Cafe Victoria

(I’m adding photos to past blog posts and found this one. I wrote this piece back in July 2012 when I was working full-time and before we had twins. For anyone who manages both an office and home, I have found these tips to be very helpful, even two years later.)

Okay Student Affairs Professionals and anyone who loves to kick butt at work, this post is all about remembering that you too can put that drive and passion you have at work, into your life outside of work and see results. This week at work, I was thinking a lot about my career and then I would have moments where I would ask myself, ‘Vic, what are you doing? You have your whole life to work. Now is the time to think of having and enjoying family’.

So this morning, I wrote down tips on how I run my department (that I know I do well at) and then next to it, wrote down something I could related it to that is outside of work, so I picked “running a home”. And you know what, it helped me see I am doing both and that there IS passion in my role as a mom and that I’m doing pretty well.

Tips for Running a Happy Department      Tips for Running a Happy Home
-Always keep the candy bowl full                           -Always keep the fruit bowl full
-Have office plants                                                    -Have potted plants and house plants
-Keep a budget binder                                              -Keep a budget binder
-Hang photos of staff and student groups           -Hang photos of family
-Keep weekly staff meetings                                   -Keep nightly family dinners
-Host events                                                               -Have play dates
-Have purpose “teach strengths”                           -Have purpose “relax, play, have fun”
-Take lunch breaks                                                   -Take Exercise breaks
-Take vacations                                                         -Sleep 7 to 8 hours each night
-Leadership development class, workshops       -Read a bedtime and do story time with family
-Schedule colleague meet ups                                -Schedule Date nights and Girls Night Out

These are just a few that has helped me. I encourage you to design your own!

It is official. The Fall semester is here and you will not be teaching, prepping, or running from one project to another. The sabbatical, the maternity leave, the Break you have been waiting for is here. Now what. Before the idea of not having a routine creeps in, or not seeing students or even the thought you are letting your co-workers down, check out these helpful tips I found useful.

This is a great Student Affairs in Action find! It is short, not too expensive, inspiring, and connects with an outside community group we might not even thought of: a mother’s group.

If you live in the North Bay area or are willing to drive over a bridge, then come check out the new 21st Century Leadership: Find Your Future at the Summer Career Institute hosted by College of Marin’s Community Education department.