Work woes

It’s been a really busy week both professionally and personally. January is almost over and the pressure for delivering results seems to have started mounting. I know none of us know what is to come, but I am panicking about delivering my numbers.

I’m keeping really calm and telling my boss, it will happen. We will make it. But inside, I’m really stressed because I don’t know if I will be able to get new clients. To top it all, I have a non-profit side project going. I’m trying to raise money for a cause. Soliciting funds from donor agencies is no walk in the park. I guess, these people get bombarded with requests every day with some cause or the other, so they have a rigorous screening process. But I’m getting no where.

And now all of this is getting me down. I guess it’s just one of those down times and I have to through it. I’d like to be positive, but all that comes to mind are just “what if’s”.

Truth be told, I’ve never been very good at initiating relationships. I would like to think that I’m good at managing client relationships or even taking the first step once I’m introduced. But cold calling just doesn’t seem to be my forte. I’ve tried and haven’t been very successful. People advise me to think positively and I will succeed. But I think it’s time for me to try out a different approach. I need to find a way around cold calling and figure out how to get that first meeting.

Quote

The people who influence you are the people who believe in you. – Henry Drummond

Draft blogs

I love the “draft” feature in WordPress. It’s so useful. It’s a shame that twitter doesn’t have a draft feature. Then again, I guess twitter is supposed to spontaneous.

The draft feature is useful because when I have a random blog idea in the middle of the day, I can just type it into my phone and save. I get my best ideas at the weirdest times. Especially, when I’m driving or int he middle of a client meeting. Eeep!

Also, when I’m all out of ideas, I can go to my list of drafts and finish a post I’d started. It’s like savings for a rainy day or like finding money in your pocket. Don’t we all love that!

Best of all, when I’m lazy and too tired to write, I’m sure I’ll find some good post I had almost finished. I can just add two lines and hit publish!

Quote – January 24, 2015

The best things in life are free

The second best are very expensive.

– Coco Chanel

Orange Ginger Sugar Scrub – ENERGY

Product Rating: AVERAGE

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11669912&cp=12587010.4431583.52326486

I like the products at Bath & Body Works. I’ve used their Aromatherapy line before and it was amazing. So I thought why not.

The Smell: Truth be told, the Aromatherapy worked. The Orange-y smell with a hint of Ginger really revitalises you. It’s appropriately called Energy.

The Packaging: It comes in a large jar, like most other scrubs. It’s an oil based scrub, and as soon I opened the jar, the oil was just floating on top. Wasn’t really efficient to scoop out.

The Product: The scrub itself was a little disappointing. The sugar granules are quite coarse and sparse, so they keep rolling on the skin rather than being an effective scrub. Since, it’s oil based, I decided to just rinse instead of washing with soap. It was a good feeling at first, with the skin soft and tingly (from the ginger). But 3 hours later, my skin is just as dry as it was before. So I guess, you have to follow up with a moisturiser.

The Verdict: Even though I got this on sale at about US$ 11, I won’t be repurchasing the scrub. There are so many nicer ones out there. I will however, get a moisturiser from the same line, because I simply loved the aromatherapy bit.

Hide and seek

The sun playing hide and seek among the clouds. One of the rare moments in Abu Dhabi when you see a lot of clouds but no rain.

I’m amazed at the quality of the picture given that I took it with my phone while I was in a moving car.

Email etiquette

A lot has changed since the days we learned to write letters. I still remember spending a whole class learning how to write different styles of letters. Learning where the date should go, where the address should go, how the salutation should be written and how to end a letter.

So much of the etiquette seems to have been lost in this day and age because of emails. People just spill out whatever seems to come their minds. There are no styles and probably few options to choose from. Here’s my take on emails:

The salutation: I would never start an email with just someone’s name. To me, it sounds like an order or command. If I’m writing to someone I don’t know, a client or someone senior, I almost always say “Dear XYZ” or “Dear Mr. XYZ”. If it’s a coworker or even a client I’m more familiar with, I would say “Hi”. Very occasionally I would say “Hello”, just to make it somewhere between formal and informal. I just somehow makes sense to me. I may even start with just a “Thanks XYZ” or no salutation if it feels like a chat or conversation. This is highly subjective and you would have to know the tone.

The body: Never write in all caps. It sounds like you’re shouting. Never write things in red, again it sounds like you’re angry. If something needs to be emphasised, I use “Bold”, “Underline” or even “Italics”. If something needs to be highlighted, I use the yellow highlighter function or colour it in purple, green, orange, blue. There are so many colours to choose from.

The ending: This is the fun part. I’ve changed greetings over the years. In the beginning, I used to say “Sincerely”. But then it started to sound funny. Then I moved onto “Best Regards”, then “Kind Regards” and now I’ve finally settled on just “Regards”. On occasion, I will say “Thanks,” if I’m requesting for something in my email. I still use “Kind” or “Best”, if it’s an older, more formal person I am writing to. I never just write my name, I don’t know why.

The signature: Most companies have a mandated style of signatures. I use that when I’m writing a new email or replying to clients. However, if I’m carrying on a conversation back and forth, I will not used the 5 line signature. When I send emails from my mobile, I don’t use a signature, since the formatting gets all weird. But I also make sure to delete “Sent from my Mobile device” every time I set up a new email account. That’s just tacky. I mostly just sign my name with my cellphone number.

These are my rules for email etiquette. I would love to find out what others do.