Just when I barely get the Facebook thing figured out a lot of my friends have moved on to Twitter. When I first heard about Twitter awhile ago, I thought: Why would anyone ever want to do it? I thought there was no way this medium would become huge. There has to be a limit to how many ways people expose their lives to the world, no? I was wrong.

In case you don't know, Twitter is a social network where you can update your current status throughout the day with messages up to 140 characters in length. By "your current status" I mean what you are currently doing, with whom, what you are reading, what you are thinking, what you are eating, what ... and so on. You get the idea. Naturally, it will get boring pretty quickly if you update it with gems like:

• Jowita is at work
• Jowita is writing her blog
• Jowita is halfway through writing her blog
• Jowita will have lunch in 15 minutes
• Jowita is going out for lunch

(See how crushingly uninteresting this thing can get?)

In the article How Twitter Can Help at Work, Sarah Milstein, a Web 2.0 consultant, talks about some productive ways people are using Twitter accounts to make work connections and build up their businesses. Instead of posting mindless recitations of their day-to-day doings, they share ideas and use it to get feedback, run contests, repost others' great ideas and, of course, network. Twitter is not for everybody and certainly it will take up time, but if you're looking for more ways to stay connected in the work world give it a try.

Ttyl

Jowita

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Length of Ring Finger May Equal More Cash is the type of article that makes me really question some academic research. I cannot understand how research on such nonsense is justified or, adequately, why we research the obvious (people who watch ads for junk food are more likely to eat unhealthy snacks).

I used to be more than familiar with these types of studies when I did my undergrad in psychology. We were often reading about one study or another that either measured something obvious or completely pointless. (The more "successful" studies can get rewarded by Ig Nobel Prize -- "a parody of the Nobel Prizes given each year in early October to 10 achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think.")

I recall reading many news articles about studies that measured things like the influence of height or hair colour on career success. In the article University of the Bleedin' Obvious in the Times Online a couple of the more "brilliant" studies are discussed. Some of these are:

• "Parents whose children will not eat vegetables can succeed in disguising them in other dishes by mushing them up," according to research by Penn State University.
• "Heaps of long string always end up in knots" was discovered by the physics department, at the University of California at San Diego when scientists put string in a box and shook it.

ttyl

Jowita (who, it was proven, gets more sleep on weekends when she doesn't have to go to work)

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I was perhaps the most resistant of my group of girlfriends to get on Facebook. I already had a MySpace page that I found used way too much of my time, and I've had more than my share of abandoned blogs bouncing around in the ether on the World Wide Web. Truthfully I find the need to constantly keep up with technology time-consuming and, well, tiresome. But I know that it is, at worst, a necessary evil and, at best, simply a way to keep up with learning about media ...

In the blog article Tech Terms Every Media Relations Professional Should Know the author, Heidi Sullivan, lists a number of terms that she says "impact public relations and media research in a significant way, along with a brief definition for reference." (I think these terms are useful for lots of office workers as computers are practically staple office furniture.) I was happy to see that I knew most of the terms but then I panicked at the thought that a year (or sooner!) from now, I'll have to know even more terms. I felt like this learning is never going to end ... Then I cheered up because I reminded myself that this is the beauty of learning -- it's never a thing of the past, it is always ongoing.

ttyl

Jowita

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When I was in Girl Scouts (many, many eons ago) we had a lot of tasks that went beyond selling cookies. We had to visit orphanages and deliver meals on wheels among other things. Although it was very honourable of us to volunteer for such tasks I remember being scared and uncomfortable with all of it and wished I had a grown-up around to help me out.

So, on the one hand I do understand why parents would sell Girl Guide (or Girl Scout) cookies for their kids. The article Girl Scout Cookie-Pushing Ethics at the Office mentions that parents sell cookies at work to save their daughters time and to boost their egos as well as to prevent them from wandering around strange neighbourhoods.

On the other hand, I think that selling cookies for your kids is a questionable practice that can create tension in the workplace. My co-worker pointed out that it is quite annoying to work with moms who push their kids' business onto you and pressure you to support their kids' causes. Of course, you are going to buy those cookies -- you don't want to be seen as cold-hearted and cheap. And, of course, you are not going to complain about it.

I once worked in a place where we had to chip in for the birthday party of the boss' daughter. Everyone gave $5 even though we'd never met the kid and were not invited to the party. It was quite unsettling.

ttyl

Jowita

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It's been a long, snowy winter. It seems every winter is long and snowy but this one seemed to be particularly overdressed in white. There is only a few more weeks of winter left (hopefully!) but the snow still prevails in many parts of the country and is driving many people absolutely nuts.

One week this winter when our neighbours were away, my partner and I both felt under the weather so neither of us plowed the driveway for some time. We still cleared the sidewalk but that was as far as our efforts went. I kept wondering if I'd have to eventually enter my house through a tunnel as there was no sign of the snowfall stopping and neither of us felt up to the challenge of shovelling.

In the article Montreal Snowplow Driver Suspended for Burying Car the CBC news reported on a snowplow driver's revenge after a man refused to move his car to make way for the snowplows. (Go read the full story to see how that played out.) I've always heard about people going crazy in the summer from all the heat ... I even remember reading something about how murder rates were higher in August than in any other month. But this cold rage is definitely something new. As I said, there are still at least a few more weeks to go before all the snow's gone. In the meantime, don't lose your cool over it.

ttyl

Jowita

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It's interesting that this sort of article keeps coming up -- how to behave on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace. Online interactions aren't going away anytime soon. And because they're not going away any time soon they are becoming a part of our lives where our professional behaviour can be affected by our personal conduct. Still, surprisingly, people keep making the old mistakes of revealing way, way too much: posting drunk pictures of themselves, making risky comments about their place of work or about their co-workers and opening their pages to the public by being too lenient with their privacy settings.

In the blog article Top 10 tips on How to Avoid a Professional Embarrassment on Facebook the author, Heidi Sullivan, gives some priceless advice on how to behave in the virtual world. For example, she writes: "Check social networking sites often. I am always surprised at how much activity has occurred around my pages if I don't check Facebook or MySpace for a few days. If you neglect one of these sites, friends might be tagging you in photos that everyone shouldn't see, writing about your nights out on the town or worse. Keep up-to-date on what they are saying and doing by logging in regularly. You can also set up email notifications to inform you when there's activity on the page."

Go read the rest and learn the rules!

ttyl

Jowita

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I worked at this one place where I had a female supervisor who was a bully. She repeatedly withheld my (copywriting) drafts so that the boss above us both thought I was doing nothing -- I found this out later. I didn't get it at first and thought something else was going on (that they were just slow/extra careful), but then I realized she didn't want me there. (I was hired to eventually replace her so that she could move onto other projects -- I'm guessing she wasn't keen on moving on though).

Karma is a sweet thing -- two weeks after I left that place, the entire team got canned -- the client was frustrated with the ongoing incompetence.

When I read A Sisterhood of Workplace Infighting (you might have to register to read it) I immediately thought back to that time, remembering how shocked I was when I realized my supervisor was trying to undermine me. But, according to this article, it's not that uncommon for women to be competitive and abusive toward each other in the workplace.

The article mentions a recent study by the Workplace Bullying Institute that found that female bullies aim at other women more than 70 per cent of the time while male bullies "tend to be equal-opportunity tormentors." The article says that some people believe this happens because women don't want to be accused of favouritism toward other females. Expecting women to be universally supportive is not a solution, Peggy Klaus writes in the article, but, women should "start treating one another not worse or better, but simply as well as we already treat the guys -- or better yet, the way we want our nieces, daughters, granddaughters and sisters to be treated."

ttyl

Jowita

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Naturally we all feel a little more fragile these days thanks to the ongoing economy scare. Lately, it's nerve-wracking just to read the headlines -- jobs going out the window, people stressed out at work and worrying about the future -- and it doesn't seem that this phase will end any time soon.

We really can't do much about the economy, but we can help ourselves get through this period as unscarred as possible. The article Top Stress Busters for the Knowledge Worker in Tough Times talks about different ways of handling stress at work. For example, the article recommends devoting set times to answering emails or phone calls and distinguishing between tasks that are really important or merely urgent.

The article also suggests a great way to create a meaningful version of success by asking yourself three magic questions. These are:

1. "What are my top talents? (These aren't so much acquired abilities, but innate skills you are born with but may be suppressing.)
2. What do I really value? (This does not mean what you were taught by elders, parents or religious institutions, but what it is that's most important to you.)
3. What brings me joy?"

By figuring out what is truly important to you at work, you may be able to shed the many unnecessary tasks that stress you or waste your time and this may ultimately help you to advance in your career.

ttyl

Jowita

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I always loved those stories of great personal success -- the poor girl who becomes a movie star, the shy high school dropout who builds a multimillion-dollar enterprise. It's good to read those sorts of stories for inspiration -- especially now that so many people have to think about second careers and ways to invent and re-invent themselves.

A while ago, I interviewed Dufflet Rosenberg on the 30th anniversary of Dufflet Pastries. I remember being really impressed with the delicious treats that the company made but what truly amazed me was Rosenberg's own story of success. She began working out of her mother's house, staying up all night baking and delivering apricot squares to private clients and women's clubs during the day. Today, Dufflet Pastries supplies more than 500 specialty retailers and restaurants.

In the article Re-inventing Yourself: The Ultimate Balancing Act, you'll find more stories similar to that of Rosenberg's. The article links to videos in which three people discuss how they ended up being so successful.

ttyl

Jowita

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I had a job where I cried at my desk. More than once. I didn't let anyone see me but losing control in this rather public place worried me. I cried because my job was not only stressful but also strangely unrewarding -- if anything, the better my teammates and I did, the more the management tried to ignore it. Years later I found out that most of my former co-workers (who are no longer there) had similar experiences. Some hid in the bathroom to let it all out and one woman regularly went for what she referred to as "cry-and-drive."

In the column What If My Job Makes Me Sick? advice columnist Joe Grimm discusses toxic work environments. The woman who wrote Grimm for advice is a newspaper reporter working in a toxic newsroom. Grimm suggests that she looks for other jobs, including options related to newspaper reporting as this is not exactly a growth industry these days.

This is great advice. Sometimes we think there's no way out of a situation because we can't come up with solutions by ourselves. Most of the people who worked with me at the place where I cried at my desk ended up getting jobs in related fields. Only three of them continued doing the same line of work after leaving. Was quitting the toxic place a good decision? Well, the bottom line is, not one of us is crying at our desks any more.

ttyl

Jowita

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