Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Should You Relocate for a Job?

In a job market that still leaves something to be desired, the question on many professionals’ minds is, “should I relocate?”  Whether your current organization offers you a transfer that sounds too good to pass up or you receive an offer from an out-of-state (or out-of-country) firm that comes just as you were starting to get desperate, relocation is an issue that must be taken seriously – especially if you have a family that will be uprooted with you.

Of course, developing a list of pros and cons is a good move when making any major decision, but careful consideration of these five questions will also aid in your thought process.

Would you move there anyway?

If this job didn’t exist, is the area in question a place you’d ever want to go?  Think about what your regular daily routine will be like in the new location.  Do the pace of life and the amenities appeal to you?   How about the people, the culture, the weather, and the traffic?  Remember that a job is only one aspect of your life, and even work that you enjoy won’t be enough to overcome the distress of being stuck in a locale that’s not a good fit.

How will the move impact your family?

Relocations are easiest when you’re at a more flexible stage of life.  Once you have a family, however, you have to think about what your spouse will do in the new city.  Will he or she be able to get a good job too?  Is this area somewhere you can envision raising your children, complete with safe play areas and good schools?  Does the relocation involve moving away from extended family and friends who make life meaningful?

For more suggestions, have a look at the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

5 Truths About Work/Life Fit

My friend, Cali Yost, is an internationally-recognized expert on work/life fit.  In her new book, Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day, she suggests ways to hone in and make time for your most critical priorities.  But before you can do that, she shares some essential truths about work/life fit that are important to understand if we are to be satisfied at work and at home.

Truth #1:  A work/life mishmash is the new reality

As recently as the last decade, the hours of 9-to-5 were standard in most organizations.  You did your work during that period, and then you went home and took care of your personal life.  But the reality of people’s lives no longer matches those neat, rigid expectations.  The growing mismatch is causing people and business to suffer.

Truth #2: It’s not just your employer’s responsibility

Companies and managers alone can’t solve the work/life challenges of their employees.   Managers and HR departments can’t tell each person in the organization how to manage their work and life because everyone’s circumstances on and off the job are completely different.  Employers must create a work environment in which it is okay to discuss potential flexible work/life solutions.  Then we, individual employees, need to meet the organization halfway and come to the table with a plan that takes into consideration our needs and the needs of the business.

Truth #3: It’s work/life “fit,” not “balance”

Using “balance” to describe the goal of flexibility for individuals causes more problems than it solves.  That’s because there really isn’t a “balance” or ideal 50-50 split between work and life.  Most of the time, what we’re after is not working less, but working differently.  By shifting hours, allowing telecommuting, and changing the way work is completed, everyone can manage the way work fits into his or her life.  The goal is to create an environment where all of those different work/life fit realities can live together to achieve the goals of business over time.

For more truths from Cali's book, have a look at the full post on Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Imagine That You Are Free

When my grandfather passed away over the summer, he left me a book called The Seth Material by Jane Roberts.  Without going into too much detail here, the book is about an intelligent consciousness that has survived death and uses Roberts to share the universe’s secrets with living humans.

One of Seth’s messages is that we create our own reality.  Apparently, this notion is supported by quantum physics, which suggests that physical reality is created by and differs for every individual.  20^th century Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Planck had this to say about man’s effect on matter:

“There is no matter as such.  All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together.  We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind.  This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

I have touched on the idea before that changing our thoughts can improve attitudes at work.  And if consciousness is really the birthplace of physical reality, then we can also create situations by believing in them.  Here are some ways to get started on the right path.

If you could spend your time doing anything in the world, what would that be?  Think about where you would be right now if you were unencumbered by your current financial or familial constraints.  Jot down how you would use your expertise to benefit society if you weren’t held back by mitigating factors or extenuating circumstances.  Imagine that you are free.

Over at the Fast Track blog, I talk more about how to create your own reality and happiness.  I hope this can be my gift to you this holiday season.

Holiday Laziness is Not the End of the World

I have a confession to make.

I have not been as productive as usual lately.

I have set aside 35 hours a week to work, and I’ve written articles, consulted with clients, developed presentations, and done media interviews during approximately 25 of them.  That means that I’m spending 10 work hours a week doing…not much.

I’ve never considered myself lazy.  But well, here we are.

According to my friend Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, however, this is not the end of the world and I shouldn’t feel too guilty about it.   “Lazy means that your body and mind are tired and want to rest. That’s a sign that you should actually rest. When you ignore these signs, it leads to burnout. So rest, and feel good about it!”

Babauta also suggests that one can work all day in a flurry of frenetic activity only to get a little done that actually matters.  On the contrary, one can do a few things that take a few hours but lead to lasting achievement.  You might do less, but the time you spent counts for more.

This last point, which is like a sensible distillation of Tim Ferriss’ early work, has become my new mantra.  But I do think it’s easier said than done.  After all, if everyone could be more effective working a few hours a day, we’d all be doing it.  For some of Leo's ideas, which I've been trying to employ myself, have a look at the Fast Track blog.

 

Would You Work With Your Spouse?

If you want to know the future, your best bet is to ask Weiner, Edrich, Brown (WEB), one of the world’s top futurist consulting firms. WEB, a four-person operation founded in 1977, identifies and analyzes long-term trends that impact business. The direction of the firm is guided by two dynamic co-vice presidents who happen to be husband and wife.

Erica Orange and Jared Weiner met at the University of Rochester, and several years later, Erica began working for Jared’s mother Edie at her firm Weiner, Edrich, Brown. Edie gave Jared the ultimatum that if “things don’t work out between the two of you, I’m still keeping her.” Fortunately, it did. The two married and eventually Jared joined the firm.

The pair lives in an apartment in Manhattan and works in the same office two feet from one another. Incredibly, they don’t drive each other crazy.  To learn what makes their unique arrangement work, check out my full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Is Stress Affecting You More Than You Think?

Stress, a response that has evolved in humans over hundreds of thousands of years, is something we working professionals tend to take for granted.  We have to wake up in the morning – every morning – commute to an office, accomplish any number of tasks while proving our overall value to the organization, contend with a multitude of factors that are beyond our control, and arrive home in time to eek out some semblance of a personal life in between smartphone checks.  How could this not be stressful?

What’s more surprising, though, are the ways stress wrecks havoc on our lives in ways we don’t expect, such as undiagosed illness and memory loss.  For more on this insidious epidemic, check out my full post on the Fast Track blog.

How to Be Happier at Home (and Work)

Gretchen Rubin has been a friend of mine since the early days of our blogs.  Her first book, The Happiness Project, became an international bestseller, and I was excited to read her latest effort, Happier at Home.  The new book focuses on ways we can make our homes places of greater simplicity, comfort, and love.

Since I specialize in careers and work, I naturally zeroed in on the part of the book that focuses on work/life balance.  Managing your time well is critical, because, as Gretchen points out, it only passes faster as we get older.  She cites poet Robert Southy, who explained:

“Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life.  They appear so while they are passing, they seem to have been so when we look back on them, and they take up more room in our memory than all the years that succeed them.”

Since we don’t “notice” life as much once we’re in our twenties, thirties, and beyond, it’s especially important that we make an effort to be mentally present in each moment.  Happier at Home has dozens of recommendations to this effect, but here are a few that directly apply to the subject of work:

• Do you have kids?  Even though taking care of them can sometimes be boring, resist the urge to check your phone in their presence.  In fact, put the phone away, as it’s admittedly hard to resist.

 

• Don’t check e-mail at bedtime.  The stimulation of reading certain messages will energize you and you’ll have trouble falling asleep.

 

• Don’t type away on your smartphone when traveling from one place to another.  Instead of forcing yourself to use this time productively, leave yourself open to new thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

 

• Do understand when you are most efficient at doing different tasks, and work around that.  I, for example, get better quality writing done if I respect that my mental focus is sharpest in the late afternoon.

 

Is a Staycation Day at Work Totally Unappealing?

When I posted on the Fast Track blog about taking a staycation day (i.e. mini sabbatical) at work in order to rejuventate one's career, I received quite a bit of pushback.  It seems that many people object for a variety of reasons.  So I wanted to pose the question to this community:

Would you ever take a staycation day at work?  Why or why not?

Please check out the post and let me know what you think!

Manage the Needs of Multiple Supervisors

It’s a fact of modern work life that many of us have multiple supervisors.  And even if you’re an efficient multi-tasker, you’re never going to be Superman. It’s not a good idea to sabotage your goals by taking on more work than you can do just because someone above you said so.

Formalize Daily Responsibilities

In general, you want to be perceived as a can-do employee by all of your supervisors. A good first step is to formalize your daily responsibilities with your official boss. Find out who on your team is authorized to delegate work to you, and note the type of assignments you can expect from each person.

Let’s say that Joe, who is outside this core group of delegators, gives you a stack of client status reports to do. How should you respond? It’s perfectly appropriate to politely reply that you would be glad to help, but that you would appreciate it if Joe would check with your official manager first. Joe may or may not pursue the matter, but, either way, you have extricated yourself from an awkward situation and have placed the ball squarely in your official boss’s court. In all likelihood, your boss will say no to Joe for you, especially if doing status reports is outside your area of responsibility.

Be Assertive

Now imagine that Jane, a member of your core group of delegators, leaves an urgent assignment on your chair that must be done by the end of the week. Jane has known about the task for a few days, but now it’s Friday morning and the deadline is looming. As my mother used to say, don’t let another person’s lack of planning become your emergency. If your own “to do” list dictates you do something else, speak up.

Tell Jane that you wish you could do the task for her, but you are currently working on a project with Tom that requires your attention. Give her the option of resolving the issue with Tom or your official boss, and emphasize how much you enjoy working with her. Ideally, Jane will leave the interaction with the perception that you sincerely do want to help her, but that you can’t help being caught between conflicting responsibilities.

Get Help Prioritizing

What if your official boss is the one with an urgent request that you don’t have the time to attend to? In a way, this is the least painful scenario, because all you really have to do is ask her to help you prioritize your various assignments. You can say something such as, “I’d be happy to take care of that, but today I’m researching statistics for Tom’s client presentation. Which do you think I should do first?”

If your official boss wants to snatch your time at Tom’s expense, that’s her prerogative. Again, though, you have made someone else accountable for deciding which of the competing tasks you should direct your energy toward. By always striving to present yourself as a hardworking and disciplined employee with the best interests of the organization at heart, you will be able to maintain good relationships will everyone above you without killing yourself in the process.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

Strictly Nine to Five? Better Think Twice

Do you mandate that your team members be physically present in the office during traditional business hours?  If you haven’t intended to make flextime and/or telecommuting a part of your team’s operations, you may want to rethink that decision.

Recently, MomCorps, a national flexible staffing firm, conducted a survey showing that flexible work options are significantly important to working professionals today as a deciding factor when taking a job, with some even willing to give up salary to get it.

Balance Trumps Finances

According to the survey, more than two in five working adults (42 percent) are willing to give up some percentage of their salary for more flexibility at work; about six percent is the average employees are willing to relinquish.  Considering the current state of the job market and continually high unemployment, this is huge.  It means that, despite financial concerns, American workers are still putting work/life balance ahead of economic advantages.

Dads Want it Too

It’s not just the working moms either.  So, while working mothers are often thought to be the impetus for workplace flexibility, working fathers are also seeking more balance between work and life as it relates to their children.  Only half of all working parents said they preferred to work a traditional “9-to-5” workday, and an incredible 79 percent of working mothers and 77 percent of working fathers say that they would stay with a company longer if it offered flexible work options.

Put Flexibility in Place Now

You might think that your employees won’t ask for flexible work options because they are still afraid for their jobs, but this is not the case.  And if you don’t offer them now, you will be primed to lose them when the job market improves and your competition is out there presenting a more attractive work schedule.

So how do you start?  You might first have a chat with Human Resources to see what is possible, and then survey your team on the type of flexibility that would interest them most.  You may not be able to deliver the perfect solution, but any efforts in this direction will certainly be appreciated by your staff.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.