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Are you looking for attainable actions, that will enable you to achieve a more fulfilling nine to five?  Of course you are! All of us want to achieve success at work, and doing so is about more than just turning up, logging on and getting through your tasks. Whether you're a career girl or run your own business, here are five habits that all of us should work on getting right.

Learn The Art of Negotiation
The ability to negotiate will help you both in your personal life, as well as in your career. Being able to persuade another party to come around to your way of thinking, and settling on an agreement that suits you both will allow you to go far. In terms of your career, being able to negotiate is useful for the big and small things. From asking for a payrise to smoothing things over with colleagues in the workplace, as a negotiator you'll almost always get what you want- in a way which pleases the other party too. 

Don't Be Afraid to Speak Up
As women, we can have a disadvantage in the workplace due to general stereotypes that we've all grown up with. There's the underlying assumption there that women are weak, meek and mild- and these aren't traits that you want to be associated with you as a strong career woman. Learn to speak up in a way which gets your point across, but without being rude or disrespectful. Pay attention to your language- when conveying ideas saying things like 'I could be wrong' or 'this may seem silly' weaken your message. Switch to using an active voice which is far more powerful. You can disagree with others without arguing, and can put your point across without seeming brash. Consider the language and tone you use on a day to day basis. 

Use Your Time Well
All of us are pushed for time, life can be busy and hectic when you're working full time as well as running a home, trying to maintain hobbies and being social. But as women, most of us are primary caregivers to our children meaning this is another element that we have to work into our busy schedules. So managing time well is more important than ever, and one place we can make the most of this is on our daily commute. The time spent getting to and from the office could be used to catch up on emails or life admin. You could organise your calendar, or do something stimulating such as read or listen to a podcast. There's a surprising amount of things you can do in this time that can allow you to get ahead or get yourself organised. 

Get Organised
Speaking of organisation, this is another important habit that all of us should be working on. Start with your morning, a well planned out start to your day can set you up for success later on. Lay out your clothes the night before, prep your lunch and make sure your bag or briefcase contains everything you need. Get up in time to enjoy a healthy breakfast. Utilise calendars and to-do lists to ensure you never forget a meeting, appointment or deadline. Keep on top of your emails by dedicating a certain amount of time to them each day so nothing gets missed. Keep your desk clear, have your paperwork filed and be sure that you know where everything is and where it needs to be. When you're organised, you're always ready to tackle whatever the day throws at you. 

Be Confident
Improving your confidence in general can help you to achieve all of your career and business goals. Push yourself and do what scares you as a way to get out of your comfort zone and break free of the limits you've set yourself. For example, if you're afraid of public speaking then taking a course in exactly this can massively boost your confidence, even if it's very daunting at first. Have a think about your skills and abilities, and be confident in knowing what you have achieved, and what you will continue to achieve. 
12:23 PM No comments

Most of us have to borrow money at one point or another in our lives. Whether it’s to buy a home, a car, to study or for something else- there’s no doubt that lending can be extremely useful if it’s done in the right way. But other forms of debt can be a slippery slope, many people can find themselves in a position of becoming over committed, ‘robbing Peter to pay pay Paul’ and with so much interest that their monthly payments aren’t even taking money off the debt itself. But what exactly is good vs bad debt? Here are some of the ways you can tell the difference.

Examples of Good Debt
Good debt involves lending money for an investment that will grow in value, or generate long-term income. If you get a mortgage for house for example, not only do you save wasting money on rent each month but houses tend to increase in value as the years go on. Your own home can give you financial stability and is a solid, worthwhile asset to have. Financing a car can also be an example of good debt, it allows you to own a newer and more reliable car than you could afford to buy up front. This means less repair bills, and in some cases can be the difference between being able to own and car and not having one at all. You car gives you independence and might also mean you can take jobs further afield, giving you better opportunities. Money for study is another perfect example. Education will increase your chances of getting a job (or a better paid job) so is a worthwhile investment. 

Examples of Bad Debt
Bad debt comes about when people spend money they don’t have. Luxury purchases such as holidays, clothes on store cards and general spending on credit aren’t usually a good idea. When you have access to a lot of credit, it can be tempting to buy things there and then rather than saving up your own money or waiting until payday. It usually starts off innocently enough, but can spiral quite quickly and land you in a heap of trouble.

Where The Lines Get Blurry
The problem in life is that things are never entirely black and white. There are definitely some grey areas and blurred lines when it comes to good and bad debt. Take the car mentioned earlier for example- in some cases financing a car is an example of good debt. But if you’re financing that car just because you want a better or newer model (or can get around easily on foot or public transport) then it becomes just a luxury purchase. Expensive holidays might seem like a frivalous purchase, but what about using credit to fund the holiday of a lifetime? The memories and joy it could give your family might justify it as good debt. Use common sense, work out a budget and a spending plan which will help you keep on top of your finances.
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We're often told as women that it's not possible to 'have it all'- kids, career and sanity! However this simply isn't true, while of course there are challenges to overcome with hard work and dedication it's possible to raise a family while earning money, keeping your skills sharp and maintaining your career. Whether you choose to return to work full time or stay at home with your children is entirely up to you, there's no right or wrong answer and it all depends on your personal circumstances. However if neither of these seem like the right option then there are ways you can find the balance, here are some examples. 

Reduce Your Hours
One of the ways you can find the balance between kids and career is by staying in work, but reducing your hours. This could mean working half days, or only working certain days in the week. This allows you to keep your skills sharp while having more time to spend with your children and keeping up with your commitments at home. Speak with your employer and see if they're able to accomodate you with this. Otherwise you could look for a stop-gap type job with part time hours which will earn you money and teach you new things until you're ready to get back onto the career ladder full time- search something like caregivers jobs near me. Something like this is ideal too as you likely already have many skills simply from being a parent.  

Work For Yourself
When you work for yourself, you get to call the shots. You can decide the hours you want to work and it's easy to adapt this around family life. While of course you will still need to make appointments and meet deadlines in the work you do, if you know you're going to have a busy week you can decide to take on less. This could be anything from running a home business to working as a freelancer. You could work as a mobile beautician, hairdresser, photographer, cleaner or set up any other business of your choice depending on your skills and experience. If you know you want to have children in the future and are still planning your future career, training or getting education that will allow you to work independently is a smart choice.

Work From Home
These days, there are plenty of opportunities to earn money that don't even involve you having to leave the house. Of course, there are plenty of home business and freelance options you could look into but lots of companies also hire staff who can work remotely. These positions tend to be flexible, you will be given a workload then have a day to get it done. This is great as you can structure your own day, and of course not having to leave the house means no travel costs or hassle involved. It's something you could do while your children are at school or even in bed at night. From blogging and writing positions to call centre, admin and much more, scour job listings for positions you can do from home. 

2:01 PM No comments
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Looking to improve your personal development plan and better your life? Perfectly Productive is a blog for ambitious women, featuring advice and information on business, career, education, health finance and more

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