The Source

It’s easy to feel like you’re your most productive self when you’re multitasking. We’re checking emails while preparing dinner, scheduling social media posts while on a Zoom meeting, and taking conference calls in the car en route to an appointment. Even though we’re checking things off our to-do list, have we lost our focus?   

A few years ago, we hosted an event featuring a panel of incredible female entrepreneurs. One of them, Brenda Hayes-Williams, said something that stopped us in our tracks. “Not all money is good money,” she told the room. What she was referring to is the fact that sometimes the financial gain from a venture or project is not worth the toll it takes on you, your current business, or your personal life.    

The topic of protecting our mental health is near and dear to our friend, Nicole Brown, who is not only a full-time employee at Butler Snow LLP, but also has another role as a fashion and lifestyle blogger at Lelia's Southern Charm. We asked her to share with us her advice for taking care of ourselves while establishing boundaries between work and home life.    

No matter how many well-meaning phrases people share after a workplace mess-up, we still want the office floor to open and swallow us whole. While our instinct may be to hide our heads in the sand, doing the opposite may be what’s best for our careers long term.   

Nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives has been turned upside down with the impact of COVID-19. Many of us are still working from home, and those who are in offices are wearing masks and staying six feet apart in meetings and elevators. Events and activities have been canceled, creating a communication crisis mode for both small and large businesses who depend on social media to inform and entertain their customer base. So, what do you talk about when there’s nothing to talk about?   

As many of us began working from home as a result of area “safer at home” directives, some women are leaning into the freelance market as a more long-term option. If you do make the decision to be your own boss, it’s then time to navigate the waters of the day-to-day, especially landing on a system of pricing yourself.   

Productivity was important even before a global pandemic, and now it's absolutely essential to reach our professional goals. More women than ever are working from home, and that means many of us have had to re-learn how to begin our days. We asked Jackson-area blogger and friend of The Source, Laurel Donahoo, to share her tips and tricks for getting the morning started off on the right foot.    

What qualities make a good leader? If you flash back to a great manager you had in the past, (or the one you have now!), you can likely identify the traits that made your office a pleasant place to work. Aside from the obvious knowledge, training, and experience in his or her respected field or industry, there are plenty of soft skills that seem to be present in bosses we particularly admire and with whom we enjoy working.    

In times of uncertainty, what’s better than collaboration? We love the phrase “empowered women empower women,” and we know amplification is the best way to reach a wide audience with a message. When two parties can take advantage of the other’s following, everyone wins!   

Did you know LinkedIn has been around longer than Instagram, Twitter, and even Facebook? Though the platform is often overlooked in terms of personal sharing and usage, its value as a professional networking tool has never been greater. As we spend more time online as a society, and even more so during quarantine, it’s not a bad idea to polish up our profiles, including our LinkedIn Summary.