Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
FIRE is the acronym for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” If 50 is the new 30, FIRE practitioners want to make 35 the new 65. Most of us think of retirement age as somewhere between 62 (Social Security eligibility) and 70 (mandatory retirement age for some professions, and the age when Social Security payments max out.) … Continue reading FIRE: Could You Retire Early?
(This article first appeared in 2013 in my Times-Union employment column as Hurricane Irma approached Florida. My advice stands up well to the test of time. Whether it stands up to hurricane-force winds is yet to be seen.) As Hurricane Dorian approaches, most of us in Florida are making sensible preparations for keeping our family … Continue reading Your Job and a Hurricane
This post is inspired by this John Maxwell post. If you’re aspiring to be a great leader, you might be feeling a little whiplash. A few years ago, Sheryl Sandburg urged you to lean in. But a herd of management gurus are telling you that the only way to achieve your goals is by saying … Continue reading Live on the Other Side of Yes
Recently we covered how to dress with confidence at work. It’s not a frivolous topic; your confidence is directly tied to your performance. It’s part of what people notice first about you. Of course, you have to have great skills and good ideas, but your image is also a critical part of how you’re perceived … Continue reading How to Revamp Your Professional Image
In a previous post, I wrote about how life admin causes conflict between partners, spouses, and roommates. Nobody likes having to take on the boring, low (if any) satisfaction tasks like scheduling appointments, calling contractors, or finding a new cleaning service. Elizabeth Emens is the author of Life Admin: How I Learned to Do Less, … Continue reading Admin is Sticky
Think about the last few weeks of your life. Have you been feeling stressed? Do you have a big event coming up that’s got you losing sleep or feeling panicked? We all feel stressed from time to time, but stress itself is not the enemy. Our beliefs about stress are the enemy.
When was your last epic fail? Chances are I can make a good guess about it by knowing whether you’re a man or a woman.
In a previous post, I write about the insidious creep of administrative work it takes to run a modern household. From scheduling appointments to paying bills, calling about repairs, and following up with kids’ activities, the never-ending to-do list that is life admin takes up enormous amounts of time, resources, and brainpower. Elizabeth Emens is … Continue reading Life Admin
So how do families decide who does the admin? Elizabeth Emens says it happens in several ways, some of them deliberate and some entirely random.
Like most of you, I have a job. A great one that takes up a good portion of my personal bandwidth. I also have a couple of side gigs that are challenging, enjoyable, and have the added benefit of bringing in a little extra income.
I also have another job – a complicated, sometimes stressful, and unpaid job: I’m the family administrative assistant.
