Make it Happen Monday

Normally my Mondays are a drag.  I struggle to get out of bed, try on 5 outfits before I find a winner, enter the building with a fake grin on my face, take the stairs instead of the elevator to avoid small talk and then fight my way through the day making a to do list for Tuesday when I know that I will have my act together.

But not today!  I woke up from a very restful nights sleep.  I haven't sleep that good since I was put under anesthesia to have a tube put down my throat and into my stomach for a endoscopic x-ray 2 years ago, and that procedure only took about 10 minutes!  But I woke up a new person.

Anyway, this morning, I only snoozed once, and when I got up I had a new attitude.  Not sure if it was the sleep, a subconscious new look on life, or some telepathic sibling connection since today is my big brother's birthday, but by the time I was headed out the door, I singing "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nobody gonna slow me down, OH NO - I got to keep on movin'!"  (You know that song by "Men at Work" - OK I didn't know who sang it either, until I got to work and googled it.)  I still don't know where that came from, but let me tell you - it felt good!  I went into work hyped up and ready for anything.  Ready for the irate employee who is pissed off that I added his 3 children to his medical benefits due to a court order, ready for a colleague to interrupt my in progress phone call to ask me how to load paper into the copier and ready to debate why our company does not acknowledge common law spouses - on an average Monday, I would put my phone on mute and say "Because we don't!".  But today was different - I was making it happen - any and everything.   

Mondays don't have to be the dreaded day that its become.  So I am now making every Monday - Make it Happen Monday!  We are the creators of our own destiny - we get back what we put out and all those other cliches and phrases that mean the same thing - pick one and do that.

What's your name again?

Majority of us have them.  It could be based on our appearance, the shortened version of our name, or even our last name, the city or neighborhood we are from, something a boyfriend or girlfriend has given us, or something we were given from childhood or in our adult life.

YES - a nickname!   How prevalent are nicknames in the workplace I thought, I mean I use them for coworkers and other colleagues and they have been used in dun, dun, dun DUN, not the nicest fashion.  You could say that they are more-so created so that you talk in code about them.  I know its best to not talk about people, hence if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, but it happens sometimes. We all have coworkers who get on our nerves and having to work in such close quarters, nicknames allow you to speak of and vent about them when they are possibly near.

A couple that I utilized over my work history range from the person's last name or initials like "The NAG", or a physical descriptor like "Belly", "Shorty" or even "Red Face".  Now, of course, some may have some nicknames for me that are not that becoming, but I've never heard one yet.... I have been called "Precious" and I like that one!

If you would like to read more about "Nicknames in the Workplace" or if you want to confirm what nicknames you can use in the office or which ones to keep under wraps (inappropriate nicknames can spur lawsuits regarding discrimination!) give google a try.  I found that although I like my office nickname of "Precious" it is inappropriate and shouldn't be used.

Saturday Shopping Tip: Seeking Stylish Work Clothes

Banana Republic to the rescue...

Growing up, Saturdays meant hitting up the mall.  Me, my mom and my two aunties.  What fun we had - Macy's, Nordstrom Rack, Express, New York and Company, Ross, Marshalls, Old Navy and my then favorite Mervyns.  Is there a Mervyns around anymore - I know they closed the ones in my town.  Anyway - I am always on the quest for stylish work clothes, that can also double as going out weekend clothes.  Gone are the days when you had - work clothes, church clothes and weekend clothes.  If you do it right, you can pretty much mix and match for any occasion - within reason. 

Right now, my favorite store and website has to be Banana Republic because they are catering to working professionals.  Being the professional shopper that I am - I am signed up on most retail websites and get alerts literally every day!  But Banana Republic comes through each time.  Not only do they have great sales and discounts and but free shipping frequently too.  Their clothes really can transform from day to night - weekday to weekend!  Even if I don't buy anything new, their website gives me countless outfit ideas.  This is not just for ladies either - MEN - they have great business casual ideas for you too.  

So whether you are shopping your closet or actually spending the dollars - next time you seek out work attire ideas hit the Internet and hit up Banana Republic.com!

TGIF!

Today was a great Friday.  I got a couple things accomplished that were on my to do list, followed by an after lunch ice cream social organized by a couple HR Managers in my department for the entire corporate office. 

Am I greedy or does food and treats just make everything so swell!  Since my flexible work schedules idea didn't go over so well, I think I'll press my luck with suggesting weekly treat sessions!  Hey you gotta give it to me for trying...

Have a great weekend!

What's the password....

We have enough passwords in our personal lives, ATM/Debit cards, home alarm systems, email accounts, job boards, social networking site log ins, online shopping sites, and online banking - UGH!  The need for passwords are endless.  My brain is currently holding so many passwords, that I don't have room for other important numbers like my checking and savings account numbers and my license and license plate numbers!  Who knew.

Just when you thought you reached your peak of creative yet easy to remember but hard to crack, you arrive at work to have to create even more alpha numeric and symbol passwords to enter your work station, get into a Human Resources Information Systems, payroll systems, POS system, job boards as an employer, administrator and vendor sites, maybe even the building!

Do we write these down, identity theft experts say no.  They also say do not make all of your passwords the exact same or even similar - JEEZ!!  I have all my passwords for work saved in my MicroSoft outlook notes section, but what happens when the computer crashes?  Another idea is putting them all in an excel spreadsheet or word document, but then I read that unless the document or database is encrypted its still unsafe!  So - what are we password protecting our password documents, creating yet another password?  Or just print the documents and store in a safe place.

As I googled (one of my favorite things to do) "where to store passwords" I ironically found a free online password manager website that stores your password in an encrypted database.  Let me say that I didn't look into this site in any detail, but it got me thinking - is it really safer to enter your passwords into an online database - really?  I won't be doing that any time soon.

Good luck in your password generation and storage!