I feel like I’ve seen a bunch of fun threadjacks on this recently(ish), so let’s discuss this today: what are your best tips on how to plan a wedding while working full time (or, as many of you do, well more than 40 hours a week)? What are the best things to outsource as far as wedding planning goes — and what are the best ways to simplify wedding planning? And a corollary question: what wedding planning tasks can you do at the office? We’ve talked about homing from work, making personal calls on the clock, and a bunch of aspects of wedding and business etiquette (including whether you should invite colleagues to your wedding) — as well as wedding finances — but I don’t think we’ve ever had a post rounding up everyone’s tips on how to plan a wedding.
How to Plan a Wedding While Working Full Time
Which Beauty Treatments Save The Most Time For Busy Women?
Trying to get a minimal beauty routine and reduce the time you spend getting ready? Reader J wrote in with a great idea for an open thread, wondering which beauty treatments save time, and give you the biggest bang for your buck? I’m curious to hear what readers say about this.
Hi there! I have a suggestion for a discussion either here or on CorporetteMoms. I have a pretty minimal beauty and skincare routine, yet I feel like I spend a lot of time “getting ready”. I’m wondering how other readers have used professional services such as waxing, eyebrow tinting, permanent make-up, microblading, and other beauty treatments to save time. Which services are worth the cost and make a real difference in the reader’s daily routines. Thank you!
VERY interesting! I’ve written before about how much I love my laser hair removal and I would definitely recommend it, despite the pain and the expense — it’s been almost ten years since I had it done and I can’t remember the last time I shaved my legs. I would also definitely be on the weekly blowout train if I wanted something sleeker than my wavy/curly hair — I’d much rather spend 60 minutes getting my hair blown out to perfection and rocking the look for 3-5 days rather than fighting for 25-35 minutes on my own and getting a lousy look that didn’t last more than a day or two. (Here are my tips on how to make your blowout last for days!) I also just got a “healthy” keratin treatment on my hair, at the encouragement of a friend who loves her keratin treatments — my initial thought was that it took ten years off my hair (and it went from crazy dry frizzy to only slightly dry frizzy) but I’m waiting until this one wears off and I get my second treatment before I really weigh in. I was also intrigued to see readers discussing eyebrow tinting, specifically using Just For Men to tint eyebrows recently — I ordered some from Amazon and am going to give it a try! I’ve never tried Botox (although I’ve discussed Juvederm with my derm for my “marionette” lines, yay), but I know many MANY readers have given shoutouts to it. Blue Collar Red Lipstick just did a mini-review of her microblading treatment, and I know Bee at HelloBee has shared that she got her eyebrows tattooed. I’ve been considering doing a Zoom teeth whitening treatment after another blogger I read had it done (I thought it was Wardrobe Oxygen but I can’t find the post now). (The NYT just had a similar article along these lines, about microblading, tattoos, and hair extensions.)
Ladies, what about you — which treatments and services have you considered or gotten in order to streamline your routine? What would you advise other busy professionals looking for beauty treatments to save time? Have you tried microblading, makeup tattoos, laser hair removal, and so forth?
Picture via Stencil.
How to Job Search When You’re Super Busy
Job-hunting is challenging enough when you have a typical full-time career — but how do you handle looking for a new position when you work long hours in a job that makes it hard to get away for networking and interviews? We’ve talked a lot about interviewing, job-hunting, and networking over the years (and certainly finding time to date when you’re super busy, as well as how to make time for friends when you work a lot), but we haven’t specifically discussed this topic. So how do you job search when you’re super busy?
Recently, a reader asked a question (in the comments on a post) about how to deal with this issue. Here’s her situation:
How do you find time to job search when you are working crazy hours and can’t get away easily, like in ibanking/consulting/law? Any tips from people who have gone through this? When did you let people know anything about your job search? If you used your network did you ask people not to talk about the fact that you are job searching?
She got some great responses that we thought we’d round up for the benefit of others with the same question. Those of you with more advice and experience here, though, please weigh in — what are your best tips on how to job search when you’re super busy and it’s hard to leave the office?
How to Use a Personal Assistant
Have you ever wished you could offload some of your life to someone else, whether it’s household chores, online research, or other drudgery, but have been unsure how to start? We recently got a reader question wondering how to use a personal assistant (and how to find a good personal assistant!), so let’s discuss. Here’s the question from Reader S:
Life and work are busy and I find it difficult to “get it all done.” I hear it’s possible to hire a personal assistant whom you can ask to research/compare homeowners insurance options, be there when the cable guy comes to install, so on. I found a blog that makes a compelling argument that this is not only a time AND money saver, but it doesn’t tell me HOW to find an experienced PA. Plus, how do you learn to delegate in a way that doesn’t take more time than just doing it yourself? Thanks!
GREAT question, S — so let’s discuss. (Pictured: Daddy Warbucks’ assistant extraordinaire, Grace Farrell, getting it all done in one of my favorite childhood movies, Annie.) We’ve talked about what to delegate to an assistant before, as well as talked about the kinds of things you can outsource to a virtual assistant through Fiverr or a U.S.-based virtual assistant service like Fancy Hands or Task Bullet — over at CorporetteMoms we also talked a bit about working with a personal assistant (in a “how to throw money at the work/life balance problem” kind of discussion). If you’re leaning towards trying a virtual assistant, you may also want to read this classic Esquire piece (reprinted in The Four Hour Workweek and now on Tim Ferriss’ site); this post on how to hire a virtual assistant also looks great.
But sometimes, virtual help just isn’t enough — so let’s discuss how to use an in-person personal assistant. A friend of mine, C, actually used to be a personal assistant to a wealthy businessman, so I reached out to her to ask her thoughts on both HOW to find a personal assistant, and how to USE a personal assistant.
“Dry Clean Only” Clothes and How to Wash Them
Do you check the fabric care label on a piece of clothing you’re thinking of buying? When you find out that it reads “dry clean only,” do you put it back on the rack, or resign yourself to expensive and inconvenient trips to the dry cleaner? We haven’t talked about how strictly we should follow washing instructions like “dry clean only” in quite a while, so let’s chat about it.
“Dry Clean” vs. “Dry Clean Only”
First, what do “dry clean” and “dry clean only” labels actually mean? Technically, the former means dry cleaning is recommended while the latter means dry cleaning is a must. According to Martha Stewart Living, you can hand-wash or use the washing machine’s cold cycle for unlined clothes made from natural fibers or polyester, while the dry cleaner is your best bet for suits, pleated skirts, rayon and other “delicate synthetics,” silk, wool, leather, suede, and clothing with sequins, beading, or metallic pieces. The article points out that clothing manufacturers err on the side of caution by saying “dry clean only;” they want to reduce the risk of customers returning clothes damaged by improper home washing. (By the way, over at CorporetteMoms we regularly feature machine-washable workwear.)
Here are several more tips for washing “dry clean” or “dry clean only” clothes at home, including advice we’ve collected from Corporette readers’ comments:
How to Fit Lunch Workouts Into Your Workday
2018 Update: We still stand by this advice on how to fit lunch workouts into your workday, but you may also want to check out our post about how to stay fit in winter.
Lunch workouts: are you able to fit them into your workday? What are your best tips and tricks for exercising during your lunch break? I’ve blogged before about some of the quickest workouts you can do at work, as well as some of the best workout DVDs you can even do in an office — but we haven’t talked about this in far too long, so let’s discuss.
Lift weights. Cardio is great for getting out anxiety, but strength training plays an important part in burning calories, setting your metabolism, and keeping your body and bones strong — and a plus for weights is that you don’t necessarily sweat a ton while doing them, making for an ideal midday workout. Another option if weights aren’t your thing: look for a studio class like barre, yoga (not bikram!) or Pilates.
Make it easy to freshen up. Get over the idea that you need a full shower — dry shampoo and baby wipes can go a long way after lunch workouts. Here a few things to try instead of a real shower, depending on how sweaty you get and what’s important to you to clean:
