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Table of Contents | July Issue
Upcoming Events
The 2007 Administrative Professional Certification Week Project Management and Event Planning Certification Week Office Management for Administrative Assistants The 2007 Administrative Professionals Certification Week Discount Pass Info: As a subscriber to The Monthly Perk, you are eligible to receive $100 off* the tuition of any administrative management training or conference hosted by The Performance Institute or The American Strategic Management Institute. Use the code KA-Newsletter when registering to receive the Newsletter Discount. *This discount may not be used in addition to any other discounts offered by The Performance Institute.
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Seven Ways to be Happier at Work You spend at least 40 hours of your week at work and even more time if you consider commuting and preparation time. If you’re spending many of your waking hours on the job, it’s important to be happy while you’re there. E-mail that Gets your Message Across In this new age of technology, when e-mail is the preferred and fastest means of communication, how your message is perceived is extremely important. What e-mail lacks is the personal nature of tone, which can be heard in a voice, making word structure, that much more important. Five Personality Traits for Success There are certain skills that most successful people possess which help with their ascension to the top. Our partner DeskDemon outlines; emotional intelligence, persistence/confidence, creativity, ability to handle fear and an inquisitive nature as the most important.
Fun Fact:
The average human will eat 8 spiders while asleep in their lifetime.
Q: Dear Heather, I've been working as an administrative professional at my company for five years. I really like the work I do, the people there (generally speaking) and the company, itself. The only problem is that my boss just hired another administrative assistant and we are already off to a rocky start. I was excited at first because I had too much work by myself and was feeling really stressed out, but the new girl has become such a nightmare! She is just out of college and does my usual tasks much faster because she is faster on the computer. She has really impressed my boss and I am feeling very competitive. I’ve been here so much longer and she doesn’t respect me at all. I want to get along with her but she is just so defensive and such a suck-up, know-it-all. I can’t stand her and I can’t stand how obsessed my boss is with her. How can I stop feeling so jealous and competitive? This has come out of no where – I usually don’t feel competitive at all. Thanks!
Fun Fact:
New Orleans is called the Crescent city because the city proper is shaped like a crescent. City of the Month: New Orleans, Louisiana Reluctant Ex-Resident By Nicole Cathcart
Home to many of the city’s universities, including Tulane, Loyola and Xavier, a ride (or streetcar ride) through uptown’s main street, St. Charles Avenue affords views of some of the city’s most beautiful and lavish homes. With a stunning oak canopy, the street ends at Canal Street, which marks the beginning of the Quarter. While in Uptown, visit the beautiful Audubon Park and take in some of the architecture. Restaurants Lebanon’s Cafe
Jacques-Imo Cafe
Le Bon Temps Roule Maple Leaf Bar The Club/ Ms. Mae's Tipitina's
The old and most beautiful section of the city, the Garden District is home to New Orleans’ greatest homes. Take a walking or driving tour through this small section of the city to see some of the most beautiful architecture (and very interesting history!) New Orleans has to offer. Some of the classic New Orleans hotels are in this area, too—check out The Columns and The Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles Avenue. In the Garden District, make some time for a New Orleans cemetery tour of Lafayette Number 1 (don’t go alone or at night), a truly unique aspect to the city before you get some of the famous Turtle soup at Commander’s Palace. Or shop on Magazine Street around Louisiana Avenue after having some of Rue De La Course’s delicious coffee.
Bluebird Cafe Commander’s Palace Juan's Flying Burrito Bars Avenue Pub Igor's Lounge The Half Moon
Infamous for Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras, visiting the Quarter truly feels like stepping into an old European city with its cobblestone streets and old-world architecture. Dirty, beautiful, spirited and original, this is the heart of the city and there is rarely a dull moment. Visit Jackson Square to see the famed cathedral (and have your portrait drawn or fortune told by one of the many artists and tellers crowding the square day and night), and then pop over to the Central Grocery on Decatur for the best Mufalletas (plus some Zapp’s and Barq’s for the whole experience) in the city or if it’s late at night (or early in the morning), don’t miss the Café Au Lait and Beignets, made fresh to order 24 hours a day at Café DuMonde.
Acme Oyster & Seafood House Brennan's Cafe Du Monde Central Grocery Court of Two Sisters Gumbo Shop
Well, to be honest, I’m not a fan of most Quarter bars, especially those on Bourbon. Tacky and tourist-filled, the occasional flash and beads throwing (which is not acceptable to locals outside of Mardi Gras season) are perhaps good to experience once by a walk down Bourbon Street, but the true gems are more fun. Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Napoleon House Bar & Cafe Pat O' Brien's Preservation Hall Although these are technically in the Faubourg-Marigny, which is on the east side of the Quarter, after Esplanade Street, Frenchman Street and the immediate area has some of the best bars in the city. Among them are: Checkpoint Charlie's d.b.a. R Bar Spotted Cat
Fun Fact:
The nickname "The Big Easy" comes from the city's history of jazz and was the name of a dance hall in the early 1900s.
Research tells us that two out of every three people are dissatisfied with their job. Why do they stay in a job they don't like? Probably because it easier to stay than it is to go and look for another job. They're stuck in a rut. I once heard a story about a woman who walked by a certain house every day. There was a man on the porch, and a dog lying at his feet. Every day the woman heard the dog moaning and groaning, clearly uncomfortable. One day, the woman asked the man, "Why is your dog always moaning?" The man said, "He's lying on a nail." That dog was uncomfortable, but just not quite uncomfortable enough to actually get up and move. That's what it's like to be stuck in a rut. You're not really happy, but you're not quite unhappy enough to make a change. We're afraid of the unknown, and we will choose the devil we know over the devil we don't know.
Fun Fact:
The average person eats 2000 pounds of food per year. Recipe of the Month: Chicken Riggies 1 stick butter, melted |
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Heather L. Fallon serves as the Director for the Center for Administrative Management at the Performance Institute. Have a question for next month? Please e-mail Heather at: 
Rhonda Scharf, CSP, has worked in the trenches of office administration. She knows the unique stresses, challenges, workload and management issues you face every day. Then, fifteen years ago, Rhonda found herself ON THE RIGHT TRACK. Rhonda is an administrative professionals expert and delivers entertaining motivational and educational training programs and keynote speeches.