Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

It goes without saying that networking is essential for your career development. For a whole load of reasons, that I’m not going to write about in this blog, because we have lots of other blogs that talk about the benefit. So what am I going to write about today? Well, if we know networking is […]. Career Development Networking admin administrators assistants EA Executive Assistant Networking tips Office manager PA Personal Assistant Virtual Assistant

Networking 198

Networking 2018 Management 198

Eat Your Career

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

As the saying goes, a first impression is a lasting impression. Those precious first few moments of interaction with a new contact can have a major impact on how that person sees you for the entirety of your relationship. A bad first impression can be difficult (and sometimes impossible) to overcome, while a good one can help you stand out in a positive and memorable way.

2018 192

2018 Etiquette Confidence Phones 192

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

You know the feeling. You have a dream or maybe a plan. You’ve been at it for quite some time now. Weeks, months or maybe years. And yet, the dream hasn’t come true yet. In fact, you feel farther from your goal than ever before. Doubtful thoughts mess with your head in an infinite loop. What is it that you’re missing? Are you not smart enough? Is it about luck? Are you too young/old for this? You feel you know what it takes to make your dream come true, but what if you’re wrong?

2018 177

2018 Goals Learning Interviewing 177

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

The IRS released their 2016 tax data on sole proprietors.    The data covers business receipts, deductions, and net income reported by taxpayers on Schedule C of tax Form 1040. This includes the vast majority of small businesses, including small businesses that report on a pass-through basis (LLC's, etc.).     In 2016 about 25.5 million sole proprietors reported about $1.422 trillion dollars in gross receipts. 

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2018 2016 2003 Temping 158

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

From Joan Burge’s new book, Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed (2018). I know many seasoned executive assistants who think they do not need to focus on or pay attention to their basic skills, what is also known as the fundamentals. They feel they have been managing calendars or planning meetings forever so why pay attention. This is not smart.

2018 181

2018 Calendars Negotiating Travel 181

Tips From T. Marie

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

If you are a small business owner or freelancer, you know that one of the disadvantages of being your own boss can often be the fluctuation in your income. Often how much income and when that income becomes available to you each month can be hit or miss. Some self-employed individuals plan ahead for the tight times, particularly if they know what months will be a feast and which will be famine.

2018 119

2018 Learning Skills UPS 119

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

I can’t think of a single day in the last decade that I haven’t at some point used Google for something. It could be to check my emails, write a document, put a meeting in my diary or, in most cases, search for something or settle an argument. It is, like most of us, my […]. Office Technology admin administrators assistants EA Executive Assistant Google Office manager PA Personal Assistant Tasks Virtual Assistant

Google 190

Google 2018 Email Management 190

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

Do you feel stressed or distracted as soon as you get to work? Here’s one cause you may not have considered: not having a clean desk at work. Sure, you’ve probably heard things like “yeah, my desk is messy, but so was Einstein’s” This idea that having a cluttered desk is a good thing has become much more common in the last few years. But alas, that doesn’t make it right and we’re going to do a bit of debunking.

2018 175

2018 Filing Keyboards Confidence 175

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

The global accounting and professional services firm EY has developed GigNow , an external online talent platform.    Like PWC's Talent Exchange and Deloitte's Open Talent Community , the goal of GigNow is to help EY find and engage skilled independent workers - both for EY's internal use and for use on client projects.

2018 153

2018 Skills 2016 International 153

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

Whether you have been coordinating meetings for decades or days there are some simple tips to follow to make any meeting more productive and the attendees feel welcomed. There are times when meetings seem to plan themselves especially when the majority of the week is spent attending or planning several meetings! People may quickly migrate to an open room and start discussing random topics, etc. or an agenda is created, the room is reserved, but the topics are not clear.

2018 169

2018 Agenda Equipment Resume 169

Simple Productivity Blog

SEPTEMBER 30, 2018

It's really interesting to me that people invariably understand that in order to get to a destination, you have to have some idea where it is. Once that is known, a strategy for getting there is decided on. In the old days, it was a map and/or turn by turn directions. Now we use GPS to do the work for us. But in spite of this familiar set of actions we perform every time we go somewhere new, most people don't understand that this same techniques can be applied to achieving your goals.

2018 109

2018 Goals 109

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

Managing someone else’s calendar. You know how it is. You are managing your boss or client’s Inbox and/or Calendar. They want you to set up meetings on their behalf and they don’t want the bother of accepting them – they would prefer you to receive the meeting responses. If they set up their own meetings, […].

Calendars 176

Calendars 2018 Management Email 176

Eat Your Career

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Advancing financially at work can be hard. After all, everybody wants a raise. But there’s only so much money to go around. Someone is always going to be disappointed, and it’s no fun when that person is you. If you’ve been declined for a raise, or told it’s just not the right time, or been given some excuse about budgets and pay scales…I’m here to help.

2018 130

2018 Negotiating Budget Confidence 130

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

“We look neither ahead nor backward. We look straight into the present.”. Stay in the present, be in the now, just for today. We’ve heard those lines time and time again, but we still struggle to get hold of this life-changing concept. Why is it so hard to know how to stay in the present? If we’ve been told that focusing on the present is the answer to all of our problems, then why do we find it so hard to do it?

2018 175

2018 Restaurants Phones Goals 175

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

MBO Partners last week released Digital Nomadism: A Rising Trend , a research brief on digital nomads. We worked with MBO Partners on this study. Digital Nomads are wanderers who have a location-independent lifestyle that allows them to travel and work anywhere they can plug into the Internet.    Some are short-term nomads who only travel and work for short periods of time.    Others do it for many years. And

2018 148

2018 Lifestyle Travel 148

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

I am overwhelmed by the hundreds of assistants worldwide who contributed to a Gratitude Book that was presented to me by my son, Brian, on my birthday (August 16). I don’t really take the time to stop and think about how I impact tens of thousands of administrative and executive assistants around the world. I just do my work. I focus on how I can help assistants live a better life, increase their productivity, and improve the quality of their work life. My work is not work.

2018 163

2018 Email Learning 163

Simple Productivity Blog

SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

Bullet Journaling is a very simple and straightforward way to capture notes, ideas and events. I love the simplicity of it, but out of the box it doesn't provide a way to do traditional time- and task-based planning. That's probably why it's called a bullet journal and not a bullet planner. That being said, traditional planners don't work all that well for me because I need a way to set my tasks out so that I can visualize the timing of how they will get done.

2018 109

2018 Skills Management 109

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Enjoy today’s interview with Stuart Martin, EA at Spotify which is full of Executive Assistant Tips and Tricks. What are the main aspects of your role? I support one of the Vice Presidents within the Research & Development division here at Spotify. My primary responsibility is to ensure that he has everything he needs and is […].

2018 175

2018 Interviewing Management 175

Eat Your Career

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

For many years, time was my constant nemesis. I never had enough of it, it always flew by too fast, and I could never seem to make good use of the time I had. But something changed about 10 years ago…I started getting really interested in the science and art of time management. For almost a decade, I’ve studied this topic with an absolute voracious appetite. I’ve tried new strategies, adapted them to suit my needs, tossed the ones that didn’t work, and kept the ones that did.

2018 125

2018 Management Learning Goals 125

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

For you to keep your overall health, experts say that you shouldn’t neglect your oral health. It’s because a healthy set of teeth is one of the indicators of your well-being. Failure to take care of it is the same as letting your physical health down the drain. Thus, it’s not surprising that a lot of people today consider their oral health as one of their priorities for having a healthy lifestyle. However, there are still some folks out there who believe in dental myths.

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2018 Health Lifestyle Forms 175

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

Morning Consult's In a Robust Job Market, Gig Workers Satisfaction on a Par With Wider Workforce covers the results of their recent survey of employed Americans. Key quote from the article:   adults who identify as being a gig economy worker report being just as satisfied with their jobs, financial situations and family life as the average adult who has been employed in the past six months.

2018 142

2018 142

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

From Joan Burge’s new book, Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed (2018). THE BROCHURE PROMOTING AN administrative training pro­gram said, We will never make you do anything you don’t want to do. Oh heavens, I thought! Really? How do you think a person grows? This was in a brochure from a company who hosts supposedly high-level classes for assistants. Pleeeaazzz! Since 1990, I have been stretching assistants out of their comfort zones.

2018 156

2018 Goals Salary Salary 156

On The Job

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

Today, social media is sure to blast the news far and wide when a top leader makes a mistake, whether the person is in the private sector or public life. Recently, a discussion about leaders who benefit from showing genuine remorse when things go wrong prompted me to think about how we can all learn from such a situation. I'm not saying you have to apologize on Twitter or post a remorseful 600-word apology on Facebook when you screw up at work.

2018 148

2018 Social Media Twitter Phones 148

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2018

For years, I thought leaders were the ones in charge or the ones with essential titles. It turns out, everyone has influence and is a leader to those around them – even if they don’t acknowledge it. Do you see yourself as a leader? Today I’d like to share a letter with you – my fellow […]. Core Competencies Featured Writers admin administrators assistants Competencies EA Executive Assistant Key Skills Leadership Leadership skills PA Personal Assistant Virtual Summit

2018 169

2018 Skills 169

Laughing all the Way to Work

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

I have recently been doing some work online and it has opened up a whole new world for me. Of course others have been on the bandwagon for some time and are doing quite well. What do they know that I don't and why have I not moved on this before now? To be or not to be an entrepreneur? Striking out on your own can be frightening. Especially when you are used to the traditional workplace of going to an office, getting a steady paycheck, being on the company pension and benefit plan, etc.

2018 143

2018 Retirement Administrative Professionals Travel 143

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

To the legendary Scottish coach Bill Shankly, soccer was not a matter of life and death – it was more important than that. In some parts of the world, the soccer team you support reflects your neighborhood, nationality, faith or social class. For many American parents, soccer is the sport you spend an unreasonable amount of time driving your kids to and from.

2018 174

2018 Sprint Skills Goals 174

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

The online freelance talent marketplace Upwork filed last week to go public.    According to the filing, Upwork has 375,000 registered freelancers and 475,000 client businesses located across 180 countries.    The company reported sales of $164.4 million in 2016 and $202.6 million in 2017, an annual growth rate of 23%. For the first half of  2018, sales were $121.9 million, up 28% from the prior year. Historically Upwork mostly served small businesses.

2018 137

2018 2016 2017 Filing 137

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

From Joan Burge’s new book, Joan’s Greatest Administrative Secrets Revealed (2018). I HAVE BEEN SPEAKING on attitude since 1990. What I said in 1990 still holds true today. You have a choice when it comes to your attitude. You are not a victim of your circumstances. It is not what others do or say that matters; it’s what you choose to do with what you have and choose how you want to respond. Regardless of our individual circumstances, we all have one thing in common—we choose our attitude.

2018 153

2018 Gifts Assertiveness Purchasing 153

On The Job

SEPTEMBER 2, 2018

Many young workers come to a conclusion that's often hard to swallow: Working hard doesn't mean you get ahead. Just because you show up on time, meet all your deadlines and don't gossip, well, that's not enough to get a bigger paycheck or title. In fact, you may wonder why the dunderhead in the cubicle next to you got a supervisory role, when you know more and do more. But here's the thing: Dunderhead is working smarter.

2018 143

2018 Gossip Cubicle Mentoring 143

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

I’m sure at some point in our careers we have felt stressed and overwhelmed with how much work we have to get through. It can be such a vicious circle because it can feel like the only choice is to keep going, trying desperately to stay on top of everything and work extra long hours […]. Career Development Featured admin administrators assistants Career EA Executive Assistant Office manager overwhelm PA Personal Assistant Virtual Assistant Wellbeing

2018 167

2018 Stress Management 167

Eat Your Career

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018

This is a guest post contributed by Eleanor Whitney, editor of All Hands , a publication about life at work from Managed by Q. These days, design inspiration is everywhere. As we scroll through Instagram, admiring like-worthy workspaces and decor details, it’s easy to look around our own spaces and think about how we could adjust the decor or maybe even knock down a wall to open up the space and get more natural light.

2018 100

2018 Budget Expenses Finance 100

Dumb Little Man

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

Despite avoiding the news and mainstream influence 90% of the time, I’m still aware that the world is in a state of chaos and that people are having a hard time finding peace in chaos. Especially in the United States’ political climate, we see ongoing negativity, reactivity, and ignorance. We typically see chaos as a negative concept while order is preferred. With order there’s stability and predictability, thus we know we won’t be challenged.

2018 173

2018 Social Media UPS 173

Small Business Labs

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

7 Tips to Start Small Scale Manufacturing - Business Ideas for Product Makers is a fun and interesting video designed to help makers and other small manufacturers build their business. The video, below, is from the YouTube maker video channel from the highly energetic Evan and Katelyn. Their series of videos is targeted at amateur and hobby makers, amateurs who want to be professional makers and micro and small manufacturing businesses.

2018 133

2018 133

Office Dynamics

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

5 Ways to Take Charge of Your Career. Think like an entrepreneur. See yourself as President of You, Inc. Don’t just think of yourself as working for someone else. Learn to take responsibility and be accountable for your work environment. Be a catalyst in making good things happen around you. See teams everywhere. See people in other departments as part of the bigger team. A business should be a constellation of talent.

2018 150

2018 Environment Learning Management 150

Simple Productivity Blog

SEPTEMBER 23, 2018

Have you ever been faced with a huge task list, and the sinking feeling that there was no way on earth to get it all done? This happens to me more often than not. I don't know if it's because I think I can get more done than I can actually do, or because I am too busy or because I am just too lazy to get my butt into gear. But it happens all the time. And here is how I deal with it. The post What To Do When You Don’t Have Enough Time appeared first on Laura Earnest. Time Management

2018 100

2018 Management 100

Practically Perfect PA

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Many Assistants are being asked to look after their Executive’s online profiles and their organisation’s social media messaging. It can be a time-consuming task that requires some thought because social media platforms change so rapidly. During next month’s Virtual Summit we will look at the structure that you can put in place to manage social […].

Social Media 166

Social Media 2018 Management 166

Clutter Coach

SEPTEMBER 20, 2018

by Subscribe: iTunes ? Stitcher ? Soundcloud ? YouTube ? Google Play. You can leave a review here! This is Podcast 102 and it’s about using information. Are you good at gathering information? How about taking notes, on a seminar or a book? Maybe you write in the margins of the handouts, or maybe you create a dedicated binder for all your fantastic notes. But… what happens next? Unless you’re in school, there’s not going to be a test on those notes.

2018 100

2018 Learning Filing Google 100