When I come back from holiday, it takes me days to catch up with myself, even if I have kept track of what’s going on in the office from afar.

Here’s how my return to work unfolds: I receive about 30 emails each day which require some sort of response, add about 20 I’d like to read for information and another 30 that I have to consider before I dump. Usually, I check email while I’m gone and only respond to the urgent ones, maybe five to 10 each day. Now, if I’m gone for two weeks and only receive a modicum of mail on the weekends, that leaves more than 300 emails to which I have to respond, about 200 with relevant information and 200 more that I have to scroll through and give at least a moment’s thought. That’s about a day right there. Phone messages require another two to three hours to field. Mail takes another half day and general office catch up through meetings and drop-ins is two to three hours. That’s two and a half days to get to up to speed on what has happened in my absence so I am able to make informed decisions. I can cut that down to two days if I come in early and stay late.

That’s two days of very concentrated effort and significant cognitive engagement because I am ‘telescoping’ the past two weeks and injecting it directly into my brain – which isn’t really ready for the task. In fact, it took me a moment to figure out which key unlocked my office door after my last holiday. When you spend a significant portion of time in a totally different context you lose some of your automatic-pilot synaptic connections. That’s why I find that I need a vacation from my vacation.

Rather than never taking another holiday (a decision which would no doubt distress my colleagues), I have a plan for the next time I leave town. I will do all of my prep work leading up to holiday in a more organized fashion. I will schedule a one-day holiday BEFORE I leave, in order to create some distance between myself and work, pack in a rational and leisurely way, and prepare my mind to enjoy the time away. Hopefully this will avoid the two days required to get into holiday mode once I arrive at my destination.

Once back, my new plan is to schedule two concentrated days to catch up and then TAKE ONE MORE day off before I start back in full mode. This way, I’ll have dealt with the most urgent matters but will have the benefit of regenerating a bit so that the time away will not have been in vain, and I can approach work with a fresh mind and re-invigorated energies.

Doesn’t that sound like a plan? Now if I can only schedule accordingly, I’ll be able to get a better effect from the time away without the stressors that usually accompany absence from work. Somebody please remind me to give this a try next time around.

The need to recruit a new employee may result from business growth, an employee promotion, termination, illness or any of a number of other reasons. This step-by-step process will help increase your success in the hiring process.

Before beginning the recruiting process, assess your business needs so that you can prepare a job description that fits your requirements. As you develop the job description, be sure to visit the National Occupational Classification (NOC) which provides a standardized language for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. Job Descriptions: Employer’s Handbook can help you develop job descriptions to hire employees, evaluate employee performance and identify training needs.

Once you are satisfied with the final job description, advertise the position. The advertisement should clearly detail the education, background and experience required. There are a variety of ways to create awareness about the opening: send it out to your business and personal network, use LinkedIn and Facebook, advise Service Canada Job Bank, Monster, Workopolis, universities, colleges, technical schools, or placement agencies.

Depending on the position, the applications could pour in. Be prepared to effectively and efficiently screen them. Develop a rating sheet based on the criteria set out in the job posting and screen each resume using the same system. The next step is to develop a short list of candidates.

Set up interviews with qualified candidates and develop interview questions that will gather relevant information. Behavioural questions such as “What do you do if you disagree with someone at work?” will provide you with a sense of how an individual might react in a given situation.

Two heads are often better than one. Ask a colleague (perhaps the position supervisor or an employee who will work closely with the candidate) to take part in the interview. Be sure to take notes of applicant’s responses. Once all the interviews have been conducted, compare the candidates. There may be times when a second interview is necessary, particularly if you are having trouble selecting between a few qualified candidates. Once you have decided on the best candidate and offered them the position, the negotiation process may begin. Subsequent meetings may be required to come to an agreement on details such as start date and remuneration.

On-boarding is the process of introducing the new employee to the organization, their supervisors, co-workers, work areas and jobs, and sometimes to health and safety in general. Providing extra assistance during the initial period is as important as a good interview process. Develop an orientation checklist that is customized to your business and workplace. Provide an overview of the company – its history and culture, HR policies, procedures, performance management and on-going learning/training options. Provide coaching, peer support, information sessions, and meet with new employees regularly to ask how they are and what other resources, if any, they may need.

The process of hiring a new employee involves, preparation, recruitment, interviews, selection and orientation, which eventually leads to regular performance management and employee development. Investment in the recruitment process is well worth your time, effort and resources.

90 minutes. That’s it. 

Apparently we only have about 90 minutes of good, productive time in the morning, where we are able to completely focus on a single project. The rest of the day is downhill from there. In the afternoons, we are easily distracted, and coincidentally, this is when people tend to make the most mistakes.

During the morning when you are still energized, it is important to get your priority work done first. Don’t sift through e-mails or surf the net while you still have a fresh, productive brain. This can be done later, when you are tired and after you’ve completed the important work.

Trust me it will take a lot of self-discipline not to dive into e-mails first thing. Interestingly, self-discipline is easier to exercise while the day is young. If you think about it, most people break their diet at the end of the day, once their will-power muscle has been exhausted.

My goal is to get my priority work done first thing; to make the action a strong habit or a ritual. Brushing my teeth has become a morning ritual; I don’t stand in front of the sink and argue with myself about whether or not I will brush. I just do it. This is how I’m going to tackle my important work first – just do it.

If your priority is to become more profitable or to grow your business, try spending some precious morning time on this goal, before the craziness of the day takes you in another direction. 

Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba clients often remark to me about my work schedule; they are surprised to see me when they arrive for a morning or afternoon meeting with their business advisor, and when they attend one of our evening training sessions. I’m very quick – and happy - to let them know that it is through these flexible shifts that the Centre supports my academic goals.

We all know that life is busy: running our own businesses or working for someone else, fulfilling family obligations, fitting in studies and enjoying other pursuits. A Business Insider infographic shows how flexible work hours as well as working remotely, dramatically affect employee productivity and happiness. The 2009 study ‘Are Flexible Work Schedules Created for Business Reasons or to Assist Workers’ by researchers from McMaster University, Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Guelph provided strong evidence that flexible work schedules help workers achieve work-life balance.

A new University of Manitoba study shows how alternate work arrangements help employees attain a degree of work-family balance and decrease absenteeism and turnover in the workplace. Among their findings was that flexible schedules, shift work and self-employment significantly increased women’s perception that their work and family lives were balanced. According to the Center for Talent Innovation, 87% of Boomers, 79% of Gen X'ers, and 89% of Millennials cite flexible work arrangements as important.

It took nine years, but this summer I will complete my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Reflecting on this near achievement, I realize that attaining my personal goal was in large part due to my employer’s recognition of the importance of providing me with a flexible schedule to achieve a degree of work/life balance.

I found a terrific graphic that visually answers the question we get often at the Centre which is, “Why do I need a business plan?”

My favourite design /philosophy /news/ interesting-stuff site, Co-Design, has an article about an artist who designs posters that are simple illustrations of complex paradigms. This one, designed by Joey Roth, shows the very concept that we struggle to impart to our clients regarding the power of the entrepreneurial dream vs. the need to dig in and work to make the dream happen.

Mark Wilson’s article in the most recent Co-Design shows some of Roth’s infographic work and quotes the artist as saying “the poster is inspired by my developing realization that the most valuable tool anyone has is their grind--represented in the poster as steps carved into an incline. I’m not talking about the ‘daily’ grind: doing work you don’t like or care about. By ‘grind’ I mean a combination of work ethic and improvised strategy that becomes a daily ritual, and ensures progression or improvement over time, regardless of an individual day or even week’s outcome… Dreaming about reaching the same goal is easier and faster in the beginning, but doesn’t provide the same ritualized framework. The more a dream is exposed to reality, the more it needs this framework: grind.” 

‘Work ethic and improvised strategy.’ We couldn’t agree more. The poster illustrates the increasing difficulty of reaching your goal via the dream rather than the steady progression toward the objective that is planning, thinking and doing. 

Certainly worth the $35 cost of the poster via Joey Roth’s website. Look for a large framed copy soon at your friendly downtown Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba.