Staying Focused on Work-Life Balance

I don’t have to track my hours at work, but I do. If I suddenly see the hours creeping up, then I know that my work-life balance is out of order. Or, if I’m only working eight hours and I still feel overwhelmed, I take a look at all my extra activities, which includes volunteer work for several organizations. Sometimes, I simply have too many meetings after hours in the same week. If that’s the case, then that is not the week to schedule dinner with friends.

My need to balance is typical. A recent survey of more than 4,000 business executives conducted by Accenture found that work-life balance was the key factor for more than half of men and women in determining a successful career. It comes ahead of money, recognition and autonomy.

Tracking my hours each week is one way to keep my work-life balance in check. A few other tips include:

Scheduling time for projects: My calendar is filled with meetings. Also on the calendar are blocks of time dedicated to the major projects on which I’m working. If I don’t schedule those blocks of time, they quickly become filled with emails, invoices and people stopping by with other possible assignments. Scheduling time for projects keeps me focused on the critical items.

Just “Say No”: This one is tough for me, but on days when I have lots of meetings or time blocked for projects and someone asks me for five minutes, I ask if it can wait until a better time. Not only can I give the person my undivided attention at the later time, but I’m also able to stay on track.

Avoid Workplace Distractions: Sometimes it’s easy to become distracted by conversations. And when I don’t want to work on a project, I’m more likely to check emails or clean out file drawers. To avoid that, I’ll pop a CD into the computer or set the alarm on my phone for a set time. Then I work on the project for the length of the CD or until the alarm goes off. Even if I haven’t finished the project, I’ve at least made progress.

Let’s Do the Time Zone

One Sunday afternoon many years ago I called to order a pizza. I was told I would have to wait an hour because they weren’t open. “Weren’t open?” I thought incredulously. “It’s noon.” Then the person on the other end of the phone line reminded me that the clocks had fallen back an hour.

“Oops!”

Imagine my challenge then working for an international organization and trying to schedule calls and keep time zones straight. I have two websites that I rely on to keep track of what in the world the time really is.

The first is www.timedial.net. What I like is the “Time Difference Calculator,” which is “for lazy people…who just want time conversions to be simple without having to do any in head calculations.” I simply enter the time for one location to find out the time in another.

Another great feature is a tool that displays the correct way to dial from one location to another. When I first had to place an international call, I couldn’t figure out all the numbers. For me just keeping area codes straight is a challenge. Now I also have to worry about things like country codes.

It turns out international dialing codes are split into three parts – IDD Prefix, Country Code and NDD Prefix. The IDD Prefix is the international dialing code part used to dial out to a foreign country. The Country Code – as the name implies – identifies the foreign country to connect to. The NDD Prefix is the dialing code part used when dialing a national number.

Now you know why I like to use a website to help me with my calls.

Another site I like is www.everytimezone.com. Of late I’ve been Skyping with multiple colleagues around the globe at one time. It’s hard to keep the times straight given that one person is in Japan. One is in Australia. Another is in Europe. I’m in the U.S. This website shows the time across all time zones. So now I know whether to see good morning, afternoon or evening depending on the time of the call. With one glance I know exactly the time and I don’t have to do any math calculations.

Now if I could just keep Daylight Savings Time straight.

Avoiding Workplace Distractions

I don’t do well working at home. I’m too easily distracted by dust bunnies, laundry and the pile of books I want to read. Plus, at the office, I know exactly where all my files and piles are, and I seldom remember to bring the right paperwork home with me.

However, there are days, when I don’t seem to get anything done at the office and it’s because there is too much chatter or too many meetings. Turns out those are two of the top three workplace distractions, according to the results of a survey by Ask.com.

I now have an office with a door, but I try to avoid closing it as I prefer to remain accessible. However, when the volume outside the door becomes too great, it’s a challenge to work. I’m always surprised by this because when I worked for a newspaper, our desks were tight against the next desk and there wasn’t even a cubicle wall to separate the reporters. Yet, I could totally concentrate.

I’ve picked up a few habits from my colleagues to minimize distractions, including listening to music through headphones. I also rely heavily on IM for quick answers. For the most part I keep my conversations to the computer, although at least once a day, I make it a point to touch base with each member of my team. It allows all of us to concentrate and communicate when convenient.

I’m also in favor of stand-up meetings or walking meetings because they cut down on the length of the meeting. I seldom accept an invite to a meeting that doesn’t have a stated purpose. When I run a meeting, I try to stay on point by sending an agenda in advance.

What distracts you at work, and how do you cope with it?

Summer Reading List Keeps Me Sharp

Growing up, summers meant library time and signing up for the book club. Whatever the minimum level, it was never a problem to reach as I read voraciously. I still do.

In the summer, though, I tend toward less weighty subjects that are best read poolside. I do, however, create a summer reading list to keep me sharp.

This summer is no different, and I’ve selected five books, which is a bit ambitious.

The Marketing Agency Blueprint by Paul Roetzer. This one was recommended to me by Brian Forester of Dynamic Web Solutions. The book presents 10 rules for building tech-savvy, hybrid agencies that will disrupt and transform the marketing services industry. One caveat, several reviews criticized it for its heavy focus on HubSpot. I still think I’ll benefit from it as the communications world now has such a heavy focus on digital.

Katie Paine shared her books at a workshop. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

Katie Paine shared her books at a workshop. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

Measuring the Networked Nonprofit by Beth Kanter and Katie Delahaye Paine. The premise is simple, “If you want to change the world, be networked, use measurement and make sense of your data.” I’ve heard both authors speak, and I follow Beth’s blog. When Katie spoke to my local PRSA chapter, I finally bought the book. She also signed it for me and provided some great inspiration, “May all your results be great by any measure and may you change children’s lives with data.”

Engage by Brian Solis. This one’s been out for awhile, and I have the version that includes a forward by Ashton Kutcher. Brian has been at the forefront of social media and this book is often touted as a must-read. The reason it’s languished on my shelf for so long unread is that every time I pick it up, I turn to a sentence that is unwieldy, and I don’t think I can read further. This past week, though, I turned to a section that did pull me in so I’m going to read it and skip over the poorly written sentences.

Authentic Leadership by Bill George. The book club I belong to at work has selected this book for our September discussion. I didn’t read the last book, so I’m determined to read this one. The Amazon site notes that George has become the unofficial spokesperson for responsible leadership—in business, the media and academia. He shows how to develop the five essential dimensions of authentic leaders—purpose, values, heart, relationships and self-discipline.

Words That Mean Success by Jeffrey D. Porro. I’ve worked with Jeff Porro and have learned much from him. In this book he tells you how to take your speeches and presentations from good to great.

Once I finish a book, I plan to write a blog on it. It’s a way to keep myself accountable. Plus, if you are interested in the book and haven’t committed to reading the book, maybe the post will encourage you.

What books do you recommend?

Online Newsrooms Worth a Visit

We all know that the Internet makes finding information easier. But are you making it easy for people to find information about the company for which you work, your own business or your book?

Steve Momorella, who is the owner and founder of TEKGROUP, which has been creating online newsrooms for 25 years, recently shared some great tips to make your online newsroom stand out.

Key attributes include appearance, freshness, content, social, SEO and ROI.

The appearance must look professional and have the branding of the corporate site, otherwise, Momorella says, you confuse the viewer.

Freshness, of course, refers to making sure the newsroom is up-to-date. The content on the site must include more than press releases. The site should include background on the company, videos and the company logo.

Social, Momorella says, is the big shift. “Twenty-five years ago our target was journalists. It’s gone much bigger than that.” He refers to the general news consumer, individuals who want to learn more about the company. “A lot of people go to the newsroom for research.”

SEO, or search engine optimization, is important because you want your newsroom to be found when people are searching for information about your company. ROI plays out when you build a newsroom that allows you to distribute videos that stations can use. Doing so saves money in overnight shipping and often lands your company on a news segment, which can lead to an increase in sales.

To check out some online newsrooms that Momorella says incorporate these attributes, visit:

  • Toyota’s newsroom because of its graphic design, categorized video search and social media landing page.
  • Cisco for its fresh content, storytelling, graphic design, embedded video and searchable archive.
  • Starbucks for its video, photo galleries, information and speaker requests and fresh content.