One of the missing skills I see in many young employees these days is the ability to delegate efectively. Delegating I realize is often about entrusting a task or responsibility to someone more junior and therefor a skill often associated with more senior roles. And when you are at the bottom, it sometimes feels like there is no one below you. But, the ability to know when to delegate and who to delegate to, is the often the first sign of a future leader.

Why we don't delegate

Many people starting out are focused on doing everything possible to prove themselves. And sometimes that means taking on everything that comes their way, never asking for help and most certainly never delegating. Unfortunately this often leads to working hard, but not necessarily working smart and inevitably leads to burnout.

For many, delegating feels like a loss of control and junior people can be just as guilty of holding onto anything that feels like control and power as much as a more senior person.

Delegating takes planning. For many of us, it often seems like telling someone else what to do, will take as much time, if not more, than simply doing it yourself.

The who and how of delegating

Being junior doesn't necessarily mean you don't have people to delegate to. Often, in any number of organizations, there are roles with overlapping responsibilities. The accounting team maybe able to pull reports or follow up on invoices on your behalf. A coordinator in another group maybe able to follow up on the status of project if she shares the same supplier. Keep your ears open, when someone mentions they are looking for something to do, speak up and take advantage don't wait for someone more senior to beat you to it.

Remember, when you are junior and you are delegating, it is important to ask permission - from someone senior and from the person you are asking. And remember to be willing to reciprocate.

Delegating - is about trusting and communicating

When you delegate to someone, you need to be clear about what you expect them to do and when they need to do it. And be prepared for them to do it their way. And even if you suddenly get less busy, please don't step in and pick up the task you delegated unless you have communicated first.

Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be and he will become what he should be.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The golden rule

Time and time again when junior people delegate they never give feedback. They will chat amongst themselves about how poor a job so-and-so did, but they won't tell that person how to do it better. Providing constructive feedback is another key skill of good leaders. When someone does something for you, you need to find a positive way to give feedback. It will enable that person to learn and grow (an opportunity I think you would want for yourself) and helps create a better resource for you in the future.

When you are the reason a project isn't going forward, chances are there is something on your plate you need to delegate. It could be a task related to that project or perhaps it is another project on your plate that is getting in the way. Step back, look at what is on your plate, think about who can help, reach out to your manager for support and then delegate to get it done. I promise you, it will show that you have skills well above your level.

I am a big believer in the impact of positive thinking. Over the years I have become a fan of Martha Beck who advocates envisioning and even feeling what it will be like for you to achieve whatever it is you are seeking to achieve. This past summer I had an experience that convinced me more than ever how powerful outlook can be.

My husband and I had planned our summer vacation to South America for over two months. On the afternoon of the Saturday we were due to depart, my husband realized his passport had expired. Our first reaction was irrational, 'maybe no will notice'(I did say we were irrational). My husband couldn't believe he hadn't checked earlier, he felt sick and kept saying, 'what do you want me to do?'.

I had an appointment to get my nails done and decided to still go, besides it was his problem to solve - right? And I still needed nice nails, crisis or not - right? As I left the house I told him to check on-line, and call everyone we knew, someone would know how to solve this.

As I got my nails done, I tried to calm myself down, my Spanish is limited, but I could step up and my daughter and I would get by until Tuesday when my husband could join us. I was fairly sure he could get a rush passport on Monday. Monday was my backup plan (I always need a back-up plan) because I kept thinking there has got to be a way to get a passport now, I mean aren't there situations when people can't wait till Monday?

I got home and my husband was still defeated. He had found the information for the 24 hour rush passport but nothing else. I wasn't convinced that was all there was. I decided that if there was something, we would likely have to act quickly. So I sent my husband out to get his passport picture taken.

With him out of the house I went into action. I don't even know what I typed into the search engine but I landed on a Government of Canada page that gave me two email addresses related to emergency or rush passports. One was an s.o.s address and since we were just idiots, I emailed the other address first. The email response was quick, I was told that because it was after hours, I should use the s.o.s address...okay, now I had permission! Again, response back was almost instant and now I had a phone number to call.

I called the number and burst into tears as soon as I started talking. I was honest, we simply didn't check the passport until now, our flight was at 10:30 tonight, was there anything we could do? She took my number and said the passport office would call us back.

When my husband walked in the door with his passport pictures, I ordered him to start filling out the passport forms. He was half way through filling the forms when he got the call from the passport office. I don't know what they said, I just heard what he said. He was honest (my advice, I will admit, was for him to beg) 'it is a trip to see family, planned for a few months... yes we leave tonight... yes we have our tickets and boarding pass...yes, I can be there in 10 min, really, 10 min, I have my pictures and I am about to print the form.' When he get off the phone he said, 'I think I am getting the passport today.'

Within an hour he had a new passport. At 10:30 p.m. we boarded our flight as if nothing had happened.

I did make a point of saying 'It is a good thing you have such a determined wife.'

Truth is, I was determined, I thought there had to be a way and I found it within 10 min of looking. My husband had looked for over 45 min. And he is as savvy when it comes to searching for things on-line as I am, but he was defeated. He found what he was looking for, the 24 rush option - accessible only on weekdays. I found what I was looking for - a same-day-even-on-the-weekend option.

We don't wish things into being, but we can impact how things turn out when we combine our actions and our thoughts.

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me she wasn't sure what her next career step should be. I suggested she go onto job sites and read as many job descriptions as possible to see if any of them resonate with her. My thinking was, she may see a job that is one step up and realize she already qualifies for it, or she will see a job she loves and realize she needs a specific type of job training or additional experience to qualify for that job. Either way, she would be shedding some light onto the possible paths that could lay ahead.

Today we had a different conversation, today we talked about strategies to get her the job title she thinks best reflects the job she is doing. She has fallen into the trap many of us fall into, she is waiting for her employer to give her a new title. And sure that works in many organizations when all roles are predefined. But in this particular situation, my friend's role and the organization she works for, job titles and roles are not pre-defined - which creates a range of possibilities for creating something new.

My advice? Create the job title you think you deserve including the related job description. Be sure to outline what you think you are already doing, as well as what additional tasks you will take on. And, as is the rule with anything you want your organization to do for you, be sure to explain how this role benefits the organization.

So how does this advice relate to a consultant? In my situation, I am obviously not looking for a job title, but I am looking to clarify my role with one of my partner agencies. I could wait for them to figure it all out, or I too could take charge of the situation and craft a role that I know works for me and that I can sell into this organization, because at the end of the day, if it doesn't work for them, it won't fly!

Taking charge shows initiative and it also potentially makes your employers life easier - your work could mean one less thing for them to do.

As I pointed out to my friend, crafting a title and job description does not mean it is a done deal, it could simply be the start of the conversation. Just as I need to be prepared for my agency partner to push back on some aspects and perhaps ask for additional commitments from me in other areas, she needs to treat her proposal as a negotiation. With any negotiation, it is a good idea to offer up something you are prepared to give up. You also need to be really clear with yourself and your employer what you can't or won't give up.

It is time for me to take my own advice. What advice do you give that you also need to follow?

I have an endless list of things I could tackle, but realistically I know that I can't do everything. If I give my self just a few things to do today, I will get them done and I will still have time to relax and enjoy the weekend.

I remember, way back in my first year of university, sitting down with a counselor and talking about how overwhelmed I was getting with school. The man I sat with told me a simple story that I have carried with me ever since - a story I wish I would live by more often. Every day this man would ride home with a colleague, he and this woman had very similar jobs and work loads. Every night she would bring home a pile of work to do and every night he would bring home one thing to do. Every morning she would be stressed and admit to having gotten nothing done and every morning he would start the day with a sense of accomplishment - his one thing done.

'Do what you say you will do - it could be the most powerful thing you do.'
- Danielle LePorte

Today, I needed to do what I said I would do - for me. But, it is even more important that we do what say we will do with others. As Danielle LaPorte says so eloquently in her video, it not only makes you more reliable, but it eventually forces you to be careful about what you say you will do. It may even, dare I say it, lead you to say 'no' or actually refrain from volunteering to take on one more thing.

Like so many others, I am guilty of taking on too much, but I figure today is a good a day as any to focus on changing that habit.

How about you, do you do what you say you will do?

The thing is, I haven't posted as often as I would have liked. And, I am feeling pretty crummy about it. And to top it off, I am adding a whole bunch of other things to the list that I am not feeling so great about, like having a super yummy and decadent chocolate truffle when I had promised myself I would't have sugar today.

The truth is, I accomplished a lot over the past several months that I have every right to feel proud of. While my blog posts at Ella Says dwindled, I wrote several guest posts for the YWD blog and you should check them out because they are full of info and tips that are useful to, well, everyone.

I worked on my first ever political project and we were successful (in this case re-elected). And I am well on my way to achieving my very personal goal of being more involved in my community. I am even more active than I have been in years, if I am not biking or walking to work, I am going to the gym.

And yet somehow, its not feeling like enough or fast enough me these days.

I read a post the other day by Leo Babauta., the author of Zen Habits, titled How I changed my life in four lines. In this post, he explains how he tackled his debt, changed the way he ate and became a marathon runner and lost 70lbs all by taking four simple steps; making small changes, only making one change at a time, being present and enjoying the activity(don't focus on the goal) and being grateful for every step he took.

All this has me thinking about goals and how many we take on at any given time. As a marketer, I can tell you that the less goals you have, the more targeted and effective your campaigns and ultimately your business will be. One of my favorite getting started books, Get Clients Now does a great job of getting readers to focus on one goal at a time. Are you generating leads or converting them? The idea being that for each 30 day period you focus on one key area.

I find it hard to have one goal, I want my business to be successful, I want my husbands business to be successful, I want to be active and healthy role modle for my daughter and active member of our community, I want to change the way we manage our finances, I want quality time with my family and friends and every now and then I want to sit around and read a book. I am sure I missed something, like the big long list of things that I wish I was better at like remembering people's birthdays, or finishing the cleanses I start but never stick to, just to mention a few.

So how do we get there?

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Chinese Proverb

It really is about small steps and I think it is also about realizing how it all fits together and understanding most thing don't need to be mutually exclusive, it just takes time for it all to come together. Think about Leo the marathon runner, as he ran and started paying more attention to how he felt, he started drinking more water and craving healthier foods, he stared making his lunch more often which saved him money and on and on. I am not saying that is how it happened, but it is easy to see how eventually one thing flowed into the other.

It is easy to look at other people's success and see it as easy, often because we only notice them when they arrive at their success and not all the years leading up to it when they struggled or simply took one small step at a time.

For now I am going to do my best and take Leo's advice:

1. Making small changes

2. Make one change at a time

3. Be present and enjoy the activity

4. Be grateful for each step you take

And you know what, writing this post felt great. Thanks for reading!

Wishing you success in each step you take!

The other day I noticed that I have slowed down, physically slowed down. I have long legs and have always had this wicked fast stride, but these days I don't seem to be moving very fast. People actually pass me on the sidewalk. I can't tell you that I consciously decided to slow my pace down, it just sort of happened. And I like it.

It doesn't mean that I don't get places on time or that I get less done, in fact I think I am on time more often, I know I am more productive and I definitely enjoy more of what is happening around me. For me, life is better now that I have slowed down.

I while back I wrote a post about the impact of multi-tasking, just one example of how we negatively impact our lives when we try to do too much too fast. I have also talked about the importance of truly disconnecting so that we can be present with the ones we love.

But what I have failed to notice is that I was really talking about slowing down. And there are full fledged international movements dedicated to Slow. The Slow Food movement, which has thousands of members around the world is dedicated to getting us to not only slow down and enjoy the food we eat, but also to step back and revisit the way it is produced.

According to Carl Honore, the Slow Movement goes beyond food to how we live our lives, run our cities and even run our corporations. So much speed in our daily lives from speed dating to speed yoga is actually causing a back-lash. I hope you take time to watch the video I posted and check out his web site, Carl's message on slow is one I think more of us need to hear.

Slow isn't always easy. I sort of stumbled into it in my attempt to create a better life and more rewarding career. It seems funny now to realize that all I really needed to do was slow down and take on less. But to go slow, to have time to enjoy the breeze and gaze in the shop windows as I walk to a meeting means I need to leave earlier. And to leave earlier means I need to have less to do in the mornings which usually requires more planning to ensure it all fits in and for me it has meant doing less and saying no. Like Carl, it means sometimes I turn off my phone and I don't say yes to every project I am asked to work on.

Just this afternoon a funny thing happened, I had a flurry of urgent changes from a client, and although I addressed what I could immediately there was one thing I couldn't change without the help of a graphic resource, something I didn't have access to this Friday before a long weekend (the client knew we were closed). Rather than stress out about not being able to fix everything instantly, I headed off to the park to see my daughters play (something I had promised to do). When I got back the I found an email from the client saying they changed their mind - the graphic change was no longer required. Makes me wonder if they had slowed down in the first place maybe none of these last minute panic changes would have been needed.

So, what will it take for you to slow down?

By going in with a higher price, you also leave room to create a special or limited time price offering without completely undermining your bottom line.

And do I really need to do the math? If my price for a service is $500 and I want to make $5,000, I only need to sell the service to 10 clients, but if I reduce the price to $300, suddenly I need 17 clients to reach the same goal. Is a $200 dollar savings really going to mean 7 more people will buy my service?

Sarah Bray's blog post that landed in my in-box this morning and a link she included to Tara Gentile's site really got me thinking about charging what you are worth.

The other day I spoke to an old colleague who said, 'I would love to work with you, but you are expensive'. I have to stop and point out that relatively speaking, my rate is not high, there are many who offer similar services, with half of my experience asking almost double my rate. Rather than saying that, I pointed out that because of my experience, I add a lot of value and I also happen to get things done quickly. It is something I noticed with a writer I have worked with for years, most people would balk at his rate, but I know that with him, I will likely pay less and get far more value than I could ever get from someone with a much lower rate.

I really love the way Tara Gentile puts it:

'It also didn't make me a greedy person to price my work in relation to the value it provided others. And, finally, that just because I raised my prices didn't mean others couldn't afford it - it meant they had to prioritize it.'

There will always be people who think your rate or your service is too expensive, and sometimes it just means those aren't the right people for you to work with, because chances are they don't truly value your unique contribution or service.

Sometimes it is about negotiating something that works for both of you, like a lower hourly rate but a guaranteed fixed amount of hours. I have even been known to do somethings for free - yes free, but even then, I find myself only doing that when I feel that what I am doing is really going to be valued.

So there, my little reminder to myself that I am worth it and to you that you are worth it too - so ask for it!

Here is the thing, at my last high school reunion, I too hated the 'are you married and do you have kids' question. I am married and I do have children but that doesn't define me. I am not sure my career does either, but to me it feels like much more of an accomplishment that I wouldn't mind talking about. The idea that marriage and kids are the only things we have to talk about makes me feel crappy and sad too.

Not all marriages are perfect and having kids fulfills all of us in very different ways. I sometimes think the stay-at-home moms who are miserable fare far worse than women who are frustrated with their jobs. Women are supposed to be fulfilled by motherhood and marriage so when they aren't I think it is often hard to get the support of friends and family to make positive changes. But I can't really say for sure not having experienced it first hand.

And what about the people who can't have children or lost a spouse or went through a nasty divorce - are any of those the types of conversations you really want to start over a drink?

I really wish that people wouldn't ask questions like 'do you have kids' or 'are you married', maybe they could say things like 'what have you been up to' or 'how do you keep busy'. These are questions that let us tell what ever story we want. Sure its been 20 years but maybe I want to tell you how much I have traveled or an anecdote about getting together with mutual friends. And if I just met you maybe I want to talk about biking in the city because I noticed you rode your bike to the gathering.

We all define ourselves in different ways, but regardless we all have stories to tell so next time you see someone you haven't seen for years or when you meet someone new, why don't you find a way to let them tell you their story.

I have always been a huge fan of routine with my kids. Put your shoes in the same place and guess what, you always find them. In our household, consistent bed times have meant less cranky kids. I realized it doesn't work for everyone, but when you have a kid who wakes up at the same time no matter when they go to sleep, a consistent early bed time starts to make sense.

In my working life, I was under the impression that I wasn't tied down to a routine. I no longer worked a fixed 9 to 5 schedule. If it made sense and fit with deadlines I would pop out to do groceries or run an errand in the middle of the day and I regularly scheduled lunch or coffee dates. Day to day or week by week, my schedule was far from routine.

Or was it?

Going back to an office threw me for a loop - I was only off my game for a week, but I really couldn't understand what happened. How could going into an office for 4 hours a day cause so much havoc?

I had taken my flexibility for granted and in a way it had be come routine for me. I wasn't planning shopping or errands into my schedule, I was simply doing them when I had a free moment and I had a lot more free moments when I wasn't commuting into an office.

If it is a family member getting sick, a car breaking down a sudden emergency trip or in my case, needing to go into an office, we have to be ready to break our routines and shift directions. Cali Yosk, one of my favourite work + life fit writers sums it up well in her post, 'Top 10 Work Life 'Fit' that Every Woman Needs to Know'. The ultimate message? It takes patience, effort and flexibility and you will have far more success if you realize perfection is not the goal.

For me, I now need to do a bit more planning to get it all done. I have also decided to officially stop beating myself up and I will for sure take time each day to reflect on what I need, because if I am the one getting it all done, I need to make sure all is good with me first!

Are your routines helping you or holding you back?

Really folks, why are you going to work sick? Chances are you aren't going to be productive and you will likely get your co-workers sick too. Know what happens then? Not only are you not productive, but you risk impacting the productivity of your entire organization. All that because you want to be the hero who isn't a suck staying home with a cold or a flu?

The impact of coming to work sick is significant - a study out of the US says that presenteeism costs that economy up to $150 billion a year due to lost productivity.

I realize I am being snarky, people don't really come into to work to be heros, the culture of being recognized, rewarded and evaluated for simply being at your desk is the biggest motivator for people coming to work when they are sick.

The best way to avoid this is to create an environment where working from home is acceptable. Obviously if someone is really sick and not going to be effective, they should un-plug and relax. For many people, however, being able to check emails, line up a few meetings, review a file or finish up a report actually makes them feel better and lets them relax and recover quicker.

It is ironic, the reason that most organizations or managers are against people working from home is because they fear people will goof off and not get their work done. But, when management creates an environment where people feel they have to come to work sick, management is the one who is responsible for the drop in productivity, not the employees.

For those of you who can work from home, next time you feel yourself coming down with something, grab what is most urgent and make sure you bring it home with you so you can stay home. Be the hero by sending in that urgent report from home rather than from the office where you would just make others sick too!

Be well folks!

The extra stress of having to be somewhere on time and the pressure of trying to prove yourself to a new team are actually huge energy suckers. It doesn't seem so obvious when it is part of our daily life, but when it happened to me last week it was a bit of an eye opener.

In retrospect my week wasn't well planned - I didn't know ahead of time which days I would be where - it made it hard to plan ahead for anything. On top of that , one morning we slept in (something we never do) and the result was a stressful morning rush. Another afternoon I actually had to call a friend to pick up my daughter from her after school program because I couldn't get there on time. I can't tell you how many times I had to circle the block looking for a parking spot never mind the number of times I had to run out and put money into the meter.

The result just reminded me how much I love working from home.

There is another side to this as well. It is fun to go to an office especially knowing that it isn't long term. The team I am working with is great and I am learning and growing in ways that are often hard to maintain when you work at home. I am completely excited about the projects I am working on and even more excited at the prospect if having another long term partner to keep me busy.

As I prepare for the week ahead I know I need to have a better plan for the week. As much as I want to be as accessible as possible, I know that having a set schedule will reduce my stress and ensure that I am actually more affective and productive which will benefit my new clients!

How do you manage the transition back to the office routine?

Here is the thing, an organization has to want to make flex and remote work successful. And once they want it to work they likely need to tweak their culture to make it happen.

Take an organization that is used to everyone being in the open concept style office. Not only does everyone see each other, they hear each other and likely contribute and support each other just based on what they over hear. I am not going to tell you that you can replicate that situation, but you can get pretty close and improve productivity.

First step, using people's time needs to get a bit more structured - that means meetings need to be booked in advance and people's time needs to be respected. Next step, start improving the way you communicate electronically. And that does not mean emailing the entire company or constantly hitting 'reply all'. Think about who needs to know, what they need to know and when they need to know it. Pick a key point of contact for a project and be consistent about communicating through that person. This is not about creating road blocks and slowing things down, quite the opposite, this is about improving process and reducing duplication of effort.

And yes, there are lots of tools like intranets or sites like Basecamp that you can and likely should use to centralize information, conversations and track results. But these tools are only as good as the people using them (read 'you must actually use them') and these are great amazing tools regardless of where and how your employees are working.

If I am not careful this is going to turn into a post on how to use an intranet and the need for a solid internal communications plan and consistent follow up to make it work, but that isn't the point I want to make. For many organizations, to embark on creating successful remote teams, they need to first clean up how they operate in their current in-office environment.

Sure turning to a colleague to get a quick answer is great, but how great would it be if you could get that information off of your intranet knowing that it was updated by the person who is actually responsible for that project? Or better yet, if you are the person who always gets asked questions, how great would it be if you could work uninterrupted for a whole hour or even two?

For this gig, I need to work in-office before I can consider suggesting working remotely, we need to all get a feel for how to work together. It is my seed to plant which means I need to show them how it can work, I need to create the process and standards around how I will work and communicate when I am not in the office that they are comfortable with and I have to do the exta leg work to really make sure it is successful.

I will let you know how the transition goes and I would love to hear about your transition back to an office after working at home.

Its funny, I am still having a hard time being totally transparent with my blog posts, I hesitate when I want to write about things that don't include me working 24/7. But I need to get past this and so here I am telling you that on Tuesdays, I can't come to a meeting because I will be dancing.

The truth is, it's not just that I am dancing, but who I am dancing with. I dance with my dear friend Anita. The first time I took her to Nia she asked if it was going to be a Sex in the City sort of thing. Her friends, based on the part of town we were dancing in, asked if there would be poles involved. No poles...no sex - although wow, that would make for an interesting post! Baby steps, I am ready to talk about my dancing, but that is as far as I am ready to go!

Anita, the amazing Anita, I think she is the most fun person I know. She also happens to be one of my favorite sources for business advise (she is a digital chick too). Anita is also the strongest and bravest woman I have ever met. And she is the type of woman who turns heads when she enters a room, in fact I can't remember a single person who I have introduced her to, that hasn't said to me, 'she is so beautiful', it's true she is beautiful.

Anita, the warrior, is in her second major battle with cancer. After 10 rounds of treatments last year and surgery, she is now part of a clinical trial. Once every other week she goes in and gets pumped full of new experimental drugs. On those weeks we only dance on Tuesdays on the other weeks we try and fit in a Friday class too. You got all that right? We dance every week. Every week we get together to move our bodies in celebration of life and to feel beautiful as we move. No sitting in bed, no gloom and doom, we celebrate. Don't get me wrong there are hard days, and some days the dancing brings tears and that is okay, Nia sometimes does that.

Just over a week ago, thousands of people in Japan lost their lives, just like that, in a matter of minutes so many of them were just gone. And yet, so many of us hesitate, hold back, wait for things to be perfect or let the smallest of challenges set us back...why? I say celebrate all that is around us, cherish the moments, the people, the flavours, the beauty and live...now.

Here is a listing of Nia classes in and around Toronto, this same link will help you find Nia classes near you.I dance with the amazing Sarah Butler.

Anita will participate in The Walk for the Cure this fall, once her site is active I will link to it.

My daughter and I went to Disney last week, this was her trip, as I am not really the Disney type. I didn't even bring a book to read, I wanted to be able to make this past week completely about her. At the pool we floated together or I sat and watched her play. At the parks I enjoyed her excitement and over meals we shared fries and deserts. Yes, the crowds were big and the line-ups were insanely long, but we knew they would be and we had nothing we needed to rush off and do.

I didn't even check emails. The hotel didn't have wi-fi in the room, my attempt to connect to the wi-fi (that I would have to pay for in the public areas) failed and I couldn't bring myself to pay the crazy expensive roaming fees. If I wanted to connect, I could have, but I took the difficulty I was having as a sign and stayed off-line and focused on my daughter instead. The few times that I texted my husband at home my daughter asked my why I was working, I was quick to assure her that I was not working!

One of the challenges of our supper connected world (never mind the fact that I work from home) is that it is easy to work all the time and everywhere. My kid, for one, is fed up with it and she should be, we all should be. Not only is it refreshing and mentally healthy to really 'shut-off' and take a break, it really does enable better and richer face to face connections.

It wasn't the crowds, the lines or the crazy overly manufactured 'reality' of Disney that got to me last week, it was the guy who took a phone call while we were on the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom.

I know that part of what made last week special was the fact that I didn't work and instead gave my daughter undivided attention for 5 solid days. It's not something I can do every week or every day, but it is important to remember how disconnecting from our technology and interconnected world is sometimes the most powerful way to connect with the people we love.

When was the last time you disconnected?

1. Share responsibilities

Ensure team members are cross trained so they can help each other and cover for each other.

2. Collaborate to create the program

Your team is more likely to take ownership and respect a program they helped create.

3. Give people control

This is probably the most powerful thing you can do for your employees - let them choose when they work, who they swap hours with and how they will make up time.

4. Provide multiple flex options

If we think about flexibility as a means to improve work life fit, then we need to recognize that most of us have very different needs. The more, easy to use, options you provide, the more likely they will be embraced by your employees.

5. Train your managers

For a flexible work program to success you need to have well trained managers who can clearly communicate the program and are held accountable for its success.

Looking for more practical tips? Corporate Voices for Working Families, an organization created in 2001 to provide leading and best-practice employers a forum to improve the lives of working families, has a toolkit, Guide for Implementing Flexibility with an Hourly and Nonexempt Workforce that is available free of charge.

For some real examples of hourly working moms, who work for winning companies, read Working Mother, Best Companies for Hourly Workers: Meet the Moms.

Retention is one of the biggest challenges facing an organization and we often hear about it as it applies to more senior roles but, how many of us have faced the impact of turnover related to more junior or hourly roles? I know I have. In the United States, 75 million people work for hourly wages (61% of them are women).

The Corporate Voices for Working Families study, Innovation Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers, shows that flexibility, 'can be as beneficial or more beneficial to hourly workers and the businesses that employ them.' Their research into companies like Marriott International (Hospitality), Proctor and Gamble (Consumer Goods), Bright Horizons (Child Care) and PNC Financial (Financial Services) are proving that flexibility for hourly workers is an option in a variety of fields.

Businesses implementing flex work options for employees are seeing the following benefits:

• Improved customer service
• Lower personnel costs as the result of reduced overtime
• Higher retention rates
• Ability to tap into a wider labor pool
• Recognition as an 'employer of choice' with younger generations
• Ability to expand hours of operation

Let's be frank, the employee benefits, which we can only talk about now that we have clearly shown the corporate benefits, are also benefits to the companies:

• Reduced stress = more efficient, less mistakes
• Improved well-being = better temperament, and customer service, less sick days
• Enhanced work-life effectiveness = ability to retain employees who go back to school, have a family or need to care for a family
• Increase productivity = I am not sure I need to qualify this one.

Despite the stats that indicate most flex work (usually cause they lump work at home jobs in this same category) is filled by senior men, more employers are catching on and creating flexible options for hourly workers. Working Mother has even come out with a Best Companies for Hourly Workers list.

These companies go beyond providing flexible schedules and include benefits like tuition reimbursement, paid vacation, job training and more. As for flexibility, some provide things like advance notice of work schedules (up to a month), volunteer overtime and unpaid time off without penalty. Others permit shift trading and split shifts.

For some real examples of hourly working mom's (it is International Women's Day after all) who work for winning companies, read Working Mother, Best Companies for Hourly Workers: Meet the Moms.
Change is possible.

Next post I will share tips on how to Implement Flexible Work strategy for Hourly Employees and share links to on-line resources.

All I could think was, wow, all the people who are being held up likely started their mornings at 4:30/5:00 a.m. in the hopes of beating the rush by coming into the office early. Now they will get in later, likely be stressed when they get there, they will need to stay later to make up for the late arrival time and will hit traffic on the way home too.

The commute was also bad for those using public transit when a major portion of the subway was also closed between 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. according to the Toronto Star.

The cost of a bad commute goes well beyond being late and staying late. According to the Urban Mobility Report that surveyed traffic patterns of 439 U.S. urban areas, the cost of commuting based on lost productivity and wasted fuel, reached $115 billion. The average amount of time wasted per person was 35 hours, or almost a full work week. For commuters in Chicago and Washington time wasted was doubled - 70 hours or two weeks of work per person.

The Urban Mobility report suggests that changing our work/commute patterns to implement more ride share programs and flexible work times to avoid the traditional 'rush hour' as a possible solution to this growing and crazy expensive congestion. I can tell you that this morning in Toronto, it was the early birds who were seeking to avoid the rush, that got the bulk of the delays. Improving public transit is another suggestion for improving congestion and rising cost of commutes. In Toronto this morning, the public transit system was hardly the 'Better Way' for many.

What we need is more opportunities for people to avoid the commute all together - we need more remote, flex work or telework opportunities and arrangements.

It's on days like today that I really appreciate the benefits of my home office. No commute, no added stress, no worries about being late and no loss in productivity or wasted gas.

How was your commute this morning?

Although I am Canadian, I really appreciated the flurry of tweets and all the post in support of telework week. Here were some of my favourites:

Huffingting Post, Rethink Workplace Flexibility. This biggest message here (and a bit on how to do it) is that companies need to establish clear policies and they need to create these now.

Huffington Post, The Perfect is the enemy of the Good. A great post on the need for building trust and a reminder that it is necessary (and easier than you think) for remote workers.

Wayne Turnme's post, Valentines Day and Telework Week are Both Made Up- But They Matter, has great practical questions to review and improve your existing telework situation as well as links to a variety of on-line resources. And as a great example of how video blogs can work, Workshifting.com posted a series of video blogs in celebration of telework week:

Workshifting for Love

Workshifting Story: New City, Same Job

Workshifting Story: New Job, No Moving

Workshifting Story: New Mom

They can't all be positive and in the case of The 6 snags of Telework, it is so negative it is ridiculous. Flexwork or telework, whatever you call it, requires a cultural shift, for the employer, employee and I guess if you consider John Dvorak's article, for the spouse as well.

CMS Wire does a brief summary of some of my favorite articles this week in, National Telework Week: Rethinking the Way we Work, and most of all I love their call to action: 'The mobile workforce is here and companies must get used to it. Build on the momentum of National Telework week to get up to speed so that, by this time next year, you're not just a bystander but an active participant.'

I couldn't agree more!

How did you spend telework week?

I tell people that working together works for us because Gustavo doesn't actually speak to me during the day. People think I am joking.

Its true, we don't spend our days chatting with each other. When we are in the office we are both there to get work done. I like to save the chatting for times when we are out of the office like over lunch or dinner.

One of the upsides of working together means we get to pop out for lunch together on a fairly regular basis. This week we were out for sushi when a couple came in and started talking to another couple who was already sitting in the restaurant. Turns out both couples also work from home, it came up as each discussed how they couldn't juggle their family responsibilities without the flexibility of working from home.

As small businesses and entrepreneurs in general seem to be the source of recent economic growth, and things like telework and flex work begin to increase, it is likely that more and more couples will work together or within the same space. Its funny how so many of us think that the idea of working together is so unusual and destine for doom. Before the industrial revolution families always lived and worked together.

To make working at home together you need to respect and support each other, share responsibilities and you need to communicate.

Sharing responsibilities

We are both equal contributors to our household, financially and as active parents. This means we share child care drop-off and pick-up as well as extracurricular activities and play dates. I won't pretend I cook as much as Gustavo and he doesn't do laundry or go clothes shopping, but we find our balance and we don't keep track. Working at home gives us both the flexibility to have more time for family and life and that matters to both of us equally.

Respect and support

I am not sure we could pull off all the sharing if the respect and support wasn't there. Gustavo encouraged me to start my own company and today he remains one of my biggest supporters. We both see the potential in the others business and want the other to succeed.

Communicate

Really how can you share, respect and support without good communication? But for us it is a fine balance. We can't chat all day, that would drive both of us crazy. I also don't like to be looped into everything about his company, if I was I would take on stress that I don't need or want. And hearing everything was a big stressor for me when we first started working together.

Make time for yourself

Is this starting like marriage advise rather than working together advice? We all need time to ourselves and when work and life are so entwined like they are for me, it becomes even more important. Sure a trip away on a beach all alone would be nice, but a yoga class or a walk or meeting a friend for a coffee can also do the trick.

Celebrate it

When it works, working together is a wonderful thing. So many people struggle to find time together. For us, it is easy.

What is the best way to find more work? Well that all depends on you. Not what you wanted to hear? We all want a formula that we can easily apply. For many of us, the formula already exists, we just over look it.

A few weeks back I pitched a project - it was a cold pitch, I had a reference but no actual 'in' at the organization. From the start I had mixed feelings about the pitch - part of me felt I should pitch a team the other part of me sensed that this client was looking for the magic everything marketer who could do it all and then some. This pitch was the hardest thing I have done out on my own. I was anxious, stressed and feeling very alone. I second guessed myself every step along the way. No big surprised that I produced a lame proposal, a crappy 'interview' and in the end I didn't get the project.

It was however, a big lesson for me. The cold reality was that I wasn't prepared for this kind of pitch. I didn't have a templated proposal that I could quickly pull out and adapt. I didn't know how to reach out to my network to co-pitch and I didn't have structure or game plan for when they gave me a face-to-face meeting. Although I knew that I could be a great partner for this company, I worried that the project was too big for me and would make it hard for me to support multiple clients which is my ultimate goal. Walking into the face-to-face I wasn't even convinced I was right for the 'job', not the attitude or state of mind required to 'make a sale'.

I need to do some prep work to do these kinds of pitches in the future, lesson learnt, but there is another lesson that surfaced during all of this. Really it was more of a reminder and it came in the form of an email from the 'Get Clients Now' team. The email asked, 'where do you get your best customers?' For me the answer is referrals from people I have worked with in the past. As a result I don't do a lot of 'pitching', I usually get a phone call or an email where we discuss timing and rates, I present a plan and then I get to work.

So what does this all mean? For me, if referrals from people I work with is where I get my best work, that is where I need to focus my business development energy. I need to constantly stay in touch and keep myself top of mind with my contacts. Most importantly, I need to do this all the time and not just when I need something. Okay I am going to say this again, we need to do this all the time, not just when we need something!

The phrase, 'paying it forward' comes to mind when I think about my networking/business development strategy. I have a list of people I would like to work with that I always keep in the back of my mind. If I come across an article or conference that I think they might like, I will forward the info with a quick note. If I can make a connection or introduction to someone I think they may like or could work with, then I do that too. I also reach out and book time for coffee or lunch on a fairly regular basis. These meetings also get me out and help fight off the isolation that can come from working from home.

This past year I also stepped out of my comfort zone and went to a few conferences with the hope of adding to my network, and at the Ungeeked conference I was successful. Because it was a multi day conference and a smallish group, I was able to make a few 'real' connections. I am really positive that these connections will help me grow and will eventually be partners that help me bring in more projects.

I am also slowly but surely starting to make some real contacts via Twitter. True story. No work to date, but it is moving in the right direction and when it comes to be, I can join the ranks of ,who knows how many, that have found work via social media.

I am always thinking about how much time I invest into activities like marketing, networking and business development vs. how much these activities actually return or convert into real business. My measurement is a mix between what is rewarding spiritually and financially. By spiritually I mean how an activity energizes me or depletes me. Cold pitches may eventually land me some big jobs, but I also know they take a toll on my energy and spirt. Blogging on the other hand will have slower long term impacts, but in the short term it energies and fulfills me, beyond what I could ever imagine. Very often my network does the same thing. A lunch, coffee or a phone/skype call doesn't alway produce an immediate project, but it often stimulates and energize me and my spirit.

How do you find clients? What lessons have you learnt?

The next time hubs sticks his head in my office, I may punch him in the nose. #telework #snowday

#Telework on a snow day: Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.

Working while everyone else in my house has a snow day is NOT panning out. One more interruption & I am going to SNAP. #telework

#Telework challenge: trapped with four other people who don't #telework and have a snow day. Workus Interruptus!

In my house, my daughter assumed her snow day was a snow day for all of us, she didn't understand that I still needed to work. By 8:00 a.m. we had arranged a play date and I knew I would be able to have a regular productive work day. Not every teleworker/flex worker was as lucky as me, as those post clearly show. Trying to get work done when your family members or roommates aren't can be distracting and frustrating!

I am well aware that one of the benefits of telework or flex work comes from being able to maintain productivity when inclement weather prevents people from coming into the office.

One of the big drivers behind the US Federal Government's recent bill to mandate telework was to ensure employee productivity could be maintained during bad weather. Last year's snow storms were said to have resulted in productivity loss of $71 million a day, mainly because too few federal employees were able to work from home.

Yesterday's Toronto Star had a great article, ' Snow days, not just for kids anymore' that showed how flexible work arrangements were enabling employees and companies to stay productive despite the bad weather.

There is no question, flex work or telework are key to ensuring productivity stays on track during times of bad weather, but that doesn't mean that it enables all of us to stay productive when schools close as today's Toronto Star article, 'Did schools really have to close,' shows.

Many of us felt that the closure of the Toronto District School Board (which impacts 562 schools and hundreds of thousands of kids) for the 6 inches of snow that actually fell in the GTA, was over reacting. The result was a scramble by many families to find care for their children. I love the mention in The Star article of the mom who ended up taking work calls in the only room in the house with a door that locked - the bathroom. Those of us who work from home may not need to scramble for care, but if don't it often means lots of interruptions and working late at night to fill in for all the daytime interruptions.

How did you get through yesterday's snow day?

Did you know that corporate sites with blogs actually attract 55% more visitors than sites without blogs?

This month I am participating in Blogging Success Summit 2011 , and my biggest take away after day one is that I need to blog more. More doesn't mean longer blog posts, in fact Joe Pulizzi, who spoke at yesterday's Blogging Success Summit, suggests less is more. Debbie Weil, yesterday's second speaker, echo's Pulizzi's recommendation and reminds us that bog posts can be video clips or images - she even suggests going to your blog to make an update or share a comment rather than always going to Twitter.

Blogging more also doesn't mean blogging about everything. Pulizzi's example of a bread stick recipe on a corporate web site (that had nothing to do with food or baking), will forever stick with me. Your blog should have a clear and well defined goal. And if you are small like me, your blog should be very niche.

Blogging more' is just the first step. If you ascribe to Pulizzi's perspective that the blog is the core of a potentially much larger content marketing strategy or Weil's notion that the blog should be the hub for your social media activities, either way your blog is key.

Day one was full of lots of tips and a few tricks and I am sure there is lots more to come. I have a long list of to-do items to blog smarter and more strategically. Starting today, I will blog more.

How often do you blog? Have you done any testing around frequency or time of day for posts? I would love to hear what works for you.

Yesterday, the Toronto Sun ran an article, Canadians not fans of the home office: Study
A while back I posted: Little change in the number of Canadians working from home, that was based on the same study. In my past post I mentioned my distaste for twisting data or interpreting things without proper context. The Sun article, even with its title, miss
represents the studies findings.

Even for advocates, like me, what we call this thing that so many of us aspire to do is confusing - do we call it working from home, telework, flex work or even work shifting? If we are confused, how are statisticians supposed to know what to collect?

If you take the time to review the study, Working at home: An Update, you will quickly realize that the data collected is anyone working from home even if that takes place on top of 40 hours worked in the office. And as the study states, '...difference in dissatisfaction levels was entirely due to the fact that employees who worked at home, especially those who worked more than 10 hours, also tended to have high total work hours (and the more hours they worked, the less satisfied they were wit their work-life balance).

One of the reasons that up to 80% of us would take a job with flexibility over one that doesn't is because we want more control in our lives. That is right, I didn't say balance - I said control. We want to choose when and where we work, sometimes so we can get more done and sometimes because we need to pick up our kids or train for a marathon. Many who work from home exclusively will tell you that they work long hours, sometimes even longer hours than they may have in an office. At the end of the day, those of us who choose this lifestyle, like the flexibility of choosing how we work. Maybe it's from 6 am to 10 am and then a break at the gym for a few hour and back at work from noon till 4, that makes for an 8 hour day with time for the rest of life and still plenty more time to work if you need it.

The other night I spoke with a family friend who explained that flexibility was key to her health. She had a health condition that could leave her immobilized and in intense pain if she sat in a car for too long. So she would start her day at 8 am, working from home finishing reports, checking emails and calling clients. Then, when the traffic was done and her commute went from an hour to 20 min, she jumped into her car and headed to the office. At the end of the day she also left early, beating traffic and giving herself a few more productive hours in her home office.

It's a strange study for sure, but the conclusion isn't that Canadians don't like working from home. The study shows that there has been little growth in flexible job opportunities, particularly from the corporate sector (and I don't mean working at home after a day in the office!). When we have true flexible situations that give us control, most of us love our home offices!

Last week the New York Times recently ran an article titled, Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry.It is a great article highlighting some of the great flex benefits that the accounting industry has created to have a healthier and more productive workforce, and to increase employee retention. The article points out that as number crunchers, the big accounting firms have done the math and they see the benefits of flexible programs. The article goes on to call the big accounting firms 'industry leaders' in work place flexibility.

The numbers are impressive, PricewaterhouseCoopers saw a reduction in employee turn over to 15% down from 24%. Add the cost to train an employee which is considered 1.5 times that role's salary and multiply that by the number you have to hire or not hire and the cost and related savings could quickly be in the millions. Delotte states they save $45 million a year as a result of lower employee turn over which they credit to their flex program.

I personally was most impressed by the example of the Ernest & Young team and how they combine flex work and team work to maintain success. It stood out to me because so often when people hear flex work they think of people working in isolation not as part of a team even though the reality is quite different:

'Every Monday morning, the 15 people on Mr. Leeds's team meet and lay out the personal commitments that might interfere with work ' basketball games, teacher conferences, Pilates classes, weddings. They arrange to cover for each other, helping make the busy season tolerable for everyone.'

The article has a whole slew of real life examples of amazing flex options that people in large accounting firms are taking advantage of. In fact when I first started writing about the article I felt like I was close to plagiarizing since I wanted to repeat everything it covered! So I set it aside and I am glad I did, because it gave me a chance to see how others reacted to the article.

Turns out my cynicism isn't unwarranted and my experience in a big bank isn't too far off from some employees in these accounting firms. Read the article comments and you will find the criticism from people in the industry is harsh:

'As someone who (very recently) left the 'big four', I can tell you, it's not really like this.'

'I found this article to be laughable at best. 'Flex Time' is one o\f those marketing terms these big 4 employees use to lure in 'fresh blood'. But in reality, flex time is virtually non-existent across ALL firms.'

'When Big 4 firms mention 'flexibility', it means that employees have to be flexible and adjust to the employer's work demands - not the other way around.'

'Flexible policies on paper and the same policies put into practice are two completely separate things. It is very easy to state a policy and quite another to implement it.'

So what's the deal? What this just a story planted by the Public Relations departments? No, it is real (see author Steven Greenhouse's response) and those people are real and the power and potential of flex is real. What this article and its comments show is that flex is possible and it can be successful, but we have a long way to go.

For all the employees who are frustrated that they never experienced this so called flexibility, there are likely an equal number of internal leaders and HR directors that are frustrated that these well thought out and designed programs aren't getting put into place.

What do you think it will take for more companies to truly implement these policies and for employees to actively embrace them?

The message is, we are not capable of multitasking, we only think we are. When we start checking emails our brains switch to our visual cortex and we are literally hearing less of what is being said in the meeting we are attending. The people you work with and your family are right to be annoyed with you, you are missing a large part of what they are saying.

The solution is really a combination of project management and being present. Being present is about paying attention what you are doing at that very moment. Its the kind of thing that a yoga instructor will encourage, but when we apply it to life and work it makes us better at whatever we are doing.

When we practice being present when we eat (which means not eating in front of the TV or computer) not only do we really experience and enjoy the flavors of what we eat, we actually eat less.

Being present in a meeting means paying attention to that meeting, if you know you are the type to get distracted or bored, then take notes to stay focused. And yes folks, let's all try and make these meetings more effective so we don't need to get bored, invite only who really needs to be there, have an agenda and stick to it!

Try being present when you help your kids with their homework not only will they appreciate the uninterrupted and undivided attention, I am going to bet that you will get through that work with less frustration and in less time.

You noticed that I haven't told you to put down your iPhone or Blackberry or step away from the computer. I love what all if this technology can do to connect us and help us share information.

Project management can help us avoid multitasking. Part of project management is anticipating what will happen in a project. Sometimes that is about what will go wrong and sometime it is as simple as scheduling copy editing before a web launch. Here is the thing, you know that you need to check emails, you know that want to engage in Twitter or other social media, so why aren't you planning for it?

Peter Shankman has a great post about Why you need to get up earlier and how to do it. Reading his post I couldn't help but think, waking up early enables Peter to be present in whatever he does in that extra time be it biking alone in Central Park, taking time to eat breakfast or watch the sunrise, or reading and catching up on email during a time when he won't be interrupted.

I recently had coffee with a friend who has amassed a substantial following to his Twitter and blog posts - targeted, qualified followers - in 9 months. He calls it is social experiment because he wants to see how little time he can spend on this and still have it be an effective tool to grow his influence and contribute to building his businesses. To do this he dedicates specific uninterrupted time to these tasks. On Twitter he makes the best of his time by participating in specific Tweetchats that often happen weekly at a specific time and often for only an hour and often after his kids have gone to bed. This means when he is active it as at a time when he can participate in a dialogue, engage with others and make bigger impact in a short period of time. When he posts a blog entry it is a thoughtful, authentic, passionate post that is well researched and thought out and then he takes time to respond to all the comments. He plans his time and is present when he does engage.

Stop multitasking, you aren't doing it, you are just making it harder to be effective. Today try to do one thing at a time. When you feel yourself getting distracted and itching to check email or read your Twitter stream, first take time to note where you left off in whatever you were doing so when you get back to it, you don't need to waste 15 min trying to remember what it was that you were doing!

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

The reality is there are lots of scams out there. And although most of us realize, paying someone to give you a job that will enable you to make thousands working from home, is a scam, there are enough people 'falling for it' to keep these scams running.

In my experience finding a flexible jobs is often more about creating it. For me it was about going out on my own, for most people I know with flexible jobs in large corporations, it was about negotiating them after establishing themselves as a star performer.

So what if your current job won't accommodate it or if you have been home with your kids for a while and you don't have the time to find a job and turn it into a flexible arrangement? This is where the FlexJob team comes in.

The FlexJob team does all the research to ensure the jobs they list are legitimate. Sure you could do what they do and search, scour, question and confirm on your own, but why would you when they can do it faster and better for far more jobs than you could ever cover and their rates are so accessible? The FlexJobs site lists jobs in over 50 categories ranging from entry level to executive positions. They list telecommuting and part-time jobs as well as freelance and flexible schedule jobs. They currently have over 4,000 positions posted on their site!

I need to be honest, I haven't used FlexJobs, but because I was so impressed with what they have to say and what they list on their site, I reached out to them to get some details to find out what they offer for Canadians.

The amazing FlexJobs team was kind enough to get back to me and let me know that they have almost 300 Canadian positions posted right now and only about 200 Canadian customers. I like that breakdown! I did ask how many jobs they fill in Canada or the US, but they don't track that kind of data since many jobs have applicants apply directly to their sites. What they do get is lots of people canceling their subscription because they have found a great job.

Here is what they heard from a recent customer from Victoria, B. C.:

'I found a job through FlexJobs that is right up my alley. I will keep you posted as to how it turns out! It is a really big opportunity for me and I am pleased I found it through FlexJobs. I was really impressed with the jobs on FlexJobs, and I will definitely recommend your site for people looking for serious telecommuting job with good companies. Glad I found your site.'

The FlexJobs team tells me there are Canadian based jobs in most of the 50 categories listed on their site with some of the popular categories (as in the US) being in consulting, underwriting, business development, IT, writing and customer service. As in the US, many of their clients in Canada are professionals with several years of experience.

FlexJobs is subscription based, you can pay $49.95 a year (that is less than $5.00 per month) or $14.95 per month if you anticipate a shorter search period.

I think it is a great price and a great service and I would love some direct feedback from someone using using it!

Special thanks to FlexJobs team for taking the time to respond to my questions!

So here I sit, on January 2nd, 2011 wondering what exactly I will do about it. I could join a gym and there is one just a 5 min walk from my house. I could find a trainer or join a class and there is another gym, about a 15 min walk from my house that is run by a mum at my daughter's school, that has a great reputation. I have 10 passes from the yoga studio that is also a 5 min walk from my house. I could strap on my running shoes and go for a walk or a run. Or maybe go to one of the many on on-line sites that have exercise videos. I am also contemplating trying a Nia class, there is one twice a week a few blocks over and it sounds cool.

I have a million excuses for why I don't do anything, here are a few so I can see them on screen and you and I can both shake our heads at me in disgust.

When I go to yoga after not having gone for a while, I end up hurting my neck and shoulders to the point that I can't continue yoga for a while and need to go for several very painful massages. Running, besides the fact that it is bellow zero, every time I set out I end up with a ridiculous amount of pain in my knee that makes it hard for me to go down the stairs afterwards. I am scared to join the gym, okay so scared may not be the right word, I am worried that I will join and never go so I will just throw away money. Oh, and for the on-line classes, the ceiling in the basement is too low to work out down there and the Christmas tree is in the way in the living room (well it was, we just took it down).

This morning I even contemplated another cleanse, cause I just love me a nice cleanse. Problem is it drives my family crazy and at the end of the day I don't need a quick fix, I want new life style habits that I will have with me always. Okay, so I would love a quick fix that would take away that muffin top and make my pants feel more comfortable. And I think my family would love the quick fix, because when I feel fat, I give them all shit for eating junk or just plain eating!

Its amazing how many excuses we can find to stop ourselves from moving forward, from being the best that we can be. And how easy it is to drag others down with us.

Last spring I did a cleanse, I eliminated alcohol, wheat, dairy, sugar and most meats, it was my most successful cleanse in that I lasted longer than usual and for quite some time after incorporated a lot of good eating habits. But slowly I forgot the lessons and went back to bad habits. In June, I joined a boot camp, because I wanted my daughter to have a physically active mother, and I worked hard and loved the results. I thought the boot camp would be the kick start I needed to do yoga or run without hurting. I did manage to work-out a few more times, went to one or two yoga classes, and several long bike rides and then it all slipped away.

This year I don't want extremes like cleanses that take away foods and make eating and enjoying food challenging. And I don't want extreme exercise like a boot camp or a grand goal like running a half marathon. I want to make exercise and healthy living part of my life everyday. I know how to eat well, I need to make it part of my everyday life. As for exercise, I may not know how and what I really should be doing, but I know that I can find something that enriches my life, that I enjoy doing and I can do on an ongoing basis.

So, got any ideas?

This isn't your typical highlight of my blog posts, because after just one year and only recently blogging every day for 30 days, a 'best of' is a bit silly. This is recognition of the journey that I took this past year.

January - Setting intentions

Who better to help you on your path to true enlightenment then Oprah. On January 1st (or some point really close to that date) I got an email from Oprah. And no, I am not 'connected' I simply subscribe to her newsletter. The email had an invitation to a 21 day consciousness cleanse. I love cleanses, usually they involve food, but hey, my consciousness has never been cleansed - I should give this a try. I have to say I really loved it, and really looked forward to starting each day listing to the audio files. I want to tell you I made it all the way through, but towards the end it got to be way too much about God for me and I had to bail! But not before I set my intention for the year, which was to be 'inspired'. I didn't really know what that meant, but I knew that I needed it.

February - Yes I can

I got my first 'new' job. I had started the year with a contract from my old employer, and although I realize that is a significant accomplishment, it was getting that first job with someone new that really delivered me the sense of relief and accomplishment and the feeling that 'I really could do this'. And you know what, I sat in front of my computer and cried and even as I write about it, my eyes well up, silly I know, and monumental all the same.

March - the transition begins

I started becoming the person I had visioned for myself the year before. I hated being the mom that dropped my kid off at school in the fancy office clothes, I wanted to be one of those mom's who looked casually hip and significantly less rushed than my old self. I had 3 new clients, lots of work, but as I look back at my calendar I see more mom/school stuff in my calendar. I was also see appointments for things like massages and facials - what is that? was I taking time for me!

April - Fire starter session

I did a Fire starter session with Danielle Le Porte. I mentioned her in my first blog post, I had heard her speak in 2009 and she really inspired my transition. After reading my post, a friend of mine reached out and contacted Danielle, which, I think is totally cool. So why hadn't I? Partially because I was filled with self doubt and partially because I thought I wasn't ready. The session was great, and gathering the feedback in advance of the session gave me insights (not all positive) that I needed to hear.

The outcome was that I needed to focus on hospitality marketing, kind of obvious I realize because of my background, but until this session I wasn't confidant (like many new entrepreneurs) in targeting a niche. I walked away with a list of things to do, many of which I think about daily and many of which I never did do and until October I kept asking myself 'why'.

May - 21 day detox

Oh I do love my cleanses and this virtual one was my all time favourite! Micelle is located out of Boston and participants in this cleanse were from all over the US, me in Canada and one woman from England. We had weekly calls which were encouragement and tips from Michelle. And we had the most amazing Google group where we all posted our updates and challenges - these total strangers made me laugh and cry. Michelle has amazing food suggestions and her cleanse gave me so many recipes and habits that I still use today.

Find Your Balance

June - time for boot camp!

Eating healthy, check. Now it is time to get into shape. I signed up for a boot camp, 3 days a week at 7 a.m. for an hour! And yes folks I made it to each and every class and had some very impressive shoulder and arm muscles when it was done! Sadly I have hardly done any exercise since, but it is a good reminder of what I am capable of, let's hope that in 2011 I do more of it!

Best Body Boot Camp

June is when I started to let me self appreciate and acknowledge how powerful this change (working for myself at home) has been to my life and to my family. This post got the most comments in Facebook:
Ella says the rewards of working from home are more than green.

July and August - summer the way it should be

I enjoyed the summer, not that I took time off, cause I didn't, but for once I didn't feel like a crazy woman. My old work place had a summer hours program, work extra hours and you could take half day off each week or a full day every other week. But with two kids at camps in different parts of the city that started at 9 and finished at 5 (and that is after paying extra for extended care) it was almost impossible for me to put in extra time in the office. That didn't mean I worked less, it just meant more of it was done at home and it didn't qualify for time off. I managed to pull off extra hours in the office, but boy did I resent it! This summer there was no need for extended care and as with school mornings this year, there was no insane rushing or stressing.

September - don't stress

I actually started to stress about having enough work and then I got more work. I had been working all year at reaching out, making connections, telling people how I could help them. Finding work didn't happen magically, it was the result of the work I had done all year. Having it work out so quickly and easily is a good reminder that work will come, sometimes you just need to be patient and freaking out won't ever make things better.

October - Inspiration

I got myself a coach, life purpose coach actually, her name is Sherry Waddington. And she really did help me find my life purpose. When I met with Danielle back in April, part of me knew I wasn't ready yet, but when I met with Sherry I knew that I was ready.

One of my first homework assignments was to read The E Myth, a book that I had actually started the year before but never finished. I mentioned that Danielle had given me an amazing list of things to do to get my business up and launched, but that I hadn't done them. For months I kept asking myself what I was resisting, was it success, was it failure? I had stopped readying TheE Mythbecause I felt that I didn't have enough structure and documentation in my business and I knew those would be key to long term success. But when I picked up the book again and read chapter 12 something in me clicked. This is where Michael Gerber asks you to define the primary aim of your company, and tells you that your aim needs to be you. To create a successful business he asks you to define what you value most, what you want your life to look and feel like and who you wish to be.

Its funny, for so long, I had been saying, I know 'how' I want to work, but I am not sure 'what' to work on. And suddenly I realized it was the 'how' that mattered the most. I want to help companies and individuals create more successful and effective flexible and remote jobs. Its helped me be the mom, person and entrepreneur I know I am meant to be and I want to share this with others.

November - real accomplishments

30 days and 30 blogs. It doesn't seem like such a big deal, but I am a digital marketing girl, I totally get the importance of a web presence and the value of blogging and social media and yet I hadn't been following through. I now know, with Sherry's guidance that it was because I was missing my 'big idea'. I do details well, but I need the big picture and until I acknowledged that I want to help create more flexible working arrangements for people, I didn't have my big picture. The blogging was my most favorite thing that I did all year. It didn't pay me a cent and yet it gave me the biggest sense of accomplishment which is a valuable lesson for a woman who was so used to getting rewarded with salaries, bonuses and promotions.

December - Ella says ...you did a great job.

I am such a sap, is it okay that I want to cry again? Ella is my daughter, she is an incredible and amazing child who has something to say about just about anything and I promise you I am not exaggerating, that kid can jump into any conversation! The word 'ella' is also the word for 'she' in Spanish. My company, Ella says, was inspired by my daughter and my vehicle to to get my voice back and use it. And I have.

Its just the beginning, I will continue to provide digital marketing support to my hospitality clients and in the process show them how remote work arrangements complement their existing business structure. I will also spend a lot of time building my reputation and eventually clients, specifically focusing on creating more remote and flexible work arrangements.

Not only do I celebrate this holiday, I cherish it. This year my husband wanted us to have hamburgers for Christmas lunch, I mean can you believe that? My response was, 'are you trying to ruin Christmas for me?', and I wasn't saying that to be dramatic, that really would ruin Christmas for me. That and having no surprises under the tree. Who am I?

Where does this come from? This desire to celebrate this very Christian holiday? And it is a Christian holiday, however watered down it has become. But that is what the Christians have always been willing to do to get the masses isn't it? Didn't the Christians , way back when adopt dates that corresponded with existing more popular pagan holidays?

And don't tell me I am celebrating a pagan holiday....cause I'm pretty sure I am not! I don't bring a tree into my house to remind me of the harvest soon to come, or celebrate that the days are now getting longer (as much as I am truly grateful for that), or engage in gluttonous partying (although at times it does feel a bit like that). Sun god, what is that?

I don't put up a tree for Jesus or even think much about him that day. But I won't deny and can't deny that it is the Christian tradition that embraced the tree that inspires how I celebrate the holiday.

The Christmas morning tradition of exchanging gifts, maybe so we could be doing the same thing as all our friends, was something my parents created for us, it wasn't something either one of them grew up doing. Not that our Christmas day was really like many others, after gift giving which took no time at all, despite my attempts each year to drag it out, we joined the rest of the Jews for a Christmas day movie and I think once or twice we may have even gone for Chinese food afterwards.

I don't even celebrate Christmas with my family, I celebrate with my husband's family. With his family we have a beautiful multi course dinner and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning it is just the 4 or 3 of us and that is my favorite part. It was important for Gustavo and I to start and host our own traditions rather than going to his mother's or to Rochester with my family.

Why Christmas? Is it because of the wonky traditions my parents created for me that I am still holding on to? Is it because of my atheist husband's traditions? Is it because everyone else does it? Is it cause there isn't much else to do that day? Or has it become over the years familiar and comfortable?

For me Christmas is a time to connect to friends and family, even if it is just a greeting card with pictures of how our children have grown. It is a time to show our families how we care for them by cooking great food and sharing it with them. It is also a time to give gifts to others, that despite my late start this year, I really enjoy doing. And mostly, for me, it is a time to feel safe and warm and loved at home.

Happy Holidays everyone, may your holiday time be joyous and may the New Year bring you, health, wealth and happiness!

Since I am home I have a whole new perspective on sick days. For the most part I can be sick and no one will know, unless like right now when I sound so ridiculously stuffed up that everyone is asking if I am okay (I think people think I have been crying!). I can get stuff done, or lie down, or warm up soup and my clients will never know, especially if I keep getting the work done and hitting all my deliverables. And that is okay, because when I work, I am not getting the whole rest of the office sick.

In my office days too many of us, myself included went to work when we are sick which got the rest of the office sick and impacted productivity well beyond just one person staying home for the day.

Turns out there is a name for showing up to work when you should be home recovering, its called 'presenteeism'. A Cornel University study suggests that 'presenteeism' costs the US economy $150 billion a year. The cost is the result of sick employees being less productive than normal and spreading that lack of productivity to others.

Its not just bad for our companies, it could be bad for your next review. When our productivity drops, our quality of work also drops, all in all, its best to stay home when you are really sick.

Some of us go to work sick because we don't have paid sick days, and others because of our own work ethic or our corporate culture. Many organizations don't give employees lap tops or even access to company servers or data should they want to work from home on their own computers.

These kinds of attitudes, policies and cultures that frown on people working from home, or simply taking time to recover, end up costing companies thousands if not millions of dollars.

Teleworkers actually cut absenteeism by 20%, not only that, but companies that enable teleworking avoid absenteeism due to things like bad weather.

Wouldn't it be great if the next time someone in your office got sick, they stayed home?

It is a bit of a drag that on this last day of my blog I am trying to wrap it up at 6 in the evening after a day of entertaining family at a pre-holiday dinner. I am not at my peak and the wine and cocktails certainly don't help! Although I must say, having a family gathering a week before the holidays is much more relaxing than fitting it in on Christmas day - I highly recommend it, for us it just may become a new tradition.

Back to productivity, I really like what the Energy Project team has to say about it, they have a 'take back your lunch' campaign - because taking a lunch break is important. In fact, did you know that if you eat in front of a computer or TV, you are likely to get hungry again more quickly? And if you aren't getting the drift, its the kind of activity that over time will contribute to you becoming overweight? Best way to really control what you eat is to stop and take time to enjoy what you eat and be aware of every morsel of food you put in your mouth, and enjoy the flavors and textures of each bite. The idea is that, the more self aware we become, the less we actually eat.

The folks at the Energy Project also talk about how we work, and they often bring up the example of the athlete. Athletes, or so I am told, combine schedules of activity and non activity (more accurately describes as a period of rest and renewal) as key elements in their training. Studies show, our bodies and minds work best on periods of 90 minutes of activity followed by a period of rest. Tony Schwartz , one of the minds behind the Energy Project, used this methodology when he wrote his last book, enabling him to write more in far less time.

When I think back to my corporate days, there wasn't much thought put into when we are each most productive, which is quite a shame. Working on our own, it is some thing that we need to learn and harness quickly. As I said, for me the morning is the time when I can produce the most at the quickest pace. So, as much as going for a morning coffee after I drop my daughter at school seems practical, for me that is a waste of my most productive time. For me, if I need to get out and interact with the world, it needs to be mid morning after at least 90 minutes of productivity or even better, over the lunch hour.

Do you know when you are most productive, and are you taking advantage?

Although I shouldn't say sadly - its only sadly because of the time, it is a routine that we all cherish as it is such a gentle, comfortable and beautiful way to start the day. We had this same routine when my husband and I were rushing off to offices - the rush never started until 7 when we got out of bed. As a working mom it was key bonding time for me and my child.

I first thought of the importance of these kinds of bonding routines when I was interviewing for my last job. During my interview with the then VP, a woman who was traveling what seemed like more than she was home, told me about the nightly routine she had with her daughter. No matter where in the world or what time it was, this VP would set an alarm if she had to so she could call her daughter before bed and say the words from Robert Munsch:
I love you forever,
I like you for always
As long as I am living
My baby you'll be.

Makes me a little teary eyed even writing it. Its a beautiful story, and even cooler that we discussed it during an interview, a time when women are taught never to discuss motherhood never mind its challenges. And I needed to hear the story, to know that even with a job that meant a commute and travel I too could stay connected with my child, but I needed to find these things (rituals, routeens), that no matter what, needed to come first.

Part of me, the part that is always beating me up, wants to tell you I lost the battle, the commute, the travel, work-load and stress where just too much. But the part of me that has emerged even stronger over the past year knows that's not true. Now I know I am capable of working for myself, being financially successful and fulfilled by a job that lets me work where and when I want, now I am brave and strong.

And every morning I still start the day with my arms wrapped around my baby girl and I enjoy it even more knowing that my office is just up stairs!

There is an even more adventurous group of flex workers who go beyond the coffee shops and actually take their work on the road. Timothy Ferriss is one of the more famous advocates of this lifestyle in his best selling book, The Four Hour Work Week. He gives what he claims are easy to implement tips on how to dial back your actual work, with outsourcing and improving efficiency (an honestly having work that generates lots of income with limited input) so that you can travel the world and live and do the things you have always dreamed (like become a professional Tango dancer in Buenos Aires).

Natalie Sisson calls herself the Suitcase Entrepreneur and her goal is to help people live location independent lifestyles while still running a successful business. Like Timothy Ferriss, Sisson has lots of tools and trick to streamline your business and reviews of a wide range of services that make any small business owner's life easier. Even if you don't plan on working from the beach, many of these tools make life easier, and help you present a more professional product.

The fundamental motivation of a location independent lifestyle is to live your life now, rather than overworking yourself for 20 - 30 years for something you may do when you retire. Ferriss does a great job of outlining how little you really need, financially, to travel the world.

My flex work gives me the freedom to be more involved with my daughter and her school, not quite as glamorous as becoming a professional Tango dancer but, right now it is exactly how I want to live my life. And who knows, maybe one year we will take off to Europe and just continue to work as we do now, remotely and at times from a local coffee shop.

I advocate flex jobs as a key way to reduce the burden on working moms, because that is what I can most directly relate to, but the other day I stumbled across a site started by two 20 somethings who were just as outraged as I am about the hours the corporate world expects from all of us, I know the desire for flex work goes well beyond mothers.

In fact stats in Canada indicate that more men than women work from home. My husband works from home (and yes, our marriage is still fine!), and I can see how it has changed him, he is more relaxed and more creative about how to run his existing business and full of ideas for new ones, its pretty awesome to watch.

I read an article yesterday on Cindy Krischer Goodman's blog, The Work/Life Balancing Act, Urban Meyer resignation: citing family as an explanation? Get real! that I can't stop thinking about. We need support from men, so why is Cindy so mad (her words) that Urban Meyer, University of Florida's football coach used what she called the 'family' excuse when he resigned:
'At the end of the day, I'm convinced you'll be judged on how you are as a husband and father an not on how many bowls you win.'

I think yeah! a guy that gets it, I mean isn't that what we want, men valuing family and time with them as much as many mothers do? According to Cindy, the truth is the coach was burned out, it was causing health problems and on top of it, the team was doing badly.

Cindy goes on to point out that men can bring out the 'family' excuse and it makes a departure more palatable. Where as when women do it, like Brenda Barnes who stepped down from PepsiCo in 1997, they are accused of setting back the feminist movement.

What does Cindy want? She wants men like Meyer to use there influence to advocate for change, change that creates more family friendly workplaces so that everyone can spend more time with their families without having to quit their jobs!

Its crazy to me, not even knowing what someone is doing, just seeing them is enough to create a positive impression. Makes you wonder how many managers actually reward based on what they see vs. what is actually done.

It seems to me that the techniques that will make the virtual office successful are also things that will make managers better and employees more productive and accountable in the old style office too. Jim Magary in his post, Managing Remote Teams: The Art of the Virtual Cup of Coffee, stresses that managers need to build relationships, stay in charge and empower others. Sounds like a recipe for a good manager in any situation.

When your team is virtual, some of these things like staying in control and empowering your team actually become more important. And building a relationship takes more effort since you can't rely on casually bumping into each other at the water cooler. I really like Jim's advise to set up a regular 'virtual cup of coffee' once or twice a week, a time to get together, without an agenda and simply connect and build your relationship.

Too many managers skip over much of the performance measurement techniques that HR departments so diligently try to implement, once your team is virtual you can no longer rely on seeing someone to know they are getting the job done, you actually need to review objectives and results. And honestly shouldn't you be doing that anyway?

How do you remain in control with a virtual team?

Although I created my own flexible working arrangement by quitting my job and starting my own company, that is not what I want to focus on today. I want to talk about how to insert flexibility into your existing job.

It seems like I am stating the obvious, but you need to make sure that working from home is for you and that you will truly be more productive and effective from home. If your kids and the nanny are home and you won't have a dedicated working space, or you don't have the best internet connection, don't bother it will fail and create more stress rather than the blissful lifestyle you are hoping for.

First off, you need to be prepared to make a formal pitch, negotiate and counter lots of negativity. Do this right, do your research, internally (any other individuals or departments doing this?) and externally (what companies do this, what are some of the known benefits). What ever you do, don't make an emotional pitch, and follow these guidelines:

1. You need to create a business case for working from home and this means documenting the benefits to the organization (this is not about you!).

2. Outline how you will complete your different functions remotely (or if it is a blend, what will you do in the office vs. what you will do at home), the more of your duties and responsibilities you can map out the better.

3. Treat this like a job interview, sell all your best qualities and how you are not only suited to this arrangement, but how it will enhance your strengths and contributions.

4. Be prepared to work twice as hard to make it work and this means making sure your are easily accessible via phone and email and that you clearly document and circulate communications.

5. Suggest a way to measure the success of this new arrangement and then be prepared to regularly report on your progress.

6. Propose to test the arrangement - say for 1 - 3 months.

Want some help with that proposal? Check out Pat Katepoo's site, Workoptions flex time tools and tactics. She has lots of resources and sells proposals for a great price helping you hand in a nice polished proposal, I think its worth the price. She also happens to be an awesome lady and she will get on the phone and chat with you if you have questions.

Need some Canadian stats and suggestions?
Globe and Mail, 'Flexible work options: From recession cost cutter to talent magnet'.

Do you have a flex work negotiation story to share?

Yesterday I took a break, I slept in, we had family over for a long leisurely lunch, I baked, did laundry, chatted on the phone and hung out. I attempted write a blog post but nothing felt right so I posted a picture, kinda lame, I know, but it was still a post and I was enjoying the break.

Not so surprisingly, today I am refreshed and focused and feeling on-top of everything. Not like some Mondays where I can't really remember what happened the week before, and I know I am not alone in feeling this way! Ironically, it's the weeks where we don't take breaks that we feel a bit lost on Monday morning.

Studies show that people who take more vacations actually have a lower risk of suffering from a heart attack. On top of that, when people go on vacation their sleep tends to improve and with that reaction times increase by 80%. The sleep study also showed that improved sleep tends to continue after a vacation resulting in reaction times that were improved 30 to 40 percent more than before the trip. The key here is to really take that vacation and that means turn off your phone! Imagine, if you did shut down on vacation and you improved your reaction time, how much more productive could you be when you get back?

There is lots of evidence out there, an Ernst & Young study showed employees who took longer vacations performed better. Another study shows people who work longer hours, tend to sleep less, exercise less and are more likely to dislike their jobs.

Sadly rest and renewal, even if it is just over the weekend, isn't valued by most North American organizations. And despite the facts and studies, there seems to be a consensus that we should all work more, the truth is we need to slow down, rest and renew.

Did you take a break this weekend? Do you take your vacation? How about breaks throughout the day? If your not doing these things you are likely not performing at your peak.

Check out the Energy Projects Energy Audit to see if you are effectively managing your energy.

Want to read more?

Harvard Business Review, 'Productivity Myth'

Harvard Business Review, 'Take your vacation, please!'

New York Times, 'Vacations are Good for You, Medically Speaking'

We traveled to a few towns together and after Lisbon we parted ways, my travel companion and I were due to study in Salamanca, Spain for a month. Natasha, who had been traveling on her own, continued her adventures. We connected again back in Toronto, she came to a party of mine while I was still in university. Then I bumped into her where she was working, then her husband and I started working together. We don't see each other often, but somehow have always stayed connected.

I have always admired Natasha, when I first met her it was because she was traveling alone. As life has gone on, I have admired her for always staying so connected to her convictions. She now has what I think is one of the coolest jobs working in corporate social responsibility.

Natasha's birthday is close to Christmas and rather than be irked that she is missing out on two separate times to receive gifts, she has always asked her friends to direct their generosity not to her, but to a cause that matters to her. And she doesn't do this because it is the latest trend or because it fits in with the work she does, she has always done it and she believes it. This year is no different, but rather than simply make a donation, I thought I would share her compelling message with you, and maybe you can help turn her birthday wishes into wells!

Dear Friends,

As you many of you know, it has become a tradition for me to celebrate my birthday with a fundraiser.

Given that I turn 40 this year, I thought I would change things up a bit.

While there are so many important causes worthy of support, I would like you to consider this:

- Nearly 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water.

- More than 2.5 billion people are without basic sanitation.

- 1.5 million children under the age of five die each year from unsafe water and poor sanitation. That is more than 4,100 deaths per day.

- Women are disproportionately affected by lack of safe water. Many women and girls who do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities experience poor physical wellbeing and sexual harassment. This severely limits their free and equal participation in the economic and social life of their communities.

Now, consider this.

What if I told you that your donation to Watercan's Wakiso project in Uganda, which will help bring clean water to 3,410 men women and children, would be matched 3:1 by the Canadian Government.

$4000 raised = $12,000 for Watercan. Imagine!

And consider this.

If 40 of you each ask 20 of your friends for $10, we'd raise $8000 = $24,000 for Watercan.

Whether you are able to give $40 or $400, every gift is needed and appreciated.

Remember, it's not about the water per se. It's about the possibilities that open up when people have access to adequate sanitation and clean water. Lives, and communities, are transformed.

So, please, dig deep! (pardon the pun)

CLICK HERE TO HELP TURN MY BIRTHDAY WISHES INTO WELLS

Thanks in advance for your compassion and generosity, and for being part of the first 40 years of my life.

In friendship,

Natasha

More dull stats, but interesting insights into how we meet:
Workshifting.com
Making Collaboration Work for the 21st Century's Distributed Workforce [Study]

The newspaper article is based on a Statistics Canada Report, 'Working from Home: an update', the results indicate that the number of people working from home in Canada increased only slightly between 2000 and 2008, 1.4 million to 1.8 million, but as a percentage of the population working from home in 2008 vs. 2001 there is only a 1% increase. The Globe headline is a bit miss leading.

Not only are the numbers low, but the number of self employed working from home has increased by 10%. That tells us that it isn't companies who are creating more opportunities for people to work from home, it's individuals taking matters into their own hands. And the number of people working from home with a university degree is high, 54% compared to 25% of the work force that never works from home, that says something about the type of work opportunities available.

And how about this, of the employees working from home, more are men! I didn't expect that! But then when you factor in that it seems to be more senior level professional roles that work from home, I guess I am not so surprised. But, I wasn't the least be surprised to hear that non-unionized workers were not only more likely to work from home, there were also more likely to have opportunities for a more flexible schedule.

It turns out that 25% of the people working from home do so because it is a job requirement, as opposed to working from home as a choice. I think even the people running the survey were surprised with that finding. And guess which group worked from home for personal or family responsibilities, did you guess women? Well you are right and if you guessed women who are mothers as being even higher, then you were right again!

The researchers also looked into people working from home in rural areas vs. cities, now that technology is readily available, were more people taking advantage and moving to the country and working remotely? Turns out not so much, more people who work from home live in cities. And although people with longer commutes were more likely to work from home on occasion, employees in cities with longer commutes did not work from home more than those in cities with shorter commutes.

The researchers briefly touch on perception of working from home and the notion of work- life balance.

Perception, we still need to work on this, too many people don't want to work from home and too many managers don't support it. The reality is that for working from home to be successful, there likely needs to be a shift to results oriented performance metrics rather than simply hours worked and this requires a huge shift for everyone.

Working from home doesn't always mean life is better. I was one of those people who used to work full time in a corporate job and work from home, but I was working from home because I had so much work to do. Sure I may have been more productive at home, but since it was already on-top of 40 plus hours in an office, it certainly didn't contribute to work life balance, if anything it made it worse. The thing about stats, is they can get twisted. This report could easily be used by an employer to say that working from home isn't good. And if they are using the info to say working from home after you have working in the office 40 plus hours, then go for it, if it is to prevent someone working from home full time or part-time then I say don't do it, that is not what the stats are saying!

I realize that we are still at the stage that individuals need to prove to their employers that these arrangements can work. And I if you are doing it, I challenge you and your employer to find a way to document what makes it successful and constantly work to improve it so that it can become an option for others. The sad thing is that this will eventually get forced on many organizations, why not start creating a foundation for how to do it right.

The article lists a whole whack of companies and the benefits, that it states, matter to families and there are some great benefits. My hesitation, and why I have been mulling this over all day, comes from my concern about how much of this is an easily accessible benefit vs. something that makes a nice media story.

I realize my personal focus on flexible work arrangements is my thing, but I have to admit I was surprised how few organizations featured this. But again, it could be all about what would make an interesting article, maybe more do have this as an option but , the Globe writer chose to feature another benefit. For example the companies who have benefits that cover fertility treatments, do they then offer flexible work arrangements to help balance your life with your family that the fertility treatments enabled you to have?

I am struggling with why I am so cynical about this list. It may be because I think that some things on this list should exist everywhere, like health benefits while you are on maternity leave. And a Christmas party as a benefit - really? - yikes!

I guess when I see lists like this I just think we have so far to go. And its not just the companies, because they won't start making the changes until we start demanding it.

Here is the list, what do you think? Anything there that would make you apply to these companies:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/managing/top-employers/top-family-friendly-employers/canadas-top-family-friendly-employers-for-2011/article1828875/

Once you square away who owns the account and whose name to set up under, you need to clearly define who owns the followers. For transparency/authenticity lots of company twitter accounts clearly state who is tweeting and that is a good thing. But make sure that regardless of who tweets, that your organization owns the followers. I'll say it again, people leave especially when we pick junior people to do things like social media and that often happens.

What about what you do if something goes wrong? Often you hear of people blaming crisis on social media, in reality, social media is only the vehicle. If your company created a faulty product or miss handles a complaint, that is the problem not the tool where the conversation is taking place. Be preemptive, think about what scenarios have happened in the past with customers, media... and discuss and agree how things should be handled - in advance of the problem. One thing that social media is responsible for is how quickly things move and spread. If you have to spend 2 hours or 2 days deciding how to react to something, that is too long.

If it isn't starting to be clear, then I will spell it out, everyone in your organization needs to be part of social media. Now that doesn't mean that everyone will be posting, but it does mean that everyone knows to keep the social media person in the loop. The resent Quantus example is a good example of what could happen when internal communications breaks down - again it wasn't social media that caused the problem, it was the lack of clear internal guidelines on who to share information with during a crisis. When the social media public seemed to know more than the company, they looked silly and incompetent.

Don't worry, most of the time social media is going to be about good things and making connections. But even for this, everyone (if you are small) or key department heads need to agree on how this tool will be used and what can and can't be said. The goal is to clearly outline how you will communicate so that the person communicating can, if needed, be interchangeable with minimal impact on the outgoing messages. This is not to say that you should avoid a personality, but say you are using social media for customer service, this needs to be timely and likely handled by more than one person and if it is, the customer experience should remain consistent.

And before you turn on social media, please make sure you are going to follow through. There is nothing worse than a company that goes live and then goes silent. Test yourself, create practice tweets and posts and see how many you can come up with...can you do it daily? Does the person you are assigning this too really have the capacity to take this on and execute it successfully? Okay, I am getting into what should be another post - back to guidelines.

The good news is there are tons of examples of great guidelines that are easily found via a Google search and I suggest you read through several of them. And after you read them you need to write one that accurately reflects your organization - please don't just copy something from someone else.

Here are a few to consider:

Ford's social media guidelines are posted on Scrib.com. These are guidelines for any Ford employee on how they should use social media and not specific to how they should use it for Company purposes only.

Intel's guidelines are also direct and speak to all who may use social media on behalf of communications and as contractors and employees:

I just need to include a Canadian example, here are the Guidelines for Queen's University.

For a cheeky and short version check out Opera.

For an even longer list of social media guidelines, check out Laura Scribbs List of 40 Social Media Staff Guidelines.

And finally a shout out to the person who got me really thinking about the value of guidelines, Angel Oakley - thanks for your words of wisdom!

Here are some tips for avoiding feeling isolated when working from home.

1. Network!

Running your own business means that business development, networking and staying connected are essential. I use these activities to balance my work week between working in isolation in my house and getting out and interacting with the world. I try to have one to two lunches or coffees a week with people that I work with, would like to work with or just plain inspire me. And phone calls and IM conversations with people who fit in this categories work just as well!

2. Get out of the house!

Today it meant bundling up in lots of layers and walking to pick my daughter up from her after school program. It was cold, it was snowy but the fresh air and the walk were amazing for clearing my head and doing some creative thinking. If I know I have no outside meetings I will go out in the morning to grab a coffee and depending on when my conference calls start, hang out and respond to emails. Being in a bustling cafe does wonders for dissolving the feeling of isolation.

3. Go to the gym

Or to a yoga class or go for a run. Is it okay that I am giving advise that I don't actually follow,but really think I should follow? These days I walk, a lot and its amazing, but I know getting out to a class would do even more. So don't do what I do, do what I say, get out and exercise!

4. Run an errand

What, but that's not billable! That is right its not, but know what? Doing errands when its not busy means it takes half the time! And we all know we only have 24 hours in a day so the more opportunities we take to use any of our time more efficiently then more time we have and that usually means more time to work! So go interact with a less chaotic world, drop off the dry cleaning, pick up milk, buy some gifts.

Do it right, plan to network, get out of the house, exercise and run errands and that means put these things into your schedule. If you make time for these activities you will feel less isolated and the breaks will help you be more productive!

What do you do to feel less isolated?

The biggest problem is I haven't bought a single gift and don't have much of a plan for what I will be getting. And I haven't made or sent Christmas cards out yet.

I usually create a photo card through iPhoto, but this year I can't find a decent picture of the kids that will pass as an acceptable Christmas card. My step-son spends most of his time out west with his mom, so its not like I can put the kids into some holiday appropriate clothing and snap photos until something acceptable emerges.

My husband's photo pick is a shot of my daughter, that although cool, looks like she is getting over a rough night, and for a nine-year-old that isn't all that cool. Then there is that series of the kids having dim, sum and that is basically one goofy picture after the other.

Time for Plan B - Moo cards. I happen to be a big fan of this company and I used them to create my business cards. They license artwork from a large group of artists. You can easily create a box of 50 double sided business cards with different artwork on each for only 21.99. You can also upload photography and have a different image on each business card, all for the same great price. And they get delivered in no-time. The best part is the conversations they generate, let's hope their Christmas cards do the same!

This is what I tell people, 'when you work from home your laundry is usually done'. For the vast majority of us, working from home means we have more time. Based on a conservative estimate (no major accidents or snow storms) I gained back 7.5 hours a week working from home. My stress levels dropped dramatically and I have more energy.

Even if I did throw in a load of laundry, have you actually timed how long that takes? Could it really take more than 5 minutes to quickly sort, throw in soap and turn a dial? For all you out there that think laundry could ever be so interesting and engaging enough to derail your productivity, have you ever noticed how many distractions there are in an office?

I pitched the idea to my Director who grudgingly agreed to let me pitch the idea to our VP, likely because he wanted me to get shot down directly, and I was. The main reason was that it wouldn't be fair since it wasn't something that could be offered to all employees. Although I can and could think of a thousand reasons to refute this, I knew in this situation, there wasn't anything to be said, when you work with someone long enough you know when they aren't going it to budge.

What I was able to offer this employee was part time or job sharing. And she took it - part time that is - and everyone was shocked. Shocked that she would take part-time and shocked that I would agree. How was it that I was willing to take someone for 3 days a week? Was she a super woman capable of doing a full time job in only 3 days? Well she is pretty amazing, and we happened to work with a proprietary system. I knew that if I found someone new, it would take a least a year if not more to build up the knowledge base this employee had and I also knew that the major load of doing that teaching would fall on me. The general rule for measuring the cost of replacing an employee is to double their salary - that amount represents the training and lost productivity associated with hiring someone new.

The company I worked for at the time is a great company, but creating a situation that would help a new mother transition back into the work place wasn't something they were accustom to doing, and they weren't and aren't alone in this. This employee was the first in company history to return from maternity leave part time.

Three months into the arrangement this employee asked if she could come back full time and I was more than happy to say yes, as was the company I worked for. I like to think that creating this situation made this person's life easier and in the end contributed not only to her quality of work and life, but to her commitment to the company.

I may have blocked out childbirth, but I vividly remember what it was like to go back to work full time after my daughter was born, it was exhausting and emotional and thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I wanted to get back to work, but even so the first couple of weeks were so hard. I remember my first week back at work I was asked to go on a business trip to New York and it took every ounce of my strength not to burst into tears at the request.

I never considered 'transitioning' back to work, but in retrospect it could have made a world of difference as do many flexible work arrangements. The more people are willing to challenge the traditional work place and show senior management that it really does work, the more opportunities there will be for others.

Right from the start someone somewhere told me about Freshbooks. I liked it because it could let me track work hourly and then generate that into invoices. For your first three clients you can use it for free. It didn't take long to get me hooked. It is silly easy to use. Everything from setting up clients, to inputing projects and tasks and making updates is completely intuitive. You can even input budgets so that as you work you can always know how much you have left. And when it comes time to generate invoices you have options to send them electronically or via snail mail, both of which are generated from the system. The invoices are impressively professional looking. I get positive comments from clients every time - pretty cool since it happens when I am asking them for money!

Not only that, I can see when and if my clients view an invoice and each time they log back into the system. When I input a received payment I have an option of sending a 'payment received' email, just by checking a box!

I also use the tool to track all my expenses and the expenses that are billable to a client are easily added to invoices. Again, more positive feedback.

The tool gives me the reports I need for filing my taxes and great summaries for sending to my accountant (cause at some point you really need a professional). And you know what, it does lots of other amazing things like let you add team members, which I aspire to do, but have not yet tested.

Freshbooks makes invoicing and bookkeeping so easy. For me it means that I am always up-to-date and more importantly I have a sense of control which gives me peace of mind. Yeah, it sounds over the top, but this tool really is that cool!

Check out Freshbooks!

Most of us don't do it enough, we stay within our comfort zones and shy away from meeting new people. I know I do it. These past two years taught me a lot about the importance of networking and it isn't all about getting a job. Yes, personal networks are one of the best ways to get jobs and they have worked very well for me, but it goes beyond that. Our networks can be our sounding boards, our sources of inspiration and an outlet for our creativity.

If there is one tip I can give women out there it is to network. And don't think about it as joining a business group where you have to stand up and make a business pitch. Get involved in your child's school or daycare. Join a knitting club or a running group. Get active in social media. Get yourself out there.

The bigger our networks the more opportunities we expose ourselves to. We also get perspective. Don't like your job? Seem like everyone in the office is always complaining? Do yourself a favour and get away from all that negativity, hear what others have to say about their jobs, their commutes, their benefits. This may lead you to want another job, but it could also help you appreciate how good you have it.

Just like you wouldn't just take, take, take from a friend - don't expect to just take from your network. I happen to find it really rewarding to connect people - rather than take on a project that may not be perfect for me, I will recommend someone that I think can add more value. It feels great to do that. And yes, I am hopeful that someday someone else in my network will return the favor.

Tonight I co-hosted an event with a good friend, it was a great evening and a great crowd of women connecting, laughing and sharing. One of the best parts of the evening was watching how many women were energized by the evening.

Find the time, pick up the phone, send an email, reach out and make a connection.

Other than crazy people like me who quit my job in a recession, quit rates generally serve as a measure of peoples ability and willingness to change jobs - and if this is going on, that must mean there are opportunities out there!

The post goes on to mention that employee engagement is currently at an all time low, likely the result of the less than pleasant labour practices that have been taking place during this recession. Far too many of us had been asked to 'do more with less' or step up and taken additional responsibilities without adequate compensation - no wonder companies are having trouble holding on to top performers.

In a Harvard Business Review Blog post by Sylvia Ann Hewlett last year, she pointed out that disproportionally more women then men seem to be jumping ship. In the peak of the most resent economic downturn, 84% of women vs. 40% of men were considering quitting their jobs.

In another post by Sylvia Ann Hewlett even earlier last year, a post that so completely caught my attention as I contemplated leaving my own job, Hewlett explored what these women were leaving to do. And it wasn't to spend time with their families.

Hewlett writes,

Companies that fail to deliver respect or pride ' and jobs that fail to deliver meaning or purpose ' are the equivalent of a cut in pay for many high-flying women. They want jobs that make them feel good about going to work and putting in a 12-hour day. Thus, in this environment, many top ranked women on Wall Street are bailing ' pulling up stakes and moving to jobs that can deliver the emotional lift. According to CWLP data, among women who are contemplating quitting jobs in the financial sector almost 40% intend shifting to other sectors ' and not-for-profit organizations are high on their wish list.

I realize I am potentially making a bit of a stretch by attaching all these posts together, but it makes you think - if women were the most likely to express an interest in voluntarily leaving their jobs in the thick of the recession, who do you think is actually leaving now that opportunities are available?

My sources:

Life meets Work, 'Voluntary quits up'

Harvard Business Review Blog, 'Are your best female employees a flight risk?'

Harvard Business Review Blog - 'High-flying women sift gears in the Recession.'

I have to say I am loving what Mr. Savage had to say about National Work From Home Day, ' 'As a nation we need to rethink the world of work and the option to work from home should be part of that national discussion,' 'It's good for the environment and work-life balance, and will improve our nation's productivity, which adds to greater business success. I applaud Workopolis for their efforts to spearhead this initiative and urge the government to listen to the thousands of Canadians who support a National Work From Home Day. This is part of the new reality of work.'

The Harris/Desima poll commissioned by Workopolis shows that the Canadians in favor of working from home are also willing to make personal sacrifices to make it work:
51% said they would used their own personal computers
28% said they would work longer hours
19% said they would take a pay cut

I for one hope that employees who opt for working from home don't actually have to make these kind of sacrifices. There is enough data out there showing the benefits to employers, an employee shouldn't need to 'sweeten the pot' by offering to take on what an employer needs to cover. Having said that, if you are one of the first in your organization to work from home, you should expect to have to work hard to make it work by adapting communications, checking in with team members and reviewing the process on an ongoing basis.

The point of the survey of course is to reveal how important this sort of work arrangement is for Canadians.

I would love to see a National Work From Home Day to be launched with tools that education employers and employees. We all know the benefits of this kind of work, to the environment, to work life balance and to productivity and retention. Its the execution part that not everyone gets. What do organizations need to put in place and how to employees and managers need to change to make all this work. It would be great if as part of National Work From Home Day there were 'how to' lists and questionnaires for participating companies to use to evaluate the success and put changes in place to make it work, not just for the next National Day, but for making this a viable on-going option for employees.

Want to join the movement? Check out the Facebook page: www.facebook/workopolis

It all caught up with me today. I was up early, once again, but by 11 I was napping, and it was one of those naps where you feel like you will never wake up - it felt good! But, I got up, the phone was ringing, laundry needed to get done and lunch had to be made. I got up, did what I needed to do and by 3 we were all in bed again having another siesta. It isn't often that we all sleep together in the afternoon, I have to admit, there is something special and beautiful when it happens.

Yes, I know, I should have woken up refreshed and ready to crank out an amazing post, and I agree, but our connection was down and we had dinner at our neighbor which was several courses and lots of wine, including wine and chestnuts, which if you haven't tried together, you really should!

Hope you had a good weekend too.

When I first heard Joan Blades of MomsRising.org mention these numbers I was kinda shocked.

In Canada 62% of women work but only 1/3 of managerial positions are held by women and 25% of women work part time compared to only 6% of men. When you add in information like that, its not so hard to understand why working moms are making so much less.

On Friday, Statistics Canada reported that contract and casual employees are making 34% less than their counter parts with permanent positions. These non permanent employees represent the fasted growing sector of our workforce.

Are you going to be surprised when I tell you that most of these non-permanent workers tend to be single less educated women?

You know what's worse, university education hasn't helped close the wage gap. From a comparison of 2001 and 2006 census data men, who were already making more than women, saw their income increase by $3,300. Women, who I already mentioned were making less, only saw an increase of $2,200. That's right, if you use this data, the gap is getting bigger.

In all the research I have been doing around the topic of more flexible jobs for families, this information has deflated me the most. Come on, feminist or not, left or right can't we fix this?

A bias exists in this country (most countries actually) because of antiquated work-place policies that don't adequately support working mothers or that fact that we now make up 50% of the workforce. Things need to change.

Where I got my stats:

Momsrising.org
Toronto Sun, ''Canada gender pay gap among the worst in OECD'Ottawa Business Journal 'Casual workers face wage gap as contracts fuel job growth: StatsCan'CNews 'Education level doesn't close gender wage gap'

Businesses seem to be all about numbers. Profit, loss, growth, return on investment, number of views, number of clicks, number of conversions. And for countries it is GDP, rate of inflation, rate of unemployment. And what do these numbers tell us? They are supposed to tell us how successful these businesses and countries are.

I am no different when I use numbers, I know they get people's attention, to many its the numbers that 'count'. When I talk about remote workers, teleworkers and flex jobs, I mention the projected increases in productivity, reduction of absenteeism and increases in retention as well as the massive reduction in carbon outputs. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Where is the human factor in all of this? Truth is, I am so passionate about this kind of work because of the impact it makes on quality of life. The question is, how do we measure this?

Measuring the intangibles is what Chip Conely, founder of Joie de Vivre hotels talks about so eloquently in this TED video:

Leaders like Chip have found a way to start measuring the intangibles and have seen how it impacts the success of his company. Bhutan has dedicated itself to measuring happiness and countries like France have embraced the concept of measuring Gross National Happiness - it can be done. What will you do to start measuring what counts?

For me I am not surprised to see more traffic from Facebook than Twitter since I tend to know all of my Facebook friends. I am super happy (feeling kinda warm inside actually) to see my good friend @cr8tivejen has tweeted out my posts to her 4,153 followers - how supper awesome is that?! And the amazing @laurakimconnell just mentioned me in her blog post about increasing Twitter followers yesterday and I have already had two visitors click through from her site.

I hope you all have the ability to get this kind of information for your sites too. For the site stats I use Google Analytics - its free and has all the information I need like number of visits, number of visitors, where the traffic comes from, which content is viewed the most which countries my visitors are coming from. For search traffic I can even see what search terms were used to find me.

For Twitter I am a big HootSuite fan. I love how it helps you manage multiple streams (basically the different topics I like to follow) as well as update multiple profiles like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin all from one interface. It also gives you stats and if you use their link shortener, you can see how many times your links are tweeted out by others and who mentions you and how often.

So to all, thank you for reading, commenting, tweeting, mentioning and linking, it sure makes me feel thankful today!

The estimated financial benefits of this move are staggering (at least to me!). If the 79% of eligible employees who want to work from home do so one day a week, federal agencies would increase productivity by over $ 4.6 billion, while savings $2.3 billion in annual absenteeism and $3.1 billion in annual employee turnover.

Read more about this on the Life meets Work blog's article, 'Federal Telework Bill Passes'. http://www.lifemeetswork.com/federal-telework-bill-passes/

What is amazing about the numbers above, is that they don't even consider the cost savings related to the reduction in carbon emissions that could result from these changes.

In China, experts predict that in 2020, telecommuting could save 340 million tons of CO2 emissions. Virtual meetings could save 623 million tons of CO2 annually. A recent World Wildlife Fund China report shows that in 2009, telecommuting saved 58.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions - a savings that matches total emissions for countries including Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

The World Wildlife fund also states that the EU could collectively reduce carbon emissions by 22 million tons if participating countries reached a mere 10% telework participation. For an even more impressive list of numbers, check out Workshifting.com.

Kinda leaves you wondering why these telework jobs seem so hard to come by...

First, let me give you some background. My daughter is in grade 4, she is 9. Last week we got her first progress report and she did quite well. During the parent teacher meeting we learnt that she needs to work on initiative. She is a smart and very responsible little person who is always on top of what is due when, where we have to be and when and of course the 'you saids' that kids her age are so good at. I had been warned that grade 4 is a big transition and although I listened when the other moms talked, I guess I didn't really get it.

So in my words, this is how grade 4 is different. The kids are expected to go from doing everything the teacher asks them to do, to doing exactly what they should do with no one telling them. To me its kinda like the Jennifer Aniston movie where she says to her boy friend who has just asked, 'do you want me to help you clean up', 'no, I want you to want to clean up.' To me there is a clear disconnect.

My daughter is very literal, you better mean what you say. So when a couple of weeks ago I asked her if she should study for her science test, she said no. The thing is, her teacher hadn't told her to bring home her book to study. The expectation is that the kids should know to bring home books, without being prompted, and study for the test.

Really? How are a bunch of kids who have never been taught to study, who have never been taught to take notes, who have never been given the freedom to do things without being told...how are they supposed to know how to do all this?

And for all the grade 4 teachers who want to tell me that half or a quarter of the class seemed to figure it out - bullshit, those kids are just better at regurgitating what you have been telling them for weeks or their parents studied with them.

So here comes part two of my frustration - I don't want to be one of those parents who does my kid's homework projects for her, but I also don't want her to be left behind when everyone else is getting help from their parents. Never mind the fact that I am not a teacher and I will admit I am a bit clueless on how to teach study skills and note taking other than telling her what I do, but that isn't necessarily best practices!

What I can teach is how to manage a project, so that is what I did.

Any tips on teaching study skills and note taking to grade 4 students?

I am too caught up in creating the right impression for prospective clients. If someone knows that I am on the parent council at my daughter's school, on the board at her daycare and that I frequently attend her sports events during the day, they may think I won't be dedicated enough to them. Ugh, can you even believe that I just said that? You know what is really scary? I feel too guilty to go to a yoga class during the day, even when I am not busy with client work! What does that say about my work experience before I worked from home?

It is no accident that my first real post about working remotely is about the benefits to an organization and not the life changing impact it has had on me and my life. I still need to sell this to the client.

I struggle with social media too, if I post too much of what I am doing will my clients wonder when I get my work done? Ugh again! Who am I?

I am not sure that I am the sort of person that would strike you as someone who only does what other's expect or as someone who really gives a damn about what other people think. I mean I was the one who bought the house, had the kid and then got married. I dropped out of my sorority (and for those of you who didn't know I was in one, close your mouth!)! I once told a professor in University that I wasn't impressed with the fact that his Philosophy of War and Peace course didn't contain anything from a woman's perspective and that I planned on challenging him on that throughout the year, and I did! I even went through a stage of life when I didn't shave - shocking considering the waxing tourture I subject myself to now!

Even as I write this I know there is this crazy 'responsible' side of me, or I should say I have just begun to come to terms with this side of me that is overly practical and responsible. It came from an early age when I decided at 19 that I didn't want to come home for the summer and, since my dad wanted me home, the only way to do it was to make enough money to support myself. Through a friend I managed to get a job at a bank and my life of conforming and fitting-in for a pay-check began.

In so many ways this side of me has served me well. We live in a house we love in part because I had money saved for a down payment. My daughter has always been in great daycare and after school programs because I put her on waiting lists before she was even born. I lead teams and plan projects for a living and a big part of a successful project management is anticipating what could go wrong and making sure it doesn't!

Its not like I live this double life. People I work with me do see me for who I am. I don't get on the soap box about my socialist political leanings, but most people know how I feel, I am not exactly a wall flower. Once at a job we were asked to complete a questionnaire about who we were, it was meant to be a bit whimsical with questions like what would you want on a desert island and which 3 people would you like to have dinner with. I made a collage and when our VP walked by and saw it she just said, 'of course you did'.

What I have never done, until now, is give myself permission to work at something I really love and show it to the world.

Don't expect me to start gushing about my day-to-day life, that is still too much of a leap and will have to come gradually. Just like I need to model to clients that working remotely works, I know I need to model the benefits of a balanced fulfilling life and how much that contributes to great work.

The 'how' and 'who' has always been working remotely with other mom's. And then it all clicked, I need to help companies create more remote jobs and help women find those jobs.

In our lifetime I think we will see a dramatic shift to remote work, because at a certain point we will no longer be able to avoid it. There is already evidence that more and more people are less willing to move for jobs and there is talk of impending skill's shortages never mind the traffic congestion, air pollution and energy costs associated with so many of us commuting into jobs. We also know that people who work from home are more productive, and the work life balance it creates makes them less stressed, happier, more creative and more loyal. Increases in productivity means more money for companies, reduction in overhead costs that come from reducing real estate saves money. Why are companies ignoring the potential benefits?

And what about the work force? Its not just the younger generation that wants more meaningful jobs, its more and more people. Remote jobs can go a long way in enabling the work life balance that can bring more 'meaning' to how we live our lives. Remote jobs will be powerful in keeping well trained moms in the work force and getting many of them back once their kids get older. Never mind the potential for keeping valuable intellectual capital within your organization by extending the working years of those ready to retire.

Creating a remote work force won't be a snap. Business cases need to be built, infrastructure needs to be put in place, communications and change management plans need to be created, learning tools need to be built. Leaders will need to learn new techniques, behaviors will need to change, new tools developed. All this has been done and some of it has been successful and there are just as many failures to learn from.

It isn't always a snap for the employee either. How do we find these jobs? If you search on-line there seem to be lots of opportunities to work remotely if you are a programer and want to do data entry, but what if you are a senior level manager or even a director what opportunities are there out there for you? If you are on your own, how do you avoid feeling isolated? What new practices and tools will you need to be successful?

For now I will model the scenario, with each project I take on, I need to help the organization I work for see the benefits of working with someone remotely. I will keep working with the hospitality sector and local digital agencies providing strategy and implementation support for web based projects.

Through this blog and my site I will start building a resource for companies and individuals who are looking to create or find remote jobs. Eventually I will build a team to provide the support and services that companies and employees will need to make this transition.

If you have thoughts or experiences related to working from home, I would love to hear from you. Contact me directly or use the comment section here on my site.

Most panic attacks happened before I left my job. I had proposed that I leave and work as a consultant, and they took a very long time to get back to me, so there was a period of time when I thought I could start January 1 with nothing to do. Fortunately, I managed to negotiate a retainer contract for the entire year, and I won't lie, that made the transition so much easier.

I also did my homework, I talked to a lot of people, did research and on the financial side, we did a lot of planning. As is my nature, I prepared for the worst. We started scaling back our expenses 4 months before I left my job. I met with my banker, I met with my financial planner. I created spread sheets. Check this out, I am even quoted in Entrepreneurial Women in an article by Liz Doyle-Harmer on 'How to: Fund your Business'.

But something else happened, along the way I stopped being scared. We have all heard it before, what would you do if you could over come fear. One day, in the panic filled days before the contract was signed, I realized that if it didn't work out and I didn't get clients quickly enough and we really needed the money I would just get a job at Starbucks and that would be okay. And a funny thing happened, as soon as I told myself it was okay to work at Starbucks, I knew I would never need to, I knew I wasn't scared any more and knew I would make this work.

The rules are simple, some sort of content needs to get posted every day and video clips and photography count as acceptable posts (as long as they include a comment).

I won't be posting a daily picture of my dog, mainly because I don't have one, not to say that is a bad idea, because it isn't, I just won't be doing that.

I am mostly going to write about working remotely, which companies do it, how to find jobs that let you work remotely and all the benefits like improved productivity, loyalty, creativity and such that come with this sort of work arrangement. I will also share my experiences and how profoundly this work arrangement has impacted my life. Along the way I will likely write a bit about the process of blogging and using social media to get more followers, cause if no one is reading and commenting, I may as well be writing in a journal.

And for all those marketers out there who are dying to know how I will measure success, beyond actually completing the challenge, I will track traffic to my site. At this point I am lucky if I have daily traffic (27 visits in the last month), and not surprising, my traffic always goes up on the days that I actively tweet. My traffic is 37% direct traffic, 33% from search engines and 29% from referring sites.

So, can I count on you to check in on me daily and cheer me on with a comment here and there? Maybe you will even be compelled enough to share my blog with others out there that may like what I have to say? And wow, maybe you will even offer up a guest post to save me a post of my own? However you choose to support me, thank you in advance!

The right partner is key to delivering a successful site. The right partner should complement your team by bringing new expertise to the table. They should be able to do what you can't or don't have time to do yourself.

Pricing for web development can often be deceiving. Understanding what is included in each vendor's quote is key. Make sure you are consistently asking the same questions so that you are making true 'apples to apples' comparisons.

Here are some key things you should consider when shopping for the right vendor to build your site.

Do they understand your needs?
Increasingly there are more and more vendors that are focusing on niche markets such as RealEstate, restaurants and hospitality. In some cases this could be the perfect fit for you. But look closely, if the vendor does restaurant sites have they also done sites that target your particular restaurants audience? There are defiantly economies of scale when working with vendors that target a niche market. The down side is sometimes these niche solutions will push you to a templated solution that may not reflect your organizations unique offering and may leave you looking very similar to the competition.

Many vendors will suggest a discovery stage to the project - this is a good indication that they plan on taking the time to truly understand your needs.

Can they help you create your content?
Creating powerful web copy is a skill that not all of us have. A partner that can help create strong copy that properly reflects your brand and targets your clients is key. The right content partner should also push you to be honest about how often you can and will update your site - they should help you map out a long term content plan and related budget if you need ongoing content creation support.

Along with strong photography, the right content will help your site stand out and contribute to conversions. Considering your content needs from the beginning of the project ensures the right site structure is built. This up front planning will save you money in the long run - you won't need to go back to vendors post launch to add new content sections or pages and you won't end up with pages that never get updated.

Do they provide photography or photographers?
An agencies role in photography is often that of art direction. This means if you go with stock photography or a photo shoot, your agency should help define the look and feel of the images selected or taken. The cost of photography is often extra, make sure you have budget set aside for this and have a conversation up-front so that your vendor knows what kind of budget they have to work with.

Do they understand Search and Social Media Marketing?
Working with a vendor that works closely with a Search and Social Media strategist ensures that your site is created with the right infrastructure from the start. This infrastructure should enable you to easily integrate keywords as well as the key social media tools for your market/business. Although it is true that Search and Social Media strategists can work with any site, working with a site that was built with those needs in mind, greatly reduces the cost you pay to your search and social media team.

Can they manage all the technical details?
Once your site is built, it is going to need to be hosted somewhere and if it is a new site it will need to have its domain name registered. To understand if you site is getting the traffic you want and which pages are most popular with your customers, you are going to need some sort of web site stats or analytics. Some vendors will provide these services and some will suggest other vendors. There are often additional on-going costs associated with all of these. To get the true picture of what your web site will cost you need to include these long term on-going costs - this is another conversation that you should have up-front.

How will you update your site?
The truth is, successful sites are most often sites that are updated on a regular basis. In addition to deciding who will make the updates and what these updates will be, you need to consider how these updates will be made. Many vendors will build sites using some sort of Content Management System (CMS). Sites built with a CMS are much cheaper to update regardless of who is making the updates.

Will your new web partner manage the entire process for you?
By now you are realizing there is quite a lot to manage and pay for when creating a web site. Are you prepared to source and manage multiple suppliers, over see photo shoots, arrange interviews, prepare copy and analyze data just to mention a few of the new tasks that you will be responsible for?

In some ways it is not too different than a kitchen renovation - you can find different suppliers for your floors, back-splash, counters and cabinets or you can find a supplier that oversees the entire project for you. That doesn't mean you don't make the decisions, it means that you focus on making the key decisions to deliver a successful project rather than running around wasting time sourcing a product or supplier that an expert can find in 5 minutes.

Advise from Ella Says - always ask the same questions.
If you are going to shop around to multiple vendors, make sure you know what the price includes so that you are making realistic comparisons. At a very basic level that means asking the same questions of each vendor (use a spread sheet). And circle back and clarify if the second or third vendor mentions something you didn't think to ask the first vendor.

Before a restaurateur takes on the added work and responsibility of a web site, there are a few things they need to consider. You noted that I said 'added work and responsibility', right?

I find that many people who don't often deal with web sites tend to focus on visuals and creative above all else. And although this is an important factor, a web sites success is dependent more on how it is optimized for search, how much traffic it generates, how often the content is updated and how well it engages its customers.

If you are a restaurant and you are creating a web site I am going to guess it is so you can increase business. And to do that people will need to find you. And I don't just mean that your address should be easily found on your home page (and it should be!), but people need to find you in search engines too.

A lot of agencies will likely jump at the idea of building a web site for you, but do they really understand what it takes to create a successful restaurant site? Can they set up the correct SEO infrastructure that will enable your site to be optimized for local search? If someone types in 'restaurants on Ossington' (insert your neighborhood here), will they find you?

Beyond search, how will you drive traffic to your site? Do you collect email addresses so you can do some email marketing to get traffic to your site? Are you prepared to do on-going email marketing campaigns?

Once you get the traffic, what will they see and will it be something worth returning for? Sure people want to come to your site for your address and phone number or link to make reservations, but they also want to see the Menu. Will your menu be kept up-to -date? If your menu doesn't change often, will you post specials? How about promotions? Is your chef willing to post recipes (lots of people search for recipes) I can tell you there is nothing worse than coming to a site only to find an outdated promotions, menus and content. Are you prepared to keep your site up-to-date?

Social media is a powerful tool for restaurants. Are you using Yelp and OpenTable? How about foursquare? Don't forget about Facebook and Twitter. Before you think you don't need these, you do, and chances are people are already using these tools to talk about you, you better be part of the conversation! Social media is one of the most powerful ways to engaged with your customers, bring them to your site and ultimately get them into your restaurant! Are you ready to allocate time daily to engage with your customers?

I don't want to turn restaurateurs off of the idea of creating a web site, but I want to make sure they know what they are taking on.

Before you spend any money think through how you will support the site. Can you create the content and maintain the site and social media on your own after a bit of training or will you need to outsource all of this? You need to factor these cost as well as the cost for things like photography into the overall budget so you get the full picture of exactly what you are biting off!

I am one of the statistics, an educated working mom who left the corporate world to start my own business so I could work from home - something I couldn't do in my former job. And in the past 5 months I have had the opportunity to reap the benefits.

Not only have I increased my productivity, I have cut household expenses, decreased pollution and contributed to reducing traffic congestion (just like Rosebeth Moss Kanter suggests), and I have increased the quality and health of my family life.

First I did the math, it turns out that by not commuting into the office everyday I got back 7.5 hours - that is an entire working day! No wonder my productivity is up and I feel more relaxed.

Something else happened and it wasn't a product of a resolution or a new fitness goal, it just happened. We all started walking. We used to drop our daughter off and pick her up in the car, cause we were already in it. Now we walk her to school and walk to pick her up from daycare each evening.

Time for more math - those walks alone add up to 10 km each week. Not to mention all the other walks we take, to gab a coffee or some lunch, to pick up the dry cleaning or return a book to the library.

The most beautiful part of those walks are the stories my daughter tells on the way. In the past she would hop in the car and say 'my radio station, please' and within 2-3 min we would be home. Now we talk - and truthfully some days she just talks non-stop and I don't say a word, and that is fine too.

I will echo Rosebeth Moss Kanter in saying, ' we need public officials to put the infrastructure and permission in place, companies to start the change process, and people to learn how to work together with new norms.' There is so much to gain from having more flexible work places - for ourselves, our environment, our children and the future success of many organizations.

Read Rosebeth Moss Kanter's complete blog post, 'Stay Home and Work'.

Maggie provides high-end esthetic services in the west end of Toronto. She is a seasoned professional who worked for Stillwater for years. She uses quality products like Dr. Baumann. She tailors each treatment to the individual guests' needs.

When you arrive at maggie&co, she is always waiting for you. A fresh flower and a candle as well as pitcher of water with lemon await you in the treatment room. Her facial, one of the most incredible and relaxing that I have ever experienced, starts with a foot treatment. At some point in the treatment I lost count of all the different and luxurious steps I went through. After my treatment I had time to slowly get dressed. There was no rushing, no one coming next - in fact Maggie makes a point to book appointments so that guests never see each other.

Maggie works out of her home, and she has two very large dogs that greet you when you arrive for your appointment. And yet she still delivers a luxurious and affordable experience. All because she makes a point to deliver the type of experience that will bring people back and get them talking to their friends.

What kind of experience are you creating for your customers?

You can find maggie&co at 365 Montrose Ave in Toronto and you can call her at (416) 992-5669.

In a recent 'interview' with a new potential partner I was asked, 'since you launched your business, what challenges have you faced'. The first challenge, which we both had a chuckle about, was the proposal process. The truth of the matter is, in most situations we are putting budgets and timelines together for companies/partners we don't know enough about. Agencies small and large often worry - did I under bid?

The other challenge, and the challenge faced by most business owners who opt to work from home is the 'when to work challenge'. I can honestly say I am not one of those people who feels the need to do laundry in the middle of the day, but I also don't want to be one of those people who works 24/7.

So how do you balance it all? Time for more honesty, I am still working on that. It was a busy month for me, I had two clients and a great opportunity to put together a proposal on yet another piece of business. It was a great month for leads and positive connections all leading to my current positive outlook.

All good and yet I need to figure out how to do more. I made some choices, client work took priority, next was business development proposals, then the ongoing networking. And you know what, my goal to launch more pages of my site got put off (until today), and my blog entries just didn't happen. And Twitter, am shocked at the followers that keep coming on board despite my less than adequate contribution to that medium.

So what now you ask? Now we implement some fundamentals of project management and plan ahead. Social media needs to get a time slot in the calendar. And if that means the computer comes to bed or I grab an hour on a holiday weekend, that is what I will have to do. And I am confidant that the more I do it, the more naturally it will flow and before I know it, it will be habit.

One of the biggest message of the day, that I completely agree with, is that companies need to go where their audience are - and if that is Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, they need to be there too.

Maggie Fox used the analogy of social media being like a puppy to remind all of us how much time and commitment social media requires.

Everyone agreed that social media needs to be authentic and it needs to be personal and I couldn't agree more.

As the morning progressed, we broke into groups to come up with the social media campaigns that touched us/impacted us the most.

And then something happened, the audience who seemed to love the puppy suddenly changed. The conversation quickly turned to the orchestrated campaigns led by brands and their agency partners. Often with prizes or some other gimmick that spikes the follower count.

Despite the message from the panel about making sure your social media has a real person behind it - all the examples we talked about where large corporate campaigns - with little mention of a connection to a person or even personal motivation to change a behavior based on the campaign.

Did we do that because we are marketers? Is it because we are so caught up on what we can 'sell' to the RIO obsessed board rooms?

Social media is powerful because it is people - real people, connecting, sharing, collaborating, laughing and challenging each other and the companies they interact with. It can not be measured in traditional terms, and although this makes it hard for us to sell it to many companies, we shouldn't let this undermine our commitment to doing this right and keeping social media authentic.

I have had so many people ask about this tool - or simply shrug it off as something that isn't worth their time - this is my bid to get those people to start using Twitter. I have been promising to write this for weeks. Let's start with finding people to follow and then we will move into 'what do I say'.

In some ways the hype that Twitter has received - Ashton Kutcher and his bid to get one million followers - undermines the power of this tool and makes it seem too much like a passing fad. The truth is more and more organizations are opening their eyes to the power of Twitter - which is really about connecting. It goes far beyond 'Having a coffee with friends'. Twitter is an incredible forum for sharing news, views, gripes and shout-outs. It is a powerful tool for customer service and an amazing medium for connecting and engaging.

Most of the time, Twitter is only as interesting as the people you are following and it takes a bit of time to find the right mix.

This is what you need to do - get an account. If you have a business and think you will use Twitter for that, secure your company name. You can also simply use your name or the closest available name. Set up your account info with your real name (so people who look for you can find you) and create a bio - don't worry you can change this later. This bio is 160 words and is another way that like minded people will be able to find you. Eventually you will need a picture and a background - but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

To find people to follow, go to 'find people' (duh). On this page you can actually look for people you want to follow. An author you like, an industry expert, a designer you admire, major brands, you competition, companies you want to emulate....and yes even people you know (you can add me @jpilar). You can also go to the 'Browse Suggestions' tab. Then I suggest you go to Twitter Search (just google it) and input topics you are interested in - the results will be a combination of people talking about the topic or people who have those words in their bio. If someone is talking about a topic you are interested in - check them out see what else they have tweeted about - if it looks like a good fit, follow them. Checking out other people's followers is another way to find people to add to you list.

Some of the most active users are hard to follow at first - they have so many direct messages in their tweets or hash tags...but these are the people you can often learn the most from. The have lots of direct messages (which look like this @jpilar) because they are having conversations. Like any conversation you are only hearing half of, that can be awkward - but if you are patient, you will learn how it works.

I have a few favorites.
EliteTravelGal - she is one of the most active users I follow - she also happens to be someone I grew up with. She uses Twitter for her business and that means at times she will use it to promote a trip. She gets invited to lots of places and does a great job of Tweeting out about those places - and she shares things about her life. If you are into Travel or not she is a great person to follow and learn from.

Vacaseca is also great to follow - even if you aren't into wine - he talks about food and he is consistent - Tweeting daily and staying focused on core messages.

ScaryMommy, just one of the few mommy bloggers I am following, she always makes me laugh.

Mashable is great for social media news, but I will be honest it doesn't feel like I am following a person. This guy (or mashable.com) tends to get tweeted often if you follow multiple people who follow him, some tweets do become redundant.

You get the idea....and if you want to you can go on Twitter and see my whole list.

Go to it - get an account, build a list and start learning. But remember it is like a cocktail party - you can't just stand around saying nothing - you are going to have to start tweeting.

This past summer I spent a lot of time researching to help understand what I wanted my new venture to be. To a large degree, I was driven by the need to have more balance in my life. Although I don't remember what all my search terms were, I am sure 'work life balance' was one of them.

Along the way I came across a site called, The Pink Edge and its tag line is 'stress free career change'. The home page title is, ' How to connect who you are with what you do'. Wow, was Marina expecting me? I realize I am not alone, but it is a pretty powerful feeling to get somewhere and feel like they are speaking directly to you. I remember I was in my backyard with my computer on a beautiful summer day when I first found this site. Is it the most incredible site ever? No, but at that moment it met me a point in my journey when I needed a bit of inspiration and gave me what I needed.

Marina Spence, the creator of this site also has a newsletter. She doesn't send it out often, but when she does I read the entire thing. One of her issues talked about how as women we say, 'sorry' far too often. I shared the article with my team - and even to this day, when one of us says - 'sorry' someone else jumps in and says, 'don't you mean, 'its unfortunate that happened?'' It was a stressful fall for my team, we needed to stay focused and effective - but we also needed to be connected and laugh together - this article was perfect for that.

At the beginning of January Marina posted a message that said, 'Start 2010 with a meditation tele-class' and I did because I now had the flexibility to make the time. And it was a great class. Marina made meditation approachable and doable - and I actually meditated. Her message is that meditation is a practice - and I like that - I am practicing, it makes it feel more okay that I'm not yet an expert (and she also reminds us that we may never be and that is okay too).

This past week's newsletter from Marian was full of resources for people starting a new career and a shout out to a woman who at 40, after loosing her job, relaunched herself as a freelance writer and a singer/songwriter. And almost immediately this woman's life stopped being a struggle.

There was a time when readings something like that would have made me say 'as if'. But one month into being out on my own, I have a sense more than any other time in my life that things really are coming together - the stars are aligning.

There was a time when I no longer wanted to be considered a project manager. Let's face it, in the agency world, most people use that role as a stepping stone to the higher profile and more lucrative position of Account Manager or Account Director and it isn't much different on the corporate side. On that career climb that so many of us get sucked into, myself included, I too wanted the 'better' more senior titles. And then, I got wise and reflective and embraced the concept that doing what you are really good at is a very powerful thing and titles don't really mean much.

I also learned to recognize the power of really good project management and started to see it as the key to actually bringing projects and ideas to life. Lots of people can have ideas - and everyone seems to want to be a strategist - but the truth is many of these idea generators don't know the first thing about making their own ideas real (and that's okay). Knowing what is required to take an idea, a concept or a vision and define the plan, understand the audience, create the content, build the team, the budget, keep it all on track and make it real is something I do very well - and I attribute my success to my project management skills.

Truth is, it has been a very long time since I held the title project manager - I have had many 'bigger' roles, but I now know that the reason that I am good at what I do, managing large interdisciplinary teams, multi million dollar budgets, balancing resources and communicating with stakeholders is because at my core I am a really strong project manager. And even more importantly, I really love doing it.

To me, good project management is about bringing out the best in your team - empowering and validating them so they will do their best work - so they will take ownership and have pride in what they deliver.

Project management is also about communications - really good communications. That means you have to listen and yes, understand what the technical team is saying. That doesn't mean you need to know how to do what a developer does, but you need to understand so that you can communicate to your clients and stakeholders. My trick is an old one - but it works....'okay guys, I am going to tell you what I heard - tell me if I got it right.' The best part of that trick is it shows your audience that you are listening - and 'being heard' makes us all feel important.

Consistency is also key to good communications - always producing contact reports. Always starting a meeting with a recap of the last meeting - we are all busy, this is a great way avoid a time wasting rehash of the entire previous meeting.

Consistently taking notes also enables me to remember more - even if I don't go back to the notes I took. One of the reasons is that I always summarize notes with clear next steps or take-aways. And yes, I take the notes, I don't delegate them to someone junior - its not because I am a control freak (although I realize I am) - I am a strong believer that if you are the owner and a leader of a project a great deal of your success comes from owning the communications, defining the next steps and keeping everyone in the loop and focused.

Experience goes a long way - and at this point in my career, I have managed a lot of projects. It seems that with almost every project I take on there is something new to understand - a new technology or platform, a new audience, new design and usability enhancements, new SEO strategies and new tracking requirements - and that is what keeps it interesting and engaging.

At the end of the day, being a project manager is not about being the star of the show and its not about checking things off of a list, it is about leading and communicating effectively and letting your team shine - so collectively you can deliver great projects that bring your stakeholder and client's ideas to life.

Blog fantasy's aside, there are lots of practical reasons to blog. It gives you a chance to create fresh content and engage your followers. It gives you content to tweet and engage new followers and it is a great medium to establish your expertise and build your reputation.

How do you decided what to blog about?

That is the question I have been struggling with all day and I have to say that for much of this afternoon I considered creating a new separate blog to talk about all the things that are going on in my life as I launch my new business. It was going to be called me & my bean. And I was going to use WordPress so I could learn how to use that tool.

And then I had this thought - why should ella says have rules and constraints? Isn't that why I wanted to break out on my own? To get away from rules and 'should haves'! To spread my wings and be myself?!

So here goes folks - you are going to get it all. My perspective on the digital medium as well as my insights and experience of starting a new business, becoming a more active member of my community, creating a more balanced lifestyle and celebrating all the great things in my life. I will create categories and you can come back for all of it or just the topics that interest you.

It is Sunday evening - the end of week one of being self employed. My house smells delicious, Gustavo is making a roast for tonight's dinner and something with baby octopus for later in the week (and yes I am grateful that the man in my life is an amazing cook who creates most of the food we eat). My 8 year old is watching a YouTube video of Lady Gaga and if for a moment if feels like she is growing up too fast, I can think about the TV box that she she was crawling around in and giggling about 5 min ago. It is for these things that I need this new venture to work. I need balance - I need more flexibility and I need to be fulfilled by my work and I need be true to myself.

As Ella says, 'peace out peeps'. Its true, she really says that, too funny, eh?

I am a web girl - I help people achieve success in the digital medium - I need to be in the top position in Google when someone types in 'ella says'. For me it is beyond being found, it is about practicing what I preach. If I walk away from a conversation and that person decides to look me or my company up - they need to be able to find me and ella says easily. And yes top ranking in Google is a status symbol - I get that - and I want it!

My first goal - rank in the top position when people enter the phrase 'ella says'.

It shouldn't be that difficult at this stage as there are no other companies with that name, on the other hand, it is a common phrase. Right now the top entry is 'Ella says guck-guck' and it is a flickr.com photo - I should be able to beat out 'Ella say guck-guck' (mind you it is awfully cute picture). Eventually I will need to tackle other harder search terms - my next steps may not have the same instant gratification as my first one!

I don't want to oversimplify SEO, this isn't a one post sort of thing, it is more like a multi post journey. There are definitely some SEO best practices, but most of the best practices take time and long term commitment, such as link building and on going content creation. There is a good reason I am blogging - it creates fresh new content that will engage my customers over time and each time I create new content I have another reason to create links into my site.

So, baby steps - let's get this site indexed! Lucky for me, I am using a Your Web Department site - it means that all the technical and architectural infrastructure I need is in place. They also have tools in place to connect me with Google Analytics, Search, XML site map and a place to build meta tags. If you aren't using as cool a tool as me, you may have to do some of this manually, but all the info on what to do is out there and it is free through Google Web Master Tools.

Step one, I have activated my site with Google Web Master Tools (more about this later) and uploaded an XML site map - this is key for search, if you are still looking for a web management supplier for your your site - make sure this basic offering is available - it is with Your Web Department.

Step two, I added my site to Google: http://www.google.com/addurl/

I would like to tell you I learnt all this while working at Four Seasons, but the truth is, I wasn't the search girl - that was someone else's responsibility. I had to take on some side projects and build this knowledge base on my own - here are some links that I used to build my knowledge - and you can use these too.

Google Web Master Guidelines

How to survive Google Universal Search Ranking

You will find there are lots of people out there who will tell you they are search experts and make lots of grandiose guarantees, but with search, there are no guarantees and most of it, when done right takes time and for small sites like mine, it makes sense for me to learn what I can and do it on my own. I will share my learnings as I go.

If you want to make the investment and work with an expert, I suggest Intrapromote, they are the agency of record with Four Seasons and one of the smartest, coolest and most accessible bunch of search folks out there - you can also check out their blog, SEO Speedwagon.

Step three, we wait and check back in the next couple of days to see if the site has been indexed and then....the next phase of search optimization.

As I prepare to send out a contact update to all my friends, family and colleges, I know that many of you are going to ask, 'what is ella says?' and 'what will you be doing?'.

For those of you who have worked with me and are part of the digital world, I realize you need little explanation - many of you have seen me in action. For years I have managed multidisciplinary teams who create web sites, applications, solutions, campaigns and content. I am unique in the way I lead and empower my teams and in my ability to communicate effectively with marketers, clients, designers, architects and developers. Through ella says, I will continue to provide these services to a growing client base.

For the non-digital people in my life - I help people navigate the web. I help people and organizations take ideas and visions and make them come to life in the digital medium. This could be taking the idea of creating a restaurant web site - to the reality of having a site that shows up in search engines, creatively aligns with your physical space and is easy to maintain and update.

I will work out of my home office and at times, in the offices of my clients. As a project manager and planner, I will always be part of a team - I may work with the team that is already in place, as I will be as I work with a former employer. Or, I may be part of multi agency team brought together to meet a particular clients needs as was the case with the XM Radio project that was delivered as the result of the combined efforts of Your Web Department, onepixeloff, Blackbird and the talented Larry Farrall.

I have to be honest, to say I am scared is an understatement - I am terrified! And excited, slightly relieved and a wee bit giddy!

I feel truly lucky for all the support I have received along the way.

To Jill Tomac, my wise childhood friend and amazing leadership coach, thank you for sharing your journey and business plan with me, I am still touched by your generosity and your support.

To Laura Connell, a gifted writer and friend - thank you for being in my life - your strength, positive attitude and passion are my inspiration. Thank you for introducing me to Ladies who Launch.

To my incubator at Ladies who Launch - the 4 weeks of positive, 'you can do anything' support gave me a much needed self esteem boost. Thank you to Josephine, Liz, Sabeen, Michelle, Laurie, Jaime, Rosalind and Marina.

To Danielle LaPorte (we met briefly at one of her talks here in TO, she doesn't actually know me) I find myself going back to the notes I took that day you spoke, you inspired me to be real, to admit what I want to feel and to see what was right in front of my face. I find myself going back to your blog, whitehottruth.com, often - especially when I need a pick-me-up, like when you reminded me to lead my fear - so step aside cause Scaredy Cat and I have some strutting to do and some new business to recruit!

For all the love and inspiration required to take big risks, we also need a dose of reality and a great deal of practicality - for that I have to thank Entreprenursery. For anyone looking to start a business, look these ladies up. Dreams are good, having a plan to bring them to life is even better. The Seed Salon, a 5 week workshop, helped me get a handle on industry trends, competition and opportunities. They walked me through drafting a creative brief, a business plan and creating every spread sheet imaginable to really understand what I was taking on and what I need to achieve. Liz and Gayle, thank you for the tools and the confidence that I gained in the process! Jacquie, Ruth and Susan thank you for sharing your dreams and encouragement.

A special thank you to the man in my life - will you even read long enough to get to this part? You were the one who told me to go out on my own - and you saying it made me believe I could do it - thank you for your love and support.

The truth is, there are so many people I spoke to over the past 6 months, Anita, Angela, David, Andrea, Kate, John, Rob, Ruth, Jane (both of you), John, Natasha, Maria, Paul, Mark.... the list goes on, you know who you are. Everyone of you was encouraging and supportive - thank you and please stay tuned!