I'd be hard pressed to think of anyone I know who's never been stressed. While some people handle stress better than others, stress is something that's experienced by pretty much everyone across the board.

Workplace stress can be caused by many things such as:

• Working long hours
• Heavy workload
• Changes within the organisation
• Tight deadlines
• Changes to duties
• Job insecurity
• Lack of autonomy
• Boring work
• Insufficient skills for the job
• Over-supervision
• Inadequate working environment
• Lack of proper resources
• Lack of equipment
• Few promotional opportunities
• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Poor relationships with colleagues or bosses 

 List from: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Work-related_stress

Stress affects everyone differently, but some of the ways you could be affected are:

Cognitive Symptoms Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Emotional Symptoms Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Behavioral Symptoms Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Table from: http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm

So what can you do to manage stress? Many of us fall into the traps such as zoning out in front of the TV or computer at the end of the day, withdrawing from our usual activities, sleeping more than normal and drinking or smoking more. In the words of Dr Phil - 'hows that working out for you'? I'm guessing not too well. Some suggestions for more reliable and healthy ways of beating stress are:

• Work out what is actually stressing you out and think of ways to solve it. If it's a process, could this process be changed to make life easier? If it's a personality clash, how could you work with this person? If it's a heavy workload, assess whether being more organised could impact on this pressure, or whether there is someone who could help you out. Consider whether you are appropriately trained to complete the tasks you are working on. In many cases stress is caused by staff not having the right skills to get the job done - could further training help you?
• Find a way to relax that works for you. This could be meditation, deep breathing, cross stitching - whatever, as long as you have a way to calm down. When you feel yourself becoming stressed at work, take a few moments to relax and 'ground yourself'. 
• Know where you can go to get help, it could be a friend, a coworker, your manager or human resources representative.
• Make sure you take time to stay healthy - that means stick to your usual exercise routine, eat well, take regular breaks for fresh air. Stress can have very negative impacts on your health and it's important that you make an effort to keep healthy. Imagine how much more stressed you'd be if you had to add being sick to your list of worries!

Here are some articles I've found which have some good information on beating stress:

• http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm - a great resource with suggestions for coping with stress
• http://www.helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm 
• http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Work-related_stress
• http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html - Mindtools has some great pages, particularly one about working in intrinsically stressful roles...sound like your job?
• http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2010/07/15/2954379.htm

How do you manage stress?

Lately I've been lamenting my loss of focus - I've gotten so good at doing twenty things at once that I really struggle to slow down and just do one thing at a time.

In my post on multitasking I mentioned that for most assistants 'unitasking' (only working on one thing at a time) is great in theory, but almost impossible in practice. Our roles generally require us to be bombarded with tasks and information, usually all of which must be dealt with concurrently. So how do you still the cacophony of interruptions and focus on just one urgent task?

The most common suggestion for retaining focus is to minimise the distractions of email and telephone. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to take the phone off the hook and shut down Outlook for the day? Well, yes, but sadly most of us are paid to keep a constant watch over our bosses emails and phone calls so that they can enjoy the benefits of fewer distractions, so if we're going to do this it can only be for short periods. A good idea is to do this when you know you won't be called upon to update your boss - for example if they are going into a 2 hour workshop it's a pretty safe bet that you can spend the first hour and a half of that time 'offline' and then spend the final 30 minutes catching up on whats going on with their emails and phone calls so you're ready to update them at the end of their meeting.


This leads into another great suggestion of knowing what times you work best. For example I am best at involved and complicated tasks first thing in the morning, tasks involving other people prior to lunch and for an hour or so after lunch I'm best at sticking to routine tasks like filing. Knowing this helps me make sure I use my best focusing time (the morning) to work on the tasks requiring the most focus instead of trying to muddle through them in my post-lunch haze. Dave Cheong suggests time boxing on his blog:


Instead of working at something till it is done, try working on it for a limited period, say 30 mins. By that time, the task is either completed or you allocate another time slot, perhaps in another day, to pick it up again. This way, you keep your work fresh and engaging throughout the entire working day.

I think this idea is particularly relevant to assistants as its very rare that our schedules will allow us to sit and work on the same task for long periods of time. Another important tool to help with focus is to take regular breaks...seems counter intuitive doesn't it, but taking regular breaks can actually help improve your focus.

Some sites I've found with interesting suggestions for improving focus and time management are:

• http://blisstree.com/live/5-tips-to-help-you-focus-at-work-155/
• http://www.davecheong.com/2006/08/14/18-ways-to-stay-focused-at-work/
• http://www.davecheong.com/2006/06/21/11-ways-of-staying-focused/
• http://zenhabits.net/16-ways-to-keep-a-razor-sharp-focus-at-work/
  http://selfevolution.net/how_to_focus.html
• http://lifedev.net/2008/03/10-ways-historys-finest-kept-focused-at-work/

Today I was filing some emails in my Outlook folders and getting very annoyed at all of the emails I was filing with a blank subject line, but never fear, the internet had a solution!

Did you know you can rename your Outlook email’s subject line? Do you know how you get emails from people and you want to save them but the subject of the email isn’t the way you are going to remember it?
There’s an easy way to change the subject line.
Just open up the email, and start typing on the subject line (I know if looks gray and like you can’t type, but you can).

From: www.clipmarks.com

What do you know? It works!

Let me know if you've learnt any other helpful tips lately.

I don't know whether you've been watching Undercover Boss on Channel 10 lately, in fact you could be totally forgiven for writing it off as more junk TV and reading a book instead. The basic premise of the show is described by Wikipedia as:

So what has this got to do with being a great assistant? Well, assuming that your boss doesn't have a film crew, disguise and lots of spare time on his or her hands to suss out exactly how their employees are feeling,  more often than not they won't really know. I think it's important for all assistants to be their bosses 'eyes and ears' on the ground and make sure that management are aware of any situations or problems they may not normally be exposed to.


Now I'm not saying you should go out and spy on the team, and telling your boss what Suzy from accounts said about his new haircut is probably not very helpful, but there are some situations where information you gleam from your relationship with the team can be helpful, for example:

• If a staff member has a great idea that they haven't told the boss
• If a staff member has a really great attitude
• If a staff member has received great feedback from a client
• If a staff member has something going on in their life that impacts on their work performance
• If a staff member has been working excessive overtime

 It is important that you deliver this information appropriately to your boss in order to manage the outcome, i.e. the difference between:


Managers rely on their assistants to filter and present information appropriately, so make sure you think about the message you're delivering. You need to 'cheer lead' the good things to your boss, and make sure the bad things don't sound too bad, perhaps by suggesting a solution, i.e.



What do you think? Is this meddling or adding value?

I've spent the last seven years becoming very good at multitasking, as I'm sure all assistants have. Being able to cope with and process many tasks, concepts and requests all at the same time whilst smiling and making someone a cup of coffee seems to be an essential skill.

Recently my constant multitasking has started to bug me, is it really necessary to read and respond to an email while talking to someone about their weekend, and answering the phone to boot?

There's been a lot written about 'uni-tasking' or mindfullness which focuses on the idea that by only completing one task at a time and focusing your full attention on it you'll get more done, feel less stressed and produce better outcomes. This idea really appeals to me, to be able to sit and focus on one task at a time, devoting your full attention to it and creating great results, but is it really possible/practical in an assistant's role?

Sadly, for the most part I think the answer is no. In my view the assistants job is to make their manager/s life easier, and that generally involves taking tasks off their already full plate and completing them efficiently, effectively and usually concurrently. Unitasking can be impractical - it can hold up other parts of your business while they wait for you to finish or it can make other staff waste time trying to do something you could do ten times faster (have you ever watched a CEO try to fix a paper jam?).

Here are some articles on multi-tasking and uni-tasking for your reference:

• http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/03/your_brain_on_m.html
• http://blogs.hbr.org/silverman/2010/06/in-defense-of-multitasking.html
• http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-myth-of-multitasking

I guess the ideal situation is a combination of unitasking and multitasking depending on the situation and workload - what do you think? Are you able to unitask at work or are you too busy juggling twenty tasks?

Today I came across a blog I found useful and thought I'd share it with you.

It is Patricia Robb's Laughing All the Way to Work: A Survival Blog for Today's Administrative Assistant

I particularly liked her post on Playing Nice in the Sandbox, it's well worth the read.

Have you found any useful websites lately? If you have, please share them in the comments section - I'd love to know about them.

Many assistants don't often get a lot of recognition or encouragement from their bosses all that often. If you're running someones professional (and personal) life and receiving little or no positive reinforcement from day to day it's easy to become disheartened or even a little bitter.

I read an interesting post on Joan Burge's blog about this topic and thought I'd share it with you:

'First and foremost, don't expect to hear thank you verbalized often.  But here are other forms of communication that say, "I think you are great!  I trust you.  You are my business partner.  You are doing a terrific job, so I want to bring you into my world more."

•   When your manager shows confidence in you, that is a compliment!
•   When your manager shares confidential information with you, that is a compliment!
•   When your manager asks for your input on a project or your insight as to what is happening in the department, that is a compliment!

And the list goes on and on.  So I want to encourage you to look for the non-verbal signs of appreciation.  Those will make you feel good about yourself and the work you do.  You will also reduce any tension or resentment you might be feeling toward your managers because you are not hearing the words "Thank you." '


from: http://www.officedynamics.com/Blog/PostID/303.aspx

When you look at it from this perspective, being assistant seems a little less thankless. The fact that someone trusts you to run their life, parts of their business and even their family is a pretty big compliment and sign that you're doing a great job! How does your boss or business thank you for the work you do?

These five words placed at the end of your job description pretty much sum up the role of any assistant. Our roles are no longer closely tied to prescriptive set of tasks, and anyone who uses the excuse 'that's not in my job description' is bound to be in the market for a new role pretty quickly.

Over the years I've done some crazy 'other duties as required'; I've thrown a party for a car, hunted for joke gifts and fancy dress costumes, edited a book, babysat and even consoled an ex girlfriend of the boss! Despite all of these things being awkward, inconvenient and sometimes difficult at the time, each and every thing I've done that's 'outside my job description' has made me a better assistant. Being a good appointment setter, travel booker, typist and barista are all important functions of an assistant, but what makes you an exceptional assistant is your ability to make your manager's life easier through your flexibility and problem solving.

Over the years I've come to look forward to the 'other duties'. Not only are they usually an interesting challenge, they give me an opportunity to solve a problem and demonstrate just how much value I can add to the organisation.

Next time you're faced with a crazy sounding task try to use it as an opportunity to show off what you can really do (or at least as an opportunity to get away from your desk)!

Here are some quick energy boosts to get you through the day:
 
Stand up, stretch and take a couple of deep breaths. Stretch your arms, back, legs, and neck. Take a deep breath through your nose, hold it, and let it out slowly and forcefully. Do this a few times and you should feel a bit more alive. Other actions you can try are:

• briskly rub the palms of your hands together
• massage your shoulders and neck
• pat gently under your navel
• stand up and brush your hands down your arms and legs
• Clap the inside of your wrist like you were clapping your hands, but instead of clapping the palm, you clap the inside of one wrist with the other hand. Clap 5-7 times, and then switch sides and clap the other wrist. 
  

Use Aromatherapy. For a quick energy boost, keep a bottle of peppermint, cypress, eucalyptus, spearmint, or geranium essential oil handy. Place a few drops on a tissue and inhale deeply.  


Jumping Jacks: You might look like a bit of a dork, so find an empty place in the office and do a few jumping jacks - they're great for building an energy buzz without a massive amount of effort.

Hydrate Yourself: Before you head to the coffee machine in search of a pick-me-up, drink a big glass of water. 

Get Moving: No wonder you feel flat - you've been sitting in the same chair hour after hour, without moving much more than your fingers! Instead of sending an email, go to your colleague's office. Schedule a walking meeting. Take the stairs to the restroom a few floors away. Just find a reason to move around and be more active.

Alternate nostril breathing: Spend a couple of minutes breathing through alternate nostrils, it helps to give you an oxygen boost.

Eat lots of berries: Especially berries that are blue, red, or purple. The color comes from anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant, that boosts energy.

Use caffeine wisely: Coffee and caffeinated drinks can boost your alertness, but be careful about letting it be a habitual crutch. The temptation to drink more caffeine to get even more energy will be strong. Eventually you’ll be downing 5 double-shot espressos a day just to function. Drink coffee earlier in the day to avoid insomnia, which will make the next day worse.

Herbal tea: Instead of reaching for caffeine to give you a fix, opt for a cup of herbal tea instead - peppermint, lemon or ginger are all good choices to perk you up.

Being an assistant generally involves asking lots of questions, in fact some days I ask so many questions I begin to wonder whether people think I'm a bit thick.I'm lucky that everyone I deal with regularly understands that questioning is vital if we want to get something right, but how do you handle a boss, co worker or even client that hates being questioned on their instructions?

In the longer term, I think it's important to have a think about why this person responds negatively to being questioned - Are they too busy? Do they understand why you are asking questions (presumably so you can be more helpful to them)? Is this something you should already know? Do they not know the answers - are you even asking the right person? Do you know how this person prefers to communicate (i.e. by email, phone, face to face or even scribbled notes on a post-it) and is that how you are presenting the question to them?

One way of approaching someone who is reluctant to be questioned on their requests is to start with what you do know - paraphrase the instructions as you understand them 'just to be confirm' and then slip in your question. Another method is to propose a course of action you think would be appropriate - you'll soon find out whether that's what they have in mind.

When it comes down to it, you're asking questions to make sure you can do the best job of helping someone, but you can only go on what they'll tell you - most rational people will understand this.

Here's an interesting thought on the difference between questions and questioning from Tammy Lenski:

I think there’s a difference between asking questions and questioning. When I have a questioning attitude, I’m really expressing disbelief, doubt or skepticism about the other person. When I’m asking questions, I’m expressing interest, curiosity, and wanting to learn. 

From: http://conflictzen.lenski.com/questions-are-different-than-questioning/

Over the years I've tried many methods of recording and reporting on missed calls and to do lists for various bosses - handwritten notes, word documents, tasks in outlook - you name it, I've tried it! I've recently found a method that works well for me and my boss.

I create an appointment in Outlook at the end of the day (same time every day, say 7pm) and store all of my bosses' tasks, calls and messages in there. It's easy to update and both he and I can access and edit it from our mobiles (so there's no need to ring me to find out who has called).

Would this work for you? Do you have any other methods that work well that you'd like to share?

I'm pretty sure we've all been asked this one in a job interview and that we've all got a pre-prepared answer ready to impress a potential employer, but what is the honest answer?

I've recently been asked this by a manager and automatically spouted out the job interview line, but it got me thinking about what actually does motivate me to do a good job, other than the desire to get paid...

It's pretty easy to see the external things that motivate us. Being praised, bonuses, pay rises and promotions are all rewards that drive many of us to work harder, but these are really only short term motivators - i.e. once the reward is achieved, the motivation tends to wain as the extra effort was only in order to receive the reward.

Intrinsic or internal motivators are a bit harder to pinpoint. If you are intrinsically motivated you work hard because you want to; because it's challenging or satisfying to do so. This form of motivation is usually far more successful and more likely to make you jump out of bed in the morning raring to go.

I think over the last few years I've become distracted with external motivators (although if my boss is reading this pay rises, bonuses and tickets to the races are always appreciated), and lost touch with what really motivated me to keep coming to work - I genuinely do find it challenging and satisfying to be a great 'right hand woman'.

So what motivates you at work - is it power, prestige, recognition, achievement, security, money or something else entirely?

I read this tip at www.personal-assistant-tips.com (a great reference site) the other day for when you're handed a piece of paper and told to 'look after it until the end of the month' and loved it - I know whats going on my next stationery order:

Invest in a concertina folder, labelled with the days of the month, then ask your boss to give you any papers that need to be brought forward.

For instance, if your boss has just sent an email which needs to be followed up in 10 days time, ask him to forward a copy of the email to you, stating when he would like it brought forward to. File the email in the appropriate slot in the bring forward file. Alternatively, he could write the words b/f on a hard copy and the date it should be brought forward to. Check your bring forward file every morning and leave the appropriate brought forward document(s) in his In-tray.

What a great tip - do you do something similar for your boss?

From: http://www.personal-assistant-tips.com/Organise-Your-Boss.html