Supernatural Botanicals

The color blue, reminiscent of the sky and ocean water, is not only relaxing, it’s also the hue that makes us more creative.  Researchers from the University of British Columbia says the color blue can amp up your creativity.  Consider painting your office a sensational shade of blue and get your creativity flowing.  Want more ideas for a fantastic home office?  Check out Home Office Design Blog to get your office gorgeous and productive.

A Penn State University study found that when men cry, they are often viewed as sensitive and caring, while when women cry, they are frequently seen as incompetent.  

Which do you prefer, the political correctness of today’s workplace, or the workplace of yester-year?  I suppose both have advantages, but they sure look like they had fun.  It would be interesting to experience that sort of work environment…if only for a week.  Do we, as women, have it easier now?  Worse?  Better and worse at the same time?  What do you think? 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvAlSuqo174

Go Green at work.  With the availability of instant messaging, video conferencing, and other innovative workflow tools, it makes telecommuting a reality.  If you have the option to telecommute, take it.  It saves you commute time in the car (sparing your time and the air), gas money and tons of money you’d spend on lunches.  Time taken off from work is practically non-existent for telecommuters (because you can drag yourself to your home office looking miserable with a cold, where as you’d be far more inclined to call in if you worked in an office environment.)  Telecommuting works for 44 million Americans.  I love that TreeHugger’s staff works from their home offices! 

Can’t telecommute?  Then stack it up.  Work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days a week, cutting the energy and time spent on commuting by 20% …not to mention a three-day weekend.

Find more great design ideals at Hooked On Houses.

Feeling guilty for sneaking on the Internet while at work?  Tell your boss about this new study.  The University of Melbourne’s study showed that people who surf the Web at work have a better concentration level, and are 9% more productive than those who don’t.  Apparently, the key is to keep it short .  Evidently, quick Internet use offers the most benefit.  Start here….follow us on Facebook and Twitter.   

Recently, I received a comment from a reader in regard to a prior blog post on Thoughts on Business Casual.   She asked what the big deal was with dressing for success?  She stated that as long as your clothes are clean and ironed, we really shouldn’t fuss about what we wear to work. 

Au contraire, reasons of which will be displayed below.  Dressing for success is more than your appearance, it’s a mind-set.  When you are in appropriate business dress, it changes your demeanor; it changes the way in which you carry yourself.  The way in which you carry yourself can project how people perceive you.  If you radiate confidence and professionalism, it shows, and you’ll earn the respect of colleagues.  And if you are dressed inappropriate or look like a slouch, you’ll project that, too. 

Business dress is implemented for a reason…we need guidelines.   The following are pictures of women in their “business attire.”  It becomes blatantly obvious that we need guidelines as to what is appropriate…and what is not.  While these clothes are clean and pressed, they are completely inappropriate for the business world. 

However, another post followed the first post.  Our same reader wants to know why it’s unacceptable to wear Crocs to work.  She also wants to know why it’s inappropriate to wear open-toe heels to work.  …..I’ll be glad to explain.  Most corporate employers have very strict attire guidelines for the office.  That is the first and foremost reason one should look professional and appropriate at work.  However, lets gather some visuals to further drive the point home, shall we?  We don’t want open-toe shoes, essentially because everyone does not have the same hygiene standards.  Below are some examples of why you don’t want to see one’s feet in the workplace, i.e., dry, cracked heels, dirty soles of feet, blisters, corns, dirty toenails, long toenails, chipped nail polish, etc.  Do you want to see that…..do you?  It makes you re-think the whole foot exposure in the office, yes?   

Lets look at another example of inappropriate shoe-wear in the office.  Perhaps visuals will help to clarify how overtly wrong Crocs are for an office and professional setting.  As Bill Maher once said….“Crocs are for pre-schoolers and mental patients.”   

I do hope this clears up any confusion as to why we need guidelines on business attire in an office/corporate setting.  If this does not bring clarity, however …you’ll need to contact Stacy London, stat, for a fashion intervention. 

The June 1st edition of BusinessWeek magazine featured the new book, Womenonics, written by Claire Shipman (ABC News and Good Morning America) and Katty Kay (BBC World News America.)  In summary, the book denotes how beneficial it is to employers to exercise flexibility in work schedules, depicting how important it is for women to have this flexibility to accommodate their home life, their life as a mother, and all around multitasker.

While I agree with their theory on the whole, as flexibility in work schedules make life far more enjoyable and makes employees more efficient with time management, my mind was boggled at statements such as this “Capital One thought work flexibility was a key issue only for female employees.  Turns out, it was true for the men as well.” 

Is the fact that a man would like to enjoy his children and home-life as much as women such an epiphany?   Is is too far out of the realm of 9-5 that a man would like a personal day?  While I know the double-standard usually takes presidence in favor of men, on this issue, I’m siding with the boys. 

Perhaps it’s that I have two sons, as opposed to daughters, that I understand the need for equality for everyone.   When my boys have children of their own some day, I want them, too, to have the flexibility in their work schedules that women have.  After all, they’ll want to see first home runs and school plays, too. 

Perhaps having sons teaches one how to be a better woman?   Because of my sons, I have a greater deal of empathy with the boys club. 

Discovering that men would like a little flexibility in their work schedules is a bit simplistic and naive, is it not?  It’s human emotion, a human need.  The fact that BusinessWeek mag and Womenomics feels that this is an epiphany makes it feel like three giant steps back for womankind. 

Have we grown so accustom to men being big strong providers that we forgot that they have feelings as well?

Here are five great selections to give to yourself, or a friend this holiday season.  Everyone loves a great read, and more so, everyone starts to think about ways to improve their life this time of year (think New Year’s resolutions!)  Here are a few of my favorites.   Extra points if you can turn someone on to the love of reading.  One of these great books will get a non-book-reader headed in the right direction. 

   Quiet Mind by David Kundtz.   More than a meditation book, Quiet Mind is a series of reflections that can illuminate every aspect of life. It offers readers guidance on using the moments between activities, which the author calls “stillpoints”.  As opportunities to focus on becoming more fully awake to who they are. “These times are the ‘spaces in between’ the events of your life,” writes Kundtz, “spaces often lost, or worse, filled with anxiety. And these spaces in between are just waiting to bring you the calmness and clarity that an over-demanding schedule steals from you.” A welcome respite for anyone whose gear shift is perpetually in overdrive, Quiet Mind is an invitation to rest, find peace, awaken, and remember. It offers deceptively simple wisdom to help readers sharpen their senses and make room for life.

    Instant Karma by Barbara Ann Kipfer.  Help others. Help yourself. Be a better person, and make the world a better place. Using the wisdom of the East to instruct and inspire, INSTANT KARMA is a universe of things a reader can do, right now, to accumulate good karma. And, like pennies going into a piggy bank, each is a seemingly little thing-but feed the bank day after day and feel it grow richer and happier.  Created by Barbara Ann Kipfer, the author whose books-including 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, 8,789 Words of Wisdom, and The Wish List-have 1.2 million copies in print, INSTANT KARMA is a compulsive, densely packed, chunky little book of 10,000 or so suggestions, wishes, thoughts, and the occasional heartening quotation.

   It’s Up to You by Karen Casey.  It’s Up to You invites readers to do three simple things: meditate, pay attention, and make choices to change their lives–for a few minutes each morning and evening, one principle a week for twelve weeks. As we reflect on Casey’s insight into the insidious ways we create misery or drama, try to impose will, and suffer needlessly, and as we follow her gentle prompts to make different choices, we begin to see that we can change just about anything in our lives by taking these small steps. Nothing could be simpler, and nothing could be more effective. Or as Karen Casey puts it, “Progress is guaranteed. Perfection isn’t expected.”

   Easy Green Living by Renee Loux.  We are what we eat, but we also are what we use to clean our homes, pamper our skin, and decorate our rooms, according to Renée Loux, accomplished raw food chef, award-winning author, and host of Fine Living TV’s Easy Being Green. In her new book, Easy Green Living, she applies her whole-foods philosophy to home, garden, and beauty routines.  Renée Loux demonstrates that being green at home is easy, affordable, and better in every sense of the word. She discusses the daily choices we face that can keep the home, personal care, and beauty routines free of toxins. She exposes the dirt on cleaning products and common hazardous ingredients and reveals her recommendations for greener options, including her “Green Thumb Guides” for choosing non-toxic, eco-smart, and human-friendly products. Peppered with compelling and inspiring facts, Easy Green Living is full of “5 Step” lists, products and recipes for green cleaning, helpful charts, safer choices for every room, and inspirational advice so we can save the planet–one cleaning spritz at a time.

  The Girls’ Guide To Building A Million-Dollar Business by Susan Wilson Solovic.  Featuring interviews with daring, powerhouse women like Gayle Martz, President & CEO, Sherpa’s Pet Trading Company, and Taryn Rose of Taryn Rose International, Solovic offers frank advice and hard-won lessons including:
-Taking emotions out of the workplace.
-Make business decisions based on what is best for the company, not on your personal feelings.
-Thinking big and bold.
-Believe that you can be successful and be willing to announce your intentions to the world.
-Managing for growth.
-Hire the right people and discover the best ways to keep them.
-Never being afraid to take a chance.
-Boost profits by taking financial risks.

Inspiring and unflinching, The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business shows women that not only do they have the power to earn more money and control their financial destinies – they deserve to.