Tag: post grad

An Honest Life Update

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Anxiety, goodnight
Hello, hello

I can’t sleep so I thought I’d hop on the blog and talk about what’s keeping me awake.

For starters, Brett is off on a boy’s trip to Oregon with his friends and it’s storming in Michigan. He’s tracking the weather from his trip but I’m still missing his constant stream of commentary every time it thunders. I’m having a really hard time sleeping without him even though I am enjoying having all the blankets to myself.

I’m also having some extreme anxiety about work. We are very understaffed at work which has lead me to working many long hours. I am fine putting in a lot of work because I know I am making an impact on our client’s lives but lately I cannot seem to catch up. The work keeps on piling up and even though I am working at a crazy fast pace I still can’t get everything done.

I am a perfectionist which is why I am good at my job. I like to take my time and make sure that everything is correct which is hard to do when I am cramming so many tasks into each day. I keep getting angry at myself that I can’t get more work done. I am physically and mentally exhausted by the time I walk to my car at the end of the day.

Today I also found out that I made a huge mistake back in July of 2017. Everyone keeps telling me that it’ll be okay but the problem is that I can’t even remember making the mistake. I’ve been so busy, angry, and frustrated that I haven’t had the time to dwell on anything.

So now I’m sitting in bed thinking about work and wishing that I had brought home my work laptop so I could get a jumpstart on my to-do list for tomorrow.

Does anyone know the definition of work-life balance? Because clearly I do not.

Tomorrow is another day and hopefully it will be better. I want to point out that I do love my job. It’s just busy season and I am still covering a maternity leave. It will get better. I will survive. My team is amazing and I am grateful for this job.

Wish me luck as I try to get some sleep tonight.

Goodnight, my friends! Let me know if you have any tips for falling asleep or anxiety.

 

Lifestyle Blog, Life of Hayley

 

Photo by Alex Jones on Unsplash

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5 Tips for Post-Grad Success

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5 Tips for Post Graduation Success

As a recent college graduate, I understand the highs and lows of post-grad life. Figuring out what your next step should be is a scary task. Let me start out by saying that everyone is different and what worked for me may not work for you. However, it is always nice to know that someone out there understands what you are going through.

So, here are 5 tips that worked for me in achieving post-grad success:

Step 1: Figure out what you want. This sounds hard but it’s really actually pretty simple. Start off by asking yourself if you want to continue your education or look at starting your career? Or maybe you want to take a year off and travel? The decision is completely up to you! I really thought that I wanted to pursue a Master’s degree after graduation. I studied, took the GMAT, thought my world was ending, and moved on. Grad school is not the right decision for everyone and it’s perfectly okay if you decide to move on.

Step 2: LinkedIn. I was lucky enough to start my LinkedIn during my sophomore year at college for a class. If you don’t have a LinkedIn, join! It’s really easy to setup your account and start connecting with your classmates, friends, co-workers, professors, etc. LinkedIn is an amazing job search tool but you should start one even if you are not currently searching for a job. It’s a great place to document your achievements and goals.

Step 3: Give yourself a break! This was a huge thing for me. I was so hard on myself after graduation. I had this picture in my head of all of the amazing things I wanted to do and I felt as though I had failed. Take the time after graduation to do some soul-searching. It’s okay to move in with your parents and figure some things out. I took a couple of months to enjoy life before hopping into the work grind. This may be the last time in your life to be selfish by just enjoying a little down time.

Step 4: Figure out your professional life. Invest in clothing and accessories that make you feel and look like an adult. I never wear makeup and rarely put any thought into my outfits but it’s nice to have a nice outfit to wear to an interview that makes me feel confident. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on clothes, start out small and buy basics that you can build on.

Step 5: Breathe. Everything will be okay even though right now it feels like your life is a giant mess. Just breathe. You will fall down a few times but as long as you are able to build yourself back up, everything will be okay.

I hope this helps! I cannot describe how much I struggled after graduation. But after over a year, I am successful in a job that I absolutely love! It’s in a field that I never imagined I would enjoy but I do. So hang in there, friends!

 

Image via Unsplash.

The Reason Why I Quit Blogging

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The Reason Why I Quit Blogging

Hello, friends! Today I thought that I would share the reason why I quit blogging for over a year.

I did mention back in the fall of 2015 that I was taking an Internet Marketing class that I had to start a blog for. So, Adventures of Hayley began and I hated every minute of it. The class was all about getting views, comments, and likes. I was obsessed with my blog stats and humiliated when I didn’t do well. My professor made us talk about our blogs in front of the class on a weekly basis and I hated comparing myself to others. I used to blog because I loved it but this project made me start to despise blogging.

Not only did I start to hate blogging, I also started to hate my major. I majored in Electronic Business Marketing. I thought that I wanted to go into Social Media Marketing after graduation. But as graduation quickly approached and my Internet Marketing class continued to depress me I realized that maybe I didn’t want to do what I thought. It was too late to change my major as I was about to graduate in spring so I just kept going.

After graduation I stopped blogging completely. I was confused about what I wanted to do with my life. I applied and interviewed for a few marketing positions but none of the prospects were very exciting. I eventually applied for a finance position on a whim and became very interested and invested in the position. After interviewing for three months, I finally started my new job in October of 2016.

After working for a while in finance I realized that I missed having a creative outlet.  I tried to start blogging again several times but it just didn’t feel right. I was also planning a wedding which took up most of my free time. Now that I am  a married woman I have once again found myself missing blogging.

So, that’s the story of why I quit blogging. I stopped focusing on the joy of blogging and only thought about the statistics. It’s okay to both enjoy the process of blogging and also enjoy watching your blog grow. But over my 4+ years of blogging I have encountered numerous roadblocks and have let myself get discouraged by them. I’d like to just enjoy the process of blogging from now on. I’d like to interact with other bloggers and re-join the amazing blogging community.

Thank you for reading!

 

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It’s Okay to be an Introvert

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It's Okay To Be An Introvert

 

Hello, again!

Last week I went to a training class for work and it got me thinking a lot about different personality styles. Where I work, most people seem to be extroverted. They all like gathering and socializing with each other. I, on the other hand, am an introvert so many times I feel like an outsider because I don’t always like to socialize. I find that talking sometimes drains my energy and makes me feel really tired.

I tried to explain this to a family member once and she basically told me to suck it up and made me feel like it’s not okay to be like this. For a long time I really beat myself up over it. I hated being the shy girl and feeling like an outcast all the time. I just wanted to make friends and be like everyone else. But as I have grown older I have realized that I cannot change the way I am. I just have to embrace my differences and communicate them to my co-workers and family members.

It’s almost been a year since I have been hired and I think people are finally starting to get it. I now have work friends and they have just come to understand that sometimes I do need my alone time to re-energize and re-group. I’m not being anti-social I just have different needs than they do.

I still remember my first day of work. I started my day with walking around the whole company and meeting the 100+ employees. We chatted and exchanged names and job roles. It was really nice to meet everyone and I am so glad I got to do it but the second I got home I went straight to bed. I was exhausted!

I know that I am not the only person who feels this way. I met another introvert at training and we talked about how hard it is to be this way in the corporate world. But we also talked about all of the amazing things too. I feel like I really understand how others are feeling, I am able to watch their emotions and put myself in their shoes. I just have time to really focus on others even though I seem stuck inside my own head.

I do understand that it is not always easy to be an extrovert either. All I am saying, is that sometimes this world makes it seem like it’s a bad thing to be an introvert. Like there is something wrong with you, but I have learned that it is okay. It’s okay to be an introvert. It’s okay to need alone time or to just want to sit and watch other people socialize. I can easily gain and lose energy from those around me so I am very careful with who I surround myself with.

I hope this helps you understand yourself a bit better or maybe someone that you know. Just remember, it may seem like someone is shy and “anti-social” but maybe they are really just more introverted than you are. It’s okay to not try to change who you are to fit a certain mold. Try to look at someone and really figure what makes them tick. It’s really insightful to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

I’m thinking about doing a post on tips for surviving the corporate world. Let me know if that sounds even remotely interesting and thanks again for reading!

 

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Image via Unsplash.