36 Hour Day on Shine

Hindsight is 20/20: What would you tell your younger self?

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I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly about my career. I started working as a journalist when I was 16 -- I mean working for pay, as opposed to on the school paper or something -- and I pursued my career goals with a single-mindedness that surprises me today, in retrospect.

I didn't really have a mentor, 15 or 20 years ago. I could have used one -- as a young woman, as a woman of color, as a journalist, as a professional. I could have used a primer on office politics (who couldn't?), some guidance on setting goals, a reminder that work-life balance is important even when the only think on the "life" side of the equation is yourself.

Here's some advice -- career or otherwise -- I wish I could tell my younger self:

How does your husband's work-life balance affect yours?

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I think that one of the reasons my own work-life balance is so awful is that my husband's is nearly nonexistent.

He's a multimedia editor, which often keeps him up editing video until the wee hours of the morning or has him out covering events at night or on weekends. I'm a newspaper editor by day who juggles a freelance writing career at night. We work for the same company, and we're parenting the same five kids. But he's dealing with a wrinkle that I don't: As a man, no one really expects him to be struggling with work-life balance.

Do you use Twitter? Here's why you should

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Confession: I've jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. And I really like it. Maybe as much as I like Facebook.

I started doing it as a way to promote some of my freelance writing, but pretty soon I was using it as a way to keep up with a few of my friends on the fly. In spite of my crazy-hectic life, I feel like I don't have all that much to say when a friend emails to ask "So, what have you been up to?" But with Twitter, I can fire off a status update into the ether, and read ones from my friends. It's like staying in touch without actually, you know, touching.

5 tips for making yourself more valuable to your company

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My company is talking layoffs, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stressed out about it. Who stays and who goes may come down to things we can't control -- seniority, for instance, or full-time vs. part-time status, or the number of people in a given job category. But there are a few variables that can be controlled, and they can make a big difference in how valuable you are as an employee: Dedication, visibility, and special skills.

Here are five tips for keeping up with the things you can still control.

5 tips for making yourself more valuable to your company

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5 non-financial ways to help a friend who's lost her job

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The axe is falling at my company right now, as it is at many, many others across the country. Understatement: This is a stressful time.

While I sit here with my fingers crossed and my heart in my throat, I've been thinking about other friends of mine in other industries who have lost their jobs. I'm hardly in a position to help much, given my own precarious situation. Or am I?

Support doesn't have to involve money, and you don't have to be in a position to hire in order to help someone else get back on their feet. Here are five simple things you can do to help a friend who has been laid off:

Quiz: Do you work for a bad boss?

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Let me start off by saying that I don't. My bosses (more than one job = more than one boss) are pretty great, and I feel very lucky because, about a decade ago, I had one that wasn't.

That water has long gone under the bridge, but still I wish I had noticed the problem earlier -- or, at least, felt confident enough to question what I was experiencing. Bad bosses aren't as glaringly obvious as Bill Lumbergh from Office Space ("Aahh, now, are you going to go ahead and have those TPS reports for us this afternoon?"). It can take years to recover from one professionally, not to mention emotionally; bad bosses can really do a whack job on your self esteem.

Brush up your skills or learn something new -- for free

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With the economic outlook plummeting and the cost of tuition on the rise, now is the perfect time to go online to further your education or supplement your child’s.

You won’t be able to earn an actual degree for free, but if you’re trying to increase your expertise at the office, wondering…

How often do you clean out your inbox?

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I've been trying to get organized -- quite a feat for the self-proclaimed Queen of Procrastination and Duchess of Lazy Perfectionism -- and since my desks at work and at home are just too much to tackle right off the bat, I've decided to take it slow and clean out my inboxes, clearing out the virtual clutter instead of piles of paperwork I really should be sorting through and throwing away.