Office Life

Not my office (although v similar to an office from my past)

Like most people these days I work in an office.

An open-plan office at that. At last count my floor had 140 staff squirrelled away, covering 3 business outlets and 4 departments. All of us are part of the same umbrella multi-media corporation.

Doesn't that just make it sound like I'm Miss Fancy-pants.

However, reality and the perceived nature of my day-to-day working life don't always tally up. Hence, I don't really talk about it and spend a lot of my day in cloud cuckooland rather than deal with the office politics that are always simmering just below the waterline.

What does happen, is that your team become like a little family. I'm not saying that everyone will love each other, far from it in many cases, but you do learn how to get on with things and leave them to their own devices.

Many business leaders, including Richard Branson, believe that treating staff like a family is advantageous. There is something to be said when a manager can walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

Before falling into the job I have now, I previously worked as a professional temp. I ran myself as a business temping up and down the country. I worked in various industries for  five years until I worked out what I actually wanted to do with my life... I'm not fully there yet, but I rather like what I do at the minute.

I worked for companies who deemed I wasn't northern enough when I answered the phone - strangely I didn't stay there long. I've been the main bottle washer and pot collector as an office junior. Literally counting the washers in a jar. I've processed sex offender reports and logged police evidence. I have even turned my hand to bar work and making flash cocktails for an American restaurant chain. At some point in my working life I have done pretty much everything a person could in an office.

What has stuck out for me is how teams work. It's like a complicated jigsaw, balancing a team that can work well together is an operation in personality tweaking. Generally the more a team has the flexibility to make their own decisions and have fun while doing the work the more likely they are to gel, and when their backs are against the wall more likely to be able to turn things around with minimal fuss.

Sadly in an open plan office these ideals are hard to uphold. One person's light-hearted frivolity is another person's headache inducing nightmare. Or a phone call that might get a bit heated can be heard across the office. Hands up if that has ever happened to you.

It's not the most interesting life in the world, not that much happens there that is of interest to the outside world, but my word I wouldn't change it. I work with some berks and others that keep their true selves so far buried you'd fear they'd never come up for air. My team is a mixed bag of folk, and for the most part we are each as geeky as the next and pedants at their very worst. 

More office life posts will more than likely appear over the course of the next year here on What BeeBee Did... mainly as I do office life an awful lot right now. 

Making New Routines

As we know, I am a creature of habit. 

I like things a certain way, at a certain time, on a certain day. 

I do like a little bit of disarray, but only on my terms. 

A routine is pinnacle to this. I have two diaries. One for life, shifts, appointments, kiddie stuff and another for blog posts. Scheduling, blog ideas, themes... I think you may be getting my drift. 

I also like to do different things in my house on different days. For example, Saturday is a day for deep cleaning the kitchen. If I miss it, I get flummoxed. And over the past six months I have spent an awful lot of time flustered as the pile of clothes in the corner of my bedroom grows ever taller. 

One of my challenges for this year is to have a fully organised home by the end of December 2015. Surely this is a possibility. 

The children are now seven and nine-years-old so are more than able to undertake some bits and bobs, and the husband - for the first time in a long time is home more than I am - so there are things he can do too (except the washing, he already does that).

With this in mind I need a plan of action. 

A daily to do list as it were. I also need to actually stick to the list. Funnily, having a list written doesn't magically make the jobs get done. Which I find is a huge shame. Inventors of the world take note. This would be a fantastic thing to invent and would make you rich!

This list need to cover the whole house. 

Starting with the extraordinary deep clean to get everything where it needs to be, so that the easier tasks of maintenance can be concentrated on. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have managed to turn parts of my house into something that resembles a before picture on a hoarder's programme. I cannot put into words just how embarrassing that actually is. 

Now for the nitty gritty of it all. I work shifts. Alternate patterns from one week to the next, apart from weeks with a Bank Holiday in them, then that is a whole other ball game. 

A flexible plan, is needed, and a speedy one at that. 

In January I am going to be focusing primarily on the Kitchen. With backing vocals covering the rest of the house. 

Extraordinary Kitchen Clean List:

1. Clear sides. 
2. Load dishwasher. 
3. Wash up items that don't fit or go in the dishwasher. 
4. Put those things away. 
5. Clean the hob/oven.
6. Clean down the sides I've cleared. 
7. Clear kitchen table and dresser side. 
8. Empty floor. 
9. Wash the floor. 
10. Empty dishwasher.
11. Clean the fridge.
12. Sort the food from fridge. Put spoiled foods in the brown bin for recycling. 
13. Organise the cupboards - this one will be labour intensive, I need to reduce the amount of things I have in my kitchen. 

Daily Kitchen Clean List: 

1. Empty dishwasher. 
2. Put away. 
3. Wipe down sides, after clearing.
4. Clear kitchen table.
5. Sweep floor, quick blast with mop if needed. 

As for the rest of the house. The Extraordinary clean will come month by month with a special guest star task. 

The Daily Clean: 

1. Keep on top of the washing. Do at least one load a day. (this also mean dry, fold and put away too! A little is easier than a lot.)
2. Empty bins. No one wants to take an overly full to splitting bag out. 
3. 

OOTD: Dress Down in the Office

On Thursday we had a fake Friday, Easter special, Dress Down Day in the office.

We all donate £1 to our company's chosen charities and as it's Easter there is also an Easter Egg raffle.

Here's what I wore. Bad lighting and all.

This is a tee I picked up in Asda last year, I still love it and have worn it to baggy death. I've paired it with my current favourite jeans from New Look.

On my feet I have a pair of canvas shoes from Shoe Zone, I love them. Shoe Zone is fabulous as you can either buy online or drop into a shop and they always have size 9s in stock. Love them. Check them out here.  

10 Things To Do...

In your lunch break. 

Since returning to work I've been looking for things that I can do during my lunch break to make sure I actually leave my desk and take that break. I only get 30min but if your luckier and get that full hour just think what you could get up to!

1. Take a stroll. The weather is getting better and it sure as heck feels good to break free from your desk, even for just 15 mins. 

2. Nip to the shops. If you are lucky enoiugh tot be in the centre of a bigger town or near a city centre bo to a chemist, department store or even a supermarket and pick up a new lip gloss, lipstick, eyeshadow or even mascara. It doesn't need to cost the earth, but it will brighten up your day. 

3. Me time. Book yourself a treatment. Getting your eyebrows tamed takes no time at all. Or if you have a slightly longer have an appointment a tthe hairdressers for a treatment and blow dry. 

4. Getting handsy. If you can get the space, give yourself a mini manicure. Pop a bright nail varnish into your bag and liven up your fingertips at lunch. 

5. Every day is a school day. Try and learn something new, a skill or  a craft. I'm a crochet fan, so I sometimes hook at lunch, your could knit, start to learn a new language, take up puzzles. 

6. Go on holiday. Well not a full one. Plan a virtual break, where would you go, what would you do, what would you like to do, where would you stay/eat... I think you get my drift. Dream big. Pinterest is a great site to do this on. 

7. Embrace your smartphone. Most of us have a smartphone these days, pop some earbuds in your bag and you can catch up on some vlogs, a tutorial or even a tag video using YouTube.  

8. Take a picnic. Pack a nice lunch and meet a friend for a picnic lunch in a local park. 

9. Eat out. Instead of your normal packed lunch, get out and visit a local eaterie and have a nice lunch. Your sandwich is always going to be there tomorrow. 

10. Novel idea. Read a book, obviously not a whole one but you could squeeze in a chapter or two depending on the length of them. Have you a book that you've always wanted to read, but you never seem to have the time at home anymore? Lunch breaks are the perfect in for a blossoming reading habit. 

Yours Clothing: Red and Black Ditsy Floral Print Jersey Tunic

I was shuffling through the @yoursclothing website last week and noticed this in the sale. I've been after some dresses for work, and when you stand at 5' 10" in your size 9 ballerina pumps that can be an effort in itself. 

It reminds me of the pattern that you find on bandanas, which I collect and have an assorted array of colours and they'll come out to play during the summer no doubt. 

At the moment I'm between a 24 and 26 for dresses so I plumbed for the 26/28 in the hope that it would make it that little bit longer so I could wear it as a dress rather than a tunic. 

A gamble I think paid off. 

As a member of the not blessed with big boobs brigade I appreciate the faux vest in the v-neckline. 

I also feel I must apologise for the photo, I've been having a few bad face days so have left off the make up. 

I love this item, and in an office that seems to be set to tropical it is just the right sort of material. 

I wore it with some opaque black tights and a pair of chelsea boots, which you can't see on this photo. I need to get me a photographer!

You can find this item on the website here. 

My Life Monday: Outfit of the Day

One thing I have realised in the last week, I don't have as many office-friendly clothes as I thought I did. Strange.

So this is a bit of a mash up.

Apart from the shoes which are ballerina pumps from Shoe Zone, it's a Yours Clothing collection outfit. The black dress is a staple from my wardrobe. I've had it for a couple of years and it's so forgiving and fits if you have gained a few lbs or lost a few. I added underneath a white blouse so it didn't look so much of a party dress.

The light is shocking in the office toilets, I'm such a glamourous person, I really am.
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My Life Monday: I'm the New Girl... Again

Today I started my new role in the office.

Oh jeepers. It's almost like starting all over again. New products, with new styles, a new team and a new desk. Scrub that. Two desks.

In some ways it's like returning home. Many moons ago, when I first started working at the company I was in a different with three of my new team.

I wonder how long it will take for the novelty of working full time to wear off?

I treated it a bit like going back to school. I got a new notepad, pencil case (and pens), and a new mug. All colour co-ordinated too. I must take a photo of the set up, it looks rather swish.

It started as an early shift, in the office by 8am. I'm not a morning person. Never was, never will be. But I managed to get up and out almost on time. Even after dropping my phone in a large bowl of washing up and drowning it. Even now it's currently hanging out in a bowl of rice in the airing cupboard hoping to draw all the bad bits out. I know I don't like my current phone, but it at least needs to last me until summer when I can get a new one.

My Life Monday: Things They Are a-changing

For the last eight years I have been working part time at my office.

Next week I am going to return full time. New department, new role, new responsibilities.

I also embrace the whirlwind that is shift work, five days a week. I will still be publishing on this blog daily, I will still need to keep on top of the housework, the boys and their homework, cubs and just who will take the boys to school and bring them home (depending on the week).

This means I have, for the last few weeks, been trying to get the house in order so I can maintain, rather than fight an uphill battle in 15-30 minutes a day.

A few weeks ago you will have seen I worked on the de-cluttering of my bedroom. That is still remarkably tidy. However, little bits that needed to be finished still need doing and there are a couple of other areas that are starting to fall behind again.

The bathroom got attention last week, the joy of living surrounded by boys.

The kitchen is this week's task.

I'm also working on getting back into the groove with planning shopping around a pre-decided meal plan.

I also need to start to use weekends for doing things with the kids... and sleeping!

I'm going to be a busy BeeBee.