PTT: A Pocket Full

Professional Tip Tuesday

Greetings from Utah! I am in Salt Lake City for the first of many business trips out here. It is an exciting change of pace from the typical 8-5 office routine! ...other than the 4:30AM alarm I had set Monday morning to catch an early flight. That was rough.

The trees aren't quite as green this time of year. But it's a beautiful city!
Photo Credit: Wikimedia by Garrett

I am not a pro at traveling yet. I realized that very quickly. Especially on those weekday flights - I felt the pressure of the frequent business travelers around me. They have their routine down to a science and do not appreciate when someone inexperienced (like me!) slows them down.

• So far, my lessons learned from the security line:
• When they say take your liquids out of your bag, they mean it. 
• ....Same with electronic devices.
• Scoot your carry-on luggage along until you are right up to the baggage scanner (or so the frustrated, "A-List Preferred Southwest" traveler behind me said, as I struggled to push all of my bins and suitcase onto the conveyor belt).

While I may have learned a few things from my travel experience - I was way more excited about an app a coworker told me about. So this week's Professional Tip Tuesday is a helpful gem that will make down time more productive - and is great for travel!

How many times have you found an interesting article but just don't have time to read it? 

I do it! All the time. I will be scrolling through my Facebook or Twitter feed and see something that I really want to read. I usually try and save it somehow, but there's no method to my madness - and I end up forgetting about it. 

Introducing, Pocket. 

- Pocket gives you a place to store articles and videos. You can even 'tag' the articles to categorize them within your pocket! Below you can see my "Professional Tips" tagged items.

Pocket even caters the format to the device youare using!

This app is available on your smart phone, tablet, and computer. It automatically syncs to all of your devices and allows you to read articles offline - so everything you put in your 'pocket' is available whenever and wherever!

So what do you think? Pretty cool, huh? I just got this app, but I already love the features and easy to use functionality!

What apps have you found that you couldn't live without? Comment below!

PTT: LinkedIn- To Accept or Not to Accept?

Professional Tip Tuesday
Today, I received an email question:  "Someone invited me to connect on LinkedIn that went to my college - but other than that I don't know them. Should I accept or decline?" 

LinkedIn is a really interesting social network - it's a great way to establish professional relationships. But since it's a new concept for interacting professionally, the actual rules of how to use it effectively are still up in the air.

So this week's Professional Tip Tuesday is all about when to accept invites and add people as connections - How to effectively connect with the right people on LinkedIn.

 The way I see it, there are two reasons to connect with someone you don't really know on LinkedIn. ...But if I do add someone 'out of the blue', I typically send a brief "HEY this is how we know each other!" message along with it. So here's the scoop:

1. You met in a professional setting.
• If you met through a networking event, interview situation, or something like that - you might connect on LinkedIn to reiterate that brief interaction. 
• "Hi there, it was great to meet you yesterday at Organization A's get together. -Anna"
2. You have a similar past/present involvement.

• If you have never met the person, but share an experience (i.e. an organization, program, or job) - you might use that as an 'in' to connect and ask them a common professional interest.
• "Hi there, I saw you were in my University of Iowa network (Go Hawks!) and you work at Company X now. I will be graduating in May and want to apply. Could you tell me a little more about the application process? Thank you! -Anna"

The best part is, LinkedIn is not like Facebook. As long as you have a reason to connect to someone, there really isn't much of a downside. You won't see too many 'over-sharing' posts with baby-mama-drama. 

LinkedIn is used as a platform to share interesting articles and cool things that they are doing with their careers. You never know when you might see something that interests you on your feed! 

So the bottom line is: LinkedIn is used to reach out and make valuable, professional connections. I received several invites to connect on LinkedIn that seemed random. But I saw that we had a few things in common and decided to accept. A couple of days later I got a message asking if I would be interested in interviewing for their company! 

How do you determine who to connect to on LinkedIn? Comment below! 

PTT: Never-too-Late New Year's Resolutions

Professional Tip Tuesday
I went to the dentist yesterday for a checkup appointment. First of all, I decided that no matter what you do, you cannot be graceful at the dentist. I tried to make jokes, but in the dentist's chair there's no chance.

Anyway I had a super bubbly hygienist that had a true passion for flossing. My typical flossing routine is - every couple of months I think "I should do better!" And then I floss for 2-3 weeks max. But my adorable hygienist mentioned flossing at least 50 times. Her enthusiasm convinced me. So when she asked if I would make it a more constant habit, I responded: It's not too late for a New Year's Resolution, is it? 

It's not too late! Figuring out those resolutions by January 1st is way too much pressure. Instead, I am figuring out my goals as they come to me.

My list of goals so far, 1) Floss everyday - make that hygienist proud!

I totally believe in the value of personal and professional goals. I read here that setting career goals is like "consulting at a map before a trip" (..more like typing the address into your phone and checking the steps so Siri doesn't lead you astray in today's world). So I want to give my list a little boost.

While I haven't hammered out the details, I came up with three major professional 'themes' I want to focus on. This is just a start - but hopefully jotting them down will be a kickstart to make for a better 2014!

Professionally in 2014, I want to… 
1. Show my gratitude and give recognition. I want to give more thanks to those co-workers that ask my (seemingly endless) questions and never act like I am bothering them.

2. Be more confident in the value I offer. I want to stop undermining my skills. With this, I need to realize and articulate what I bring to the table. This article is a good example of how to do that!

3. Volunteer for more things out of my comfort zone. Maybe it's just helping out with a big client presentation, or being a part of a new project - use the confidence from #2 and just do it!


What are your 2014 personal or professional goals? Comment below!

Holiday Hiatus

I would like to extend my sincerest of apologies for my holiday hiatus. I hope everyone had a wonderful couple of weeks.. weeks! That's how long it's been since the last post. I took full advantage of the time with lots of relaxation and holiday cheer. 

I took a break from my computer screen and spent the time doing arts and crafts, and watching more sports than I ever have before! …Speaking of, my guest writer/boyfriend is so proud. Stay tuned for a future Water Cooler Sports Talk, pt. 2!

To ease back into this blogging thing, today is going to be more of a "Let's catch up!" Tuesday… 

So today's post is all about how I spent my precious time over the holidays and what I am looking forward to in 2014! Here's the highlights of the last two weeks in pictures :)

My roomie and I took a BYOB of wine and painting class in December. We had a ton of fun and are planning on being regulars at the gallery. The real question is, how many Anna/Laura originals can we fit on our living room wall?! 

Feeling artistically inspired, I went home for Christmas and was all about the craftiness. I became a knitting fool and made two scarves in a week! Since then, I went a little yarn crazy and stocked up on enough to keep me busy for a while. 

So this is 23 - a knitting fiend and loving it!

I even taught a mini-knitting lesson when I was home!

I came back to Kansas City with big New Years Eve plans with a group of friends! I had some people over before a night on the town. And of course I had to sneak in a picture with my New Year's date…

Finally I cheered on my teams, only to watch a few heartbreaking losses. But that's life, I guess. I still love my Hawks and Chiefs!!

Well, that's what I have been up to over the holidays. I am excited for craftiness, good sports games (believe it or not), and more Professional Tip Tuesday posts in 2014!!

PTT: Eat Smart at Work

Professional Tip Tuesday
A colleague and I decided the Freshman-15 in college is a joke. It's more like the Young Professional 15.

I think figuring out a personal healthy lifestyle is just as much as an adjustment as everything else. It's something I am still working hard to figure out. And with the holidays approaching, it's top priority on my list of New Years Resolutions.  

                                

Step 1 for me is eating healthy - and that can be a huge challenge during the workday. Between on-the-go lunches, snacking like crazy, and traveling, it can be tough to make good choices. Below are a few tips I have found and try to do myself. 

• Pick a sensible, but filling breakfast. Fix yourself something to get your day started off right. I am not too hungry when I first wake up - but I don't want to skip the most important meal of the day. I usually bring something that's easy to eat at the office. 
• My go-to is oatmeal. I just pack some of the dry oats in a little baggie with a pinch of brown sugar. Whenever I get hungry, I toss it into a cup and pour in some hot water. Another easy thing I have done is an egg bake if I have time on Sunday. For that just mix a few eggs, load in the vegetables, and throw it in a casserole dish - just bake on 350 and you are set for the week! 

• Structure your snacks. It can be easy to get carried away with the snacking during the day. I know I do it. Sometimes you just want to munch on something while you are working! But it's much better to pack a little snack bag of something that gives you energy and is filling. 
• I usually pack unsalted almonds, a granola bar, or apples and peanut butter. I give myself 2 mini snack bags for morning and afternoon. And as an added bonus, those snacks also help the day go a little faster!
• Pack your own lunch. Try and bring a lunch as much as possible. If you plan out your meals in advance, you have more control over what you are eating and portion size. If you are anything like me, whenever I buy my lunch at the cafeteria I feel like I should eat it all! 
• There are lots of easy, healthy lunch recipes all over the internet - check out Pinterest for inspiration. Here's a link to a bunch of quick options from The Food Network: Healthy Eats! 
• But do you really deserve a treat? One of my biggest downfalls is the "I have been working hard and deserve a treat" mentality. Avoid the vending machine and try and to control the urge. A Brazen Life article refers to these as the "cost free calories" - we tend to think those calories don't count because we 'earned' it. The author said, do what you need to do to break that mentality! 
• The author of that article says, "find a way to remind yourself of your health goals". Whether it's a sticky note on your desk or a having a 'buddy system' with a co-worker to help you resist, do your best to not indulge all the time. **Of course we do need a little sweet treat every now and then - don't totally deprive yourself! Just make it more of a special occasion sort of thing :)

Work accounts for a huge portion of your day. Being a little more conscious of what we eat at work can help significantly control a healthy lifestyle! So what are your tips for eating healthy in the workday? Comment below. 

PTT: Effective Note Taking

Professional Tip Tuesday
On Friday I celebrated a very special birthday. It wasn't a particularly exciting number. I didn't do anything extremely out of the ordinary. But it was special just the same.

In the days leading up to December 6th, 2013, instead of preparing for a birthday bash I was planning a mini-pity-party. I was sure the first grown up birthday was going to be a bust. Silly me.

Good friends helped be ring in the birthday.

Every birthday I get this overwhelming feeling that I am the happiest and luckiest I have ever been. But then it happens again 365 days later. And that wasn't any different this year. Even in this new stage in life, I felt so loved. I am a thankful girl. 

Anyhow, how is everyone's week going? I have been helping out with a client event this week which made yesterday and today go incredibly fast.

My job this week has been to take notes. Sounds super glamorous doesn't it? Actually, it's not a bad gig. I just switched to a new team a few weeks ago - and it's been great way for me to learn more about our process.

This week's Professional Tip Tuesday is short and sweet.. something that has really helped me out the past couple of days!

Template for taking great meeting notes.

There is a true value to being able to take good notes. I was happy to receive serious kudos for my note-taking the past couple of days. I asked a few co-workers how they take effective notes before I started and I can't tell you how much it helped me.

So below is a 'template' for what to include on your next set of meeting notes. This is great whether the notes are for yourself or for others. There's a secret to effective notes: After your general notes, review what you wrote, and create another 'Meeting Snapshot' in a new section. This final section is to call-out the most important points from the meeting. Here are the sections I found most helpful!
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• Team specific follow-ups: 
• Use this are for the most important items from the meeting for you (or the person you are taking the notes for) to follow up on soon after.

• Decisions: 
• Keep track of the big decisions that were made during the meeting.

• Tabled Conversations:
• In this section call out topics that need further discussion. This will serve as a good reminder of what subjects need to be brought up in the next meeting.

• Additional Uncovered Information:
•  I made this section to list important, extra information that might be uncovered during the meeting. It may not be a follow-up, but more of a 'good to know' piece.

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These sections will make it much easier for anyone to scan them quickly. It also helps when you looking back at meeting notes to review. What are your tips for taking effective notes? Comment below! 

PTT: To repair or not to repair?

Professional Tip Tuesday

I decked out my Lucky Bamboo for the holidays.

Who else is counting down until Christmas? It's just a few short weeks away. As I write this, I am drinking hot cocoa and watching The Santa Claus (one of my holiday favs!).

Even tough I am giddy about the holiday season - I did have a little misfortune this past weekend. My poor 2003 Chevy Cav hasn't been doing so hot. This is nothing new. I haven't been in an accident - yet I have gone through 3 cars since I started driving. As you can imagine, those 3 cars have racked up a number of repair bills.

So the I'm-an-adult-now question of the day is: How do you know when to keep putting money into repairs, and when do you give in and buy a new car?

I have been doing my research - and a great website to utilize is edmunds.com. This site is loaded with info on everything you need to know when making these big decisions. I found an article weighing out pros and cons of getting a new car.

I was hoping to put this huge life step off for a year or two while I get my big-girl-finances figured out. But I have to think about what will be more cost effective in the long run. So after doing some research, here is some food for thought for anyone in my position.

The repair bill is almost always cheaper than a car payment.
 - It's not just the new car you will be committing to.. a new car means more expensive insurance, and license and registration depending on the state.

Time and energy is something to keep in mind. 
- A reliable car can hold a lot more value when taking into account the time I have spent in repair shops and making ride arrangements. Constantly worrying about what's next in my car repair saga adds a whole new level of stress.

New vs. New to me. 
- A new car will lose 20-30% of it's value when you drive it off the lot. A lot of articles advocate for buying a used car. The trick is, buying a used car that is certified and still under factory warranty.

Know what you have to offer.
- If you do begin the looming task of car shopping, go in with confidence. I have my car as a trade-in for the down payment, I am a first-time car buyer, I have a steady income, and pretty good credit. The dealerships want your business - so play your cards right!

These were the things that really stuck out to me. I am still on the fence when it comes to the future of my Chevy Cav. If you have bought a new or used car recently, what was your experience? What advice do you have? Comment below!