Woody Wonders

Having lots of PA is vital in my role as a PA!  Yep, it's all about 'positive attitude' this week and it could be the key to your happiness at work. It might sound a bit dramatic but without a positive attitude I simply wouldn't be able to do my job and get through the day.  For example, myself and a fellow PA spent an hour last week trying to book one meeting - yes, seriously!  You see, it's a bit like playing 'Kerplunk' (anyone else remember that game?!), you move one item in the diary and the whole thing comes crashing down and you lose ALL your marbles - quite literally in our case.  But we persevered with "what if we moved that", "what if we changed the time for that", "what if we shortened that meeting to fit it in there" and so the discussions continued until we'd sorted it.  Our positive attitude kept us going and exploring at all options. That's the thing about having a positive attitude, it drives you forward...

Procrastination is never a good thing I'm usually pretty good at doing things at the time, but I do have moments when my Taurean bull raises its stubborn head and I dig my heels in because I don't want to do something.  I can turn procrastination into an art form. Typing up minutes and actions after meetings is a good example.  I take the minutes for around 12 different meetings (there's that many I've lost count) so they come at me pretty thick and fast throughout the month.  In a bid to keep on top of them, I quickly type up a draft copy of the minutes and actions either immediately following the meeting or the day after.  However, other work comes along in-between time and I do sometimes procrastinate on the minutes, especially when the meeting is very technical and complex.  I've already sat through the meetings for goodness sake, I don't want to relive the pain again.  Then there's the whole acronyms and business lingo to contend with.  When I fir...

Adapting to new ways of working  and staying healthy As we continue to change and adapt our lives at this difficult time, many of you may already be working from home or will be doing so at some point in the coming weeks.  As someone who may have said to their colleagues in the past, "working from home? yeah right", you're in for a big shock if you thought it meant sitting in your PJ's all day whilst having Netflix on.  You have to contend with distractions, communication issues and it can be very isolating.   Below are a few tips and things to think about to help you transition into home working whilst staying productive and healthy. Have a morning routine.   Routines help to provide the stability we need during difficult times.  First of all, many of you will no longer have a long commute to work so make the most of this time.  Don't stay in bed, get up and do some exercise, even better if you can get outside for some fresh air a...