#work tips

Hey Tumblrs, a lot of people blame themselves after being harassed, even when they know it wasn't really their fault. Here's a quick look at why that happens, and why it's a mistake.

You are looking for something you could have done differently You might find yourself replaying what happened and looking for a "mistake" – something you should have noticed sooner, or said or done differently.  We do that because control feels safer than helplessness. Even the idea that you made a mistake feels better than admitting you were powerless. We blame ourselves because we want to believe we could have avoided what happened, even when that's not true.

The harasser is trying to get you to blame yourself Harassers don't want to get in trouble. So they deny, minimize, or twist what happened. They might say you were flirting, you're overreacting, or you're confused or unstable. If you buy into what they're saying, even a little, it's easy to end up blaming yourself. 

Other people’s reactions make things worse It’s really common for other people to blame the person who got harassed. There are lots of reasons. Maybe they think you’re a troublemaker. Maybe they identify more with the harasser or think the harasser is more valuable. Maybe blaming you feels easier than admitting they can’t or won’t help. Whatever the reasons, when people around you are blaming you for what happened, it can lead you to do the same. 

trimming my nails (helps me type faster)

washing hands and applying a scented hand cream (idk why this works, alternatively wearing rings sometimes helps my brain)

noise cancelling earphones + white noise

not using the extended displays and only keep the tabs required open on my laptop screen

focus on ONE task at a time no matter what (and especially when 100 people claim they need something instantly)

using an insane amount of labels for my gmail inbox

use the coffee mugs with handles for all kinds of liquids/beverages (especially cold ones because i HATE having cold hands and i HATE touching cold things it itches my insides)

if working from home - use clash royale merge tactics game as a mental ticking bomb to finish dreadful tasks like the email that appears to be draining me for no reason

Paper planner - All of my daily tasks are on my paper planner. The one I use has a full page per day, which is a must for me with how busy I am.

Time blocking (digital calendar) - I put all of my recurring tasks as repeating events on my digital calendar. This way, I know approximately when I want to do them, how long they will take, how busy I am, etc. This also makes sure that I keep track of them, since recurring events are fairly foolproof. It's also very easy to move them around just by dragging and dropping. As a note, I do also include these tasks as daily tasks in my paper planner, so that I can see them all in one place.

Flagged emails & unread emails - I use flagged emails to indicate that I need to remember or reference something. I mark emails as unread to indicate that it's an urgent task I haven't addressed. My goal is to have 0 unread emails at the end of each day, but I may flag a lot of emails through the day for later. I even have a time set away each week to go through my flagged emails.

Outlook email rules - I receive and send hundreds of emails every day. I took a couple of hours once I got settled in my role to set up 20+ rules to automatically categorise emails so that it's easier for me to go through them. For example, I have a folder where auto-generated reports go. I can open that folder and go through emails only in that category, which makes it a lot easier to tackle things in cohesive chunks.

Notebook - I use my notebook for any meeting notes I take. While I do have at least a dozen meetings weekly, my biggest use for this is during my twice-weekly team meeting where we divide up and plan tasks. During this meeting, I write my tasks in a notebook, and then I later add them to my planner. This allows me to take my time to plan them out as they fit in my schedule, while having detailed notes elsewhere.

Spreadsheets - I have a computer science background, so I am able to create very powerful spreadsheets. I created for our team multiple comprehensive tracking spreadsheets, so that we can keep track of (for example) thousands of contracts with ease. It took a while to perfect each tracker, but it's well worth the effort.

"Housekeeping" to-do list - My team has created a to-do list of housekeeping items, such as updating templates, etc. This list is mostly for me due to my role, so I tackle these smaller, less-urgent items when I have some spare time.

1. Always meet deadlines

2. If you are not able to take up a task please tell your manager

3. The more you perform the higher the expectations will be from superiors

4. Learn the art of dealing with people smartly be it convincing them properly

5. Don’t ever lose your self esteem after a bad day

6. Always reach out to experienced people if you don’t know the answer

7. Speaking out your problems and opinions make your work easier

8. Don’t put the blame on your peers

Entry Level Finance Associate Edition ✨

This past year has taught me so much about myself. I bumped my head so many times. However, this has shaped the professional I am today. Here are some topics I had to learn the hard way.