From the Desk of Janet Barclay

I told Alex Fayle about my blog, thinking he would like to know that I’ve mentioned him here a couple of times. How does he pay me back? By tagging me in a chain-type of game where I am supposed to post five little known facts about myself and then tag five others to do the same thing.

My first reaction was "but this is supposed to be a business blog - I can’t do that!" but then I figured, if it’s okay for Monica Ricci, the author of Organize Your Office In No Time, it’s okay for me.  I had the pleasure of meeting Monica at the POC Conference in 2005. In fact, here’s a picture of Monica, Alex, and my dear friend Elinor Warkentin of Goodbye Clutter! at an unofficial after-hours conference event:

But I suppose I should post my five little known facts…

1. During the summer following Grade 10 I went on a French exchange trip to Quebec but I was too shy to speak so I didn’t get as much out of it as I’d hoped. So I went again the following summer, but the person they matched me with went to English immersion school so I still didn’t get to speak much French, so I went a third time after Grade 12.
2. I play Sudoku on my Pocket PC when I’m waiting for someone.
3. I once played Tetris for five hours straight.
4. My first website was called "Jan’s Helpful Home Page" where I posted household management tips and invited people to send me their challenges. I actually received one email.
5. I’ve seen "Weird Al" Yankovic in concert - twice.

(Happy now, Alex?)

If that wasn’t hard enough, now I have to tag five more people:

• Alison Roberts
• Tony
• and my fellow contributors to the Introvert Retreat blog: Marki, Chris, and Dr. Maggie.

Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends recently blogged about a survey conducted by Staples on the work hours and habits of small business managers. It comes as no surprise to me that most of the people surveyed do not work a regular 40-hour work week. I start work most days by 7:00 AM, and when I check my email I have often received emails which clients sent during the evening or even during the wee small hours of the morning. One of the reasons many people have chosen to be their own boss and/or work from home is so they can work at times that are convenient for them, whether it be early morning, late at night, weekends, or whatever, and that’s great.

What concerns me is the number of people who work long hours and don’t take vacation, not out of a passion for what they do, but because they feel they have to. Today’s technology means that people can reach us whether we are in the office or not, but does that mean we have to be available? Being accessible to everyone all the time may sound like the ultimate in customer service, but are you really serving your clients well if you answer the phone when you are too tired or too involved with something else (be it work or personal) to be attentive to their needs? The reason we have technology such as voice mail and email is so that people can leave us a message at their convenience and we can respond at ours. If you feel it’s vital to your business to provide service 24-7 (and 52 weeks a year), you owe it to your clients and yourself to find someone else to handle your calls so you can focus on important work tasks and so you can get some downtime, not just for a few hours of sleep each night, but so you can enjoy some leisure time with friends and family, and even take a vacation - yes, a real vacation!

I confess - I have not taken a "real" vacation since I started my business, but I intend to change that this year. And now that I’ve posted this publicly, I’m one step closer to making it happen! But I will definitely NOT be available to receive phone calls or emails during my vacation! I need and deserve a break, and so do you!

Shortly after writing my entry If I Only Knew…, I came across Judith Waller’s article, Unlock the Treasure Within, which describes a process similar to the one in I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was. It’s amazing how often it happens, that you come across either a new idea or something you hadn’t thought about in a while, and then it keeps appearing. I’ve been told that it’s not a coincidence, but part of the Law of Attraction, that it’s the universe sending a message. I could buy that, but I’ve noticed the same thing happens with words - I read or hear a word for the first time, then a second and maybe even a third time shortly afterwards, and even actors - while watching a movie a particular actor catches my attention, then they show up again in several other movies I watch within the next couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure the universe is not concerned about either my vocabulary or my movie-watching!

In her article, How to Avoid On-the-Job Weight Gain - Avoid Packing on Pounds Behind Your Desk, Rebecca Pratt writes:

Even if you love your job, it may be killing you.
 
Australian researchers found that men sitting at their desks more than six hours a day are nearly twice as likely to be overweight than those who sit for less than 45 minutes a day. While women fared slightly better—spending on average 20 more minutes on their feet at the office than men—researchers conclude that a sedentary job is a major health concern for both genders.
 
I believe the risk is even higher for those of us who work at home. For one thing, it’s even easier to forget to eat a meal when you don’t have scheduled lunch and break times, increasing the likelihood of overindulging when you do eat. In addition, because the entire office is usually in one room, you have no more trips to the photocopy room, the mail room, or the file room. I can’t speak for others, but in my case, the stresses associated with going to work also helped to keep my weight down.
 
I’m one of the lucky few who never had to worry about my weight in the past, but I’m starting to notice bulges that weren’t there before, and realized last month that I weigh more than I’ve ever weighed in my life. Naturally, getting control of this is one of my goals for the new year. I’m trying to eat better during the day and snack less at night, take the stairs more, and go out of my way when I walk to the store, to increase my activity level.
 
To Your Health!

Back in 1995 or 1996, I read Barbara Sher’s I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. I had always been interested in different career assessments, but I was fascinated by Ms. Sher’s approach, which was completely different than the various interest and personality inventories I had tried. She starts her book by suggesting that the reader sit down and write about their perfect work day - where you are, what you are doing, and so on. Here is what I wrote:

I get up in the morning and check and reply to my email and other messages over my first coffee.

I write articles on time management and other organizational techniques, mainly with reference to one’s "personal" life, but also occasionally relating to the workplace.

One article is uploaded to the Internet every month. Printed copies and back issues may be ordered. I also offer booklets on selected topics, each consisting of a number of related articles.  I hope to publish a book some day consisting of my most popular articles.

Occasionally I speak to women’s groups or other groups about a particular time management or organizational subject.  Once or twice a year I may travel to another city to do this.

My articles are basedon my own experience along with information researched from books, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.

People can contact me with topics they would like to see covered in future articles.

Maybe I would also be available (for a fee!) to counsel peole with organizational problems.

This is so close to my current reality that you might think I had decided to make this vision my career path, but that is far from what happened. Keep in mind that when I wrote this, I had never heard of a professional organizer or a virtual assistant. Although NAPO was founded in 1985, POC wasn’t formally established until 2000, and the term  "virtual assistant" wasn’t coined until 1996. No, at the time, this was just a fantasy for me, and the paper got put away in my files under "self-development." In fact, back then, I had no interest whatsoever in being self-employed. Or so I thought…