SWWAN celebrates Single Working Women's Week
Can’t sleep. It’s getting light at 4:30 these days, but that’s not why. Have to be on the street by 7 am today. Attending a daylong seminar on getting your non-profit organization visible in the press and other media. Our non-profit arm SWWAN Academy will be providing opportunities for women to have extraordinary educational experiences–to help them grow as individuals and to hone the types of leadership skills needed in today’s workplaces.
We’re kicking off this year’s Single Working Women’s Week by co-hosting a booth with SWWAN preferred vendor Radiance Fine Jewelry at the Wicker Park Fest/Bucktown Sidewalk Sale July 26 and 27. Select items will be 50% off. Rebecca, Radiance owner, offers paid SWWAN members 25% off all jewelry repairs (not including watch repair). Plus, she’ll be offering an additional 10% off regular merchandise for SWWAN members during the sale.
For your $50 annual subscription as a SWWAN founding member, you get a listing on our website, vendor discounts all year, and your own ad space-plus-links on the SWWAN website for your business or cause. Heck, you can’t buy an ad for that anywhere. Such a DEAL!
Well, it’s 5:20 a.m. Gotta go get ready for the long day away from the office. Thank goodness for cell-phones-with-email; at least I’ll be able to respond to any urgent client needs.
Sleepless night / technology creep
Sleepless night. Toss and turn and finally give it up and get up. Sometimes I just read a novel til I get sleepy. Sometimes, like tonight/day, I am obsessed with work responsibilities and have to get on the laptop.
I keep my laptop on a rolling table in the living room next to the recliner chair. Gives me a a place to work early in the morning when I’m not ready to let Angelina the bunny out of her cage yet, or when I’m just tired of being in the office. Plus it’s great to put my feet up a little bit.
But what’s funny is, even though I got up to work, I don’t immediately start doing the project that was on my mind. I turn to my emails instead–and suddenly I’ve got all this busywork to do to clear those up. As one colleague said, then email unwittingly “becomes the thing to do.” Then I’m reminded of other things I haven’t done, I notice stray documents on the desktop, open them up and find something I’d like to do with that as well. And too often, this goes on and I remain sidetracked and don’t even get to the project I intended to work on… Oh, look, there’s a receipt that needs to be entered into QuickBooks…
Then I notice things like, gosh, the birds are singing like maniacs at 3 a.m. Isn’t that nuts? And of course I want to make a note of that on Twitter because…why? Why the compulsion to do these non-essential but sort-of-fun things? Don’t know. Is this a function of a creative mind–or just a scattered and disorganized mindset? Then I feel the need to write a blog post about it, and I wonder if this happens to any of you guys, too?
Does the fact that I can do almost anything I want while sitting at my computer make me a victim of technology creep? Or how about the fact that I take my Treo phone with me when I’m away from the computer so I’m always able to send and get email. Well, I know this happens to a few other women.
The answer is to set limits and stick to them. Here’s another post on how to cut down on technology creep–tried to comment on this post, went through the whole magilla of signing up for a TypeKey account to be able to comment, and then found the “site has not signed up for this feature.” What a waste of valuable minutes that I could have been busy doing…well, something else.
Talk about contributing to the very phenomenon you’re talking about curbing.
Tip for busy single working women–cool reminder system
How many times have you thought, while driving your car, “oh, darn, I forgot to…”? And of course, you can’t type on your cell phone (assuming you have gotten one of those with a keyboard that receives email, and if you haven’t, consider doing so–it will revolutionize your life) because you’re driving.
Sometimes I’ve called myself at my office and left a reminder message to do the forgotten thing. But strangely–or maybe not so strange because my main office phone doesn’t have a flashing light or other attention-getting indicator of when I have a message waiting–I often forget to check for messages when I get back in the office. And then I don’t remember to do the thing.
Sometimes I’m in bed when I think “Oh, darn…” so I have to do one of two things: turn on the light to write it on the steno pad I always keep handy–because who wants to get up at 3 am on a winter night and go dig up something to write on? Or I have to turn on the light to see the keypad so I can dial my cell phone (I keep the sound off so I don’t have to hear the ding-ding reminders of tasks and appointments I haven’t yet cleared) and leave a message there. But that’s not foolproof–when I’m in the office I rarely use my cell phone so often don’t see “message waiting” notices.
The only nearly foolproof way for me to see something is to get an email about it, because I check my email religiously many times a day. In fact, when I’m in the office I live with it open. I’ve tried shutting it down so I can focus on a project, but half the time I end up having to re-open it–to send a client a question, look up a previous message, etc. So email is my most-used method of communication.
SO, if you made it through all that, here’s the payoff… I’ve found a very cool program–free–that lets you punch a speed dial key on your cell phone (or dial from any phone if you have the number), speak your message into the system, ask for a reminder, specify the time, and then quit worrying about it. Fifteen minutes before the designated time, an email will appear in your inbox with your message nicely transcribed into print! And you can even Jott friends, family, and colleagues, too.
The Jott voice recognition software does a handy job with regular speech and is pretty good at guessing spellings of names, etc. It keeps lists online and a number of other things that might be helpful for you. So visit the Jott site and download it for free.
One caveat. When you choose to send a reminder to yourself, you’ll receive an email, but you’ll also receive a text message–and your phone may charge you big for that. They tell me they are working on fixing that so you can opt to send only an email to yourself. So if you say, “no” to “do you want a reminder?” you won’t get the email, either. Then you have to remember to log onto the Jott site to see your reminders. But if you’re like me, even that can be helpful because sometimes I remember I was supposed to do something but don’t remember precisely what it was, so having it somehwere-I-can-find-it is still helpful.
As for friends, family, etc., you can avoid having them get charged for a text message by simply not putting in their cell phone number when you list them as a contact. Then they will receive only an email reminder.
Sending yourself or someone else an email with your voice. Isn’t that a cool trick for when you’re on the road?
Now, let’s see, if I want to replace the light/paper/pen thing in the middle of the night, it means I would have to start keeping my cell phone in the bedroom when I go to sleep… But then how will I remind myself to go get it when I go out?
Sigh. Guess nothing’s perfect.
Saturday night single
Single working woman, what are you doing on this warm (in the temperate zone) Saturday night?
I just tried my first “instant play” from Netflix. You get to download a movie to your computer and watch it immediately. I was glad because I wasn’t sure whether I could only use the service in between physical discs arriving–which would have been hard because there’s always one coming from your “queue” or going back to them.
Anyway, I was able to download my first instant play–after of course downloading the proprietary software to play it. Okay, I thought. Even if I already have two free DVD player programs installed, guess I can add another because instant access without any extra charge to movies not remotely available on Cable’s OnDemand is a great idea.
So I picked my first instant play from among movies I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to see again. The Killing Fields was the first one. And I quickly remembered why I didn’t want to see it again. All about blood and politics and anger during the Vietnam era. But I did learn something fascinating. The star of this movie is Sam Waterston–the guy who’s been playing Jack McCoy on Law & Order (one of my favorite repeat television shows) for many years. So I can see now he was a passionate political believer from the very beginning. What a joy it must be for him to be able to mesh his career (playing a guy fighting for justice) with his real feelings. Incidentally, I have no proof that that’s the case. I’ve just noticed over the years that actors who care about issues tend to accept parts in movies that expose those issues. Check out the roster in the movie Crash.
But, again, I digress. The point I wanted to make was the Netflix proprietary software is very sensitive to how strong/consistent your internet connection is. So it happened that after about 10 minutes of the movie, I got a message saying, “your Internet connection has slowed, so we are adjusting playback to avoid further interruptions.”
They say they’ll need 20 minutes. Okay, I say. This is good. I’ll now always have perfect performance from Netflix movies. So I make myself some popcorn. Let the pet bunny out of the cage to run around. Take the sheets out of the dryer and make the bed with fresh linens (that’ll be fun tonight!). Pour myself a glass of wine. And finally the 20 minutes of “adjusting” is done. The movie recommences.
I keep watching the blood and gore and anger and realize this is not my favorite type of entertainment on Saturday (or most any other evening), but I keep watching so I can study Sam Waterston as a young man. After 30 more minutes, I get that message again.
This time, I write in my journal for a bit. Then try to figure out who among my friends might be interested–and available–to chat at 8:30 pm on a Saturday evening. Call a dear friend who’s recently become a little more available and chat for a while. While we talk, the software’s chugging along “adjusting” and then re-starts. I turn the sound down and continue chatting while watching. Once we ARE finished talking, I turn the sound up to watch again–and lo and behold, 5 minutes later I get that dread “adjusting” message again.
As you may imagine, I now decide to simply turn the freaking thing off. I wonder does this just happen the first time you use an instant download? If it happens every time, I’ll have to seriously “adjust” my expectations!
Earlier this evening, I took a short walk to the local drugstore–just to get out of the house and enjoy the warm evening. It’s really interesting to stroll through a heavily Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago on a spring’s first warm evening. You encounter pocket after pocket of loud and enthusiastic music, some from cars going by, many from open windows of houses and apartments in the area. It’s like the warm weather is the cue to turn up the volume and start dancing. I really like that in a neighborhood.
So what did YOU do tonight? I hope you enjoyed yours, too.
No wonder America is fat
This seems like a no-brainer. If we know–as this latest study says we now do–people tend to eat more (cookies, candy, etc.) and buy more (unnecessary spending) when they’ve seen something that reminds them of death, how could Americans not tend toward fat when everywhere you turn the news is about death and danger–fire, stabbing, rape, murder, and so on?
Add to that the fact that when people don’t feel good about themselves, this tendency to eat and spend more when faced with death thoughts is even more pronounced, and you’ve got a recipe for an overweight society. Here it is in a nutshell:
- We idolize thinness. (see earlier posts on self-image and beauty)
- We have easy access to unlimited quantities of unhealthy but appetizing food choices.
- We eat more when faced with thoughts of death.
- We are exposed to death on a daily, sometimes an hourly, basis in our news coverage.
- We feel depressed that we aren’t thin enough.
- We eat more to compensate for the death and the depression.
- We get fat. And then the news does stories about how fat America is–and how it’s leading to more death.
- We eat more because we’re depressed about dying from eating too much.
- And round and round.
And so goes the unending death spiral (bad pun intended).
Adventures of the midlife woman
If you’re 50-ish, you’re entering a new stage of life–sometimes called midlife–when your priorities might be shifting. If you’re in your fifties and you had kids, you’re adjusting to life without those consuming responsibilities. If you’re 5-plus and still vibrant, you’re a modern woman! Gosh, remember when we were kids, and FORTY was considered OLD? We’ve come a long way, baby…
Anyway, there’s a blog called Fearless Fifties that’s all about helping women grow and enjoy at this time of life. Some of us might be looking at retiring; a lot of us will keep working long past the I-ought-to-be-able-to-hang-it-up-by-now age.
And of course, a bunch of us midlifer baby-boomer women are single–so let’s all connect with each other. Sign up for the Fearless Fifties newsletter. Sign up for our blog (in the lefthand margin). Then come back and tell us what you love about growing older–and it’s okay to complain about what you hate about getting older. What are the challenges of being single at midlife? What are you passionate about today!?
I love this saying I read somewhere: “What a man’s learned by the time he’s fifty, you almost can’t write down.” And that goes double for women!
Long holiday weekends a time to be good to yourself
Yeah, extra time to buy flowers that you hope the randomly destructive resident squirrels won't immediately dig up. Extra time to write in your personal-interest blogs (like this one and www.biomednews.org).
Extra time to spend with other single friends–at least a spare hour or two they might not be busy catching up just like you are.
Extra time to spend with family members you actually like. Time to finish that good novel you've been sneaking in all week on your breaks.
Time to listen to the fun oldies radio station that you don't listen to all week because you can’t remember to turn it off fast enough when your clients call.
Of course, even if you really have a lot of work to do, you need to do some of these things anyway–for the sake of your spirit or your sanity or whatever "other" side of yourself you normally don't take much care of.
Before I started my writing business I used to dream often of a baby that I'd forgotten about, or left behind, or in some other way neglected. I hated those dreams with a passion. Would wake up guilt-laden and horrified. I figured I was a reasonably good mom, so this seemed like an undeserved but ingenious way to destroy my peace of mind–and they really did.
To my surprise and joy, I noticed after a few months on my own that I couldn't remember having one of those dreams. It's nearly 7 years later, and I've only had one of them once in that time–I think it was when I was working weekends and vacations to meet the months-long irrational demands of a new staff member at one of my corporate clients.
As an amateur psychology nut, my conclusion is that I was the baby in those dreams. And those dreams were warning me that it was myself I was neglecting–I wasn’t nurturing my spirit, my tender, creative side. After all, a baby is nothing if not tender and creative. So my wish for you is that you never need to have bad dreams to force you to take care of your tender and beautiful spirit. Do it now and do it often.
God bless those who suffered and died for their countries–and all their loved ones who suffered losses just as great. Happy long-Memorial-Day weekend.
Teen girls' positive self-image attracts bullying
Oh, brother. We women can’t win for losing.
Now we learn that thinking you look pretty good when you’re a teenager means you’re more likely to get people to pick on you–by a whopping 35%. Boys, on the other hand, who feel they’re good looking actually have a 25% lower chance of getting bullied.
Sigh. Here’s the study report–read it and weep.
Women and Work – Rutgers study statistics
Why so many working poor women/mothers? Biggest reason is lack of access to appropriate training to increase skill levels.
A recent Rutgers study suggests online learning, conducted in easy-to-reach locations at off-hours times, is the answer. In a pilot program conducted in New Jersey, the results were dramatic. Average wages increased by 14% and many women in the program went on to enter college or community college programs.
ALL the women felt this online program was the only way they would have been able to access training like this.
- Flexibility in time and location–Work around their schedules–Laptop computers
- Helps alleviate childcare demands–Age of children is important–Family literacy effects
- Helps alleviate transportation demands–Access to courses not available in local area
- Participation in the program increases women’s confidence and self-esteem[italics mine]
This is becoming a recurring theme in my networking, reading and interviewing lately. That sometimes all a woman needs is someone to show her, give her the facts, support her curiosity, and help her fulfill her obligations while learning.
It’s a catch-22 for women. They want to be good mothers, good friends, good daughters, and–in the case of married women–good spouses. These are huge self-imposed–and society-approved–assignments that don’t leave much time for a woman’s own growth. But not taking time to nurture yourself can increase any woman’s sense of being less important than others.
Here are some of the study’s stats:
- 2/3 of married women work
- 60.7% of mothers with children under the age of 3 work.
- 47% of women are on their own. 27% are single and 20% are divorced, separated or widowed.
- Single women head 18% of all families.
- Women’s labor force participation is expected to grow from 1.5 million to over 2.3 million in 2015.
In the nearly 40 years since the Equal Pay Act passed, the pay gap between men and women has only narrowed by less than a half. Overall, women earn about 74% of men’s wages. Compared to men of the same race
- White women earn 70% of men’s wages
- Black women earn 83% of men’s wages
- Hispanic women earn 87% of men’s wages
- 2 out of 3 working women earn less than $30,000 per year
- 9 out of 10 working women earn less than $50,000
Many thanks to Dr. Mary Gatta for her work. View the complete Rutgers Center for Women and Work slide show here.