How much longer is this semester?

After not taking college classes in quite some time, and then jumping in over the summer with the shortened time frame, I have to say this semester seems to keep going and going.  I'm sure everything that is going on at work and home are adding to the feeling but it seems to be stretching endlessly ahead.  But onward and upward we go.

This post we are thinking about Technical Writing as a whole, new skills learned, old skills sharpened, how our writing has changed, what did we gain and how will this help us in our professional journey.  I think for old skills, the reminder to review, edit and proofread our writing before we publish it is always beneficial.  New skills I've learned is formatting different types of documents and when to use them.  I've gained some more experience creating and using templates, using different programs more like PowerPoint and allowing some creativity out with design and layout.  But I will also say that I'm glad my professional writing needs to be more concise, to the point with basic/standard letter formatting so that you don't have to think about all these aspects when communicating with clients, coworkers and peers.

Now I am off on vacation and will be completely disconnecting from the outside world with very limited wifi and no cell service.  The only things I'm checking off the list this week is to get more sleep, enjoy the sun with lots of sunscreen and no sunburns, eat some good food, especially desserts and enjoy a few adult beverages.  There may be too much to do but this week it will all have to wait.  Happy Thanksgiving, relax and enjoy your time with friends and family.

Public speaking

I'm still in the fight.  That's what life is feeling like right now.  I'm just trying to keep my head up and my eyes forward.  I have a vacation coming up soon - it is much needed and hopefully will go a long way to recharging the batteries, regaining my focus and help me power through the rest of the year. 

The second prompt this week is about public speaking.  My "public" speaking is done in the office at committee and board meetings.  Is this true public speaking?  No, I'm not out giving lengthy speeches or presentations in public.  I don't have to prepare what I am going to say.  But as the only trust administrator, and the secretary for the investment committee, the audit committee and the board of directors, I am involved in all meetings and duties of trust administration.  For the audit and investment committees, I prepare and distribute all meeting materials and take minutes of the meetings.  I have to prepare and present annual administrative reviews for all accounts to the investment committee.  This involves reviewing the assets held in the trust, distributions that are made, the fees that are charged, a risk assessment and any special considerations that are being taken.  In the investment committee I also review new and terminated accounts, new assets for purchase, and general updates about the accounts.  For the audit committee, I help answer questions about current audit and exam findings and provide the schedule and status updates of the various audits.  For the Board meeting, I prepare and distribute all meeting material and take minutes.  The various committees report to the board and I will often provide the review for the investment committee.  If there is other business that needs to be discussed with the board, I will provide input as needed in relation to client matters that need to be reviewed.  I also update all the members and attendees of future meetings, training that may be required and other miscellaneous information.  So do I have any public speaking duties at work?  At least once a month, and often more frequently as needed for special meetings.  Do I want to go into public speaking?  No - I'm more than happy listening to others give formal speeches and presentations and will keep my speaking to the main conference room at work.

It's Friday.  We made it through another work week.  It's going to be cold tonight - hopefully you have taken care of your plants, pets and pipes.  Hopefully you were able to cross off at least one item from your to do list - I'm checking this one off right now.  But when I think about everything, I'm sure another 3 items will take its place because there is always too much to do.

Creativity in Technical Writing

Life is full of ups and downs.  Right now, I'm having a down time.  It's easy to get discouraged and lose focus - my school work has definitely suffered in the last couple of weeks.  I feel like I'm being pulled in several different directions.  When you have those times in life, just stay strong and keep going.  Keep trying, keep your focus, your why in front of you.  Keep doing.  It may take some time but you will hit an up swing and things will work themselves out.  Now onto school.

I watched The Godfather this past weekend for Drama.  Sometimes when I watch a movie, I get hung up on odd details, wondering how did they do that, why did they do that, that can't really happen.  If you've seen the movie, my side thoughts started immediately - he couldn't even enjoy his daughter's wedding day because he was too busy working.  And then the horse's head in the guys bed - how did he kill the horse with nobody hearing, how did he get in the house, upstairs, in the bedroom and get the head in at the foot of the bed with the owner under the sheets - that were tucked in at the foot of the bed - and the owner didn't hear him or feel him, or feel the wetness until the next morning?!?  I had to remind myself that I'm supposed to be looking at camera angles, lighting, music, casting, props, scenery, costumes, etc - not focusing on the impossibility of these odd details in the scenes.  I've seen bits and pieces, and maybe have even seen the entire movie at one time but it had been a while.  This week we move on to Star Wars: A New Hope.  I'm always up for a movie in the Star Wars empire.  Economics - I have got to set aside more time this week that I have been able to the last couple of weeks.  But I will keep working and improve.  

For Technical Writing this week we are focused on speeches and presentations.  I need to create an event where I will be speaking, and create the advertisement with my bio.  I will have to think about that tomorrow.  The first blog prompt this week is about creativity in Technical Writing.  How does creativity fit, can you be too creative or not creative enough?  Technical Writing covers a wide array of documents from spreadsheets, presentations with graphs and charts, brochures, memos, different types of letters, emails and instruction manuals.  Some of these documents need more creativity than others.  If you were sending an email to a client to confirm a meeting, you wouldn't really be creative - you don't need to adjust the font and color, you don't need pictures and visual aids.  But if you were creating a brochure for an event that you wanted people to attend and contribute to, you would want something that grabs people's attention when they pass by - you need to be creative and add pictures, think about placement, color, font and texture.  Can you be too creative?  Absolutely.  You can get so caught up in the idea of "I need to grab someone" that you add too much - too much color, too many pictures, too much information in a small space and you lose the intent and content of the original message.  On the other side, you can not be creative enough.  You don't add enough visual content and your document gets lost in the volume of what people get, read and act on.  You always have to keep your audience and message in mind when creating any document.  And if in doubt, seek advise from a friend or co-worker to see what they think about your document.  Creativity can be a useful tool when used in the right way.

If you are feeling down, remember, keep fighting, keep going, keep trying, keep doing.  I keep adding things I need to do, calls to make, documents to find, appointments to make.  I get lucky every once in a while and get to mark something off - like right now, I can mark off a blog post from the assignment list.  As always, there is too much to do and not enough time.

Am I using what I've learned?

Things continue to be hectic and crazy right now.  It's been a long week that has felt like a year and it's only Thursday.  But it's almost done and soon we can say we made it through another week.  My measurement of a successful day has changed right now and it's all about finding the positive, finding something, anything that you can say you survived and made it through.  And when you adjust what "normal" is and adapt to the new normal, count it as a success.  Now on to school stuff.  The current module for economics is due Monday - I've not even started on it so I have so a long weekend ahead and hopefully I can pull out a half way decent test score and just make sure I do the assignment and quiz enough times to get a high grade to balance out the test.  For drama, we are watching The Godfather this week.  I know I've seen bits and pieces but I'm not sure I have ever sat down and watched the entire movie so we will see what my thoughts are next week.  I watched The Graduate this past weekend for the first time.  It was good and I'm glad that love won in the end.

For Technical Writing, the prompt for this post is what have I learned in this class that I have used in my professional or collegiate area.  I know the importance of page layout and design, editing, revising and proofreading a document and the benefit of adding visual impact.  Although I am using those things a lot more right now, they are skills and techniques that I have always used.  I am more aware of properly citing references, but after I finish school, that won't be something I will use so I would have to research and relearn again.  I will continue to proofread and edit my documents.  I will continue to get peer review and input when needed.  Although my PowerPoint skills have improved some because I am using it more often, in the last 18 years of my career I have never done a PowerPoint so again that will be a skill that, without practice and use, will fade.  I have learned to create a blog, but again I'm not sure how frequent my posts will be when it's no longer a requirement.  Some of the skills of page layout, formatting, and even editing and revising may be learned and used more for someone that hasn't been in the professional arena for over 20 years.  The class is more practice of the skills and process I already use and that's okay.  

I need to start a new list to get ready for vacation soon.  I need to find the list of what needs to be done at school and work this week to see what might get checked off tomorrow and what will be pushed off until next week.  It's crazy and busy with to do lists about everything.  The lists are growing and multiplying, time is still zipping by and not enough is getting completed.  But I will just keep plugging on and working through everything, because as always, there is too much to do.

Do I have any writing tools?

It is Friday - finally.  I am happy that we have made it through this week.  I even managed to have the information ready for the audit next week at work and was able to leave early today.  It's always nice when you can start the weekend an hour early.  A co-worker is getting married tomorrow evening and I know she is happy the rain has moved out.  What a beautiful day it was today. 

This post is about writing tools that we use regularly.  What are they, how do I use them and why are they important to me?  I think I have said it before, but just in case - my primary writing is done at work.  It's letters to clients, spreadsheets that I use templates or previous spreadsheets.  Other than this required blog, I don't write.  I've never been good about keeping a journal or diary, have never wanted to write a story or poem, that's not where my interests are.  So it's hard for me to think about what writing tools I use on a regular basis.  I don't make notes or outline what I need to write for letters, I just start typing.  When I need to create a spreadsheet, I just start adding and then make changes as needed.  The most important tools I use are editing and revising.  I make sure that I read every letter, and edit as necessary before sending it out to a client.  I will also ask a coworker to review if I am not sure about the correct wording or document sections that may need to be referenced.  I think proofreading and revising are important to make sure the message is clear and concise, the information is accurate and essential to the document and it's not cluttered with spelling and grammar errors.  And I definitely thank the spell check function to help with the proofreading. 

I am off to have dinner, find The Graduate to watch and go to a wedding this weekend.  I marked several things off the to do list this week, but never enough, because as always, there is too much to do.

Online job sites

Last week was definitely one to be thankful it's over.  I missed a blog post, missed a discussion board follow up, didn't get near enough work done and spent the weekend with either a nasty stomach bug or food poisoning.  I'm leaning a bit more towards the food poisoning since no one else at work or home is sick - and I am very thankful that nobody at home is sick.  It's a new week, and hopefully I'm back on track.  This week I will be watching The Graduate for drama class.  I've never seen it so I have to solely focus on the movie to be able to participate in the online discussion.  We have an audit starting Monday at work along with a Board meeting to review and approve third quarter financials.  And my co-worker is out for the rest of this week at a seminar - there is a lot to get done in the next few days.  Now on to the topic of this post.

Online job sites.  I've never used one.  When I started working many years ago, it was done the old fashioned way - you looked through the newspaper, called each posting that looked promising, went and dropped off a resume or completed an application.  My next few jobs came from friends and family - personal referrals and recommendations.  Then I went back to the newspaper and happened to fax my resume to a headhunter.  The company she represented was looking for administrative support, didn't need experience in the industry and they were willing to train.  Honestly, I took the job because I had to - I was being laid off with two week severance and had bills to pay.  Through hard work I was able to advance and grow.  After 10 years, they closed the company and through personal referrals and recommendations, I'm at my current job for over 8 years.  How can these sites be helpful to someone starting out in the work force?  I think if you are new to the work force or looking to switch careers, online job sites can be a wealth of information.  You can find what opportunities are available with your skill set, training and experience.  You can see what additional experience or training you may need to acquire.  You can see what employers are looking for, where the jobs are, what benefits are being offered.  You can see new companies, or companies that are growing and expanding - find a chance to get in on the ground floor and make an impact.  I think in this day and age online job sites can be very useful in matching potential employers and employees - but I hope I never need to use one, hoping my current employer is my last employer.

Now it's time to wrap up and get some rest.  I've got a couple of busy days ahead to get ready for next week.  The to do list is growing, because there is always too much to do.

Bad habits

What a week.  It's wet, cold and dreary.  This weather is making everyone crazy, ill tempered, irritable.  Work and home are all over the place, add school into the mix, and there is no time to think.  I haven't made it to the gym in several weeks, my relaxing "therapy" time spent with my sewing machine has been cut short recently and with no outlet, it's all building up.  But onward we go.

Let's see what's on the agenda for school this week.  In Drama I had the Module 2 exam and our first major project which is a movie critique.  I chose Singin' in the Rain and I am watching it for the third time this week.  The problem is, I enjoy the movie and have to keep reminding myself to watch it for the items needed in the critique - camera angles, props, scenery, etc. and not just for the enjoyment of watching Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds dance together.  We are in Module #4 for Economics and I think I finally have the formula to calculate real GDP from nominal GDP.  And then there is Technical Writing.  We are approaching the time for peer reviews and have been looking at constructive criticism and what can be learned and taught with peer reviews.  I'm used to having colleagues review my documents at work and although those don't require an intense review, I am not too concerned with giving or receiving peer reviews for the class.  There is always something to be learned and having another perspective can be helpful in clarifying your original thoughts and writing.

The blog prompt this week is about bad writing habits.  Do I have a bad writing habit?  Should I change it?  Why or why not?  I'm sure we all have bad writing habits.  And what one person might consider a bad writing habit may be another's best writing habit.  Since most of my writing is brief, professional communication, I don't outline and plan what I am going to write.  I basically skip the first step of the writing process of gathering information, making notes, research and organization and just start writing.  I read and edit quickly and am able to complete the document and move on to the next.  Even with these blog posts, I don't think too much about what I'm going to write - I just start typing, read and edit as I go along.  Should I change this habit?  Maybe.  If I were doing an essay or more in depth project, skipping that first step would likely lead to a jumbled mess with the writing that would be difficult to edit and revise.  Do I need to outline a memo to the file about an asset that we purchased?  No, it's sufficient to start writing immediately, editing and revising as I go along and doing a final sweep of the entire document before publishing.  Is this a bad writing habit?  Possibly.  Is it going to change?  Probably not.  Does it work for me?  Yes and right now that's enough.  Because as always, there is too much to do.