CASE - Communications Is from Mars, Admissions Is from Venus

Check out my interview in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education's CURRENTS April 2010 issue:

CASE - Communications Is from Mars, Admissions Is from Venus

Time management

I have not posted in 18 days! Where did the time go? Do you ever feel like that at the end of the work day? I know I do!

Every morning when I get in, I make a "To Do" list for the day...I'm known for my lists. I do these lists for a variety of reasons:

1. I have a lot to do.
2. On any given day, 10 different issues will come up that I need to attend to immediately...thus pushing everything else to the back burner.
3. I do not have a great attention span.

Many people who work in PR and advertising, particularly those who work in agencies and firms, get used to working on one project for an hour, another for 30 minutes, yet another for 10 minutes and might end the day with a two hour wrap up (a two hour marathon if you ask me). When I worked at a PR agency, my client billing sheet reflected two to six clients a day and up to 10 different projects...in increments of 15 minutes. Although this may seem like a bad thing, I find that by working on many projects at once actually keeps my mind fresh, ideas flowing and forces me to be more organized.

Now, if I can only find the perfect balance of time management in my out-of-work life. From planning a wedding to selling a house to buying a car to volunteering to helping friends plan their weddings and baby showers, I don't know which way is up...and my head can't seem to find the pillow early enough each night, so the entire cycle starts over the next morning...

Networking

I was always the shy one...the one who stood behind her mom when she was five years old. The one who would never break the ice with someone new by going up to them and saying, "Hi! I'm Amanda...what's your name?" However, over the years, I've had to learn to become more aggressive in my actions--I work in PR, after all!

I have a few good girlfriends who are masterful at networking. I'd go with them to social and/or professional events and watch them work the room like it was their favorite hobby. After months of watching them, I realized that there was really nothing to be scared of...all I was doing was introducing myself to people...not asking them to marry me!

In order to get over my fear (I'm not even exactly sure what my fear was) of networking, I forced myself to attend at least one professional event each week--whether it was a Chamber of Commerce meeting, a meeting of one of the professional organizations I belong to or a young professionals group meeting, I made it a point to get out of my comfort zone and to attend a meeting where I usually didn't know anyone. My goal at each event was to strike up a conversation with at least one new person and to not leave until I did.

A great thing happened: I met many new people and all of a sudden, I could walk into a room full of people I didn't know and leave with several contacts--and it was a natural feeling! This has served me well in my position with Cleary and I strive to continue my networking "experiment" each week.

Click here for a great article called, "How To Network: For Introverts."