TheJobBored » Organization

Managing Work While On Vacation – Part 2

Brian — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:18:03 +0000

Recently, we discussed ways to prepare for/manage work during the vacation season.

The website unclutterer.com has another idea for helping you manage your tendency to veg out in front of your computer during holiday’s/weekends. Let’s face it, we’re all champion procrastinators. We sit down with work to do… but an hour later, we’ve read blogs, checked stocks, done everything, in other words, except the work we came to do.

How to discipline yourself? How about NOT plugging your laptop in?

Limit yourself to the life of your laptop battery. Such self-imposed scarcity of time and juice might encourage discipline: you’ll work as much as you can because your chances to do so are limited.

More importantly, this exercise in restraint can cure you of the bad habit I’m most guilty of: checking on work every 5 minutes even though I don’t have to. The limited battery power will encourage you to work only when necessary and to check on work at more reasonable (and less impulsive) intervals.

I was a little stunned that my Saturday morning number was 35 percent. My first thought was that I must have a lame battery. A good battery wouldn’t be on 35 percent in just a day! Except, when I stopped to calculate my usage on Friday, I realized I had easily spent three hours on my laptop. My battery was working fine, it was user consumption that was to blame.

Snip.

My computer officially died with 20 hours to go before work started on Monday.

I don’t like the idea that I used all of my computer’s battery power before the three-day weekend had come to a close. What I took from it is that I’m having difficulty drawing the line between work and free time. I think about work constantly and would like to be able to turn those thoughts off and relax at least once in a while.

So, for the duration of the month, I’m going to have battery-powered laptop weekends. Work matters a great deal to me, but so does taking advantage of my free time. I hope that this process helps me to better prioritize my time away from work and relax and rejuvenate to make my official work time more productive.

Top 10 Checklist To Prepare For Your Vacation From Work

Brian — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:49:41 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk this year that the vacation season won’t be the same. You hear about families staying home rather than break the bank to pay for the gas necessary to drive to Wally World. Also, I’ve seen a couple of cable news stories about how vacations are increasingly culturally passe in this work-all-the-time world. And then there are the economic concerns. Might not want to take a long vacation if you smell layoffs coming.

But if you are taking some time off, we are now officially entering the season to do so. Here’s a quick checklist of things you should do to prepare yourself (and your boss; and your coworkers) for a restful and successful vacation.

Decide now if you’re going to do any work while you’re on vacation. Careerbuilder says 1 in 4 workers plan to do some work while on vacation. This is an all or nothing decision. It’s like being “kinda pregnant.” You are or you aren’t. Doing things halfway doesn’t work out well. If you want to make a clean break, you should dot all your I’s and cross all your T’s now. If you’re going to be available in certain situations, you have to make sure your lines of communication are open. Set the table now so there is no confusion.
If you ARE going to be in touch (even if just to monitor things) while away, make sure to check the lay of the land ahead of time. Don’t blindly assume the lodge or Grandma Sarah’s house will have internet access… or even cell phone coverage! Inquire ahead of time if you need specific tools available.
Whatever your ultimate decision, make sure the boundaries you settle on are widely known and understood. Under what threat of emergency are you willing to be contacted, and at what number?
Try to bring all open projects to a conclusion. This makes it easier for your co-workers (they’re not waiting on your return to move things forward) and it makes things easier for you. You’ll be much happier to come back to a clean slate.
To that end, clean your desk. Everything must go! Answer all outstanding voicemails. Clear out your email inbox. If you make a clean break, it will be easier to hit the ground running when you come back: anything on your plate when you return will be new business because you closed all old business out before you left.
Right now, before you leave, make a to-do list of things you expect you’ll need to tackle when you get back. Don’t rely on your memory after a week at the beach to remember about that important lunch appointment the Tuesday after you get back.
Set your email out of office autoreplies. Click here for step by step instructions on how to do so.
If someone is covering for you, make sure all of your usual contacts know who this person is and how they can be contacted.
If someone is covering for you, meet with them and set up a plan. Eliminate any chance of surprise. Make clear what they can expect and what you’ll expect when you get back.
Don’t feel guilty. No matter what the modern work ethos is, everyone deserves a vacation now and again. Even you.

TrackMyShipments Does What It Says

Brian — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:34:44 +0000

Also from WebWorkerDaily today:

If you exist in a work environment where you have to manage multiple shipments every day (if you know the FedEx and UPS AND DHL delivery guys by name) then I’ve got a website that will completely rock your world.

TrackMyShipments.com will do exactly that: track multiple shipments in real time in a neat, organized way. Use whatever shipper you want. The software tells you where the package is, when it’s due, where it came from, all the important stuff. Better yet, you don’t have to do any complicated entering of data yourself it’s almost completely automated:

Here’s how it works: simply forward them the shipping confirmation email that contains the tracking number to track@trackmyshipments.com. Then, the utility identifies your email address, the shipping address, and the tracking number. Simply log into the website and see all your shipments in one window.

Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

Organize Yourself- Create Your Own Personal Personnel File

Brian — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:47:43 +0000

With tax season coming up, I’ll be looking to highlight some financial and organizational tips over the next few months. First up, I have a tip I heard years ago that I don’t think has gotten wide currency:

You Should Create And Keep Your Own Personnel File

Every employer does it. Your personnel file is a quick and handy reference for your boss. It not only keeps track of every important legal piece of paper relating to you, but provides a quick summary of who you are and what you do/what you’re owed/how you’re performing.

Creating your own personnel file at home can be an invaluable tool that does just the same for you, but in reverse. In one place you can quickly reference anything you need related to your career. Whenever you have to do business of any kind with your current or future employer, you won’t be standing there empty handed when they pull out your file and have full records of your history. You’ll have a file of your own and can meet fact with fact, paper with paper.

What is the utility of this? I think you’ll understand when you see what your personal personnel file should include:

Your Personal Personnel File Should Include

Your contracts. This means a copy of your signed contract that got you hired at your current job. Also, copies of your contracts at any and all previous jobs. There can never be any confusion about what you’re owed, what is expected of you, what was promised to you, or when and how your job will end… so long as you keep your own copy of all your contracts.
Your most recent evaluation reports. Good or bad, you should request copies. If anyone starts to question your performance, your employers’ own evaluation of you work, in their own words, is invaluable. And if your performance was poor in the past, keeping lousy reviews can be helpful to demonstrate growth or improvement.
Anything legal you sign at work. Such as: a noncompete agreement; a confidentiality agreement; an agreement relating to a company-provided property such as a car or a cell phone or a laptop; liability waivers; etc.

Your W-2 forms and any related employment tax documents. Going back at least 3 years. Other possible documents to include: 1099s and W-4s (the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificates).
Your benefits/retirement summary. And any other documents that highlight all the perks and benefits you’re entitled to under your contract.
Your health and insurance benefits summary. As an addendum to the above, if you’ve got an outline of the health benefits you are due, make a copy and throw it in here also. You should obviously keep a separate health records file for yourself and your doctor, but a summary sheet can be included in your personnel file for reference purposes. This is especially useful if you lose your job… how much longer are you entitled to your benefits?
Your financial contributions. To retirement (401k, IRA) or health insurance (life insurance), broken down monthly or yearly or both. How much have you kicked in? How much is your employer required to kick in? Have they done so? You might have to do this by hand yourself, but it’s also a good reference for you to help keep a gauge on how you’re doing with your long-term financial goals.
Any formal proposals/memos/agreements you make with or submit to your employer. For example, a raise request, the proposal to create a new position/project or even a proposal to work from home.
Grades/transcripts from college. Especially for younger professionals.
Proof of attendance/completion of any training/seminar.
Copies of awards or citations.
Written references from previous employers or others related to your career.
Termination documents from previous jobs. If only to prove/explain the circumstances of your leaving a previous position, these are good things to keep copies of.
Business expenses. Travel expenses, mileage reports, rental car receipts, lunches, paper clips, etc.
Warnings and/or other disciplinary actions/complaints with co-workers.

If you don’t have any or all of these documents, ask for copies to be made. You don’t necessarily need the originals for everything. Just having a copy in your own personal personnel file will suffice to provide all the reference and evidence you’ll ever need.

Back Up Your Cell Phone Numbers

Brian — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:30:12 +0000

I got locked out of my house last year and my cell phone was inside the house. It was then that I realized I no longer had many people’s phone numbers memorized. In fact, I could only think of one number off the top of my head for anyone local I could call for help.

That got me thinking of what would happen if I lost my phone. I could email friends to get their numbers, but what about the business contacts I have on my

phone and nowhere else? Those would be gone forever. When I upgraded to a Blackjack a couple of years ago, I had to painstakingly write out all the numbers and contact info I had stored in my old phone.

So I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. Weblog MakeUseOf has a list of four handy websites you can use to backup your cell phone.

It seems like for most of you, the best of the bunch is a site called Mobical. It’s a dead simple over-the-air backup of your contacts. You don’t have to do much… the info gets sent over the air so long as your phone can connect to the internet. Also, Mobical supports most modern cell phones. Not my Blackjack, apparently.

So, I’m gonna try Anywr, which promises to be compatible with Windows Mobile phones. Anywr also syncs all your outlook and email contacts and offers some twitter-like capabilities.

MakeUseOf also mentions ZYB and Bloove which have similar features, plus social networking capabilities. Read the full MakeUseOf post for all the pros and cons.