What are you most comfortable working at? If you’re like me, you only like to do things you’re familiar with, things that “feel right” and you don’t have to expend a whole lot of energy doing. After all, doing things that way seem to make the day go by much easier, much faster and with very little effort.

Seth Godin’s blog featured an inspiring article about the effort we place into doing various things throughout our day. It got me thinking about my business and facing those things in my business that seem challenging to me. Things like writing on topics outside of my niche interest that require me to look and think outside of my comfort zone. Things like learning new technology or taking the time to flesh out a new idea.

What are you comfort-challenged with in your day-to-day business? What can you do differently to pull more out of your business comfort zone?

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

P.S. Also, don’t forget Kristen’s cool new give-a-way that she’s having right here at Biz Chicks Rule. Go to her post for details. Good stuff!

Post from: EveryJoe

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Hope you get a giggle out of this!

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Guys Have Got to Learn to Pay Attention! (fun-ny)

Are you interested in starting or growing your existing blog? Renegade University through iContact is offering classes to help you with just that.

Starting October 7th, you can begin this class on blogging that will teach you the basics on starting, managing and growing a blog successfully for your business. If you’ve ever been interested in doing this, now is the time to get started.

Best to all!

Post from: EveryJoe

Fri-Deas: Blogging Classes

Patti LaBelle is a phenomenal superstar and business woman in her own right. Her background spans over thirty years and she’s still going strong! Check out this live interview with her on the Today show. She has really got class and inspiration.

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Copyright – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Women in Entertainment: A Business All It’s Own

OK, so a lot of people like the McCain/Palin mix for different reasons. Many women are just politically intoxicated with the idea of (potentially) having a female in power in the White House. After all, a woman in the White House means a lot for Women’s Rights, Civil Rights and perhaps will even change or level the playing field just a bit for the females. But one thing still bothers me…

This post that I made recently about the questionable process under which McCain chose Palin got a few folks ruffled, which I do respect other’s opinions, but then I still have to question McCain’s view on equal right’s for women. As some of you may already know, McCain does not/did not support the legislation that would remove unfair practices towards women and the practices governing their pay. In other words, McCain’s vote towards the move would have allowed women to be paid equal with men (think: Lily Ledbetter Act). However, McCain simply did not support this and his action makes me wonder just what was he trying to prove then by selecting a female as his running mate? I’m just saying…

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other anti-discrimination laws to clarify at which points in time discriminatory actions qualify as an “unlawful employment practice.” According to the legislation, unlawful conduct occurs when: “(1) a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice; or (3) an individual is affected by application of the decision or practice, including each time compensation is paid.” The law further states that individuals may receive back pay as compensation for discrimination that occurred up to two years preceding the filing of a charge.

Source

My thing is this: you either support women’s rights…or you don’t. Sure, there are divisive issues, but the line drawn in the sand should be definitive enough. Women have struggled and fought for years for equal pay, equal rights and a chance. As a woman in business, I simply want to receive the same thing(s) that my male counterpart would receive for doing the same amount of work. That’s all. Is that too much to ask for Mr. McCain?

“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households,” he explained. Source

When I read about issues like this in the news, and even when it happens locally or specific to an industry, it really does make me wonder if we have come far enough. Sure business women have a long ways to go and more hurdles to jump, but I think it’s acts like this (McCain’s) that can potentially set us farther and farther back. And, it also makes me wonder what response he gives his wife (a female), Governor Palin (another female) and other females on his staff in relation to the “why’s” and “what for” in his political moves. Do you think he owes them or any other female an answer? Do you think he’s justified in his vote? Why or why not?

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Hater? Why I Think John McCain Is Outdated And Not In Touch

Here I am, sitting in the car dealership’s office working (happily) along while my car is being serviced. I almost walked out of the house this morning without my laptop. I didn’t think I’d be away from my (home) office that long and I could do some work when I got back home. I’m glad I re-thought that idea and grabbed all of my work stuff before I left home. It turns out that the service department is slammed today and there’s about a three to four hour wait per person. I’m also glad that I’ve learned the art and importance of multi-tasking so that at the end of this long, expensive car-service episode, I can say that I’ve had a productive day (I hope). So, this whole thing sparked the post idea of sharing with our readers the importance of multi-tasking in your everyday lives…no matter where you are!

As women (and some of us as moms), we know the good, the bad, the pros and cons of being multi-taskers. Some experts agree with the idea of multi-tasking and think it’s a wonderful concept while other experts will warn you that multi-tasking can create other problems and be more of a distraction. This great article that I found on Oprah gives some tips on how to multi-task without “losing your mind.” Although I can’t say that I’ve ever felt that I would lose my mind when I multi-tasked, I have been faced with the problem of trying to decide which tasks I’d work on and which one would be the primary task and which would be the secondary task.

Multi-Mom
When I’m at home and doing the wife-mom thing, I multi-task pretty efficently, cranking out a three-course dinner while washing a load of clothes and helping my first-grader with his homework. It’s not a problem for me at all, mainly because I’ve been doing it for a loooong time and have found some great ways to be productive with a busy life and an active family. But since this blog isn’t about homemaking…

As a freelancer, I absolutely love the flexibility that this career offers. You can work when you want, where you want and as much as you want. Sort of. I still have to organize my day and write out my to-do lists. I still do have to get my work done and meet deadlines and keep clients satisfied. So I really have to multi-task and be pretty good at it, as do some of you. Deb has a great article today on her blog about this very topic of working from home, freelancing and disciplining yourself. A good read! Anyway, whether you’re home-based or in a corporate environment, multi-tasking is easy to do and can be adapted to most any situation.

Home Telecommuter
If most of your work is computer-based, invest in a laptop (if you don’t already have one) and take it with you everywhere you go. This has proved to be invaluable to me. I am at a ball field with at least one of my kids two to three times a week. Since practices can last 1 1/2 to 2 hours, there is a lot of sitting, waiting, and more sitting. (Now that almost made me lose my mind, Oprah!) Anyway, I’d sit there for hours and still have my work to do when I got home and back to my desktop. After a while, I got sick of all that sitting, so I started taking my work with me and cranking out material and still be there for my kids. This helps me to be in a better mood later because I don’t have so much work waiting on me for later. Also, for that laptop, make sure it’s WiFi accessible and with a good connect plan to boot.

Minus a laptop and still with tasks to do, you can still multi-task and be productive. Sometimes, I take my paper-based planner and my PDA planner and sync the both up while I’m, again, at a ball practice ( I DO watch the kids sometimes!). I can plan my week, flesh out an article or write out an outline (PDA’s come with word processing documents too.) Minus the PDA, I can still use my paper-based planner to plan my week or even a couple of weeks out.

Business, etc.
Now if you’re home-based with your business, there are ways that you can multi-task too and still be productive. One thing to note is that multi-tasking doesn’t always have to be done simultaneously. In other words, you don’t have to do two or more things at the same time. For instance: if you’re about to go out and do a beauty product demonstration, you can fire off some contact emails before you leave, fax off your product order or return a few phone calls. Things don’t always have to be done all at once or at the same time. The idea with effective multi-tasking is to complete some things while starting or completing other things and being as productive as can be.

Corporate women take heart! I used to be in corporate America too and believe me, they ARE busier than freelancers! There is very little room for flexibility because of their rigid schedules and most of their responsibilities have to be done on a stringent schedule. However, there are ways. When I worked as a staff accountant, there were monthly reports that I had to have done by month end. During the month, I would compile the figures and plug them into an Excel spreadsheet as the figures became available. By month’s end, not only did I have complete figures, but I was also able to get my reports printed and collated before the other pencil-pushers crowded the print room to get their reports out too.

Another tip that corporate biz-chicker’s can try involves those endless meetings she has to attend on a daily basis. If you have a laptop, this is ideal but paper-based planners work as well. Here you go:

Take meticulous notes during any meeting and transfer them directly into an Excel spreadsheet. Create an action list or a to-do list during the meeting. Make FULL use of your time spent there.

What are some other business multi-tasking skills that you have found that work for you? How do you do multiple things at once as a Biz-Chicker?

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Frideas: How To Multi-Task With ANY Business

In this YouTube video from an interview with Sarah Palin when she was being considered as a candidate for the position of Vice-President, she sprinkles her interview with a few “ya know’s” and “kewl”, much to the amusement of the interviewer. I’m sooo disappointed, needless to say, in Mrs. Palin’s presentation. I’ve been somewhat brewing since the announcement on Thursday and have had to re-work my post on it several times, which is why it STILL hasn’t been posted. You know the old adage, “if you don’t have something nice to say…”

Kewl.

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Oh Boy – We’re Really In Trouble If Palin Doesn’t Know What She’s Doing

I tried homeschooling ONCE about seven years ago when my then oldest child was in preschool and my husband got this **bright** idea that it would be neat to have homeschooled children. He had seen a spelling bee on television that weekend and “had given it a lot of thought” and decided that the Wright children, in fact, would be a homeschooled bunch, by golly. Yeah, right.

Well, the first week was uneventful with the usually mild-mannered toddler whining that she wanted to play with her friends and go outside. I explained to her that her daddy had decided that she did not need any friends because she would have a Harvard education. And, going outside was only a necessity to be enjoyed by who suffered through *gasp* public school all day long and needed to run and skip in order to break free of the mind control mechanisms that institutionalized education had thrust upon them. With a dazed look in her eyes, my daughter decided that I had in fact thrust some sort of mind control on her and she didn’t know or care about what the heck I had said. She wanted to go outside.

After a brief period of telling my toddler that she had to learn her ABC’s and that she could count if she only tried, she and I just could not take it any longer. On day number six, I immediately went back up to the pre-school and beeeggggggeeeedd them to take her back into the program. No luck. They had just filled the position about two days before with a family that had homeschooled, but decided that it wasn’t for them. They wanted mind-numbing public school education. Good for them.

During the time that I was a home-schooling work-at-home-mom of a four year old and a six month old, I did not get any significant work done. My life was a daily conondrum of lesson plans, breastfeeding, cleaning, cooking, coercing, convincing and cajoling us towards becoming a happy and well-rounded family!! We were so happy, that I decided I couldn’t contain the happiness any longer. It was too much for me and I had to let it out. I let it out so well, I almost became a single mom, if you get my drift.

So here I am, several prescriptions of Zoloft and cases of Red Bull later, children in institutionalized education, a messy house and me happily consulting and freelancing to my heart’s desire. So, when you ask me if I think homeschooling and women in business go together, all I have to say is can I get a refill on my Zoloft?!

Post from: EveryJoe

Can a Biz Chick HomeSchool?

Ideas are a dime a dozen right? Maybe not. Maybe they’re $10,000 for one.

Ideablob has a monthly contest each, well, month to see who can submit the BEST business idea ever. The winner wins $10K and all bragging rights. What would you do with your winnings if you had that kind of money?

Me? I’d dump the whole thing into a marketing campaign for my business(es) and reap the rewards. But of course, in order to win, I’d have to come up with a novel business idea. The devil is in the details, isn’t he?

Go here to find out more about the contest and to enter your business idea. I am. Good luck!
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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

What Would You Do With $10K?

[Photo Source: Getty Images]

Tonight’s speech by Michelle Obama will be a defining moment for Obama’s campaign. It will be a time when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign will be further defined – - by Michelle, the woman who has been often herself been branded as being “deflating” and “humiliating” to Barack by referring to him as a “regular man.”

Tonight will be Michelle’s chance to convince voters why we should or need to vote for this “regular man”.

What to watch for tonight: Things could start off with a bang. Tonight’s primetime speaker is Michelle Obama, who will be tasked to sell her husband to the public. She was one of Obama’s best surrogates during the Dem primaries, but Republicans and even some Democrats believe she won’t sell with swing voters. So definitely pay attention to her remarks. Also on tap for tonight is a video tribute to Ted Kennedy, but NBC’s Ann Curry reported on TODAY that Kennedy is in Denver and might make an appearance at the convention. That could be a nice moment for the Democrats that has nothing to do with Obama or Clinton.

Full Article

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Watch Michelle Obama Tonight!