Browser for the Better

Until August 8, for every download of Windows Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft will donate 8 meals to Feeding America to help accelerate an end to hunger in this country. IE 8 is completely free and has some new cool features. My favorite feature since the launch of IE 7 is tabs. I love having multiple sites up and only one browser window open. I know Microsoft "copied" FireFox, but who cares. I like IE and am comfortable with it...maybe it's that chicken thing again... I also like the idea that downloading the newest version is helping someone eat. It's a win-win for me. I get a cool new tool and someone hungry gets food.

Life is a lot of work...

As I continue to feel drained of energy every night, I wonder if I'm managing my time well and keeping that delicate balance of work and life well adjusted. Its not the work/life balance that's the issue, it's my life is currently a lot of work. My husband and I are in the process of selling and buying real estate. If you've done this before, you know this takes a lot of energy! Every day I'm managing communication with bankers, Realtors and my husband, coordinating appointments and next action items, and let's not forget the paperwork.

My best energy is in the morning. By 1pm, it starts dipping and by 3pm, I want to take a nap. After slugging through the afternoon, I head home to cook, work on real estate tasks and/or spend time with the hubby or friends. I keep my energy up by working out frequently and eating well. but I can't get over that afternoon and evening slug time. I want to have more energy in the afternoon and evening, but can't figure out how to get it. What else can I do? What re-energizes you during your low times?

Not managing my time well these days...

I realize it's been almost two weeks since I wrote a post, sorry! I have not been managing my time well these days. Work projects are taking more energy than expected during the day, selling and buying a house went from blissful to drama filled during my evenings, and my sleep has not been restful (probably because of the first two items!). I've been pushing myself to get re-organized and hopefully, I'll get back to posting on a regular basis starting next week. Until then, I read a great Outlook tip that I wanted to share with you.

Does your Outlook loading time drag on forever? You may be able to fix this! Well at least improve it a little. By turning off some extra add-ins you may improve your loading time. Many of your NON-MICROSOFT extras can be turned off. Go to HowToGeek.com and he'll walk you through the process. I turned off a few my add-ins and when I restarted my Outlook, it seemed to be a little quicker. Good luck!

Weight Watchers At Work

I’ve agreed to be the new onsite coordinator four our Weight Watchers At Work program. Why not?! I’m already part of the program, I believe in the program and the coordinator type of responsibilities fall right in line with my administrative professional activities. In my office, we’ve seen a lot of success with the program. I was reading some of the success stories online and decided that I’m a success story and wanted to share my story with you. Lucky you, right?!

When and why did I join weight watchers? I joined our At Work program in March 2009. Another administrative professional that I work with had lost weight and she looked great. I asked how she did it and she said WW. Now why did this convince me to join? Well we have to go back a couple of days before that conversation. One morning I confessed to my husband that I could only fit into 3 pair of my jeans. I couldn’t believe it. So I went to the guest bathroom where our scale lives and stepped on. It showed that I gained 12 lbs since my wedding in May 2008. Wow. I had gained 12 lbs in 10 months. It was then that I decided to find a way to get motivated to lose weight.

What was the scariest part of joining? I thought other members wouldn’t take me serious because I wanted to lose 10-15 lbs. I’ve found that that my fears were false. Everyone was and is very supportive…regardless of the number of pounds one wants to lose.

How have I stayed motivated? Seeing the numbers on the scale fall each week and fitting back into my clothes. I even have a couple of pants that I need to take in now! Yessssss.

How have my eating habits changed? Now I eat more fresh produce, get a vegetable in with every dinner, eat appropriate portion sizes and drink more water. I don’t snack as much during the day either. Pre WW, if I did snack it would be a granola bar or chips. Now I go for a piece of fruit or fresh cut veggies.

What role has exercise played in my weight loss? I admit I was really hoping that I could lose weight by just eating less. Really, don’t we all hope for that?! It was week 2 or 3 that I figured if I wanted to see some serious results I needed to make some serious changes to my exercise plan. I started doing 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week. Now I get in three 30 minute sessions and at least one 45-60 minute session. And I’m training for 5K run later this summer.

How many pounds have I lost? I have lost 13 lbs. I’m in the maintenance status. Which I feel is just as hard as trying to lose weight! Now that I’ve reached my goal, I plan to continue attending meetings so I get that constant encouragement to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

What do I like most about the program? It’s a lot easier to count points than calories!

If you notice someone losing weight in your office compliment them! We all know its not easy and the compliments help keep their motivation high.

PDF or PYT?!

I hear PDF and instantly think, P.Y.T.(Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson. I know, it's a stretch, but its the whole acronym thing. I realize converting documents is an old technology to write about, but I feel it's still an issue with administrative professionals. I'm surprised that in today's world of freeware and constant software upgrades we [admins] still get requests to convert files to PDF. Okay, I'm not completely surprised, not everyone has the budget to buy Adode Acrobat. Fine, I understand. But I want to share with administrative professionals that you now give your co-workers an alternative option. Wait...go ahead, convert that one last document. Then inform your co-worker that they can now convert their own documents for FREE.

• If you have MS Office 2007, there is a free Microsoft Office Add-in Patch that will allow Access, Excel, InfoPath, OneNote, PowerPoint, Publisher, Visio and Word files to be saved as a PDF. *Note, fellow coworkers, this patch should already be on your computer. To confirm, open a file in one of the above programs, click on the Office button, select Save As and look under the Save As Type. If the patch has already been added (mine has) you'll see a *.PDF option.
• If you don’t have MS Office 2007 and are comfortable with downloading freeware, CutePDF™ Writer may be a good option for you. I am not comfortable downloading freeware, so I have not used this option. However I've seen it on my braver friends and coworkers computers and it seems to be a reliable option.
• If you're a chicken like me and don’t want to download freeware. It's okay. There is hope for you still! (well not about the chicken part.) The site, PDF Online, allows you to upload your file and covert it online. It's really easy and the site emails the converted file to your inbox. I'm much happier about this free option. Now, I wouldn’t convert my company’s secret R&D files through this site, but I’d be comfortable with converting general documents.