Author: Kathy Husser (Tempe)

Kathy Husser is a Tempe librarian and educator who enjoys travel and learning about our global cultures. With post pandemic traveling open up more and more, Kathy wants to share resources for family friendly getaways and fun trips to meet your vacation needs. She enjoys gardening, the outdoors and cooking too!

Categories
career Health

Happiness Hacks

Yellowstone Lake - Nature is rejuvenating
Wishing you calm and happiness this season

After the past two years, we are all looking for happiness and contentment in our “post pandemic” lives. Read on for simple happiness hacks that are proven to work to bring joy into your life.

Social Connections

Creating social connections and other positive habits, research has shown, rewires your brain toward positivity and success.  Known as positive intelligence, the research points to the happiness and consistent habits leading you toward successful outcomes.

It can be as simple as journaling three happy thoughts of gratitude daily. In addition, reaching out to your friends and family to find support has shown to improve happiness levels. Give it a try for a few weeks and see the results. Think what you could gain.

Gratitude

This leads to the next hack and that is showing gratitude daily. No matter your circumstances, you have reasons to be grateful. After reading, Thank and Grow Rich from an article I read in Elephant Journal, my life was changed. This simple exercise of looking for the positive and being grateful every day is easy to make a habit.

The book is filled with funny, well-written, real-life examples of the world opening up when you show gratitude. Just like the saying goes, “Open yourself up and the world provides.” (Or something like that.) But you get the idea.

In addition, the book, “The Secret” is also written along those same lines. While this book is more spiritual in nature, the message is the same. You need to be grateful and present by asking for what you want, and it comes to you. The opportunities present themselves to you to fulfill those needs.

Resilience

Finally, another common aspect of happiness is resilience. If nothing else, the pandemic has given us skills to succeed in the face of uncertainty. These skills build a resilient mind, body, and drive you to keep moving forward. Finally, resilient people are happier, more confident and see the positive even during difficult challenges.

Furthermore, it has been proven, no matter your social standing or economic means. It’s like your muscles, to build them up, you need to use them daily! You need to build a resilient attitude, then you will lead a happier and more content life.

Give a few of the happiness hacks a try and practice them daily. You will be glad you did!

More living well tips at be found on my personal website: KathyHusserTempe.com

Categories
career Library Jobs

Work Balance

Yellowstone Lake - Nature is rejuvenating
Wishing you calm and happiness this season

With the pandemic came a greater need to understand work life balance and how it affects families. Read on for ideas to keep your career on track and a healthy balance at home.

Stop Multitasking

Women are more prone to multitask more than men. However, none of us can complete two tasks at once. You end up doing two tasks, half-way or having to redo something else. In other words, focus on one thing at a time. Whether it’s answering email, phone calls, or watching your kid’s soccer game. Do one and only one thing at a time.

You’d be amazed how much you can accomplish if you concentrate on one task, complete it, and move on.  I’m a mom too, so I understand the feelings.  Stop multitasking now for a healthier lifestyle.

Lists Are Your Friends

Write down what you need to do. Whether it’s in your google calendar, a paper list, or in Notes; write it down. When you write something down, it gives your brain permission to move on. You are not “holding on” to the item in your head. You can clear the way for other tasks that come up.

It might be important to pick up dog food or prepare for a work meeting but don’t give each task equal importance. Write it down and cross it off when completed.  Have a work list and home list to keep things simple or color code your task list.

Plan Time to Relax

Just as you would plan for your work meeting, block off down time at home. As a super achiever this is important, so you don’t burn out. Self-care and taking time for yourself is the most important task you can do for your family and you.

Your immune system will thank you and your gratitude level will increase with self-care. If you find it difficult to “unwind” check out some reaffirming daily reminders to help.  Having reminders of what you have, (not what you don’t) is the very best method to find peace in life.

Pets

Finally, get a dog or cat for companionship. Research has shown that petting a dog or cat reduces a human’s anxiety level immediately. Pets are relaxing and allow you to focus on something other than work or other distractions. Taking care of an animal opens up empathy for other creatures and nurturing skills.

For more living well ideas check my personal website: KathyHusserTempe.com

 

Categories
Librarian & Entrepreneurship Library Jobs Library Leadership

Goalsetting for Your Career

Single hand holding a small book in a library.
Read up and start opening up your mind.


Goalsetting is a useful tool to guide your career in any industry, especially in libraries. Read on for tools to help in setting goals and developing your career plan for future growth. With work- place cultures changing due to COVID, realigning your goals now might be right for you.

Gap Analysis

A standard gap analysis determines your current status, and where you’d like to end up. The gap or what’s missing is in the middle. Does this gap need to be filled with education, another job, increased salary, or a new geographic asset? Only you can determine what is the most important factor and how to obtain your goal. Having your plan benchmarked with SMART goals and establishing a plan to close gaps will get you there. Smaller goals should build upon one another to fill the gaps and ultimately help you achieve your main career objective.

Mentors

Finding a trusted mentor you can rely on will help in your career plan. Finding more than one will help even more, especially if a few are outside of your industry. Jobs and careers are made with relationships and connections. Networking and finding mentors might be a little more difficult with more industries working remotely. However, volunteering for service events, attending conferences, and adding value in your current job, position you as a leader. Mentors are drawn to natural leaders, so just ask if you feel a connection with a colleague. The more genuine connections you make with people, the more likely you will find someone to help you.

Use LinkedIn

Finally, use LinkedIn and use it a lot. If your partner’s career dictates your geographic location and possibly your career goals now, then pivot. What I mean is, what smaller achievements can you accomplish which will help you get toward that larger career goal. Think about teaching, volunteering, or shadowing someone in your desired industry or job. Anything to make yourself more valuable to a future employer will help you in the long run. To overcome a geographic obstacle be sure to link with colleagues in your desired location. You never know what opportunities might open or when you might make a physical move.

Having a career plan is a way to keep your goals on track, yet flexible for life. Especially with the pandemic having families rethink priorities, having a career plan in place will make you feel more in control of your future. Best of luck!

Categories
career Librarian & Entrepreneurship

Stress Free Work

Tan and black French Bulldog with red harness
Get a pet to provide a stress free work environment.

The last two years has changed the way we work, learn, and interact with friends and colleagues. Read on for easy habits to help you develop resilience when working remotely.

Mindfulness

Working remotely can be lonely and even isolating if you work from another state or country. Develop a habit of clearing your mind every morning before work begins. It’s as simple as writing a To Do list and clearing your brain.

Furthermore, when you clear your mind, you are physically ready to meet challenges from work. I’m thinking examples such as, technology issues, connectivity hiccups or a very long  Zoom meeting.  Making room for these challenges enables your mind to tackle extra problems easier and be more efficient.

Get a Pet

Having a pet at your remote working location has many health benefits. Research has shown that dogs and cats reduce your heart rate, provide companionship, and alleviates feelings of isolation.

Having a cat is easier if your schedule is not as rigid. Cats can be left alone for a day or two with food and water. While dogs, require more one on one care, especially during the puppy years. Walks, playtime, and regular meals are what dogs need to thrive. The love and attention pets provide you will outweigh the time needed to provide for a healthy work companion.

Make a Major Change

With the Great Resignation a reality, consider living your dream.  What career would make you happy?  What home or lifestyle change would fulfill an unmet need in you? This is a personal, more introspective step to take, but very beneficial especially if you feel “stuck.”

Making a major change in your life, to fulfill something burning inside is a bold step. To fulfill the life you envision is life changing, to say the least. If you are not a risk taker, this can be scary. Make sure your family is on board and you have a support system in place. Finally, having a financial plan is especially important for a major change to occur and be successful.

Working remotely will not solve all your problems or make some people happier. It’s up to you understand your individual needs and live the life you desire. We all have responsibilities, but if there’s a will there’s a way.  Best of luck living your dream!

Follow me for more living well tips: KathyHusserTempe.com

Categories
career Health

Improving Your Growth Mindset

Single hand holding a small book in a library.
Read up and start opening up your mind.

The term “growth mindset” is a term leaders and entrepreneurs use to discuss learning, success, and a way toward achieving goals. What is growth mindset and how can you improve it?

Flexible Thinking

The opposite of growth mindset is a fixed mindset. According to Gemma Leigh Roberts, life coach and psychologist, building mental agility and resilience is necessary to learn from life’s challenges. In other words, turning obstacles into learning opportunities, no matter how small, is growth mindset.  This flexible way of thinking and looking at life is a growth mindset.  Like any skill, growth mindset can be learned with practice.

This new perspective allows you to explore and test new ideas creating innovation and internal confidence to achieve just about anything. Whether it’s long-term goals in your career or life, the first step is being able to stretch your thinking. Knowing you can continue to develop skills, learn new ideas, and change your perspective. This will enable you to reach your potential and create cohesive teams as a leader. The first step is to develop a plan.

Develop a Plan and Practice

To cultivate your new mindset of growth and learning, you need to practice. Practice switching your perspective to take in new experiences and draw from those lessons. Being optimistic and taking risks to discover new concepts is crucial to adapting life-long learning behaviors.

To develop a personal mindset plan you will need to:

  • be flexible in your thinking
  • stretch your current abilities for achievable goals
  • establish objectives which are measurable toward those goals
  • ask for feedback along the way

Asking for feedback is so important to realize if real growth has happened, since as human beings, we have unconscious bias.

Clear and Measurable  

Being very clear in your objectives, making them quantifiable and detailed. This will provide a roadmap for your growth plan. If things don’t work out, then you must take those lessons and apply them to the next project or plan. The key to success for true evolution as a leader is taking those “disappointments” and learning from them.

Being truly resilient will lead you down a happier life path. Pivoting with the information learned is what makes us happier, healthier, and more successful the next time around. Our mindset really does matter every single day!

For more career and living well tips follow me at: KathyHusserTempe.com

Categories
career Library Leadership

Library Metrics

Customers in a busy library
Have a pulse on what customers want in the library.

If your library runs on a fiscal year, June through July, have you prepared your annual report? What library metrics should you provide the Board?  Read on for tips to create an informative report full of the most impactful information.

Digital Checkouts

With the pandemic, digital checkouts have surged in libraries across the country. Provide your stakeholders statistics on eBook, DVD and music downloads. These items along with magazines are the four most popular circulating digital items. Don’t forget to add the new vendors from 2020 or other anomalies to explain large data swings.

Door Count

The number of people coming through the doors has decreased due to the public health situation. Including this number is totally up to you, but it might not be pretty. You could include new partnerships or other outreach metrics in place of the door count. Safe to say, physical visits to the library might never recover if we need to live with Covid long term.

As a leader, you need to begin to get creative about bringing folks back in. Will large public events or annual festivals drive library traffic post pandemic?  Each community is different and finding the sweet spot for public engagement is your job as library director.

Collections

What new vendors did the library add or delete?  Please include all the collections to provide an accurate overview of your library’s offerings and impact on the community. I’ve worked in library where DVDs were the number one circulating item. Other libraries had a large children’s picture book collection that drove the checkouts due to higher family populations. Tailor the report and metrics to highlight the collections’ strengths while acknowledging possible gaps.

Programs

Programming will be your library’s time to shine. Despite closures, virtual programming has taken off at most libraries nationwide and globally. Edit a bit from a virtual storytime to present during the Board meeting and share how the library was successful.

Be sure to collect data regarding re-shares along with audience size in the initial posting.  Keep a digital archive of the library programs to improve next year. Consider regular promotions of  library programs on social media platforms to reach your potential audience. This will drive customers to the building too.

Format

If you have a choice of format, I’d recommend a simple infographic. Keeping the library information to one page will keep it simple, easy to read, and easy to explain.  Finally, a variety of pictures and statistics also keeps the eye interested and readers engaged.

However, whatever format you choose, keep the report relatable to the average person by avoiding library jargon (like “circs.”) Be sure to have fun reviewing your year. You are the best person to tell the library’s story and advocate in the community. Best of luck!

For more leadership tips check out: KathyHusserTempe.com

Categories
career

Remote Work

Have an agenda and your goals will be accomplished
Have a plan and keep refining for success.

 

After the two-year long pandemic, we saw society change. Work cultures have changed. Many companies see advantages to remote work. However, many employers also see the disadvantages of not being in the office along with their employees. Read on for the advantages and disadvantages for working remotely.

Pros of a Home Office

If you’re a working mom or dad, you can skip this section! Having more time was the number one reason parents gave for working from home. I’m talking about parents of small children, care givers to elderly family members, and having more time for yourself. No commuting to work or dressing up, gives you more time in the morning. Remote work saves us all time since we are on Zoom meetings all day from home.

Time and energy are saved by working remotely for most employees. They love the convenience and life-work balance it’s created.  Meta has even taken it to the extreme, but results have not been fully evaluated as of this publication date. But, I’d love to work from a laptop in Hawaii or Europe!

Cons of Remote Work

However, with saving time does come a downside to never returning to the office. The lack of in person networking has seen some workers questioning promotions. The day-to-day social interaction is not there at home. Finally, the isolation you feel being along all day, even with a pet, is real for many workers. So is there a compromise?

Hybrid Working

A work model that’s popular is the hybrid model or splitting your time between your home office and the company’s location.  Hybrid work solves the issue of being in the office to socialize and network. However, depending upon the company’s culture, employees might never see one another due to the days selected in the office.

To help ease the transition, many employers are allowing the employee to determine days of the week or total days monthly in the office. If the organization is large, the times, days and hours of work can vary. Leading us back to the issue of no more birthday celebrations, victory lunches or water cooler chats with our colleagues.

What is the answer?  The jury is out on this one. Workers and employers are still dealing with this even today as Covid cases are lower and masks disappeared. Everyone agrees that when you provide a perk to workers, it’s very hard to back track and take it away.  This is a dilemma we will be talking about for a while. Let me know your thoughts on remote working and your situation.

Follow me at: KathyHusserTempe.com for more tips!

Categories
Librarian & Entrepreneurship

Basic SEO

Yellowstone Lake - Nature is rejuvenating
Wishing you calm and happiness this season

Basic Search Engine Optimization or SEO is straightforward. Here are some simple tips to get your website and social media recognized. These strategies worked for me.

Be Consistent

According to LinkedIn Learning you need your name to be public on all the top social media platforms. Those top five are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest as of this writing. If there is more than one person with your name, make the URL the same across all platforms. This allows searching easier for Google and Bing. For example, use your last name first, then first name to create a unique account. Try to avoid the underscore icon _ which is difficult to see. Avoid catch phrases that will not stand the test of time. Simple and consistent is the best sign on for each account.

Fresh Content

Next, you need to add fresh content to your feeds on a consistent basis. Whether sharing an article, photo, or update authentic content counts. Keeping your platforms fresh and updated every 3-6 months is also important. This means updating your personal profile, background photos, and hashtags as needed routinely.

New content brings new followers and engages your current audience. Furthermore, think about a “theme” or brand for your accounts.  Accounts that are successful share work-related information, selfcare, or other special interests, like pet information. Keeping content focused on your niche will draw other potential audience members to your account.

Beware of Copyright

Sharing and providing credit or retweeting others’ posts is okay. Posting content as your own is not. Be mindful of copyright laws and the impact you will have if you purposefully post someone else’s content. It’s better to ask permission than to just move forward with a post. This includes photos, pins from Pinterest, and other uncredited material.

Double Up Your Efforts

Besides the top five listed above, be sure to investigate goodreads, Elephant Journal, and Tumblr if you love to read, write, or take photos. Flickr is another great public platform to host your photos for free. You can post photos later from the Flickr site and set the permissions for other’s use of your photos. Engaging on all platforms with likes, comments and replies are important to promote your brand and engage your audience.

Remembering that consistent, fresh content will draw the largest audience to your sites is key. Have fun, be positive, and learn from others in your social media circle!

Categories
career Library Jobs

Prepare for an Interview

Leadership written in blue and hand writing the word visible.

With the pandemic still at the forefront of our lives, interviewing for library jobs are being held virtually. You need to be ready to bring your skills and personality through the screen and get that job!

Research the Job

To prepare for your interview reviewing the library’s website and the job duties is necessary. Topics to be familiar with are the communities the library serves and popular programs. You will have a better understanding of your role if hired too.

Organize your thoughts and bring forward in the interview what you know about the library and the organization. You need to think about what value you can bring with your experience and passion for the job. Have a final few questions in mind. You show the interviewers what you know about their workplace and the time you took to understand the culture and their needs.

Practice your answers

Practice makes permanent, a mentor and teacher once shared with me. Anticipate the interview questions, or at least some of them.  Collaboration stories, rising from a problem or failure, handling public complaints will all be questions you should be prepared to answer.  If you don’t have real-world library experience, provide examples from your volunteer work. Student activities or stories from your personal life, like volunteering, also provide solid examples.

Making your stories personal, concise (no more than 2 minutes per answer) and appropriate for the question, will give you an advantage.  You need to make yourself memorable to the interview panel. The more you practice, the more natural and relaxed you will come across in your interview.

Be yourself

Finally, let your natural personality come through during your time with the interviewers. You are determining if the library and organization are a good fit for your needs, just like they are sizing you up. Ask at least two questions, not answered during the interview. Think about specifically the job, work culture or unfamiliar responsibilities you might need clarifying.

This shows your interest and initiative to understand what the library needs.  Outreach, children’s story times, working with teens are topics you can expand upon once you are aware of the job tasks. Your true self will shine through. Good Luck and just know the library needs you as much as you need this job, so relax and be yourself!

Follow me for more career and living well tips at: KathyHusserTempe.com

Categories
career Library Jobs Library Leadership

Increasing Morale

library-leadership
Customers inside a busy library with engaged employees

With employee engagement estimated to be at all time low, meaning only 15% of employees worldwide feel engaged at work, increasing your team’s morale and involvement is so important to keep moving forward on a positive path for 2022. Here are a few tired and true methods to get your team’s mood lifted and fun happening to increase productivity and happiness.

Celebrate Everything

Whether it is monthly birthdays, new babies, graduations, or promotions, celebrating events builds connections and strong bonds with your team. Furthermore, increasing these relationships and building trust with leadership is the first step to increasing morale in work teams.

Not only does celebrating at work recognize people, but you will also learn more about employees’ likes, family life, and hobbies. Furthermore, building strong, trusting relationships is vital to a healthy work culture. Finally, increasing employee engagement is important in creating those foundational leadership steps with your team.

Dress Days

Even with remote work, dressing up with a certain theme in mind or in special attire can have such a positive impact.   Morale will increase and conversations will start with your colleagues about your attire. Think about establishing an entire week, Monday through Friday, as special dress up days. Name the week, “Spirit Week” or Wacky Week of Dress Up.”

Whatever gets employees geared up for fun! For example: sports teams on Monday, crazy socks on Tuesday, or your favorite TV or movie themes on Wednesday. You get the idea. Get creative and have some fun.

Finally, make every day in the office a celebration! You should consider hosting a week of special lunches with activities tied into your theme. You need to think about virtual work arounds if everyone is not together in the office. Your creativity is the limit!

Host a Staff Day

As discussed in January’s post, host a special day (or even a half day) devoted to professional development. Bring in free speakers from the surrounding community library or from other departments to speak.The topics should be chosen to make an impact on your staff. You need to think about pending health, safety, or new library policies to be introduced.

Consider introducing new technology, especially in our virtual world. This would be a great start, to then follow up with smaller trainings. Your team needs your leadership to be more involved and excited about work. Conduct a survey and understand what people want to learn before planning the day

You will discover a lot about your team, and they will thank you for creating the tradition of a designated Staff Day. For more career tips follow me at KathyHusserTempe.com