How Elvis Helped Me Get My Work-Life Balance Back

by Jared on May 3rd, 2008

At about 5:30 this morning, my Treo buzzed me awake with a message from my friend and future roommate. She had decided against taking our planed trip to the Kentucky Derby Infield with the rest of our business school friends and wanted to know if that would affect my plans?

Not being the biggest fan of mud-filled fields of loud, drunken horseracing fans myself; I was inclined to agree with her course of action. The problem was that after weeks of intense work culminating in exams, I was counting on this trip to get me out of Nashville for the day.

After a couple of text exchanges, we agreed that a road trip of some magnitude was in order. Our destination, we decided, was Memphis. Only about 200 miles away, we could hit up Graceland, the Mississippi River and some of the best barbeque in the south - all while fulfilling the need to get us the heck out of here.

I have to say the trip was incredible from a lot of different angles. For instance, you know how they say, “getting there is half the fun?” Well, in this case the fun was discovering strange quirks about my future roommate.These quirks would include her affinity for singing along to Taylor Swift and her eerie ability to detect Wal-Mart stores from just about any distance. Seriously, it was creepy.

At the end of the day though, I was kind of left feeling that the trip had lacked somehow? We had a blast, we talked, we dove into some great ribs on Beale Street and yet I am still not feeling that the trip did the trick. Somehow, I needed more.

Business school, it turns out, essentially takes a lot more than hard work. It takes an almost maniacal identification with your chosen course of study. Simply stated; I didn’t have any work to do so even the most awesome road trip I have taken in years failed to validate me.

This is a problem that I think all of us have from time to time and though it’s not something to call a shrink over (yet), it’s still important to bring it to light. Honestly, as soon as I realized the problem, I was able to adjust my frame of reference. Instead of thinking of all the things I didn’t have to do – I looked for things OTHER than work that I could busy myself with this evening; writing my thoughts down on this blog being one of them.

The point is that just like “The King” and his life, you can’t let a job like getting drafted into the Army keep you from enjoying yourself. As I think back on today and the immense fun I had strolling the grounds of Graceland, I really am thankful for the ability to soak it all in. It turns out - that’s the only important thing; that I did it, enjoyed myself and get to take those experiences back with me whenever I do decide to get back to work. For now, I get to keep them to myself, and anyone that wants to see the photos.

That story being told; how do you approach this issue? How do you approach a problem like this of work-life balance?

Technorati Tags: beale street, elvis, memphis, road trip, work-life balance

Battle for The 20-Somethings

by Jared on September 1st, 2006

One of things I am most proud of on 20-Something Marketing is that we have become more than just an exploration of 20-something marketers’ work-life and careers, but also a defender of the idea that young professional consumers are not always a bunch of fad-crazed, slacker fashion zombies.

You can then imagine my delight when I picked up the Wall Street journal today to find a feature on how clothing retailers are targeting Millennials as they did when they were teens. (Synopsis: Retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters are now creating one-off brand lines to sell over-priced versions of their teenie-bopper clothing to the 20-something’s that had made up their client base 5-10 years ago…sort of like Pampers making adult incontinence diapers.)

The icing on the cake for the article was that the referenced 20-Something Inc, a marketing consulting group specializing in teaching companies how to target the Gen Y and Millennials market. This means that every Tom, Dick & Harriet marketer interested in how to sell useless, soulless junk to our market segment is going to be seeking them out. I am also willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that more than one lands on this site as 20-Something Inc. has the homepage, www.twentysomething.com.

To those of you who do land on this page by mistake, just remember when you ASSUME all 20-somethings are created equal, don’t be offended if I tell you to go back to watching PBS and drinking your Ensure…

PS - David Morrison, we should talk, buddy…

The Friday Line: The Technology Importafication of 20-Somethings

by Jared on July 21st, 2006

On my way to work today, I was playing with my handy Treo 650, whilst my boyfriend (yes, more on this later you reality-blog junkies) was reveling in the joy of his new crackberry. Although I can give you 1,000 reasons why we love those little gadgets, I had to ask myself; is there anything that critical in either of our jobs that requires a 24/7 tether to the office?

It reminds of playing in those miniature toy cars as a kid. Remember them? Gleefully, we pretended our motor sounds were the real thing as we rolled back and forth down our parent’s driveways but ultimately the Indy-500 was all in our heads.

Flash foreword a couple of decades and it seems like we’re still pretending - doesn’t it? I mean, it sure does help to be able to respond to a co-worker who wants to know where we are ordering lunch for the next day, but are we using technology to make us look more important than we really are?

I mean, how many times have we been ticked of by someone furiously typing away at their device underneath the dinner table just to turn around and do the same ourselves? Let me tell you folks, if you think attention spans are short now; just wait until we actually DO have things that require our immediate attention!

Something tells me that if we want to remain sane enough to see us through our 30’s, we need to at least recognize that there is technology, then there is technology importafication.

Which came first folks; the crack or the crackberry?

20SMF Episode #43 - The Office Politick

by Jared on June 22nd, 2006

Show Description:
U.S. News and World Report Contributing Editor, Dr. Marty Nemko drops by the show to engage in a discussion of office politics and shares his unvarnished opinions on work-life balance and getting ahead of drama in the modern workplace.

Show Notes:
I) 20SMF Nominated For A Marketing Sherpa Award - VOTE NOW
II) Interview With Dr. Marty Nemko, US News And World Report Contributing Careers Editor
III) Game Plan: Powerful Perception

Referenced Links:
MartyNemko.com - 500 Free Career and Office Place Politics Articles
20SMF Nominated For A Marketing Sherpa Award - VOTE NOW
Win At Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul - By Marty Nemko

Podcast:

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Ultimate Work-Life Survey Results Document

by Jared on May 26th, 2006

The topline results for the ultimate worklife survey!

Click Here To Download It!

20SMF Episode #39 - The State of the 20-Something (Part II)

by Jared on May 25th, 2006

Show Description:
The work-life survey results are in! Part II of the State of the 20-Something finds us picking up with the quantitative analysis of 20-somethings including what they look for in a boss, what drives them, and the lessons they say they learned in life!

Show Notes:
I) Recap of Part I
II) Analysis of Work-Life Survey Respondents
III) Lifestyle - Work Hard; Play Hard
IV) Working Styles & What We Look For In Bosses
V) Game Plan: What we learned in the first year or so of our jobs

Referenced Links:
TalentZoo.com – Our New Career & Broadcast Partner
20SMF Listener Survey –Take Our Listener Survey

Podsafe Music:
Daniel Link - 4 AM Slam Over Coffee
Podcast:

Right Click And ‘Save As’ To Download Full Show

or…send to your mobile phone:

20SMF Episode #37 - The State of The 20-Something (Part I) - UPDATED

by Jared on May 11th, 2006

Show Description:
Part I of our STATE OF THE 20-SOMETHING series examining the hearts and minds of modern young professional both psychologically and quantitatively. This week we interview Marcos Salazar (Author of the Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide) talk about the HUD ad contract scandal and benefits of going home once in a while.

Show Notes:
I) Back From Nola, HUD Scandal, Special Event for DC Metro Area Listeners
II) Interview w/Marcos Salazar, Author of the Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide
III) Game Plan: Maybe its time to take a trip?

Podsafe Music:
Calvin Owens - “Coffee Man”

Referenced Links:

• Amazon.com - The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide: Figuring Out Who You Are, What You Want, & Where You’re Going After College
• Marco’s Blog - TurbulentTwenties.com
• District Tees

Podcast:

Right Click And ‘Save As’ To Download Full Show

or

Travel Log - Day 3: Check-In After Conference

by Jared on May 8th, 2006

Short commentary on what I did once the conference was over on friday, also debuted…the hat!

Click Here To View Video