Tag: Remote working

Work Life Balance: I can’t sleep if any stone is left unturned!

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This week I noticed a quality and simultaneous negative trait in myself that I was able to overcome!

I was talking to a colleague and giving them advice when it dawned on me that I’ve overcome one of my greatest struggles in my working life.

I was once upon a time unable to leave any stone unturned!

That doesn’t mean that I now leave a load of unturned stones nor does it mean that my quality of work has dipped. This just means that I have a better balance and although I sometimes relapse, for the most part, I am getting it right.

Problem:

I couldn’t log off work or sleep if I didn’t finish a task. I would dream about that email, look visibly uncomfortable if I didn’t see to that review and hide in the corners of my home (outside of working hours) to go back to others on queries. One could argue that this attitude is why I was able to grow in my career, but this attitude is also why one weekend I was in bed with severe migraines absolutely run down!

Impact:

I found that I was literally working every hour that God sent and not having any break up between work, home life, the weekend or quality couple time. I would pull out my laptop or work apps on my phone anywhere I could to get the job done! This wound up my husband and made me feel like I was being a bad mum.

Solution:

It’s a process. Prioritisation is key as is boundaries! What needs to get done right now, what can wait and what can I delegate? These are 3 questions I ask myself and deal with tasks accordingly. I’m also very clear with my boundaries and availability – if I can’t get to something you’ve asked me to do, I will let you know or explicitly express how long it will be before what you’ve asked will be done (always giving myself buffer space to breathe). It’s not always about working hard, sometimes it’s about working smart and sharing the load.

Commitment to delivering excellence is amazing, being a good employee/colleague is admirable, but all of this is pointless if you keep popping out the golden eggs, but are forgetting to take care of the goose.

Work life balance.

Work-Life Balance: The Intern is equally as important as the Exec

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This week I planned to share a post which highlighted the importance of Diversity, Inclusion and being able to bring your whole self to work, but I’m going to deviate slightly.

The title of this post is pretty self explanatory.

Regardless of who you encounter in the workplace, give them the same amount of respect and time that you would anyone else.

Why?

1- It’s human decency and good character

2- You never know where this person will be in years to come. Some people are extremely ambitious and may end up being your boss in a few career cycles.

3- You never know what people are going through. Some people are uber qualified, but take whatever role they can get to pay the bills or they may have just taken a career change and now need to work their way up from an entry level position due to a lack of experience.

All in all regardless of role or seniority all people deserve to be treated fairly.

Don’t ignore someone’s email because you don’t see “the decision maker” copied in. Don’t reply with a snarky tone because you deem yourself more important than said recipient.

After all, life has a funny way of humbling people. That colleague you treated horribly could be related to the person whose decision it is regarding a big contract you’re banking on signing.

I once read a really interesting quote that I think is quite relatable to this topic. It says, “you can tell the character of a guy by the way he talks to the waiter”.

Be kind.

You don’t know what people are going through or who the “real” boss is. Titles are great, but the man on the field delivering deserves a little nod of thanks from time to time.

People don’t leave companies, they leave bosses and unpleasant relationships.

NEW SERIES: Work-Life Balance

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Introduction

Welcome back! 

We’ve been knees deep in a pandemic, my property woes came to an abrupt end, whilst I navigated my career/a remote promotion. I think it’s safe to say that I get a free pass for my impromptu TellMeElleCee hiatus.

Something that has been a hot topic amongst my peers, and I is work-life balance. I’ve had a few interesting conversations and they have inspired me to write this series. 

In this series, we will discuss bringing about boundaries, input vs. output and debate whether people leave companies or managers – juicy!

Feel free to engage, contact me directly and give me your point of view. Let’s keep the conversation going and hopefully bring about a better balance.

You can expect a new post every Wednesday for a mid week boost. Happy Hump Day!

How to Guide: Dealing with Solicitors and ensuring your Property Purchase is dealt with in a timely manner

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Over the years we have discussed putting in the ground work to ensure that your credit is up to par and you have the right processes in place to save more than you spend.

We then went on to discuss the Mortgage Application process, affordability and the difference between a Mortgage Broker and going straight to a High Street Bank.

In the midst of the above we discussed the valuation process, covenants and the enemy of progress that is known as Japanese knot weed.

We’ve briefly touched on making an Offer on a property and ways in which you can justify offering 5 to 10 thousand pounds less than the asking price.

Today we are going to focus on the last leg of the property acquisition process – Solicitors!

It is so easy to get tangled up in a tumbleweed of legal jargon and be scared away by the legal process, but it is quite simple, especially with Residential purchases.

Below are my top 3 tips to dealing with solicitors and ensuring your case is dealt with in a timely manner.

  1. Fill out all questionnaires and property packs following the instructions of your solicitors to a T. If it says to use block capitals and black ink, do it! If for whatever reason the solicitors forget to do something later on down the line, they can turn that delay back around on you and claim that they were waiting for “correctly filled out forms”.

2. Reply to all emails in a timely manner responding to ALL questions. If you need to do a little bit of research, do it. Don’t reply to an email in parts. Respond answering all questions in one go. Be very specific and over share if you think any detail will help. Delays often occur when solicitors have a response to question 1 & 3, but are waiting for a response to question 2. This may come weeks later and get lost within the email thread.

3. Searches. These need to be done promptly as some can take up to 6 weeks to come back. Some solicitors require some sort of payment before carrying out any searches as these are non-refundable and will need to be paid for whether the transaction goes ahead or not. Pay the fee and get the ball rolling from day 1.

There are so many other details we can dive in to, but the top 3 have sometimes been the difference between someone completing on their purchase in 7 weeks and someone completing in 7 months.

How to Guide: Starting a New Job remotely

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It’s that season. Lockdown, COVID and redundancies. But it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. 

Some have found better opportunities, progressed and attained better paid jobs saving more (on travel) whilst working remotely. 

Others were made redundant and forced to finally kick start their passion or made huge U turns in their careers they were previously too scared to do – 👏🏾 you’ve got this!

The field you work in will determine your onboarding, training and use of numerous systems.

Today I will be focusing on those who work in fields that doesn’t require physical labour and are able to work remotely.

5 Tips to starting a new job remotely – learn quick and stand out:

  1. Research the company. Understand it’s infrastructure, values and whose who

  2. Be bold. Add relevant people on LinkedIn. Diarise catch ups so that you can get to know as many people in the company as possible. Don’t get lost in the matrix or simply be an employee number at HR.

  3. Screen record! If you’re being taught a new system or process, screen record it! This will enable you to watch it back as much times as you want and use the video in real time when you’re carrying out the task. This limits the amount of time you bother people and will help you to be more efficient.

  4. Use a diary, notepad or virtual sticky note to bullet point your tasks. Add to the list as new things pop up and cross them off as you complete them. Use a scorecard system. What is urgent? What is time sensitive? What can be done tomorrow?

  5. Take your breaks! It is so easy to start early, eat on the job and finish late. Don’t do this! Work life balance is important and overworking will quickly turn what you thought was your dream job in to something you resent, not to mention the risk of burn out. Whilst it’s important to perform, it’s also important to work smart, not hard. Use spreadsheets, put forward innovative ideas that eradicate those mundane tasks and know that you’ve got this! Believe in yourself! 

Starting a new job remotely can be daunting, but I promise you that if you do my top 5 tips, the whole experience will be a lot easier!

All the best and congratulations on your new role!