Dallas Harris’ Post

I know most people dread the first few days back at work after a relaxing vacation because it can be overwhelmingly busy, but I always find the FIRST week back calmer because there are less meetings scheduled on my calendar (which is typically a large majority of my week). Here's what I did with the extra time: ✉ I was able to catch up on emails, which can get a little out of control sometimes. ✅ I had time to organize my to-do lists, tie up loose ends, and attend to work that had been piling up. ❤️ I slowed down and took time to connect with my co-workers. 🏢 I cleaned up my office and my desk (which embarrassingly had begun to amass piles of papers and files). 💡 I let my creative juices flow with some new ideas. What do like to do when you have a little extra time? #workhabits #career #workforce #vacation #office

Building on the weekend has a different type of fun and satisfaction. Here’s 3 benefits I take from weekend work : 1 Can serve as a time to tie up loose ends and finish off low tier tasks. 2 Also a time to put in extra few hours into research and skill stats. 3 Lastly can be used as a bonus for the coming week. Starting the new week with sorted tasks for that week leaves room for chaos to happen within a controlled environment. Why do you come into office / home office on the weekend ?

The Christmas party circuit is in full force and I love catching up with friends I haven’t seen in a while. 🎄 One of my friends has a new job. Naturally, I asked about her office space. She told me that is the only downside- she doesn’t have one. After two years of working fully remote, she is over it. She misses having an office to go to. Primary Reasons: 1. A Forced Function to get ready and out of the house (guys - this is way more effort on our part) 2. Connection: The energy and happiness from in person interaction- even if it’s just chatting about the latest bravo show while waiting for her coffee 3. Productivity and Momentum. Getting into a work environment around others enables her to tackle more on her to do list. No one wants a 9-5 mandate to be in a certain seat, but no seat at all is getting old. My personal work from home space is below- it isn’t getting much use these days, but came in handy last week when my daughter was home sick from school. All things in balance. #OfficeLife #WorkLifeBalance #WorkplaceWellness #OfficeCulture #BackToOffice #WorkplaceConnection #Productivity #Momentum #OfficeVibes #OfficeEnvironment #WorkplaceInteraction #OfficeRoutine

While holidays are a time for feasts and merriment, most "Out of Office" messages often suffer a watery grave, sinking straight to the inbox bins. Especially those year-end blighters! But, since most meet an untimely demise unseen, why not seize the moment to unleash your inner pirate parrot and toss in some playful pizzazz and have a blast with them! For the last few years, I've been peppering these auto-replies with playful powder, and trust me, the surprises are plenty ;-) If you're my work-buddy, then instead of a dusty "Out of Office" scroll, you'll be greeted by a planet-loving #ChristmasTree of sorts! So on that note, a hearty Happy 2024 and beyond to y'all! May your emails sail smooth, coffee stay hot, with good vibes, good health, and a sprinkle of office shenanigans. PS: Have you made work play with such craziness lately? Do share :) #workplace #office #fun #outofoffice #workplay #newyearwishes #happynewyear2024 #littlejoys

🏡 Work from Home Fridays 🏡 Frank Kelly and I had been thinking of implementing this into our workplace for a while and over the last few weeks we have been trialling it. Results are in: 🔸 Extra sleep in the mornings 🔸 Rushing to do school drop offs - Minimised 🔸 Ironing Pile - Reduced 🔸 No. of washes on - Increased 🔸 Healthy brekkie - Questionable 🔸 Spending time with fury friends - Essential 🔸 Time to turn laptop on - Quicker 🔸 Plan of the Day - Sent in 5 🔸 Productivity - Hole in Roof 🔸 Working to service clients and candidates no matter what the time - Non questionable 🔸 Signing for your parcel instead of post office collection - Win 🔸 Team lunch Fridays - Sad face (will rectify) 🔸 Stress levels - Lower 🔸 Happy faces on Monday - Priceless Overall our trial is over and it is a KEEP for Team Spectra Recruitment Pty Ltd. We do believe that flexibility is important but there also needs to be a balance between office/wfh. Our team have taken this on board and it has been a great success. Does your workplace offer flexibility in some shape or form? Some of the team this morning👇 I must say it is starting to look uncool if your fury friend is not in the pic 🐕 Happy Friday everyone. #wfhfridays #blouseontop #pjsonbottom #workplaceflexibility Spectra Recruitment Pty Ltd

How often do you get to take a little break during your working day? ☕️ This week, my husband and I have: → taken Mr 3 out for breakfast 🥐 → had a little mid-morning coffee date 🧁 → met for a lunchtime walk 🚶🏼♀️ I completely appreciate that this might not be accessible to everyone 💛. It’s not possible for me every week. And in all honesty I’ve made sacrifices elsewhere to accommodate those breaks (mostly working late into the evenings!) But if you’re working flat out all the time … … and you’d like to explore whether or not you could find a little more wiggle room in your schedule … … and free up some of your time for more breaks here and there … … then one way to do that is to outsource a few things to a Virtual Assistant. If you’re not sure what to delegate👇🏼 check the comments for some ideas based on what my clients currently handover to us! P.s. what have you taken a break for this week?

Have you ever been judged or reprimanded for sending emails on weekends or evenings? It’s actually illegal in some countries, and an increasing number of companies have zero tolerance policies (ie. email servers shut down after 6pm). While every company culture and work environment is unique, by creating such strict rules, are we missing out on the opportunity and potential that comes with the flexibility to work where and when it’s convenient? Whether this is situational or permanent matters less than the concept. There’s no denying most people CAN work from anywhere, but with the current RTO trend and mandates, what are the consequences to productivity, creativity, employee retention and the overall employee experience? For example, it’s Spring Break for many kids right now. My son has a ski training camp in Banff all week. As a parent, I would be frustrated if I had to take vacation days to get my kid to his ski training camp when I could just as easily work remotely. Yet many companies won’t allow that flexibility. For the record, I did a beautiful morning hike, changed, and worked for a few hours in a coffee shop in downtown Banff. I picked him up from the hill, did a bit more work from Canmore before having some hangout time and a hot tub, then drive back to Calgary. It’s now 8:15pm and I’m writing this after a wonderful family dinner (and scheduling it to be posted tomorrow morning). I will probably do another 30-40 minutes of planning and prep for tomorrow before winding down for the evening. Certainly not a typical day, but very fulfilling, productive, and adapted perfectly to my needs for the day. Yet this would be taboo in many companies. I would likely be seen as a “slacker” for taking a hike during the “workday” and working from a coffee shop, or a “workaholic” for for doing work past 8pm. How do you see the topic of flexible work (or lack thereof) showing up in your job and life? Please share your thoughts and comments. I would love to hear!

Office life: Lunchtime stories When people asked me why I was going to change jobs and make return to office a priority (or rather: a hybrid model), I told them I missed the "random" coffee chat, waving hi over to a colleague at the other end of the room and naturally lunchtime. As I mentioned before, homeoffice is a great achievement especially for those juggling family life, private and professional duties all the time. But, as I also pointed out before: 100 % remote can lead to a feeling of 100 % loneliness. Lunchtime around several big tables is one of my favourite parts of the workday. This is when you learn most about the people around you (apart from the fact what they like to eat and drink ;). I like listening to their stories, talking about career paths (more or less straightforward), vacations (partly to fancy destinations), hobbies (there are some excellent and passionate gamers in our team) and fitness goals ( we call it "the Garmin gang"). Sometimes my colleagues' lunchtime stories are so interesting that I do not feel like interrupting them by telling my own story. This is because, compared to fancy holiday destinations and the the newest games and fitness tools on the market, I'm afraid of looking plain boring. In fact, life often does become "plain boring" as soon as you choose to be parents. No more fancy trips by plane to exotic places, but family campsites in Germany. You might miss out on most parties and restaurants that everyone talks about, many hobbies have become a distant memory because free time has become rare. At times, you cannot even remember when you last really went out for an "all adult fun event" like going to a concert, rocking on a dancefloor, celebrating New Year's Eve in a faraway place ... So, in a nutshell: I listen to many stories and do not have anything to contribute to them. The more surprising and better it feels when your "boring" life as a parent of two does not keep colleagues from asking you about your children and everyday life ("Have you succeeded in getting that vaccination for your daughter yet?" - "Writing a shopping list, hum?"). It shows me that, although I often believe that my personal lunchtime stories might lead to sudden boreout, people around me still care and that I am not invisible. #lunchtime #lifestories #colleagues #returntooffice #sociallife #fun #companylife

Fun Holiday – Leave the Office Early/Earlier Day. While we all love our jobs, nothing is more relaxing and fun than leaving work just a bit earlier than one normally does. So on June 3, Inform your managers and co-workers that you will be leaving early. Do something fun. Go for a movie or the happy hour at your favorite restaurant or bar with your co-workers. Did You Know… an average office worker spends about 50 minutes a day looking for files and other work-related documents?

Getting away for some well-earned rest is a classic post we all see on LinkedIn. But it can be a real struggle to get back into the rhythm of work once you are back from sipping Margaritas in the sunshine. I'll admit I've had more productive weeks than this week... Here are a few things I will look to implement next time to have a more productive post-holiday week... 🎯 Get together a to-do list before I go away. Things may change during the week you go away, but having a list of things ready to go will remind you of what you were working on before leaving and let you hit the ground running. 🎯 Tie up any loose ends. There's nothing worse than being thrown straight into the middle of urgent project work, so make sure you have any big jobs tied off before you travel. This isn't always possible of course, but I will make a concerted effort to make sure I do this before I go away next. 🎯 Book a WFH day for your first day back. This isn't always possible without some flexibility in the workspace, but going from beers on the beach to the office within 24 hours isn't much fun. Ease yourself back into the week with a day working from home, meaning fewer office distractions and an opportunity to get that dreaded holiday clothes wash done.