Life Out of Balance

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of hours the past six months of my life have gone into researching, setting up, developing, synching and maintaining social networking sites for work.

Not only have I learned an amazing amount of information about social networking and online marketing, the results are pleasing. We gained hundreds of friends, fans, followers, etc.; our blog traffic increased 282 percent from January through March; and our online presence has grown significantly.

Even though I have loved the process - give me a giant puzzle and let me figure it out! - and feel personally enriched by the knowlege I've gained and the results of my efforts, several things happened this week that made me realize the time I'm giving to work vs. time I'm giving to family, friends and myself is seriously out of balance.

From from this point forward, I vow to even the balance.

It's something I have to do. Period.

April Fool's Day Office Prank Earns Kudos

My career has led me to a great group of people who work hard and like to have fun, especially on April Fool’s Day.

The target of the big office joke this year was me and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

GULP!

Just before lunch, Amy told me her husband got a job in another city and they’re moving. I asked her if it was a joke and she said it was not. She was so sincere, I believed her.

I like Amy and our department is a great team. The thought of her leaving and our department changing brought tears to my eyes.

Lucky for the pranksters, this was a busy day and I didn't have time to think much about Amy's news and that it might be a joke.

During the drive back to the office after a lunch meeting, Laura and Amy assured me Amy's news was not a joke.

A couple hours after lunch, Gina came into my office, shut the door and sat down in the chair next to my desk. She was upset. Work is too stressful. She can’t keep up. She’s thinking about leaving.

“If I’m not good at this, maybe I should move on,” she said.

Gina is my pal and I hate to see her unhappy, and keep in mind I still thought Amy was leaving. If Gina left, too, that meant I was losing two office friends and an even bigger change was in store for our cohesive department. Also, Laura is expecting a baby - it's a boy! - in August, which meant I would have several weeks in the fall with two new co-workers and no boss.

I nearly cried again.

Gina couldn’t take my tears and clued me in on the joke.

I pretended, of course, to be mad, called them names and told them I’d get even.

The truth is, I’m proud of them. I’m the office prankster so for them to do such a good job of pulling a prank on me gets kudos. I'm also pleased they like me well enough to pull a joke on me.

Amy, Laura, Gina… that was a good one! I hope you had a great day and enjoyed your prank.

Amy

Laura

Gina