Eustress vs. Distress and my crazy life!

The next 8 days will be some of the busiest, and most important of my life. I can mark my true red letter days on one hand.....March 21, 1998 (my wedding), April 1, 2004 (the birth of my son) and April 5, 2011 (the final defense of my dissertation).

Ergo, the "get your geek on" title to tonight's post. I have been researching stress, as manifested in work/life conflict, for the last 5 years, and I'm finally at the point where all the effort is rewarded. If you want to hear more than you ever wanted to know about stress, coping and life satisfaction....I'm your go-to girl. I don't worry so much about the defense, I know my 191 page book like the back of my hand.....it's everything else that feels like its falling apart.

I don't know what it is about the first couple of weeks of April, but for the last 4 years, something major is always going on. Last year we were closing on our mortgage, the year before moving, the year before that moving....not to mention the yearly celebration of the his highness' birth!

I usually thrive on stress (I'm truly a eustress kind of girl), but there comes a point that no matter how well you deal, it's just overwhelming and causes you to shut down. I just hope that I can hold it together over the next 8 days.......

Oh yeah, did I mention that for my son's birthday this coming weekend, we're having guests??? Just imagine, my parents, my husband's parents, and 2 more dogs will be spending 3 days in my house.....add that to the 2 adults, 1 7-yr-old, 1 beagle, and 2 cats already here. Talk about a strain on coping (and bathroom) resources!

I've researched and published on stress and coping, and I hope that I'm able to convert my geek to practical application....any suggestions?????

Thanks for letting me vent! Hopefully things will be back to normal soon!

- Heather

What inspires you?

I'm ashamed that after such a short time with the blog, I've already gone a week without a post. My problem was purely inspiration. I had multiple ideas during the week, just nothing that made me run for the keyboard.

I'm inspired by many things....my husband, my child, my family. But what gets me going in his arena has to be the interactions I have with my students. And they were on spring break last week......bye bye inspiration! Now don't get me wrong, I was just as ready for a break as they were, but after a couple days, I really started to miss them...and felt my own productivity waning.

Yes, I'm exceptionally blessed in my job. I love what I do, and I draw personal and professional inspiration from it. I also realize that not everyone gets inspired by their job, particularly in the recent economy when the "any job is a good job" mentality has been so prevalent.

I'm not naive enough to say, "hey go quit your job and find one that inspires you" - my Type A, ESTJ personality kicks in and renders that comment completely nuts and I get a laugh just reading that line.

However, I do encourage you to find SOMETHING to inspire you. Family, Hobbies, Volunteer....just do something! You'll be happier and more productive in all aspects of your life from the boost that you get.

So again, I ask, what inspires you???

- Heather

Customer service that rocked! What we can learn from Bryan at Staples...

So how many times have you gone to the store to browse around, and get form-tackled by the sales associate begging to help you? Normally, I try to run and hide.....mainly because I don't want to be harassed by strangers trying to up-sell me.

This morning I did my monthly Staples run (I have a strange affinity for office supplies, but that's a whole different post). My 5 year-old scanner has been acting up, so I decided to gaze longingly at the scanners before I actually picked up what I needed.....and then the dreaded attack came!

Bryan comes up and asks if I need anything, and for some odd reason I decided to ask him about the difference between a couple of $100 price-point machines. After talking for a couple of minutes, he asked me to wait, then came back and asked me if I minded floor models. After saying no, he presented me with a $300 machine that had been close-out priced to $38.

After I picked my jaw off the floor that he would actually help me save some money, Bryan then took the machine and ran a full diagnostic on it to make sure everything worked. It worked great, he packed it up and then asked if he could carry it to the car.......in the rain.

Normally I fuss about customer service fails.....but this experience is one everyone could learn, no matter what the job. HR is as much customer service (to the employee, to the C-Suite, to the organization) as any job that interacts with the traditional "outside" customer. We all have our days, but the important thing is to remember how we expect, not just prefer, to be treated.....and treat others the same way. Also, don't hold back on the praise....I told Bryan that I hoped the "Social Media Gurus" at Staples would pick up my positive tweets and blog post about him!

- Heather

Do as I say, not as I do.....

After spending the last couple of weeks ranting to my Acquiring & Compensating Talent class about the importance of managing your web identity, it was time to finally take care of my own.....and what I found scared me.

Google search.....check, nothing out of the ordinary there. Reviewing my website....AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!

I've had the same black and red (aka Southeast's colors) website for almost 3 years. But that wasn't the worst. The worst was the resume from 2008, the bio from 2008, and God-forbid, the picture from 2008 in the shiny olive green shirt.

Yes, I said shiny shirt........

I'm pleased to say I've spent the last 2 days attempting to correct this horrible excuse for a website. And I'm nearly done. It now has clean lines, a twitter feed, and splashes of hot pink.....what more do I need?

- Heather