Free Webinar & 5-Day Challenge: Clear the Clutter and Get Organized at the Office
Presented by: Julie Perrine, CAP®, OM, MBTI® Certified, Certified Productivity Pro® Consultant, Founder & CEO of All Things Admin
Dates: Free Webinar – Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 1 p.m. EDT
5-Day Challenge – Monday, April 16 – Friday, April 20, 2018

As an administrative professional, you know being organized is crucial to your effectiveness. We all have areas where we excel and areas where we struggle when it comes to organization. When we excel, we typically have a good system in place that works with our individual organizing style. When we struggle, it’s a sign the system is broken or worse – there is no system in place at all. Ultimately, systems allow you to create an office that functions smoothly, efficiently, and effectively…no matter what happens!

 
We want to help you create some better systems for organizing your work and increase your productivity at the office! Please join us for this free webinar and 5-day challenge and learn how to create an organized office that will reduce headaches and make your work life easier!
 
Learn More Here

 
Upcoming Training-The SuperCompetent Admin
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Time: 1 p.m. EDT, 12 p.m. CDT, 10 a.m. PDT
Ready to achieve your personal productivity best? Tired of doing more with less? It's no surprise that it is no longer good enough just to be able to do your job. You have to be SuperCompetent to get an edge. During this Business Management Daily webinar, Laura Stack, world-renowned productivity expert and author, will show you how to save time and get everything done with proven methods to attain peak performance and maximum potential.
 
Learn More Here

 
AI and the Administrative Professional: Creating Your Strategy for Integrating AI in Your WorkplacePresented by: Julie Perrine, Founder and CEO of All Things Admin
Date: Available throughout April 2018
From retail to health care, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is seeping into just about every industry, including the administrative field. And it’s only going to increase in popularity in the coming years. Yet some executive assistants see AI as a threat to their careers, and think it will replace them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Innovative Admin doesn’t need to fear AI. Instead, admins have a lot to gain from engaging with this new technology – from increasing efficiency to reducing errors and improving productivity.
 
Learn More Here

 
Admin Appreciation Month CelebrationsDate: Happening throughout April 2018
April is Admin Appreciation Month, and there are numerous admin organizations, groups, and experts that are offering special freebies, webinars, giveaways, and more! We don’t want you to miss any of these opportunities, so we’ve compiled a list of all this month’s happenings. Check it out and make sure you’re taking advantage of all the awesome admin offerings!
 
Learn More Here

International Day of Happiness! Tuesday, March 20, 2018
 
Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognizes the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. Check out the World Happiness Report 2018 at http://www.un.org/en/events/happinessday/.
 
Celebrate by hosting a happiness wall - https://www.livehappy.com/practice/host-wall-share-your-happyacts & https://www.livehappy.com/practice/how-build-happiness-wall
​

Dr. Paul Jenkins works with organizations and individuals to establish and maintain habitual patterns of positive perception and focus that increase happiness, engagement, productivity, profit, and ultimate achievement of professional and personal life missions.
With two decades of experience as a professional psychologist, Dr. Paul (as he is known to clients and his audiences) lays out the how and the why behind the art and science of being constructive in an often destructive environment. It is like having an owner’s manual for your brain – one you can actually read, understand, and apply. You understand your own mind and improve its functioning on purpose.
His deeply thoughtful writing, engaging and fun keynote addresses, powerfully practical breakout seminars, individual and corporate coaching and counseling are profound and simple. His clients, readers, and audiences get an iron grip on powerful Pathological Positivity principles that make an immediate difference in their personal and professional lives.

​Dr. Paul is also offering a 50% discount for his six-week Zoom course on positivity that starts Monday, March 12th. Check it out at http://positivity180312.eventbrite.com. Use code “UAEOP” to get the discount. This is the biggest discount he offers to anyone other than his independently licensed coaches. The course includes copies of both books. If you sign up at the conference, he will give you signed copies.

This has been such a mild winter that I am ready for spring to REALLY be here. Spring is a time to start anew. We can do this too at the office. Here are a few tips and tricks for organizing the cleaning of your office space:

1. Purge your office – De-clutter, empty, shred, get rid of everything that you don’t need or want. Look around. What haven’t you used in a while? Take one area at a time. If it doesn’t work, send it out for repair or surplus it. If you haven’t used it in months and can’t think of when you’ll actually need it, out it goes. This goes for furniture, equipment, supplies, etc. Don’t forget about knick-knacks, plants (real or artificial), and decorations – if they’re covered with dust and make your office look shabby, they’re fair game.
2. Establish work “zones” – Decide what type of activity happens in each area of your office. You’ll probably have a main workspace (most likely your desk,) a reference area (filing cabinet, shelves, binders,) and a supply area (closet, shelves or drawers.) Place the appropriate equipment and supplies in the proper area as much as possible.
3. Get a good labeler – Choose a label maker that’s simple to use. Take the time to label shelves, bins, baskets, and drawers. Not only will it remind you where things go, but it will also help others who may have a need to find, use, or put away anything in your workspace.
4. Revise your filing system – As we move fully into the digital age, the need to store paper files has decreased. What can you store digitally? Are you duplicating files? You may be able to eliminate some of the files and folders you’ve used in the past. If you’re storing files on your computer, make sure you are doing regular back-ups. Some quick tips for creating a smooth filing system:
   1. Create a meeting folder – Put all “items to be discussed” in there along with items that need to be handed off, reports that need to be given, etc. It’ll help you be prepared for meetings and save you stress in the event that a meeting is moved up.
   2. Create a WOR folder – So much of our messy papers are things that are on hold until someone else responds or acts. Corral them in a WOR (Waiting on Response) folder. Check it every few days for outstanding actions you may need to follow-up on.
5. Separate inboxes – If you work regularly with other people create a folder, tray, or inbox for each.
6. Assign discard dates – You don’t need to keep every piece of paper indefinitely. Mark on files or documents when they can be tossed or shredded. Some legal or financial documents must be kept for a specified length of time. Make sure you know what those requirements are.
7. Reading folder – Designate a file for print articles and documents you want to read that aren’t urgent.
8. Archive files – When a project is complete, put all of the materials together and file them away. Keep your “working folders” for projects in progress.
9. Straighten your desk – At the end of the day do a quick straighten, so you have a clean start the next day.

 
Use one tip or try them all. The amount of effort you put into creating and maintaining an efficient work area will pay off in a big way. Instead of spending time looking for things and shuffling piles, you’ll be able to spend your time…well…working.
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/21-tips-to-organize-your-office-and-get-more-done.html
​

​Andrea Curtin,CEOE*
Learn Co-Coordinator

The UAEOP conference is Saturday, March 10th. If you’ve already registered, we look forward to seeing you! If you haven’t registered, there is still time…we’ve extended registration without a late fee to February 15th. Register at www.2018uaeopconference.eventbrite.com.
 

• Meet Keynote Speaker, Dr. Paul Jenkins, the Positivity Psychologist, in this quick video! 

​www.worklifebalance.com/love-your-job.html
Much has been touted about how important it is to find a job you love. Maybe that's not as critical as we've been led to believe.

Jim Bird
Publisher
My experience is that most people don't love their work. Many like it, some tolerate it, but it is a minority who find work they love that also supports their lifestyle.
Does that mean that everyone else is left to live in frustration, desperately seeking that perfect job they can be passionate about? Not at all.
You can and should find enjoyment in your work. Doing so is very valuable to your life in many ways, including greatly increasing your probability of financial success. But you don't have to love, or even like your overall job to enjoy everyday aspects of it.
It is critical to distinguish between the job and the way you do it. This is important because every job has aspects that will be very unpleasant for you. You need to be able to get through them with a smile on your face.
Let me give you a personal example. Coming out of college I helped start a company that required me to develop a sales pattern to teach to others. The nature of the sales contact was face-to-face cold calling. Unlike some of the great salesmen I've worked with since, I DISLIKED SALES. So much so that, for the first year, I got up every weekday, threw up, and then went to work.
Although my specific job literally made me sick, I was proud and took satisfaction in the way I was doing the job. I was giving it my best. Somebody had to create a successful way of selling our product, and money and manpower restrictions made me the best choice.
Why did I put such a concentrated effort into a job that I clearly didn't love? Because I needed to make a living. I saw a significant opportunity for my partners and myself. And as importantly, it made me feel good about myself. I enjoyed undertaking something and giving it my best. It made me feel better about me, and my life as a whole.
Passionate about the job…no. Passionate about how well I did the job…yes. Fortunately, the effort paid off and we were able to hire and train others to do what I didn't like to do. For a few of those folks, it was their dream job. For most, it was an okay way to make a good living. As for me, I moved to a job that I disliked less.
So if your boss doesn't appreciate you, you're underpaid, your company isn't ideal…that can be OK, for now. They aren't the key evaluators in your life. You are. Do your job well for YOU.
Even if you don't like your specific work, or the work environment you are in, you can love the way you do it.
Be able to pat yourself on the back at the end of every day. By doing so, you also set yourself up for finding, within your company or somewhere else, a job you will enjoy more.
And you may discover, as you focus on doing it better, that some of the irritants of your job become more rewarding, or at least less lousy. For me, I eventually grew to like sales, though never to love it. However, after 30 professional years, I am fortunate to have created a job I love doing. It would have never happened without my previous work experiences, many of which were less than ideal.
Afraid of being stuck in the same job for life? Don't worry. Individuals who emphasize the positive and rewarding aspects of their job, don't stay in unpleasant jobs that long. They get promoted or use their positive record to get a more fulfilling job.
So, paraphrasing a verse Stephen Stills penned,
If you can't be in the job you love…
Love the job you're in (or the way you do it)
It will make EVERY JOB much more enjoyable and rewarding.
But what about Passion….Love of Life? Is that dependent on finding a job you love? No.
We all need to love life to fully benefit from it. But which parts of our lives generate that ardor, will vary from person to person, and over time. Someone who is passionate about their job is not necessarily living their life any more or less fully than someone who is passionate about their family or their music.
So, other than your job, what is your passion in life? Do you love to learn, or teach, or write? Are you fervent about cooking, sports, cars, or clothes? Do you have a wonderful friend, lover, or a family that you adore? Congratulations! You've discovered some of life's great turn-ons for you.
Why not expand the joy in your life by regularly blocking time to engage in those activities you love, with the people you love? If it's cooking special meals, set an evening a week aside from TV and laundry to be the chef you want to be. If that's not enough, get a part time job as a prep cook in a restaurant you enjoy. Do it for free if you have to…it's not your job, it's your joy.
This is not hard to do. You just have to decide to do it. Then, in a calendar or planner that you use on a daily basis, write it down on the day you will do it. "Buy tickets to Sunday's game" (tonight), "till my garden" (Saturday), "sign up for a design course at night school" (5 p.m.), "read my new book" (everyday at lunch). Don't take your loves for granted - plan time with them. And that certainly should include the people you cherish the most. Commit to regular, celebration times, play times, bring them flower times, in addition to the routine.
Please understand that I'm not encouraging you to stay in a job that makes you miserable and find all your joys elsewhere. If you dislike the job you are in, start to lobby or look for a better one today. And create a plan to get it.

But remember, while you are searching for that perfect job, enjoy the way you are doing your present one, and keep celebrating and expanding all the other joys of life that surround you.

​www.worklifebalance.com/love-your-job.html

​The UAEOP conference is March 10th. If you’ve already registered, we look forward to seeing you!   If you haven’t registered, there is still time…the deadline is February 10th , but it’s filling up quickly.
2018 Conference registration is now open. Join us on March 10th for our silver anniversary...25 Years of Learn Connect Grow!
Click here for details:
https://uaeop.weebly.com/2018-uaeop-conference.html
  
Shirley Ayrton
UAEOP Connect Co-Coordinator