Work-Life Balance – Page 5

Making a New City Feel Like Home

Tiffany Franklin, Associate Director

This time of year new graduates and students are moving all across the country and world to start new jobs, internships, graduate school, fellowships, and research positions. While this is an exciting time, it can be stressful and taking a little time to strategize can make a big difference in your experience. This topic is close to my heart since I’ve lived in a number of cities (Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta, Jacksonville, FL, and Philadelphia) and have made big moves for both school and work. Here are a few things I learned that helped me make my new cities feel like home.

Preparing for the Move

There are a host of resources for you to read in the weeks leading up to your move to learn about your new city and all that it has to offer.

Going Global – Includes a listing of cities in the US along with the country guides. Be sure to log-in via

http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/library/ using your PennKey to access the site. Resources include a city overview, cost of living guide, networking resources, and a list of top companies.

Chamber of Commerce sites – Check out the chamber of commerce for your new city for resources and a list of local attractions.
Local Newspapers online
City Search website
City Scene or other magazine with listing of concerts, art exhibits, restaurants, etc.
Local magazine – Philadelphia magazine for example
Facebook/Twitter
Alumni/Current Penn students from that city – Search QuakerNet, LinkedIn (Connections – Find Alumni sub tab) and the Penn Internship Network to find students and alumni in your new city.
Penn Alumni Chapters

Housing

Local Universities – Many med, law and business schools compile comprehensive guides for their incoming students that include a list of apartments, real estate agents, things to do, and info about the neighborhoods near the university. These can often be found with some creative Googling and are very helpful when deciding where to live.
Referrals – Utilize your Penn network and connect with other Quakers who are living or have lived in your new city. Get their perspective on safe places to live, commute times, cultural amenities, and other factors that can shape your living experience.
Research – Check out websites that offer rating for apartments (such as ApartmentRatings.com) and you can search by area crime rates as well.

First Weekend – Now what?

It may seem daunting that first weekend in a new city when you don’t know many people, but look at it like you did freshman year and stay open to meeting people. Strike up a conversation with someone at the coffee shop or next to you in yoga class. Try a new interest through classes or meetup groups (cooking, art, exercise, professional groups). Visit local parks and look into activities like sports leagues or volunteer opportunities with a cause that is close to your heart. Before long, you will have a whole new social circle and many things to fill your free time.

Colleagues or Friends?

Always remember to be professional in your internship or new job. You may start with a group of people, so you will have some built in work contacts. If not, offer to take a colleague to lunch or coffee. If you have finished your assignments, offer to help someone. Listen and be genuinely interested in people.

Give it some Time

Acclimating to a new city is both an exciting and sometimes scary process. It may take you a few weeks or months to get into a new routine, but it will happen. Keep in mind that your social calendar requires more planning in the beginning. It’s okay to do some things on your own and be sure to diversify your group of friends, so you are not counting on one person to be your social life. If you feel a little lonely in the beginning, remember your friends and family are just a text, call, Skype, or email away.

Enjoy the Adventure

Moving can be an amazing adventure and can provide you with a number of stories. If you are not loving your new city, keep in mind it doesn’t have to be permanent and you can move again. But first, give it a year and your new city may turn into your new home. Have fun making friends and embracing the new experiences.

Creating a “Good Life”

“doing good work, having quality time for family and meaningful relationships, and the space to refresh the soul is about having a good life”

I recently read a new book, “Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time,” by Brigid Schulte, as part of a UPenn book group. That feeling of “overwhelm” can be felt and is true at so many life stages. You may be an undergrad making your way through a challenging summer of research or internship, a graduate student focusing on your thesis or dissertation, a recent grad striving to make a great start to your career, or like me an experienced professional trying to find balance – at every stage, there is just so much to accomplish, and the to-do list is NEVER done! And if you’re feeling that way too, trust that you’re not alone!

One particular quote from the book stood out to me – that “doing good work, having quality time for family and meaningful relationships, and the space to refresh the soul is about having a good life” (emphasis is mine).

So, in that spirit, regardless of your age or stage – have you observed the colors of the sky? Noticed a breeze across your face that swept away the summer heat? Watched a thunderstorm roll in? Taken a deep breath? Reached out to a friend or loved one for a conversation, short or long? Made time to do something you really love to do…to “play”?

You may not have the chance to do all this today, but I urge you to consider – what does your “Good Life” look like? May you have the good fortune to set aside a little time today to create it!

Something New for the Summer

by Julie Vick

For graduate students summer can be hectic and not the relaxing time from earlier years. Doctoral students may be teaching or TA-ing semester-length courses in five or six weeks, studying needed foreign languages or systems, participating in fieldwork, or designing and conducting lab-based research. Professional students may be interning with a company or not-for-profit to get a taste of their potential future work world.
Whether these warmer months find you doing “more of the same,” or doing something different and new to you, it’s important that you do a few other things:

Take a break from the here-and-now to focus on the future,
Do something fun and not related to schoolwork or career, and
Do something for someone else.

Following those steps will help you to feel both prepared and renewed when summer comes to an end and the semester starts up again.

Do something for your future

Build and maintain your network
- Reach out to previous employers, professors and others to let them know what you’re doing this summer
- Identify people who do work that interests you and conduct some information interviews
- Attend a networking event (or an event where you can meet new people) through your alma mater, employer, professional association or one organized for people in your urban area
- Keep track of all interactions and thank/acknowledge everyone who talks with you and/or provides advice or information
Think about your plans for next year
What else will you do in addition to coursework?
- Serve on a student group committee
- Help organize your graduate group’s symposium series
- Plan to attend Career Services programs and workshops and connect with a career advisor
If it’s your final year, when will you start your job search?

Do something that’s fun

Get away, even for just a weekend.
Do something physical. Perhaps you go to the gym everyday but try an outdoor activity. Being active outside – better still, being in nature –can rejuvenate you. Take a bike ride. Go hiking. Try canoeing or kayaking. There are bike trails and state parks closer than you think.

Do something for someone else

There are lots of opportunities to serve as a volunteer. If you’re not sure where to start, find out if there’s a volunteer activities coordinator at your institution. Just spending a morning helping to clean up an abandoned block, playing with a hospitalized child or reading to an infirm elderly adult can help you forget about the stresses in your life and bring some joy to someone else

Doing these things will renew you; renewing yourself will help you start the new school year off well.

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” ― William Shakespeare

Deadline Drama

by Beckie Stokes

So here we are, back from Thanksgiving break. Your food coma may not have even broken yet, but you’re already dangerously close to staring finals in the face. You’ve got just over a week until exams begin, and you may be wondering how you’re going to accomplish everything that needs to get done – especially when all you’re looking for is the light at the end of the semester. It’s time to start breaking down how you’re going to meet all these deadlines. What a good time to develop this skill! You’ll use it in your daily life in your career as well – unlike all those algebra/history/Greek mythology classes in high school that you swore you’d never use in the real world.* Here are some tips and tricks that have always helped me deal with my own deadlines.

List out everything that has to be done and categorize by priority. I like to make an “active” to-do list and a “backlog” to-do list. Limit the active list to 3 very important items. Once an “active” item is complete, move the next most important task from “backlog” to “active.”
Give yourself several smaller deadlines. Here’s where the lists come in handy. Assign a deadline to each item on the list. And be reasonable! Sure, you’d like to have all 300 pages of assigned reading done by tomorrow, but that’s probably not realistic. And then you’ll just feel more stressed out that you missed your deadline. Figure out how much time each task reasonably takes.
Make sure you’re clear on the requirements of the assignment. Nothing is worse than wrapping up a project and re-reading the syllabus only to find out that you have twice as much due than you’ve already done.
Avoid the roadblock of being overwhelmed. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I feel like a looming deadline is insurmountable, I shut down. It’s really hard to get moving again after you’ve had the “it’ll never get done, why even try” freak-out. So don’t let yourself get to that point. Practice stress-relief exercises – yoga, snack break with friends, you get the idea. Just don’t let your brief respites turn into procrastination (I’m looking at you, drawings of pterodactyls).

procrastination — Image: hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com

It’s such a good idea to develop effective project management skills now. You’re always going to have deadlines, you’re always going to have to collaborate on assignments (sometimes with people you don’t like very much), and you’re always going to need to figure out how to balance all these things without going completely crazy. It’s possible that your future boss will appreciate your dinosaur pictures, but just in case she doesn’t, learn now how to juggle deadlines like a professional.

*You totally use them in the real world. Greek mythology included.

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Sue Russoniello

Today, July 25, falls right in the middle of summer. I’m sure we all have fond memories of summers past….running freely around the neighborhood, spending time at the swim club or beach, attending camp, taking family vacations, visiting with grandparents. As a child, the hot days didn’t bother us. We were happy to be outside playing. We’d rush through dinner so we could spend another hour or two playing outside before the street lights went on, living the carefree life of a child, enjoying our “summer friends”.

Alas, as we grow up, we spend more time working than playing. Most of you are probably working this summer, either at a summer job to earn money for school expenses, or at an internship to help you choose your career path. However, even for those of us who have full time jobs, summer seems to be less demanding, and just plain fun.

I hope whatever you’re doing, it’s enjoyable, and you also finding time to relax and play outside of work. There is great value to changing your routine. It helps your clear your head and regroup. It lets you try something new, see different people, read books you don’t have time for during the school year, look at life from a different perspective.

Continue reading “Summertime and the Living is Easy”