Win The Gold

During the Olympics my husband and I have been watching an insane amount of Olympics coverage. Being from the Northeast and growing up around these sports, we have a special fondness in our hearts for the Winter Olympics in general. One thing that struck me about this year's coverage of ski jumping was that the announcers kept reiterating that ski jumping as a sport is not particularly difficult to master physically- it is a sport featured around one simple movement. What makes ski jumping challenging and sets amateurs apart from the pros is the timing of that movement, and the strength with which it's held in the air. They explained, that the art of ski jumping is knowing when to lay out over your skis, and convincing your mind to stay there when everything inside you is telling you that you shouldn't be doing that. You are, after all, essentially jumping off a three story building chest-first to a steep snowy landing below. Convince your mind that that's totally normal and safe, and you're on your way to winning Olympic gold.

Sometimes work is like this. Sure, work is a heck of a lot safer, but there are times when your mind seems to be chanting "This doesn't matter" or "Focus on something else" or "Nothing could be more boring than this." I don't care how much you love your job, inevitably at some point you will find yourself wondering if you're making a difference, unable to focus, or trying to complete an annoyingly mundane task. (Note: If this describes the majority of your job maybe you should think about a career/job change, but for the rest of us this will happen from time to time.) It's times like this that set the regular employees (the amateurs) apart from the stellar employees (the Olympic gold medalists). Right, but how do you convince your mind that it's wrong? Just like athletes have different techniques, so too do employees. I tend to use the following tricks (the overall concepts are universal, and the examples are job-specific):

1. Break Big Tasks Into Smaller To-Dos
   
   I feel accomplished when I can cross something off, even if it's something small. I would rather have 8 small/medium-sized tasks on my to-do list than three big ones. So if I have a few major things I need to do I will spell the steps out and let myself cross them off as I go. This also helps you to think through the task and better budget your time throughout the day.
2. Look at the Bigger Picture
   Sometimes if I'm fiddling with small keyword bid changes I can get stuck in the "Does this 10 cents really matter?" trap. By aggregating that and looking at the bigger picture I can remind myself that it does matter to the company at the end of the day. If we can save 10 cents on 100 keywords, that's $10/day, or $3,650/year- on just ONE account. Sure, no one cares about $0.10, but $3,650? Now you're talking!
3. Rely on The Industry
   
   Sometimes it's easy to let yourself get away with doing less work. In my case, that would be something like "This account is small enough that match type and strength of long-tail keywords don't matter much." But, is that true or just what my mind is telling me so I can do less work? Look to the industry's opinions- industry standards would say that both match-type and long-tails are very important. Then you'll have your answer!

So get out there, conquer your mind, and win gold at work! What tricks do you use?

First Impressions And Second Chances

As the saying goes, "You only get one chance to make a first impression." A first impression is important because it sets the foundation for your relationship with your coworkers, managers, directors, and more. If you start off on the wrong foot when meeting someone, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll never get in good with the person in question, if just means that doing so will take a considerable amount of work.

Truthfully, until about five months ago I really didn't believe that this was true. Then, a new member of our team started. I had such high hopes for her first day. I just assumed that she'd come in and we'd click. After her first day I was really upset, she didn't seem to have taken to me like people usually do right off the bat when they meet me. I explained my disappointment to my husband, and he made me reiterate what she had asked in our 1x1 that first day and how I answered. In astonishment he exclaimed, "It sounds like you made a terrible first impression!" I wasn't too concerned because I figured, well, there's always tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that... But my husband knew better, he explained to me that he didn't get started off right at a job he had had previously, and that it took months of working his butt off to prove that he was indeed a knowledgeable, hardworking, trustworthy employee. I just sunk!

As is usually the cae, he was right! I have been working ever since to get in good with her. Here are some tips so that you don't find yourself in the same dilemma:

• Dress appropriately
• Focus on the positives of your job, not the negatives (right away at least)
• Don't take criticism of the processes as criticism of you
• Never assume that the reason you have always done something a particular way is because it's actually the best way to do it
• Be open to change
• Know your strengths and how they benefit the team
• Have some stock ideas ready to discuss that would improve your job/the company

Who else has had to recover after making a bad impression? How long did it take? How did you do it?

Honor Thine Meeting

Outlook is kind of sacred. If you create an Outlook meeting intend on sticking to it. For a while I was working closely with a guy who had terrible Outlook etiquette. He would double book meetings and then blow off one of them at the last minute. He would schedule meetings and then disappear when it was time for the meeting, show up 30-90 minutes later and pretend that there was no meeting ever scheduled. He would schedule meetings, ask to postpone them, and then go play video games in one of our break rooms or hang out and chat with people near me. In short, he drove me crazy!

As a result, I now try to be especially cognizant of the fact that other people plan their days around meetings when I schedule them, and I also try to respect other people's meetings- being punctual, being prepared, and understanding the agenda ahead of time. These actions establish mutual respect and appreciation.

The fact of the matter is that when you have one or more meetings in a day, you prioritize your workload, shuffle around to-do tasks, plan lunch, etc. based on that meeting or those meetings. That's why when someone ignores the commitment that you have made to that meeting it feels so rude.

What meeting scheduling annoyances and pet peeves do you have? Share your bad experiences!