Today’s question comes from Nancy P…
I’d love a post on tips for traveling for business. (Thought of this last week when I was going to Chicago for a deposition and security took away my spray wax, because apparently it was an aerosol not allowed by the TSA. How am I supposed to sit through 2 days of deposition without hair product?!) Tips for packing? Good travel-sized products?
My (rather obvious) tips:
-Pack in the same color range — black, brown, navy — so you only have to bring one pair of dress shoes
-Bring a nice soft sweater to wear on the way home. I love changing out of a suit jacket to a cashmere sweater on the way home.
-Never bring shampoo/conditioner if you can help it — as long as you stay in decent enough hotels, you’ll have good products.
This is a great question, and we’re hoping our readers will be a wealth of information. For our $.02 — Almost everything can either be bought in a small size (see, e.g., Minimus) or converted to a small size (we like the travel supplies at The Container Store, but most any place has them). You can also ship anything that the TSA might confiscate, or just purchase a new item when you arrive. (The concierge is almost always helpful in directing you to a local drugstore — you may also want to see whether your arrival airport has any stores for beauty purchases, such as an Aveda or Sephora store.) We would advise to save your packing space for things that you truly need large quantities of — for example, if your eye-makeup remover comes in a huge bottle, change it to a much smaller package that holds the quantity you need for your time away. (We’ve actually used stacking pill containers to keep things like eye makeup remover, facial moisturizer with SPF (a little bit goes a long way!), and more serious SPF (on the off chance we go for a run outside or something).) (Pictured: Broken suitcases, originally uploaded to Flickr by toyohara.)
In terms of clothing, we agree with the reader’s advice that the same color range can be helpful for the shoe/accessory reason. We would also suggest bringing a wrap (helpful for sweater/pillow purposes on the plane) and, if you’re bringing workout clothes, bringing nice enough clothes that can do double-duty — for example, if you prefer to fly in comfortable clothes, wear your yoga pants (before you’ve, you know, sweated in them). You may also want to pack a pair of flip flops — not only are they incredibly lightweight, but they can be worn around your hotel room as slippers, and will be handy if you visit the hotel pool or spa. (We prefer not to wear flip flops for airport security — almost every TSA agent makes you remove your flip flops, which means you’re left barefoot in the airport — yick. But, to each their own.)
We might also suggest bringing along a spray bottle filled with vodka, and using it to spray on your suit as a deodorizer when you’re done wearing it for the day. Hang up everything as soon as you’re done with it, and use steam from your shower to help straighten it out even more. Many hotels will bring you an iron (or blowdryer or small coffee machine) if you ask nicely.
Finally — before traveling, be sure to check how many bags your airline allows. It seems as though everyone has changed the rules, and you don’t want to be caught paying a hefty fine and/or being forced to check your bag anyway.
Readers, what are your top tips for surviving business travel?
Technorati Tags: air safety, airport security, business tips, cashmere sweaters, containers stores, dress shoes, electronics, Fashion, Flip-flops, hair products, sandals, security, tips, Travel, tsa
Tagged as:
air safety,
airport security,
business tips,
cashmere sweaters,
containers stores,
dress shoes,
electronics,
Fashion,
Flip-flops,
hair products,
sandals,
security,
tips,
Travel,
tsa
Here’s something we’re curious about: How many of you have picked out your own desk chairs, keyboard drawers, and so forth in an effort to make your office more ergonomic and comfortable? Which brands have you found to be the best?
We’ve read a million articles about how — without the right set-up — your office could be causing you back pain, headaches, eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and more. In terms of eye strain, we’ve noticed a huge difference in a flat-screen monitor versus one of the old CRT monitors. We also prefer a keyboard tray versus having our keyboard sitting on top of our desk. Otherwise, we are far from experts on the subjects, so thought we would turn to you guys. Does anyone swear by the Aeron chair? Did changing the “refresh rate” for your monitor change your life? Do tell…
(Pictured: Ergonomics matters, originally uploaded to Flickr by Ezu.)
Further reading:
Office Ergonomics, WebMD
How to Ease Back and Neck Pain at the Office, eHow
Technorati Tags: aeron chair, carpal tunnel syndrome, chairs, design, design for x, desk, desk chairs, ergonomics, eye strain, keyboard, keyboard drawer, keyboard tray, keyboards, office chair, office equipment, offices, systems psychology, visual arts
Tagged as:
aeron chair,
carpal tunnel syndrome,
chairs,
design,
design for x,
desk,
desk chairs,
ergonomics,
eye strain,
keyboard,
keyboard drawer,
keyboard tray,
keyboards,
office chair,
office equipment,
offices,
systems psychology,
visual arts
Something on your mind? Chat about it here.
Pictured: Galaxy Mug, available at Target for $29.99 (set of 6)
Technorati Tags: 3/4 sleeves, abortion, cleaning, family-planning, fertility, pets, Pregnancy, Suits, umbrellas
Tagged as:
3/4 sleeves,
abortion,
cleaning,
family-planning,
fertility,
pets,
Pregnancy,
Suits,
umbrellas
Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.)
- We’re kind of against this kind of analysis, but we would be remiss if we didn’t point you to WaPo’s critique of Sonia Sotomayor’s fashion choices, followed by Fashionista’s and Jezebel’s critiques of the WaPo for not running similar stories about Alito or Roberts.
- Fake it till you make it: The Simple Dollar advises on ten ways to improve your appearance of confidence.
- The Harvard Business Blog advises how to be super productive at work. (Hat tip to Lifehacker.)
- The Frugal Duchess breaks down Kiplinger’s annoying slideshow on when to save money, on what.
Technorati Tags: confidence, Imposter Syndrome, productivity, saving, Sonia Sotomayor
Tagged as:
confidence,
Imposter Syndrome,
productivity,
saving,
Sonia Sotomayor
Liking these posts? Follow Corporette on Twitter — this is the edited version of what we’re reading! (We also Tweet if we hear about a good sale.
- Hello, luxury — Lanvin’s designer was so inspired by Glenn Close’s character in Damages that he’s decided to make a collection focused on tailoring, and made in the same factories that produce Lanvin’s menswear. [Fashionista] (We studied Rose Byrne’s character’s outfits from the first season a while ago.)
- Ms. JD has a great roundup of articles focusing on how female judges decide cases.
- This is hott — computer programs to help you organize your closet. [Unclutterer] Also, in techy tools — the best online sites for personal finance. [WSJ]
- How NOT to network. [The Thin Pink Line]
- Christina Binkley studies the importance of being ergonomic. [WSJ's The Juggle]
Technorati Tags: Damages, ergonomics, female judges, Glenn Close, Networking, Rose Byrne
Tagged as:
Damages,
ergonomics,
female judges,
Glenn Close,
Networking,
Rose Byrne
If you normally consider yourself “crazy busy,” the holidays can change the environment to crazy with a capital K. There are presents to be bought for seemingly everyone, and no time to troll the stores looking for that perfect gift. (Even with the later holiday store hours!) The answer for those working women confined to the computer for most waking hours: use ShopStyle.com, which not only does a complete survey of women’s clothing, but also men’s clothing, kids’ clothing, and home goods.
Here’s how it works: Let’s say your mother is looking for the perfect new purple v-neck sweater. In the search box, type “purple.” Then, using the drop-down menu, select “Sweaters” and then “V-neck” (we’ve highlighted them in blue on our screenshot, below — you can click the picture for a larger view). Voila — 111 options of v-neck purple sweaters are available right now. You can further refine your choices by store (in case you only want to get your mother something she can return to a local store) or by sale percentage (’tis the season of the sale, after all). You can also refine your choice by price, so you don’t have to drool over $500 sweaters. (We’ve also highlighted that section in blue, as well.)
Once you get your selection refined, you can see more detail on each sweater by hovering over the sweater with your mouse. It will tell you which sizes are still available, and will also let you set up a “price alert” on the off chance that item goes on sale.
The result is that you can quickly run a search for items you know your loved ones are looking for — doing a very thorough survey of what’s available right now — and all on your lunch hour. Handy!
Technorati Tags: holidays, ShopStyle
Tagged as:
holidays,
ShopStyle
Last week, we asked about the messy office — when is messy TOO messy, and whether the female propensity to have more personal stuff in your office (spare shoes, cardigans, jackets) made the answer different for women. As always, the poll is still open, but the initial results were pretty clear:
- 51% said it was too messy when it looked like you couldn’t get work done in there
- 26% said it was too messy if it looked like someone could live in there
- 11% said that so long as you were getting your work done and weren’t bringing clients to your office to meet, who cared?
- 10% said that any mess was too much mess
Commenters weighed in, also. Janet noted that in some circles, a messy office was a “badge of honor: ‘I’m so busy working on so many cases, that I have piles of paper EVERYWHERE!’” She also commented that if you’re capable and can reliably find what’s necessary — and perhaps reliability and capability are the keys here — then you can get away with an office that looks like the scene of a tornado. This falls in line with what the other commenters said, as well; Dash noted that the messiest office she’d ever seen belonged to “the most brilliant and renowned lawyer in the office”, and Res Ipsa noted that as long as you could walk from one side of the office to the other without tripping, and so long as you weren’t causing a fire hazard, then all was well.
Additionally, we’ve found that the messy office plays into a persona we call “the eccentric genius.” This is a person who has managed to culminate and aura of extreme intelligence by being weird and quirky. Sometimes this person is, actually, extremely intelligent; sometimes it’s just average intelligence with extreme quirkiness (in this case the aura is perhaps more crafted than earned). Cage and Fish, the partners at Ally McBeal’s office come to mind as the best example in pop culture, but we all know at least one person like this. If your office is so messy that no one can find anything in there — yet you do — and you’re incredibly capable and reliable — then it adds to the persona, we think.
Photo credit: World’s Messiest Office Cubicle Discovered in Colorado, originally uploaded to Flickr by Jeffrey Beall
