Rhea Gaur – a banker turned freelance business writer bring to you the Freelance Learner’s Program.

Freelance Learner’s Program (FLP) is a step- by-step program to equip you with the skills needed for writing for the web and to get you started with live paying projects. From learning how to write web content to finding paying clients, this program promises to teach you the ropes!

FLP is divided into two sections.
Section I – Getting Ready
This section of the program focuses on developing your portfolio of articles that will form the basis for bids for actual work. This includes researching and writing articles on a vast array of topics such as business and technology, conservation, social media and others as per your own interest. This section helps you understand the following aspects of freelance writing:
• guidelines for article writing
• researching a topic
• internet terminologies
• different styles of internet writing
• handy tools
• importance of time management and customer service

Section II- Going Live
This is when you start bidding for online jobs. Section II of the course will involve the following:
• Developing an online contractor profile
• Bidding for projects and executing them

By the end of the program you would be well equipped to have a viable even thriving freelance writing career, from the comfort of your home and as per your convenience.

The course is a perfect fit for those looking for work from home opportunities and don’t know where to start from. How about exploring it further http://ladybirdink.net/work-from-home-india/

The Art of Video Conferencing

Jeff Durham

Who would have believed in the 1990s that you could hold meetings between colleagues when some of them were in the UK, others in the USA and others dotted around different far-flung outposts of the world? Information technology has made this simple and many global businesses will often set up videoconferences (virtual meetings) to serve the same purpose as any kind of conventional office meeting where all participants would need to be in the same location at the same time. Nowadays, that simply isn’t necessary. Nevertheless, for a videoconference to work successfully, you need to follow good practice if you want to ensure that it serves its purpose.

Prepare ahead. With people sometimes being located overseas and in different time zones, it’s important to ensure that everybody is made aware of the time at which the videoconference will take place and how that equates to their own specific time zone. Each participant should be sent a copy of the agenda ahead of the event, alongside a list of all the names of the people who will be attending, albeit “virtually”. It’s also a good idea to appoint a moderator for each of the locations where participants will be attending. He or she can then ensure participation is managed effectively at each of the locations.

Usually, a videoconference will actually be set up in one specific location or office which will then transmit the visual and sound images to all of the other locations where remote participants may also be able to actively take part through the use of sound and video links. Where each individual ‘room’ is concerned, the moderator will need to ensure that there is the sufficient equipment in place for any planned presentations which are going to be given and that they are all fully functional. This may include microphones, slide projectors, PowerPoint presentations etc. and it is very useful for each location to rehearse first so that the technology can be tested and accurate timings can be established.

Prepare for the unexpected. The “unexpected” is likely to be as a result of any technical difficulties that emerge during the videoconference. All participants should be made aware of any instructions in the event of any technical failure alongside any other contingency plan for alternative communication should the technical equipment fail on the day of the event itself.

During the videoconference. Participants should be reminded to identify themselves before they speak or ask questions at the event and to state the name of any specific person they are addressing. An example might be, “This is Emma from the Hong Kong office. I have a question for Professor Hunt in Sydney.” The main “presenter” at the videoconference headquarters will also need to act as the “link” between all locations taking part. For example, he might ask, “London, do you have any questions for us here in New York?” It’s also important to remember that although videoconferencing technology has significantly improved since it was first introduced, some systems might still be some way behind the quality of television so if anybody is moving around as they speak, they should do so slowly so as to avoid juddering images. With sound, it’s also important that you keep microphones from rustling and to avoid things like pen-tapping, papers shuffling etc. which might not matter a jot during a conventional meeting but the resulting sound can be magnified greatly using microphones which could be annoying and ruin the videoconference itself.

Clothing. Pay some consideration to the clothing you wear for a videoconference event as certain colours and styles can react strangely with cameras. Here are a few of the “golden rules”:

Don’t wear all white. It reflects light which makes all the surrounding images appear dark or indistinguishable. Conversely, all black clothing makes everything around you appear lighter.

Don’t wear polka dots, plaids or stripes. They cause a shimmering effect which can become annoying to the viewer. Pastel and neutral colours are best.

Don’t wear elaborate shiny jewellery. It causes reflections on the camera equipment and dangly jewellery can also cause unnecessary background noise to be picked up by the microphones.

With the global business world becoming increasingly smaller thanks to technology such as videoconferencing, the scope for these kinds of virtual meetings will prove even greater as the technology gets even better to the point that appearing in a videoconferencing event will soon be perceived by most of us in much a similar fashion as we’d take an everyday meeting in our local office for granted.

Reproduced courtesy http://www.worketiquette.co.uk/

Mum’s the Word

Priyanka Malik, a special educator, believes she missed out on the joys of reading. She started a children’s book club to ensure her daughter didn’t, and now runs Betterfly, a reading and skill development platform for kids

Name: Priyanka Malik

Mum to: Naviya, 6

What I do now: Betterfly is a reading and skill development platform for children in the age group of 4-8 years to bridge stones to milestones. Our mission is to cultivate in children a passion for reading, through our dedicated skill development workshops. We do this is by making reading a fun experience for children. Reading is not a destination to be reached but a journey to be enjoyed! Reading should not be a chore, nor a home/class work skill but a platform for expressions- oral, written or simply felt!

We often look at reading as a “free-time activity” or “bedtime activity” and then we wonder why our kids are not enthusiastic readers! Have we ever wondered why kids enjoy playtime with friends but not reading? We are targeting the 4-8 age group as these little ones are just entering the wondrous world of reading. They need a fun and exciting experience to make their first impressions last happily ever after…

The start-up saga: I developed a passion for reading way too late in life. My only regret is that I wish I had found “me” through books way earlier. But I guess this is where my journey was meant to start. Better, late than never! So today, through Betterfly, I want to make parents and children aware of the wealth of experiences that books and only books can give us (not even an I-Pad/Kindle!). As much as I am a tech-savvy mom with a super tech-savvy kid, I do believe that every child must experience the touch, feel and smell of the first page of a book! It is personal, private and unique to each one of us and that’s precisely why it’s a must-have experience!

The first time I read out a story to my daughter was when she was 5 years old! Today, given peer pressure, kids by the age of 5 are comfortably reading on their own a Ladybird Level 1 Series; some even graduate to Level 2! This awakening made me start a book club for kids where my daughter and her friends could have structured yet fun playdates! In less than three months, she moved from hesitant letter-akshar recognition to reading a two-page Hindi/ English chapter from her school textbook! There was no looking back once I started this journey with my daughter. Reading a book is a package of inbuilt skills, depending on which ones you want to unwrap! For Naviya, it was her passion to paint that blossomed! Her motivation to read was to get to the end of the story and then pull out her art file to illustrate the title with her own artistic imagination and strokes! With every book we read we found something fun to do! Reading just wasn’t a reading Skill anymore! One day, she came back from school and told me: “’Mom, I wrote a story for you.” That was my Eureka moment!

The Challenges I faced: There are far too many options available for children now, be it in their choice of extracurricular or basic academic skills. It is vital to ensure that we are able to keenly differentiate between a child’s ability to do a chosen task/activity versus a child’s interest/desire to pursue the same. Harvard Gardner explains this through a “Multiple Intelligence Model” where every child displays a unique intellectual capacity to learn and we, as parents/educators, must provide a gamut of opportunities and experiences around this orbit to ensure effective learning.

Where I want to be in 2015: Two years from now, Betterfly should be a part of every school’s curriculum where reading would be included as a subject in itself and not just a skill to be acquired! Betterfly will also design and formulate reading material to ensure effective implementation of the same based on the Multiple Intelligence Model. Betterflyers’ will also include children with special needs as our subject material will be modified to fit individual needs and learning styles.

Listen up, budding mumpreneurs: Let passion be your only motivation.

Find out more about this mumpreneur’s work at Betterfly.

Amita Gadre Kelkar

A typical rushed Monday morning: You get up late, skip breakfast, rush to work, down 2-3 cups of coffee, have a late lunch, gulp chips or biscuits with more coffee, get home totally drained and in a mood that could make anyone feel weary of you.

A happy energetic Monday morning: Get up early, exercise, have a balanced and tasty breakfast, a cup of coffee at work, snack on some nuts, have a healthy lunch, snack on a fruit and have some tea, cook up a yummy but tasty dinner and sleep on time with the satisfaction of a day well spent.

You already know what an ideal day should be like. But how many of us manage to stick to it? What can be done to boost energy and mood through the day so that one isn’t at the crabbiest best or completely exhausted at the end of the day? Try these tips:

• Smart carbs at breakfast. Clichéd as it might may sound, a hearty breakfast of whole grains, a lean protein (eggs), some good fats and fresh produce has been proven time and again to do wonders to your energy levels. No point avoiding carbohydrates, as whole grains and cereal products contain tryptophan, which produces a good-mood chemical (serotonin) in the body. So tuck into that poha, muesli, whole grain toast or paratha.
• The Omega-3 factor. What is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids? Fish. Walnuts and flaxseeds are also good vegetarian sources of the same. In fact, one teaspoon of flaxseeds consumed per day goes a long way in keeping you and your body happy. If your diet consists of all three – fish, walnuts and flaxseeds, you are well protected against depression.
• A Dose of Vitamin D. There are two ways of getting Vitamin D. Get out in the sun, preferably early in the morning (to avoid UV ray damage to your skin). Your body produces vitamin D from the sunlight that it is exposed to through your skin. Or else, consume more seafood (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines), egg yolks, milk products fortified with Vitamin D or fortified breakfast cereals. Vitamin D is known to affect serotonin levels in the body.
• Nuts about you. Cashew, Almond and hazelnut are good sources of proteins and magnesium. Magnesium plays a key role in energy management from the sugar that we consume every day. If you are low on magnesium, you will feel low and lethargic.
• Don’t Miss Folic Acid and Vitamin B 12. Vitamin B 12 is the new Omega-3, these days. Almost every other person is diagnosed with a B-12 deficiency and ends up taking supplements or injections. Why? Because our diet is seriously deficient in green leafy vegetables, dairy products and lean meat. Another resultant deficiency is that of folic acid (found in fresh produce, whole grains and dairy products). Heard of the Mediterranean diet and its benefits? It is replete with B complex vitamins and B-12.
• Get a Caffeine High. Drinking a cup of tea is a worldwide practice to rejuvenate oneself. The caffeine that one gets from tea (much less than that in coffee) helps lift the mood. The flavonoids also have other protective health benefits. Have a cuppa!
• Water, water everywhere? This might seem simple but is often the most difficult components to manage, especially when you are rushing to meet a deadline or running after a toddler. An easy way to monitor your daily water intake is to keep two separate one litre bottles for yourself. Once you finish those, you know you are halfway done. For the other half, eat as much fresh fruit as you can and drink up unsweetened naturally sweet drinks like coconut water, fresh juices or even chhaas or  nimbu paani.

Apart from foods, one can’t skip exercise. Even a regular 20 minutes every day will keep you energised through the day. It will also help you to regulate your body weight as studies show that people who steadily lose weight over time feel more energetic than crash dieters. These seven may not be secrets, but are a must to keep you in high spirits at the beginning and end of every day!

Amita Gadre Kelkar is a nutritionist, foodie, blogger and new mum. Apart from planning diets, she loves to experiment with healthier food options. www.healthyfeasts.wordpress.com

Avoid Avoidance

Some anxiety at work is good– it ensures we aren’t complacent, makes us work harder and perform better. But what happens when it crosses the line? Amy Lemley, co-author of Work Makes Me Nervous: Overcome Anxiety and Build the Confidence to Succeed, tells Fleximoms how to cope with performance anxiety on the job

What, to you, is workplace anxiety?

Workplace anxiety is the fear of being noticeably nervous or otherwise singled out on the job. A big component of it is the fear of shame—your mind going blank in a meeting, saying something “stupid,” or doing a bad job on a project. Another critical part is avoidance: The workplace anxiety sufferer avoids getting into such situations, skipping meetings, clamming up during a discussion, or putting off a project rather than asking questions that would make it possible to complete it on time.

Tell us about your history with workplace anxiety? How did you recognise it?

 Jonathan Berent and I had written a book together called Beyond Shyness: How to Conquer Social Anxieties. Social anxiety is one of the most pervasive problems in our culture today, and was something I experienced to a mild degree back then. Today, I am the extrovert’s extrovert socially. But in the middle of the last decade, I saw myself giving in to anxiety and avoidance in my work. I first recognised it by its physical symptoms: A racing heart and tightening in my chest, a feeling of light-headedness, and mainly racing thoughts about people judging me, seeing that I was nervous, believing that I couldn’t do my job. After writing the first book, I knew what anxiety looked like. I knew that’s what I had. But only about my work. Socially, I was fine.

How did you cope with workplace anxiety? How did it affect you then, and how do you fare now?

I call myself a recovered “avoidance addict.” Before I mastered the techniques Jonathan and I wrote about in Work Makes Me Nervous, I would cope—if you could call it that—by avoiding the things I was afraid of, particularly the feeling of being judged as incompetent. I would avoid asking questions or getting help with technology such as sending an e-blast or using a spreadsheet. My writing was always well received, but I was hard to pin down logistically. I also put off invoicing my clients—then I’d be too embarrassed that I waited so long, and I’d decide not to bill them at all, costing me a lot of money over the years.

Now, I have the tools in my toolbox to “avoid avoidance.” Both of the most effective ones appear in our book. The first is managing my integrity as a health practice. By this I mean that so long as I do what I am supposed to do when I am supposed to do it—or communicate right away if I can’t—I will not be anxious and will not slip into my avoidance habit.

Another one is changing that loop tape in your mind telling you that everyone thinks you’re not good enough. You can’t stop that critical inner voice. But you can dial up the more positive nurturing, objective, and playful voices. Then everything becomes more balanced. When I use this technique, I am kinder to myself. I encourage myself, give myself room to learn and to trust that I received an assignment because people had confidence in me, not because they wanted me to mess up. I can then move forward, asking questions and delivering on deadline. I can stop avoiding.

Do you have any advice for people suffering from this?

Yes. Don’t suffer alone. Many, many people suffer from workplace anxiety at some point in their careers—whether it’s public speaking, brainstorming in a meeting, or preparing a report. We’re talking about high-powered executives, middle managers, young people just entering the work force, and seasoned professionals. It can develop after years of success. You don’t have to live that way. You can learn to channel that anxiety—which is really just adrenaline—into the fuel you need to succeed. You can stop avoiding the things that make you anxious. That’s a big deal. When you beat avoidance addiction, you gain freedom.

Samar Halarnkar started his career as a crime reporter. After that, he worked with a variety of publications – The Indian Express, India Today and Hindustan Times. He recently penned The Married Man’s Guide to Creative Cooking and believes that cooking teaches men respect for women who stay home. The Flexidad speaks about the need to be more focused and organised when working from home, and how work-life balance is something that is a matter of continuous striving

The cooking connection. My mother made me and my brother help in the kitchen when we were boys. I started serious cooking when I couldn’t afford to eat out and craved good food. I had to cook so I could eat good food. I had to learn, improvise and improve. Not so difficult, really. As far as family goes, what’s not to like? They rarely have to bother about food on the table.  Seriously, my wife has no problem at all. My father, I don’t know. I think he struggles with the idea, he could not understand why I quit at what he considered the peak of my career, so to say… Cooking is just a part of my life, like brushing teeth or waking up. I do not consider it extraordinary.

Cooking betters men. Indian sons are victims of the mera-raja-beta syndrome. Learning to cook helps you appreciate the effort it takes to run a kitchen and feed a family. And it teaches you respect for women who stay home; it’s a respect that Indian men sorely lack.

Working at home. The thing about writing is, you just have to do it. Everything else is an excuse. I say this because I am constantly finding excuses not to write this piece or that. I realise I just have to find the time and do it. Not that I succeed each time, of course.

The balancing act. The work-life balance is something that is a matter of continuous striving. I can’t say that flexi-work has got me the balance, but it is much, much better than it was when I was working. I mean I miss the newsroom and working with colleagues in an office. On the flip side, there’s time with the kid, exploring and thinking of new things to do…just need to be more focused and organised at home, I find, than at office.

Being a Flexidad. It’s no different from being a Fleximom, I imagine. It’s a struggle sometimes, but it works very well. I get to spend time with my daughter, watch her grow up. It’s priceless. My wife does get jealous — that my daughter gives me more kisses than her. But, of course, there are sacrifices.

Working freelance in India. The going is not easy for freelance writers. I have fixed columns, a legacy of my previous job. So, I’m lucky. Otherwise, it’s very tough. It’s not so abroad. We are just unprofessional around here!

Getting published. It was quite easy to get published because I am a man. I suspect it would’ve been far more difficult if I wasn’t. Most women do what I do every day, with no fuss. You’re having this chat with me because I am male because it all appears very novel (when it should not be). If I was a fleximom, I don’t think this would be happening.

What I cook best. I cook meat and fish best, though I learned to cook veggie food after marriage because my wife is a vegetarian. We both do the dishes, but I end up doing them more often than not. Hard to expect my wife to do it after a hard day’s work.

A ‘jugaad’ recipe for all Fleximoms. The big bang stir-fry

Ingredients: 1 tsp sesame seeds, ½ tsp black-onion seeds (kalonji), 6-7 dried chillies, 8-9 large garlic pods, smashed or chopped fine, 1 tsp fresh, grated ginger or galangal (Thai ginger), 1 flat tsp red chilli powder (or paprika), 1 medium broccoli, reduced to florets; 1 small zucchini, halved and sliced; 1 small red pepper, deseeded and chopped long; 1 small yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped long; 1 tsp fresh rosemary; 2 tbsp soy sauce; red-wine vinegar (or red wine) to sprinkle

Method: Season a medium-size wok with olive oil. Throw in sesame, dried chillies (snap them into half) and black-onion seeds. When seeds start to sputter, add garlic. Cook till lightly brown. Add ginger. Stir quickly. Add chilli powder. Add broccoli and zucchini. Sprinkle with vinegar (or wine) so it sizzles. Add soya sauce for next sizzle. Toss on high heat until almost cooked. Add peppers. Add salt. Toss all vegetables. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and grind fresh pepper. Serve.

Try these. Sridatta Boarding House in Mumbai (Lalbaug) and Royal China at VT. In Bangalore, Sunny’s. The Naga kitchen in Delhi Haat and the Italian restaurant in Jor Bagh market. Sridatta has the simplest and best vadi (masala puris) and Konkan-style fish and meat curries. Royal China has great dim sums; Naga kitchen is perfect for experimenting with pork varieties.

Cooks in the making, listen up.  Just do it! If I can, anyone can. When I began cooking, I stumbled all the time.

The last word. It’s been great talking to everyone, though I had to persuade the wife to be a fleximom today and pick up my daughter, so I could do the chat.

The Married Man’s Guide to Creative Cooking and Other Dubious Adventures by Samar Halarnkar, Westland, Rs 495

Time Management Tips to Deal with Incoming E-mail

Peter Turla

If you live by e-mail, it’s easy to die by e-mail. E-mail fatalities come in many forms, and one of the most common is drowning. These “Top-15″ e-mail time management tips will help you stay afloat and swimming in the right direction through that flood of messages vying for your attention.

• Keep your “business” e-mailbox as lean as possible. Create electronic folders so you have a place to keep messages sorted by subject. Plan your filing. Don’t just create a new folder for every detail or use your inbox or sent mail as a huge miscellaneous file or everything will run together and get out of hand. File messages according to subject, key word, or author, and then move incoming, related messages into the respective folders. This will keep things neat and organised.
• Create an “Action Items” folder for important e-mail that needs attention. Review the items in this file daily and save them to your hard drive or delete them when you’ve finished them.
• Use the “Tools, Organize” or “Tools/Rules” function in your e-mail programme to colour-code incoming e-mail from your boss or key team members so they stand out from the others.
• Glance at all new e-mail “Subject” lines and delete the junk mail as you go. As you do this, look for the important ones that you’ll read.
• If your e-mail system can organise messages according to “threads,” read the last message first in a thread that deals with a particular subject. Many times you won’t need to read the previous ones.
• Decide what action or response is necessary whenever you read e-mail. By deciding right away, you save time not having to reread it and rethink what it’s about. Handle e-mail once when possible.
• Use your e-mail program’s filters to prevent spam.
• Before you set up auto-filing features consider whether urgent mail might wind up being auto-filed before you see it.
• When “Sent” and “Received” items relate to each other, store them in the same folders.
• Avoid getting on lists for jokes, cute stories, etc. If you like to receive this kind of material, set up an auto-filing function to send them into special files that you can review at your leisure.
• Unless you’re on a team with constant hot mails going back and forth, determine a reasonable frequency for checking your e-mail. Checking it too often could be a way to escape or avoid what you should really be doing.
• Learn to discipline yourself to focus on the task at hand and not feel compelled to open every e-mail as soon as it comes in. You generally should attempt to work until you come to some kind of natural break or stopping point before you check your e-mail so you can keep a good work flow and momentum going.
• If you have to keep complete records of e-mail correspondence, save your “Reply”e-mail. When you reply to people’s e-mail, a copy of their entire e-mail is automatically included in the reply.
• Use one address if you register for something on the Internet (which might attract spam), another for business, and another for personal use.
• Regularly purge your e-mail of outdated and unnecessary messages. Archive e-mail that you need to keep for historical reasons.

Dallas-based Peter Turla, also known as the Time Man (www.timeman.com), is one of the world’s leading time management experts

Sonali Brahma gave up full-time work to spend more time with her son. Today, she subscribes to Sachin Tendulkar’s view – of choosing to be one of the best players and not hankering for captaincy. Here’s her story:

Name: Sonali Brahma

Mum to: Abhishek Brahma, almost 18 years old

What I do now: I am an independent brand strategist, a creative consultant, a writer, a trainer, but more importantly an explorer who is 19 years old in this professional world. I have done my B.Com and MBA, Marketing, from SIBM, Pune University. Besides this I am a student (there’s always so much to learn from life), a mother, a daughter, and an honest and committed person. In a nutshell, I am an advertising pro and writing is my passion.

The start-up saga: I was a mother of a 4-year-old when I stepped into the world of advertising, before which I did what every MBA would – work in the corporate world. I started as a copy trainee at 29 and worked up to the level of a creative director in 2 years. I would be away from my little son for as long as 10 hours as I was working full-time. Like any Mom, the guilt would eat me up every time I realised I should be with him.

One day I decided to step out, quit my job- just like that. I did not have any plans, just one client with whom I freelanced. My focus was my son, who had then started showing his insecurities with me being away most part of the day and my husband being away most part of the year. Ours was a nuclear family and hence it was I who had to be his anchor at home. So I quit. For me, at the time, it was my son first, business second. I just took the work that fell into my lap – zilch active selling/marketing.

But in less than 6 months new clients started popping up and suddenly my work kitty started filling up. It was probably a result of doing quality work and my total commitment to schedules that got me new business through word of mouth.

My priority was still my son, but work was increasing so the question was how I would divide my time.

The hurdles I overcame: Advertising is a service industry. Moreover I was an independent consultant with a SOHO (Small Office Home Office) and hence funding wasn’t a major problem. I had the basics – a computer, modem, phone and later all the software and mobile etc. The problem was the work scheduling.

In advertising, it is common for the client to demand everything “day before yesterday”, so when work increased I simply started waking up early (as early as 4 am) or staying up late (as late as 2 am) or doing both. The one thing I did not want is for work to do was eat into the time earmarked for my son.

I also did not want to hire a team and set up an office because then I would have to get into administration and recoveries to cover my overheads. Moreover, that would stress me out and again leave me with little energy for my son and family. I totally subscribed to Sachin Tendulkar’s view – of choosing to be one of the best players and not hankering for captaincy. I was my own captain, player and field boy and was very happy with that.

Another challenge in advertising is bad debts. People get work done from you and say it is rejected by the client – the end result being they don’t pay you a dime for all the hours you have put it.

In a few years I circumvented the issue by charging a 50 per cent advance; and although rejection was a rare incident, I still had 50 per cent as rejection charges. That’s how consultants work the world over.

Where I want to be in 2015: In a couple of years from now, I would still want to be Sachin Tendulkar and not captain a team or have my own agency. But now that my son has finished his Class 12 Boards, I would like to focus on my profession. I see no reason why I cannot double my business by 2015. Opportunities have always been knocking on my door; I have been taking a rain check on them so far. Now, I would like to encash them.

I would like to work for bigger and national brands, for national agencies and big business houses more and more. I would like to be known as India’s top 5 brand strategists and make my mark in the digital world.

I believe that the world and life has so much to give that there really isn’t enough time to do it all. But I will try!

Listen up, budding mumpreneurs: For moms, the best thing to be is a Fleximom. If they follow these three things, they will be successful mompreneurs, won’t have to slave for someone else and, most important, will be able to devote time to their children.

• Start planning your career stream right from post-graduation. HR, arts, law and others offer flexiwork opportunities.
• Once you become a mom, don’t leave everything and be a sit-at-home mom. Keep doing something, even if it is a hobby or keep learning new things. At this stage, unless absolutely necessary, do not count your earnings, just count your blessings and don’t give up on your dreams and faith.
• Once your children are old enough, you can choose one of the many things you have been doing or learning and turn it into a career or start your own shop. A commercial artist can branch off into freelancing or starting a hobby studio or a business that makes artifacts, art pieces and sell them. There are umpteen such opportunities – only, you have to network and keep your eyes and ears and your social networking active.

Bingo! You are a successful mompreneur in just 3 simple steps. Cheers!

Green your Office

Is your workplace smart? A smart office is one that uses resources wisely. Greening an office does not have to mean spending a lot of money or getting rid of things you like. Try our tips today to reduce your carbon footprint at work. Your children and grandchildren will thank you years later!

• Look for Energy Star labeled products when buying office equipment such as computers, copiers, and printers.
• The average computer uses 49 watts when fully on, 29 when asleep and 2 when switched off. The average monitor uses 60 watts when on, 6.5 when asleep and 1 when switched off. Switch things off!
• Activate the power management features on your computer and monitor, unplug laptop power cords when not in use and turn off equipment and lights at the end of the day.
• Get an office plant. Research states that office plants can reduce volatile organic compounds by 80 per cent, CO by 25 per cent and “negative mood states” by 60 per cent.
• Use both sides of paper for printing and copying, buy supplies made with recycled content. Try using old print-outs as notepaper.
• Before printing, edit all documents as much as you can. Draft letters and documents in space-efficient formats to reduce page count.
• Recycle office paper, newspapers, beverage containers, electronic equipment and batteries.
• Post notices in a common place and/or send them via e-mail rather than printing copies for every employee.
• Avoid using paper plates and plastic utensils. Ensure that the office pantry is stocked up with dishes, utensils and cutlery.
• Use cleaning supplies that are non-toxic and buy in bulk. Try to use as little detergent/soap as you can. Tea and coffee cups don’t really need scouring!
• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact flourescents.
• Encourage your employer to install light sensors so that lights turn off automatically when not in use.
• Turn off all lights when you leave. Turn off any you’re not using at the time.
• Switch to public transportation, carpooling, biking, telecommuting or other innovative methods to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Negotiate Better, Start Now

Career expert Selena Rezvani, the author of Pushback: How Smart Women Ask–and Stand Up–for What They Want, decodes the art of asking for Fleximoms

Why are so many accomplished women caught in the vicious cycle of not getting paid properly for the work they do?

The reasons are many. Men initiate negotiations 4 times more often than women do.  This stems from the fact that men report approaching negotiations with more confidence than women do and set higher targets than women. While women may attempt to negotiate equitably—so that the pie is split in half—men tend to ask for a larger part of the pie.

In a recent survey I did with LinkedIn, we found that men saw negotiation as more strategic and game-like than women. Male respondents most often likened negotiating to a “poker game” – a win-lose pursuit– while women compared it more often to a “dance”, which is more of a collaboration.

Men are also more likely to continually negotiate because they report more satisfaction with negotiating outcomes (in part because they are setting their sights higher.)  Attitudes about negotiating create a self-fulfilling prophecy where we as women get less and feel worse!

I feel women hesitate to negotiate and push back for many reasons. Chief among them, I would argue, is a relentless―and often subconscious―belief that relationship should trump outcome or agenda. Many women question how the request might change the existing relationship between her and her boss: “What if I’m laughed at, belittled, challenged, or disregarded?” she wonders. The damage, it seems, could be irreparable, and is thus not worth the risk.

Another reason why women shy away from self-advocacy is a paralysing need for perfect conditions. We are often plagued by misgivings that emanate from the seductively simple questions, “What if I’m wrong?” or “What if I’m not ready?” Both men and women face uncertainty and doubts, to be sure, but men tend to handle this predicament differently than women do. Research shows that in self-assessments, men tend to overestimate their abilities and women commonly underestimate theirs.

Most women are squeamish about negotiating for money and don’t know how to effectively advocate for themselves. How can a woman successfully negotiate what she’s worth?

• Never Capitulate Too Soon:  While in a negotiation, get comfortable drawing out the conversation – or even postponing it – if need be rather than nodding your head in agreement or surrendering with “Okay.”  You can experiment with being silent for a few seconds to level the power and you can ask questions that open up dialogue.  These questions deepen conversation and often resemble, “Can you explain how you arrived at that solution?” and “How could I help you feel more comfortable with this request?”
• Negotiate Even If There’s No Precedent:  It’s okay to ask for an exception to the rule.  Who cares that no one else has ever asked for a phased-back return from maternity leave?  Be the first one to ask for it, making the case as to how work will get done, how operations will continue to flow smoothly, and how you and your boss can build in checkpoints along the way to evaluate how it’s going.
• Hear ‘No’ as ‘Not Yet’: One big mistake many people make is to assume that when someone says “no”, the matter is closed for discussion.  Often the timing just wasn’t right the first time so a second ask (timed better or under different circumstances) will do the trick.  It’s more than okay to be tenacious and ask again – in fact, if you never hear “no”, you’re probably not asking for enough.
• Step into your supervisor’s shoes: Tailor your pitch to their wants, needs, and style of thinking.  Understand how they usually make decisions, what they tend to say “yes” to, and think about how they like to make a case or ask for something themselves.  Then adjust your pitch to their style – analytical and data-based, or humanised and anecdote-based.  “Say it like they’d say it” and you will be amazed how much your ask comes across as their own idea.

Why bother negotiating as a woman?

Every time we hesitate to negotiate our salary it has a cumulative effect, undercutting how much we can command from the next job offer, and so on down the line.  Women stand to lose upward of $1million in their lifetime by not negotiating compensation. If a woman can’t find the value in negotiating for herself right now, today, then she ought to project into the future and do it for her future self.

When we hesitate to ask for what we want, it substantially hurts our earning potential, our access to plum work assignments, and our opportunities for promotions. From a broader perspective, not asking for what we want limits our input in decisions that affect us, making our voice a barely audible whisper. Not asking encourages us to accept what is, to consent to that with which we disagree, and to leave a world of opportunity unclaimed.