Corporate Expectations Outdated and Overruled.

I usually do not have much writing on this blog, I try and stick to visual appeal - but I have a bit of a rant, or opinion rather, that I would like to share. 

I have been reading a lot of articles lately and one topic keeps coming up: Employees slacking off at work - what is realistic, what is wrong, and what is necessary.

According to Inc.com the average employee wastes 20% of their workday doing something else, whether that be daydreaming, facebooking, or doodling eyeballs on their notepad (guilty!) Of these 'lackluster' employees, the ones who wasted the most time were 20 - 29 years in age, and as employees get older, that amount of wasted time got smaller.

So what's the problem? Traditionalist corporations frustrated that they are seemingly paying you to surf the web? 

Quite the contrary. If we are speaking of full-time, salaried employees - then the fact that only 2 hours of a 8 hour workday is being used to have some downtime seems like a good thing. Since the employee is not paid hourly, you want their overall, long-term performance to be high, rather than an employee paid hourly to enter data vigorously into a system. 

Let's take us all back to high school for a minute, we were taught to study in spurts - 90 minutes of studying with a 20 minute break in between (or whatever ratio worked best for you). The same principle applies to employees sitting in front of a computer all day. Why would breaks benefit us? Breaks keep us from getting bored, and thus, unfocused. Being able to write a personal email, check your facebook messages, or simply read a funny article can completely recharge the brain helping you stay on task when you return to work. Without any downtime to refresh and recharge, we're less efficient, make more mistakes, and get less engaged with what we are doing, according to bufferopen.com. 

Moreover, a happy worker is a productive worker. No one wants to feel like they are trapped in a box, and being examined under a microscope at all times. Employees should feel trusted. As long as they are producing quality work- they should be trusted to get it done in what ever manner, or what ever time frame best suites their lifestyle. 

Here come the Millennials (Millennials are also known as Generation Y, reaching adulthood in the early 2000's). The under-30 crowd seems to be at the center for the revolutionary way of thinking -- Can you work anywhere, for however long, and still be a valued employee? 

Well, Gen-Y is proving yes! Luckily, the stereotype of the 'lazy millennial' is dying down and employers are realizing - we are ready to work! We want a challenge - we want motivation! Millennials grew up a different way than any of their predecessors - we grew up multi-tasking. The younger generation is used to doing many things at once, with a lot of distractions, according to Inc.com. When we don't receive instant results - we get bored and move on to a new task. Developing systems with flexibility will be how corporations engage this new set of future leaders.

So instead of punishing your employees for the occasional daydreaming - or assuming they are not motivated due to a few Buzzfeed articles - Understand that they can do it all! Trust us until we give you a reason not to! Remember, we spend one-third of our human lives at work - shouldn't we find some way to enjoy it?

Thanks for listening.

xo

H

The Fallen Disney Princesses

I love these - The 'Fallen Princesses' series are by Dina Goldstein. I find them completely hysterical - and very well executed. The credit must go to Kiki's List (blog here) 

As you can see, I have fallen off the radar for about two months - that's what summer will do I guess. Anyway,  I'm back settled now - and will be updating regularly again. A lot has happened since I left - Patrick got a promotion and we got relocated to the north! Very hectic and fast-paced move - I guess that can explain my disappearance. 

xo 

H

Wilmington for Birthday Weekend

My Birthday Getaway

Hello Everyone! My birthday was on May 5th - Sunday this year! (Cinco de Mayo!) Patrick took me to a river front town called Wilmington in North Carolina. Wilmington is small but beautiful and is right nestled on the Cape Fear River. When we arrived it was lunchtime on Friday so we went straight to the hunt for food. We found this cute little place right on the water called Riverboat Landing - It has nine private balconies that all seat only two! 

Riverboat Landing on Front St. in Wilmington, NC (night view)

 We ended up walking around the downtown area after lunch and doing a bit of shopping - there were so many cute little shops and boutiques to explore. One in particular that was my favorite was appropriately named, Dang. It had all sorts of things - jewelry, sundresses, flip flops, home decor, etc. A lot of the theme of the store was nautical theme (since it is a river city after all) I purchased the cutest little knot bracelet with a gold anchor on it - I am sure it will show up in some of my upcoming pictures! 

Nothing better than finding a cake shop with an Iron Man 3 cake in the window - I am sure Patrick would be thrilled to have this lovely spectacle as our wedding cake . . . not going to happen.

There was an Ah-Mah-Zing fudge/ice cream shoppe downtown as well. We stumbled in due to following our noises to the delicious scents. We got a tiny sample of two rich pieces of fudge - then we shared a chocolate covered pretzel... later to come back and get coconut ice cream....and later to return and get a carmel apple - yes, we were addicted to this place. I found this little box o' chocolates in the shape of golf - perfect for Patrick - unfortunately he is not into chocolate enough for me to get him these, although its pretty cute ;) 

Here is me standing in front of a beaded wall near our hotel - My dress is from Ross - and it was under $10 - I know, score! It's actually more of a beach/pool coverup but since I am short I can pull it off as a sundress. My jean jacket (my go-to for spring) is from Marshalls. You can see my new nautical knot bracelet - if you look really, really hard! 

Apparently, Wilmington is the Hollywood of North Carolina! We were out later that night to dance and in walks Hank from our favorite show, Breaking Bad! We totally went a little star struck and asked for a picture ( I also got a sloppy kiss on the cheek!) 

End of the weekend =( but happy to be home having a family bday dinner at my Aunt's house. This is us right before we dive in to this delicious Mint Chocolate Chip Coldstone Cake! 

Nom Nom Nom.

xo

H

Weekend Goodies

Happy Monday Everyone - Today was pretty quick for me. Work was good - it was a coworkers birthday so we had a little group out for sushi lunch - yum! After work I decided to get myself some succulents from Lowes to spruce up my office (photos to come!) and then it was just cleaning and hanging with my two favorite fur-balls. 

Check out some of the highlights of this past weekend: 

 He just can't take a bad picture! This little tired-out pup got snapped right after running around the yard  for an hour - it was nice out and he was having the time of his life chasing other dog friends!

 Cheeesssee!! Patrick and I at the beer tasting party on Saturday night!

 Glitter to add a bit of happiness to my day - probably the worst picture of my non-pedicured feet that I couldve taken...but we all have our moments =) Check out Target for this fabulous (and inexpensive!) find. 

My favorite moment of the weekend by far! I wake up to this on Sunday morning!! Two little cuddle bears all snug as a bug - I love it! so peaceful and sweet. I probably took 30 pictures of this - I couldnt stop myself! 

Hope everyone has a great week & Thanks for stopping by!

xo

H

Make Your Life Easier

Hi! Here are some amazing tips that make my life a whole lot easier - and I am sure will do the same for you! Enjoy! ...and sorry its Monday tomorrow =(





Have company on their way over and you forgot to put drinks in the fridge. Place your drinks in a large pot and cover with ice. Sprinkle 2 cups of salt on top of the ice and then fill the rest of the pot with water. Your drinks will be ice cold within 2 to 3 minutes.

Need to open a page in a new tab? Instead of right clicking and selecting "Open in new tab", save time by clicking on the link with the middle button on your mouse. If you don't have a mouse with a middle button you can hold down the ctrl key while clicking on the link. Or for Mac Users : Ctl + T

Get rid of the gap in the back of your pants by threading elastic through them.

To reheat pizza without getting the crust soggy, place the pizza in a nonstick skillet. Heat on low until warm.

When making deviled eggs, place the egg yolks in a plastic Ziploc bag with the rest of the ingredients. Close the bag and mash everything together. Once everything is well mixed cut off a small tip from one of the bottom corners of the bag and squeeze the contents into your egg white. Just too the bag once you are done for easy cleanup.

Keep an eye out for gifts for friends and family every time you go shopping. Buying gifts throughout the year will save a lot of time and stress when birthdays and Christmas rolls around.

Don't have time for exercise? Try double tasking. Do squats while you brush your teeth. Push-ups while waiting for the tub to fill up. One handed bicep curls while stirring sauce with the other hand.

If you have already sealed an envelope and realized you forgot to put something in it, place the envelope in the freezer for a couple hours. It will pop right open so you don't have to get another envelope.

For picture frames with two holes, hang them evenly and easily by placing a single strip of masking tape over the back covering the two holes. Mark each end of the tape where the holes are located for hanging the frame. Take the tape off and place it on your wall. Make sure it is level then hammer a nail in at each pen mark

If you can't find a shower curtain to match your bathroom style (in most cases I can only find solid black, brown, white and blue or really bright 'teeny-bopper' colors) Then try looking in the regular curtain section.

To peel a kiwi cut off the top and bottom, slip a spoon between the skin and the flesh. Twist the spoon around the the entire kiwi (keeping it between the skin and flesh the whole time). Then just pop the skin off.

Use Press'n Seal saran wrap to line your refrigerator shelves. When the shelves get dirty, just remove the wrap, toss in the trash and replace. No more scrubbing nasty food spills.

Stick old newspaper or magazines inside your boots when you store them. This will keep the tops from flopping over and adding unsightly creases to your boots. 

Accidentally close a tab on your browser? No problem! Hit ctrl-shift-T and the page will pop up again.

Use a hanger with clips to hold your recipes up where you can see the. No more greasy fingerprint all over your recipe cards!! 

Before grilling burger, press a hole in the middle of the patty. The hole will disappear as the burger cooks. This will minimize shrinking and you won't have to worry about them not being done in the center. 

 If your hair turns green from the chlorine in the pool, dissolve eight aspirin pills in a glass of warm water, coat hair with the solution, let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then rinse. The green will be gone.

Need to hang a picture but there is nothing on the back to hang it from? Once you are done with your soda, turn the tab around. Using a pair of pliers grab the bottom (short end) of the tab and bend the tab down into the mouth of the can while pulling up at the same time. This will ensure that the ring is still intact so that you can attach it to the back of your frame with a screw and hang your photo

Need to light a hard to reach candle but don't have any long matches? Use a piece of uncooked spaghetti.

The lines on a Solo cup are measurement marks.

Tired of stopping on every floor of the building every time you use the elevator. Hold the 'close door' button and keep holding while you select your floor number. This will allow you to skip all other floors and go straight to your destination.

Out of AA batteries? Use AAA batteries and fill the gap with a wad of tin foil on the positive side.

Clear your cookies before booking flights!! Many travel sites track the number of times you have visited and will base the price depending on this. By clearing your cookies it will look as though you are a first time visitor and your price will be lower.

Need to break in some new shoes? Fill ziplock bags with water and place in shoe - spread out so water fills all areas. Put into freezer overnight. When the water freezes into ice it expands and stretches out the shoes! 

XO

H