plate is very good. So this time I choose to ride it out and enjoy the blessings that will come from the hard work. Also it helps that the weather is getting warmer. Beach here I come.

Being a Mom and Having Balance, What is That?

As any parent, the challenge of balancing a family, career (or careers) can seem daunting. How do we choose the steps we take in our career that gives us the means to support our families and the satisfaction or passion that drives us but balance our valued time with our kids. For me the balance is the inital need to work to gain an income, the passion to find something I enjoy, and ensuring my family doesn't fall apart with too heavy of a schedule away from each out.


I have a five year old son and a three year old son. My husband is currently in school full time working towards his masters degree. This journey began years back when we knew we wanted to get him through school. We also knew that financially we were not even close to being able to pull this off. Our goals a few years back were to plan how we could get him to school and pay off our debt so we could actually live off my income. More on that trip, later on.


From this clear goal, the decision became how can I go back to work to a lucrative career that I could do on four days a week? But for me leaving my kids for four days was not easy. I could handle two days but four would be difficult and five, forget it! Then I would definitely feel guilty about leaving them and would not want to max out the family with just too much on our calendars. I had to say no to some great jobs either due to low pay because it was part-time or great pay but had to be 5 days a week. It is not easy but I have learned I have to make some tough decisions, sometimes daily, to protect myself and my family. I know we need margin.



What is margin? More to come on that. What decisions have you had to make to balance your family and your career? I would like to hear.