Have you ever found yourself so caught up in the day-to-day tasks of your “to do lists” and activities that you’re being driven by them instead of you feeling in control of your surroundings? It happens to all of us, so sometimes we have to manually press the reset button to get our focus back.  After a recent fall on a freshly snow covered parking lot, my reset button was pushed for me.  I broke my left wrist, and I was thrust into the perfect environment for innovative thinking – sitting still. There were a lot of things I was very frustrated about after my initial fall and diagnosis. Then after a few days of sitting still, letting my head declutter, and allowing my life to slow down, I started to find myself thinking about things with a renewed focus. I started modifying the ways I do some things (because I physically was unable to do them the way I had before), and these new ways were actually better in some cases.

Why hadn’t I thought of these things before? Why couldn’t I see there was a better way to do this earlier? Why do these things come to me now when I can hardly type, I can’t drive, and I’m significantly limited in my activities for the next few weeks? Here’s why. For the first time in many months, I’ve slowed down enough to allow myself to examine how I work, where I’m spending my time, and how I accomplish common everyday tasks. Now, I don’t recommend the method I’ve used to get the process started, but here are some ways you can hit the reset button in your life and create an environment for innovative thinking without injuring yourself.

1. Start journaling. Get a bright, cheerful, fun colored journal that will fit into your purse or bag and keep it with you wherever you go. When you get an idea that you want to pursue further, write it down. When you see a product or website or [fill in the blank] that you want to research more, write it down. When you find a resource you may want to come back to later, write it down.This does a couple of things for you. It eliminates the mental trauma of hoping you remember it later. It also frees up valuable brain space for additional ideas to enter. This becomes a great tool to get the creative ideas flowing and innovative solutions brewing. I may not use my journal every day, but I always know I have it right where I need it when a great idea hits me.I use my journal to get me started on days I’m not feeling so inspired. I have some “starters” I use to get my mind recalibrated. They are:

- Today, I am thankful for…(I am required to write down at least 5 things. It stretches me, and that’s good.)

- Today, I accomplished…

- Significant events in my life today (or this week) which impacted my actions and/or thoughts…

- What I learned today…

- What single daily action(s) did I take today to move me toward my goals and/or my highest life vision?

2. Schedule innovative thinking time each day. Our minds and bodies weren’t designed to be in a constant state of tension and adrenalin rushes. You have to create a physical and mental environment where innovative thoughts can develop. Even if it’s only 10-15 minutes a day to get started, SCHEDULE IT! Then honor your committment to this time to refresh each day. 

Some days it may mean just sitting still and watching the birds play in your yard or enjoying the flowers in your garden.  Other days it may mean pulling out your journal and taking one of those ideas to research on the Internet. Stop by the public library or your local bookstore and find a book on the topic. You don’t have to finish your research all in one visit, but get started. You can get a lot of great ideas and information each day even if you only research, read, or listen to something for 10-15 minutes. The more you do this, the more innovative your thinking will become because you’re ADDING to the mental database on a regular basis instead of just pulling from it to accomplish what you do each day.

3. Be willing to allow for innovative thinking when the unanticipated events in your life throw you a curve ball. Many times we have to react quickly in order to manage through the immediate needs of the situation. But after the initial shock of the event wears off, allow some time for reflection and see where the the innovative ideas to bubble up. Some of the best and worst experiences of my professional career have fostered some of the most innovative solutions.In my current situation, I have been forced to analyze how I work, where I work, and how I get where I need to be each day. It has made me more efficient, more progress focused (instead of perfection focused), and opened up some opportunities to work with other professionals that I may not have otherwise considered.

4. Surround yourself with innovative people. These may be co-workers, colleagues from professional associations, friends, people you follow on the web, or even family members. Think about who inspires you to view things in different ways. Who challenges you to pursue new opportunities? Who do you admire and why? These are probably some innovative people you should consider spending more time with either in person or virtually. Innovative thinking is contagious.

5. Expose yourself to innovative ideas. With all of the media available to us in the information age, there are many ways you can accomplish this. The goal is to get yourself exposed to new information. Understand your own learning style and match that up with the technology that best fits your schedule. Here are some ideas to help you stimulate innovative thinking during the normal work week:

 - Websites/Blogs: Search topics of interest to you. When you find good sites, subscribe to their RSS feeds. Online news sources are useful, too.

- Ezines: Subscribe to some electronic newsletters or ezines related to the industry in which you work or from administrative resource websites.

 - Social Media Sites: If you’re using social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, search by specific topics or industries. Find key influencers to follow who post links to great information and resources. The biggest advantage is that you can do it in 2-3 minute increments at ANY time of the day. Almost every social media site is set up to work with mobile devices, so you can access it on the go! You can find a lot of free teleseminars and webinars using searches on these sites.

 - Take a book or magazine with you to read over lunch. If you don’t normally take a lunch break, START NOW! Even if you only get 30 minutes, start with that. Feeding your body physically (with food) and mentally (by reading) will give you the physical nourishment and mental invigoration you need to get you through the rest of the day more successfully. It also facilitates innovative thinking.

 - Listen, read, or watch while you exercise. It is a great way to make a workout go more quickly while filling your mind with useful information. It’s a great way to use one habit to motivate and facilitate the other.

 - Have CDs, books, or other publications in the car when you’re waiting to pick up family members from their activities during the week. This is a great way to skim through industry publications that you receive but rarely get time to review.

With all of the media options now available, there’s no excuse to not be benefitting from them. Be resourceful. Find the way that works best for you.

You can become a more innovative thinker when you make the conscious decision to do so. Patience and a positive attitude are key factors to innovative thinking. It takes time to let the cream rise to the top, but you have to sit still for a period of time if you want that to happen.

As individuals and professionals, it’s very important to expose ourselves constantly to new ideas, methods, and industry trends if we want to excel. The new ideas and concepts you bring into your mind will inject their way into what you do each day on the job! Executives want assistants who provide solutions to the problems that come up every day. Innovative thinking is a required skill for success. Those admins who become innovative thinkers and get creative about the way they plan their career in 2010 and beyond will be the ones who thrive for years to come.

© 2010 All Things Admin and Julie Perrine International, LLC

How do you stimulate innovative thinking? Share your ideas by commenting here on this blog post.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER, EZINE OR WEBSITE? You may as long as you include this complete blurb with it:  Julie Perrine CPS/CAP is a personality strategist, personal brand analyst, and administrative mentor who teaches administrative professionals and entrepreneurs how to increase their professional opportunities and achieve more productive and meaningful relationships by utilizing innovative technology, ideas, and people. Learn more and request your FREE copy of our special report “Creating Your Strategic Administrative Career Plan” at www.AllThingsAdmin.com

“Creating a Career Calling Card – Your Professional Portfolio”

Monday, February 22, 2010 – 5 PM Pacific / 6 PM Mountain / 7 PM Central / 8 PM Eastern.

As an administrative professional, how do you demonstrate you can do what you say you know how to do? One way is with a Professional Portfolio of your work and experience. Whether you are actively searching for a new position, demonstrating your value to the team, or simply documenting your career accomplishments, a professional portfolio will set you apart. This isn’t just a tool for job seekers! Every success-minded administrative professional should have one. This teleclass will cover:

• What a Professional portfolio is
• Why administrative professionals need a portfolio
• How to develop your portfolio in hard copy and electronic formats
• How to use a portfolio successfully once you’ve developed it

This call is FREE for all “Success Series” subscribers. All you need to participate is a phone.
Not a member? Join now for only $9.97 a month.

This gives ergonomics a whole new look and feel. I can now type in an almost vertical position with my left hand (the casted one) and more horizontal with my right hand. I’m not back to 100% of my typing speed, but it sure beats “hunt and peck” 1-handed! That’s exhausting. So that’s why the Freestyle Solo Keyboard is my personal favorite pick of the week. You may want to give it a try even if you don’t share my cast dilemma.

If you have a personal admin favorite you’d like to share, let us know by posting a comment to this post.

There is a basic version which is free of charge. It also works great for association committee meeting scheduling. So give it a try and wave bye-bye to charting out the endless email replies when you schedule your next meeting.

If you have an administrative resource you’d like to share, let us know by posting a comment to this post.

Is it the way you conduct yourself in social settings? In business settings?  Is it the type of speech you use or the positive attitude you display?  Is it the way you treat your co-workers and the executives you support? 

I think we’ve all worked with someone during our careers who simply stands out.  They are the consummate professional in almost every setting with almost all personality types.  They always know the right thing to say and the right way to say it.  It is impossible to imagine someone not wanting to work with them because they display so many impressive and polished traits.  And then we’ve all worked with the opposites.

What three things influence whether or not a person is perceived as professional?  According to Erin O’Hara Meyer, PHR, founder of Administrative Excellence, Inc., and author of Administrative Excellence, those three things are IMAGE, CONDUCT, and EXPERTISE. 

We have 1/20^th of one second to make a first impression.  With that first impression, the other individual makes an instant assessment about our knowledge, skills, and abilities.  Image encompasses not only how we dress, but how we speak and present our work product each day.  Do I capitalize words and punctuate my e-mail messages – even when I’m in a hurry?  How do I answer the phone when it may be someone contacting my company for the first time – or the 20^th time?  Is my desk or office kept in a manner that indicates I’m a professional? 

It’s easy to see how conduct is intertwined with overall image, too.  Do I maintain the confidentiality that is required for the information I handle each day?  Do I gossip or talk negatively about my co-workers, my boss or external partners with which my company does business?  All of these things contribute to our Perceived Professional Quotient whether we intend them to or not.

No matter how polished our professional image, though, eventually our actual work product must live up to the image we are projecting.  This is where our expertise is critical.  What am I doing on a daily basis to further my education?  Belonging to a professional association such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) is a great place to start, but it’s only the beginning.  Taking time each day to build our professional expertise requires planning and effort.  But it must be done to continue our professional development.  Am I reading books on soft skills or technical areas where I want to improve?  Do I utilize some of the terrific online resources for professional development like www.StarDynamics.com and www.productivitypro.com or even the www.iaap-hq.org websites?  Have I asked my employer what training classes are available to me?

Let’s continue to enhance our professional image and conduct, and work each day to increase our professional expertise.  Then our Perceived Professional Quotient will go beyond mere form into the substance of true administrative excellence.  And excellence always sets an administrative professional apart!

To your administrative success!

Julie Perrine CPS/CAP, MBTI Certified

For OUTLOOK users starting from Excel or Word:

1. Copy the entire column of e-mail addresses desired.
2. Paste the column into the TO / CC / BCC of a blank Outlook E-mail message. 
3. Click out of the field you pasted the information in, and click into another field.  The list of e-mail addresses will automatically convert into the e-mail format that Outlook requires to send the message.

Note:  Depending on how often the list is updated, you may want to save this list in Word for future use.  Or you may want to copy and paste it into the notes portion of an Outlook Contact named with the distribution list title for easy use and retrieval again later.

Here is another way to create an e-mail distro list if the steps listed above don’t work for your e-mail editor program.

From Excel:

1. Copy the entire column of e-mail addresses desired.
2. Paste the column into a BLANK Word document.

Continuing From Word:

In Word 2003:

1. Make sure each cell has only one e-mail per cell in the column of information.  If it has two per cell, add a row and give each e-mail address it’s own cell in the column. Remove any commas or other punctuation that was separating the two e-mail addresses in the cell.
2. Select or highlight the column of e-mail addresses.
3. Click on Table
4. Click on Convert
5. Click on Table to Text
6. Click on Separate Text With Paragraph Marks and Click OK
7. Click on Edit Menu
8. Click on Replace
9. In the Find What field enter “^p” or click on the special button and select the Paragraph Mark from the list.
10. In the Replace With Field enter whatever symbol your e-mail program uses to separate multiple e-mails in a series (i.e. the semi-colon or the comma).
11. Click on Replace All
12. You should have a list of e-mail addresses separated by the desired punctuation ready to copy and paste into the To, CC, or BCC lines of your e-mail program.
13. If you want to save this list in Word for future use, you may.  Or you may want to copy and paste it into the notes portion of an Outlook Contact named with the distribution list title for easy use and retrieval again later.

In Word 2007

1. Make sure each cell has only one e-mail per cell in the column of information.  If it has two per cell, add a row and give each e-mail address it’s only cell in the column.
2. Select or highlight the column of e-mail addresses.
3. Click on Table Tools Layout Tab
4. Click on Convert to Text Icon
5. Click on Separate Text With Paragraph Marks and Click OK
6. Click on Home Menu
7. Click on Replace
8. In the Find What field enter “^p” or click on the special button and select the Paragraph Mark from the list.
9. In the Replace With Field enter whatever symbol your e-mail program uses to separate multiple e-mails in a series (i.e. the semi-colon or the comma).
10. Click on Replace All
11. You should have a list of e-mail addresses separated by the desired punctuation ready to copy and paste into the To, CC, or BCC lines of your e-mail program.

This tech tip will save you hours of work when you don’t have to enter each e-mail manually, especially if you are working with large group distribution lists.

For questions about this tech tip, to share a tech tip, or to request a tech tip you’d like to learn more about, please send an e-mail to Julie Perrine CPS/CAP at Julie@julieperrine.com.

Do you use a standard file naming system to keep your electronic files organized? 

Many use electronic folders to begin tackling electronic file organization, but that doesn’t always solve the issues depending upon how many files you have stored on your system.  Here are some ideas to create organization and structure for your electronic files beyond using folders to help you name, file, and retrieve your documents more efficiently. 

Consider beginning each file name with a 3 or 4 letter abbreviation to help categorize the file and help you find it more quickly later.  Think about the primary types or categories of documents that you create and begin writing them down.  Then create a 3 or 4 letter abbreviation to represent that file type.  Here are some examples:

• FORM – Forms
• LTR – Letters
• MEMO – Memos
• LBL – Labels
• MAP – Maps
• ENV – Envelopes
• RPT – Reports
• SIGN – Signs

Keep this list and the abbreviations posted next to your computer so you can refer to it quickly when creating files or searching for files until you get used to using this system.

The nice element of this is all of your file types show up together on the menu list and then in alphabetical order by the name of the file.

This is also handy if you do travel itineraries for multiple executives.  Here’s an example of a file naming convention for travel itineraries:

• XXXXXX – Location – Name or Initials of Traveler  (i.e.  073007 – Tampa FL – JLP)
• XXXXXX – Location, Event, Name of Traveler (i.e. 073007 – Tampa FL IAAP Conv JLP)

When using dates in your file names, consider using full six-digit dates so they always align accurately.  You may also consider starting with a 2-digit or 4-digtit year, so you can find things by the year, then the month and day.  Using the same sample data from above, that would look like this: 

• 2007 0730 Tampa FL JLP

It’s easy to rename files that you already have created by going in to Microsoft Explorer and adding the prefix or format to your file names.  Click on the file name once to select it. Click on the file name again (don’t double click) to open the editing box.  The file name will appear in a box with your cursor highlighted at the beginning.  You can rename the file, then click outside the file name box and it’s renamed.

For questions about this tech tip, to share a tech tip, or to request a tech tip you’d like to learn more about, please send an e-mail to Julie Perrine CPS/CAP at Julie@julieperrine.com

As an entrepreneur, if I’m losing leads or opportunities because I’m not regularly updating my blog or developing and promoting new products and services for my own business, I’m robbing myself.  I’m cutting off the very oxygen I require to stay alive and fresh as a business owner. 

As an administrative professional, if I’m not reading good materials, keeping up on the latest technology and office trends, and pursuing my own professional development plan, I’m also cutting off the oxygen supply required to keep me sharp and vital to the team I’m supporting.

When you fly, they always tell you to put on your own oxygen mask first because you can’t help others around you if you start to pass out from a lack of oxygen.  And this happens much more quickly than you realize it will!   The same applies to our personal and professional lives.   Don’t let a lack of oxygen cut off your future growth and development.  What are YOU going to do TODAY to put YOUR own oxygen mask on first?

To your administrative success,

Julie Perrine CPS/CAP
Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Administrator
http://www.julieperrine.com/