home-is-where-the-heart-is

Tips for Running a Happy Department and Home

(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!

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comfort-zone

Taking the Fall Semester Off? 25 Tips from a Student Affairs Pro/Mom

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.

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aprons-on-a-fence-2008

Bringing Back the Apron

My Facebook page is not public. I’ve learned from advising college students, you need to separate your personal life from your professional. I’m still working on the idea of creating a separate Facebook page for my blog. Until then, I wanted to share this recent post I made last Friday that got a lot of positive support.

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canadaasb

Wow Yourself After You Transfer

Transfer Student Interview. Past Community College AS President becomes University WOW Orientation leader.
Meet Sandra Robles, a community college student from Canada College in Redwood City, who went on to transfer to Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. While at Canada, she first started with biology thinking that she would go down the pre-med route. However, she soon found out that it wasn’t the right major for her.

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My Year Off Update- My Walk Continues

Photo taken by Marta Zumwalt, outside Cambridge, England on Newton road in Harston

It now has been a few months since I let my college know I was not returning to my position. In a way it feels like I’ve come through the fog and can see clear out to the coast. In prior posts I have compared my year of maternity leave as walking the California Oregon Pacific Crest Trail and the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) in Spain. So keeping with the walking theme, I update my year off with this; my walk in the fields of motherhood has led me to become a published writer.

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It’s 3pm, I will no longer fold laundry

Ladies, I know myself. I know I could clean, fold laundry, and organize all day. But after being a stay-at-home mom for 14 months and in the middle of training my twin daughters to nap in the afternoon, I learned fast that I had to train myself to break too. That is why from now on when 3pm hits I will no longer fold laundry, clean or cook.

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collegeofmarin

Student Affairs Reaching out to Mothers

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.

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Dads doing it all

In the world of mothers, there is much talk about how women can do it all. We talk about how we try to be there for our children, our husbands, and our co-workers, all while trying to stay healthy and happy. On this father’s day, I want to share how my husband, Matthias Worch is an great example of how men are doing it all too.

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