Admin Life Unfiltered: Juggling Multiple Roles & Finding Balance

Debra Coleman [00:00:10]:
Well, hello. Hello, lovely, and welcome back to another episode mini cast episode of Have a Seat Conversations with Women in the Workplace podcast. And guess what? Special week this week. This is technically and officially the week we celebrate Administrative Professionals Day, which I believe is the 24th. So, which is Wednesday, I think, 24th or could be oh, lord. I'm horrible. Anyway, happy administrative professionals week officially. This is exciting.

Debra Coleman [00:00:44]:
I am so, so excited to be celebrating this with you, this week. I saved this particular mini Casper this week, though, if you have been if you've listened to any of my shows this month, I actually believe in celebrating our day all month. You know, it's really in my mind, it's celebrating Administrative Professionals Month, but I know the day actually falls this week. So happy Administrative Professionals Day. Very exciting. I know for a fact that there are many, many exciting opportunities out there this week, especially I know there are a lot of events that have been happening all month long, but this week, especially, I know there are amazing thought leaders and content creators and coaches and trainers in our space that are offering free, if not low cost options to join them in celebrating all things admin professionals this week. So I truly hope that if you are listening to this in this week, that you take advantage of some of those. They are so exciting.

Debra Coleman [00:01:47]:
They're out there. Search your Instagram feeds, search your Facebook feeds, search your LinkedIn feeds, read the newsletters that are sent to you by any that you follow. I guarantee they will have some amazing events that you can participate in or seminars or workshops or just some virtual meetups. So I also I I really, really encourage you to participate if you can in some of those, if not all, that you can get your hands on and are interested in joining. So with that being said, welcome once again. This is a Have A Seat Mini Cast in celebration of admin professionals week. And if you are familiar with my show structure, yes, I am in it primarily an interview style show where every week I talk to amazing women out there in the workplace about their role, their expertise or their journey to where they are today in their career. But every once in a while, maybe once or twice a month or so, sometimes more longer, if I feel I have more to talk about, I will hop on the mic and do just this, which I like to call a mini cast, which means it's just me.

Debra Coleman [00:02:57]:
It's just me stealing the mic from my beautiful guests for the week so I can share a workplace topic with you, and that's what I want to do today. So welcome once again to my mini cast during administrative professionals week. So this if you have been following my show at all this month, again, first, you'll notice that I wanna celebrate admin professionals month. 2nd, I've been really trying to curate and be strategic with the shows that I'm offering for the month of April and that I want to help sort of shine a light or, acknowledge administrative professionals month and specifically this week. So I last week, I had a fantastic interview with Carissa Decipio who started and now currently runs her own virtual assistant business, which is amazing. She, you know, like all of us, started out as an in house EA and then transitioned, which started in 2020 into running and opening her own shop, so to speak, her own business. And so it was amazing conversation to learn how she made that jump and how it's going for her, which it's going wonderful, by the way. And then prior to that, I had an interview with one of the directors at WGU, my, university that I work at.

Debra Coleman [00:04:13]:
One of the directors that I support, miss Kimberly Levine Hinkley, who did an amazing interview showcasing what we're working on currently at WGU as well as giving us a glimpse into her career path. So I've been a little, you know, strategic with what I've been wanting to share with you this month. A fellow coworker, a fellow EA turned, business owner slash virtual assistant, and then today show, which is which is really centered around a topic that was sent into me by a listener. So this is my way also of saying thank you back to my amazing listeners, yes, you, by honoring your your presence and your support, by responding to a question or a topic that was sent into me as a request to discuss. So sort of a, you know, let's celebrate all the things month, celebrating with a coworker, celebrating with a fellow EA, celebrating with a female business owner, and now celebrating you as a listener. Oh, and don't forget, I also had an amazing conversation with miss Leslie Martinez at the end of March. So that one, I don't know if it necessarily fell within April. It fell the beginning of the month.

Debra Coleman [00:05:23]:
Go back and check it out. She is an EA coach, and she's also an EA herself. And when I say EA, for those who may not know, I mean executive assistant. So just a lot of wonderful and fun conversations happening in these these last couple weeks, again, to honor those of us in this profession or even in this profession adjacent. Yes. I'm looking at you coordinators, specialists, office managers, and anyone that is, graced with the assistant title in their title, this month is geared for you. So with that being said, let's get on to this week's topic again in celebration of admin professionals week and admin professionals month. It is a listener submission, and it was sent in anonymously.

Debra Coleman [00:06:09]:
So I do you know, I I can't share who it was, but thank you. You know who you are. And it really centers around the question of the the listener is wearing many hats at work right now and I think that's something that we can all pretty much relate to, especially after 2020. There are so many I mean, honestly, you can't open up your daily feed from LinkedIn without seeing something about some business doing, like, reorgs or reclassifying or, unfortunately, laying off. Those of us who are in higher ed, you might also hear the term RIF, reduction in force. So there's a lot of change going on. You know, companies are are downsizing. They're expanding.

Debra Coleman [00:06:53]:
There's so much going on. And so it's not surprising then. It's not too much of a leap when we hear our colleagues and peers share with us their their, experience on wearing a lot of hats right now, especially. And I know that happened prior to 2020 all the time, but it just seems to be picking up a little bit of a pace in this last couple years after 2020. And try as we might, those of us that are administrative professionals, we are doing our best. We really are. I see you out there, and I'm one of them. We are.

Debra Coleman [00:07:27]:
You are rocking it. You are doing your best. You are picking it picking it up. Whatever is being asked, rolling up your sleeves, and you are doing the thing. Right? Getting it done. Many of you, though, are not just stopping there. You're like, yeah. That's great.

Debra Coleman [00:07:42]:
I I I understand the need for me to take on this additional responsibility, but I'd also like to have a discussion about how I'm going to be compensated for that. Right? So, that is another awesome thing that I am seeing out there. Yes. We are picking it up, rolling up our sleeves, and taking on additional roles and responsibilities, But many of you are not afraid to also add to the agenda, so to speak, as you're called into your boss's office or into HR or whatever the situation is. Right? And to add to that agenda, thank you. I I'm happy to pick up the pick it up. I know we're short staffed. I'm happy to do that.

Debra Coleman [00:08:20]:
But, so what are we gonna how am I going to be compensated for this? Because now you're I'm taking on literally another role. So what's going on there? Right? And for in some instances, maybe it doesn't look necessarily like money. Maybe it's time off. Maybe it's stock. Maybe it's, you know, a professional development. May you know, we're getting creative out there, and I love to see that. I love it. I love hearing about the creative ways we are looking to be, quote, compensated for any extra work or extra, you know, just extra work that we're being asked to do.

Debra Coleman [00:08:54]:
So let me just start there. I celebrate the fact that we're moving the needle a little bit, and I'm seeing that we're not afraid to have those conversations. And that could be where this listener was coming from, and why they brought it up. So the listener said they are wearing a lot of different hats at work, but they are struggling with managing them all. And they feel like they need to then, in addition to managing them, exceed in all of them. Now I have to admit to you, my heart broke a little bit when I heard and I feel the need to manage and exceed in all of them. Manage, I get. Absolutely.

Debra Coleman [00:09:33]:
Like, that is like breathing. Right? Like, you're managing all the things, whatever that looks like for you. I get that part, but it's the exceeding in all of them. Now my knee jerk react response to this, like, my reaction when I read, this suggestion when when it was emailed to me. So when I read the email, I my knee jerk was, what does exceed mean to you? What is your definition of exceed, first of all? And second of all, why do you feel the need to exceed? You're managing them and if you feel and others feel. Right? But primarily you, if you feel like you're managing them to the best of your ability, you're staying afloat. You're you're, you know, you're not sinking. You're managing.

Debra Coleman [00:10:19]:
Things are okay. You're hanging in there. Things are getting done. Then why the added pressure to exceed? Using the term exceed, to me, it does break my heart because that is an added pressure that I don't know if it needs to be there. But to be fair, that is where the question, well, what does exceed mean to you? And another reason why I think this landed for me is because I also went through something very similar about a year ago. As some of you may or may not know, in 2021, I transitioned from being in office to being fully remote. And so I went through a period of there, in as a part of the whole adjustment, right, from going from in office to remote, to feeling like, okay. I need to, quote, exceed in everything because I am not just I'm not in a position where my boss can literally just lean out of his office door and see me working, you know, or walk by and see me working.

Debra Coleman [00:11:19]:
I I went through an adjustment of, you know, hey. You are getting things done. It just looks different. You're not in office taking up physical space. You are still getting all the things done. It's just showing up differently. It's showing up in a remote way. And so I had to really wrap my brain around that.

Debra Coleman [00:11:38]:
Like, you know what? Hey. I'm still for those of you who, you know, know me, I do like to use colorful language. So warning alert. If you have kiddos in the room and I'm on speaker, I still kick ass and take names. It's just coming and showing up in a different way. That's all. So, yes, I guess if I had to answer that, I am exceeding. But using the word exceed really sort of, makes me like, that doesn't land well with me.

Debra Coleman [00:12:03]:
I don't like that word. That's, to me, a very pressurized word. Am I managing all the things? Yes. Am I logging off at the end of the day feeling like I've got majority of my work done? Yes. Or do some days when I log off, do I know that, okay. I got I had 10 things on my list today. I maybe conquered 7. And is that okay? Absolutely.

Debra Coleman [00:12:26]:
Do I feel do I still feel like I exceeded in a day like that? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because you know what? I ended the day knowing where I where I left off, and I'm gonna start the next day picking back up where I left off. And the good thing is I know exactly what I need to pick back up and do. So that is that, I guess, is, to me, that's exceeding. So, listener, if you're out there, I don't know if this is an I I as you know, I'm not I'm not a trainer. I don't have initials after my last name. I really, the advice I give is based off just personal experience.

Debra Coleman [00:13:02]:
And so my answer to you there is I strongly suspect you are managing and exceeding. What you may be battling is your own inner dialogue maybe and may and why you feel why you might be feeling like you aren't exceeding. It has more to do with you than what you're actually what your out actual output is. See? So, I'm trying to lift you up. I don't know if it's coming across that way, but I strongly suspect you are you are exceeding. You really are. Because you know why I say that? You are openly acknowledging that you are wearing many hats at work. You are.

Debra Coleman [00:13:42]:
You're wearing many hats at work and you're managing them all. But you're you're fearing your fear is that you're not exceeding. So my question to you is what does exceeding look like? What does it mean to exceed? It's going to look different for everybody. Now if you are listening and you're like, Deb, I hear you. Thank you for the encouragement, but you know what? No. Honestly, things are falling through the crack. I'm I'm honestly not getting things done. I am not exceeding, like, in all of that.

Debra Coleman [00:14:11]:
Maybe there's some things that I am, but I I openly acknowledge that there are some things that are falling through the cracks. Okay. That could also absolutely be a scenario or a situation. To that, I say, first of all, thank you for your honesty. If any of you listening kind of fall into that same realm, that same space, first of all, I think owning it and admitting it is, like, 90% of it. Right? Because so often in our roles, especially in our roles as support staff, we are the ones where people come to for advice, for help, for guidance, for answers, for support. And for us to then feel like we aren't doing that for our own work, it's a really tough pill to swallow. So for I I get that.

Debra Coleman [00:14:55]:
I get it. You are managing all the things. And if you feel like you're falling through the cracks on some of it, again, first of all, thank you for even owning up to that and acknowledging that. That's brilliant. 2nd second thing I would, that comes to mind, literally, as I'm sitting here recording this, is I know this might sound funny, and I'm struggling. The reason why you're hearing me pause is is I wanna say ask for help. Now I know some of you would be like, did you not hear me? I am managing several roles because we don't have the help. So how am I supposed to get help if there isn't any? Okay.

Debra Coleman [00:15:34]:
Here's my here's what I here's what I mean by that because I've also been in similar situations or had colleagues in similar situations. There was always another I could turn to at work, be it another admin, be it somebody else, a work bestie, or even a work ally that I could turn to and say, you know what? I I need to have a real conversation with you for a minute. I am struggling a little bit, in making payroll, for example. That was one area where I felt, okay. No. No. This needs to be done. Like, there is no wiggle room here for mistakes.

Debra Coleman [00:16:09]:
There's no wiggle room for, like, strict deadlines or need to be adhered to. I have got to process payroll. I have no you know, there's no room there. It has to be done by a certain date. I cannot this is one of the tasks that cannot fall between the cracks. Right? So whenever I felt a little overwhelmed with all the things, and I had a task like that waiting for me, something that, honestly, I had no control over. I had to get it done. There was no wiggle room there.

Debra Coleman [00:16:37]:
And so that led to me feeling like I'm drowning a little bit. Like, oh, yeah. I've gotta get this done, but I have to let these other things sit. What I would do is I would reach out to another support professional within my organization, within my team, within my department, fully acknowledging that they may be busy too. And and me coming in asking for help is probably the last thing that they need to hear right now. But I'll tell you, 10 times out of 10, the few times I have done it, where they were always met with, oh my gosh. Yes. Yeah.

Debra Coleman [00:17:07]:
I I know we're both busy, but that's okay. What can I help with? What will what can I do? And it's not something long term. You know? You're not asking them to it could be something as simple as, you know what? I'm going to actually shut my office door, or I'm actually gonna put my phone on do not disturb. I need to get I need to knock out this payroll. Can you give me, like, the next hour? Would you mind catching my phone for me? Or can I just put, like, a sign on my door? If you need assistance, go 2 doors down and go see Deborah. You know, just can you give me, like, an hour? Can I just borrow you for an hour? I just need to focus on this task. Once it's done, I'm back up and running. Like, it can look as something like that.

Debra Coleman [00:17:45]:
You know, you're not necessarily asking somebody, can you, like you know, I'm not saying, like, to walk into their office and hand them the keys to your office and say, I'm out. I can't do this. Bye. You know? I'm not saying like that drastic, but sometimes it just boils down to, I just need an hour to get caught up. Can you catch the phone for me? Or can you, like whatever it is. I don't it's gonna look different for everybody. You know? Or can I just punt things over to you in the next hour? I really need to focus on this task. You know, it could be something like that.

Debra Coleman [00:18:14]:
Or maybe it looks like, you know what? You're drowning, and I'm drowning. What if we banded together? This works better if you're in the same department or cost center or same org or same vertical. Like, if you both maybe report to the same person, this piece piece of advice works better, and I've done this before too. I have partnered with another admin in my department and say and acknowledge, look. Are you are you slammed? I am too. We're both swamped. We are doing the best we can by helping each other, but things are still a little crazy. What if we banded together? Let's, like, partner up, and let's come up with some sort of, like, plan that we can take to our VP or take to our, you know, whoever we directly report to and say, we need help.

Debra Coleman [00:19:03]:
This is what it can look like. Here's what we're proposing. Now for those of you who may or may not know, I come from higher education. So in many cases, when I partnered with another admin in my department to do this, our request was to ask for part time student assistant help. Like, part time help, you know, student assistant to come in a few hours a day or a set amount of hours a week because, you know, you have to be respectful of the student's school schedule 1st and foremost, and then, you know, when you work out a schedule with them, even something like that, something just additional help. And for those of you who are not in higher education, maybe it looks something like, I am just I would love me and this other admin would love to partner up. We found some money. And with your permission, we would love the opportunity to hire just a part time help even if it's just temporary, even if it's, like, just to get us through the summer months or just to get us through this quarter, you know, whatever that looks like.

Debra Coleman [00:20:01]:
In my case, it was on a semester by semester basis. Let's face it. Let's get real for a second. When you go up to your manager, your director, your executive with an ask like this, it is always better to start small and then grow from there. Take it in digestible trunk digestible chunks. If you're gonna pursue something like this in your pursuit to get some help because you are feeling like things are falling through the cracks with all of your honest effort, you're just still not making ends meet, and you honestly need help. If you have the ability to go to your manager, your executive, and ask for assistance, And if that assistance is in the way of asking for some like, in another body. Right? Start small has always been my motto.

Debra Coleman [00:20:55]:
For example, in my scenario that I just shared with you, I would do it at for the semester. I would say, just to get us through spring semester, it would be really great if we could, hire a student assistant for the spring semester. And then we can revisit at the end of the semester if we'd like to keep them on, if we can afford to keep them on, or if it if it was just a one and done deal. Like, we just got we just need to get over this hump. So those of you who aren't in higher ed, who are, who are my corporate peers, maybe it looks like that. Can I just can we talk about maybe just hiring some part time help for this quarter or for the next 3 months? I just need help in getting over this hump because circling back to the original, you know, the original the listener's original submission, I am wearing multiple hats. I'm not coming to you because I'm being a crybaby Christina. I'm coming to you because I am a strong working professional who needs some assistance.

Debra Coleman [00:21:52]:
And even the best of us cannot continue at this current pace. And I need some help. The time for, oh, Deborah can handle it, is over. I am telling you I am raising the white flag. I need some assistance. You know? So that's what I'm saying. I love the dialogue that were happening. Like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we're acknowledging we're wearing additional hats.

Debra Coleman [00:22:17]:
We're adding to the agenda of, that's great. I'm willing to take on these additional responsibilities. What does my compensation looks look like? It's not, you know, for free. I I let's negotiate here. You know? I adore that those conversations are happening. May I offer an additional agenda item to that conversation if needed? If you truly could use an extra set of hands even on a part time basis, nothing and even not permanent, temporary part time, whatever that looks for you, please add that to your agenda. Have have like, find the find the confidence in yourself and, like, load yourself up with the knowledge you need to add to that, to add that to the agenda of the conversation you're talking about. When you talk about the fact that you are feeling a little underwater right now and you don't see it changing anytime soon.

Debra Coleman [00:23:10]:
You're happy to take on these new responsibilities with the additional compensation, but I'm telling you now, I can't maintain this pace forever. It would be really helpful if we could have a discussion about hiring a part time help. And the reason why I say part time, some of you may be like, well, why don't you just ask Because here we go again. Start small and then work your way up. I can't tell you how many times I went in and asked for help in the form of a student assistant for the semester. I'll tell you right now in a 100% honesty, hand to god, honestly, it never ended just at this semester. It worked out so well that that student assistant remained. They just remained.

Debra Coleman [00:23:49]:
Like, you know, my dean was like, you know what? This is working out great. Or how are you feeling? Should we should we have them stay? Yes. I would love it. Can we keep them for the summer? And will we visit at the end of summer and see if we need them into the fall? Yep. Okay. Boom. They signed the paperwork. They're on they're continuing through the summer semester.

Debra Coleman [00:24:05]:
So I got them for the spring. Got them for the summer. Yay. Fall semester's starting. Oh my god. If any of you have any inclination on what it's like on a college campus as fall semester nears, it's chaos. It's controlled chaos, but it's chaos. So it was almost a no brainer.

Debra Coleman [00:24:21]:
I 9 times out of 10, it wasn't in the form of a question. It was, so we're keeping the student assistant in the fall. Right? Because you've got so much to do and to prep for fall semester. Yeah. Okay. Great. Sign it off. And now they're here.

Debra Coleman [00:24:33]:
And now look it. It's been a whole year. And now after fall, what comes after fall? Spring. And so here they are. They've been with mess with me a whole year. And, you know, a a large part of that had to do with the fact that I didn't just, like, throw this huge proposal at them like, we need a student assistant for the next 5 years, yada yada. I started small. I just need some help in the form of another human being even if it's part time temporary.

Debra Coleman [00:25:02]:
I just need some help. So if that is available to you, if that might be something you can entertain, again, whether you're of nonprofit, profit, corporate, higher ed, doesn't matter. The you're there it might be room for that type of assistance for you. But I know the struggle is real. And for many of you listening, you may be like, okay. I am I work for a small business, so we don't have another admin. I am it. We also I so and I I there is no money to hire a part time person on any basis, whether it's permanent or temporary.

Debra Coleman [00:25:38]:
I am it. So I am the office manager. I am the receptionist. I am also, you know, the project manager low key. I'm the HR person. I'm the accountant. You know, maybe you're in a in a business or an organization where you are all the things. I still want to encourage you to have a conversation and to be honest, and maybe you already have and have gotten nowhere.

Debra Coleman [00:26:01]:
If that's the case, that is a whole other conversation and I would be happy to recommend someone that can actually specialize in you having, an additional conversation with those who, you need to have that conversation with. Because I'm just being transparent. I don't have a lot of small business experience. I've always worked for large very large organizations so that I don't even wanna pretend or act like I know the best advice to give you there. Though if we were sitting at a Starbucks or Pete's Coffee or Dutch Brothers, and sharing a cup of Java together, and this was a part of our conversation, as your peer, as your colleague, as your friend, I would say the best advice I could give you after acknowledging that I honestly have not been in your shoes, so I don't wanna sit here and act like I know it all when I don't. But my best advice to you as a fellow admin professional is you at least have to have that conversation as tough as it may be. Even though you may know the answer is no, like, there's no money to get help, I find that at least being honest and acknowledging, look. I'm struggling here.

Debra Coleman [00:27:13]:
I'm gonna be honest with you. I mean, listen. We're 2 adults. I don't know why admin professionals so often, it's like this parent child dynamic. And so I would encourage you, if you are faced with having a conversation kind of like this, that remember that you know what, God? You are an adult here. You are x amount of years old. You're fully adulting at this point. You are Carrie.

Debra Coleman [00:27:38]:
You are like, in my case, I I am a wife. I am working full time. I'm a professional woman. You know what? I am going to treat you as a fellow professional. Yes. I report into you or, yes, you own the business or whatever it is. But at the end of the day, we're 2 professionals. I'm going to dialogue with you as a professional.

Debra Coleman [00:27:55]:
I'm I'm gonna take away that whole parent child dynamic and just have an honest conversation with you. Look. So and so, I am drowning. I acknowledge the fact that I'm wearing all these hats, and I totally accept the fact that that is a part of my role here. We are a small organization. That's just the way it is. I knew this going in, but even you have to admit that business has increased or whatever it is. You know? And things are, you know, things have picked up, and I am struggling to maintain.

Debra Coleman [00:28:24]:
I'm doing the best I can, but I'm wanting you to know that I'm struggling a little bit. So either we can have a conversation about creatively trying to solve this problem. Let's look at everything that I'm for. Is there anything that could be delegated to another individual within our company? Or is there or help me prioritize things? Because I'm trying to keep all the balls in the air, and I'm realizing that's not sustainable. So let's if you don't mind, let's go over everything I'm responsible for. And if we can delegate to another, great. If we honestly can't, then let's together sit down and prioritize what needs to what should be handled when and in what order. That's really gonna help me as I go about trying to keep all the balls in the air.

Debra Coleman [00:29:08]:
Because right now, I feel like I'm not dropping anything yet, but it's coming. It's coming. Right? So I've had conversations like that even though, again, not in a small business environment, but I have had similar conversations with those that I report into. Look. I'm just letting you know we may not have an answer today, but I am feeling a little pressure. I'm feeling like I'm I'm struggling keeping all the balls in the air, and I'm just letting you know. Again, we may not find the answers right now, but I'm letting you know where my head is at and what I'm feeling right now and what I'm experiencing. Sometimes just saying that and just letting another person know where you're at can help tremendously because I guarantee you the conversation will not stop there.

Debra Coleman [00:29:53]:
It may have to stop, like, in the moment. Maybe the phone rings or they have another appointment or you're saying this to them as you both are walking out to the car. Every time I've done it and even if the conversation had to organically stop in the moment, it was picked back up again. It was. Because the last thing, honestly, any good boss wants is for you to fail. Because, honestly, your failure is their failure as well or is the failure of the of the business or the department or the org, whatever. And so, honestly, a good manager, a good boss, a good executive will want to do what they can, I believe, to help you succeed? And so they may just be open to having that conversation. Again, maybe nothing will get resolved right there in the moment, and maybe it will, but it might not.

Debra Coleman [00:30:39]:
I think the w, the win comes from at least engaging in that conversation, bringing it up and acknowledging that you're struggling and you're open to finding some solutions. Or you've done some work on your own, and here are some solutions I've explored. Let's review them and see what lands with you, see what's doable. Okay? So that's my best advice, dear listener, for your submission. Now we could go on and on about this. And, I would love to have you on the show if you're if you're if you feel comfortable enough to do so to talk about this further. So maybe get into a bit more details and and to see how things, you know, truly are for you because, admittedly, I'm coming at this kind of blind a little bit, respectfully. So I'm my answers may or may not be landing only because of lack of information.

Debra Coleman [00:31:26]:
Right? Lack of the total picture. But I hope something of what I said is helpful either to you, my sweet listener who sent this in, or to you just in general, those of you who are listening and and engaging in this podcast right now, because it's real. It's it's real. It really does happen. We do find ourselves in in those situations all the time, many of us, all the time. And we can sustain it for a while. And because of the nature of our role, yeah, we can take on that extra work. Yes.

Debra Coleman [00:31:57]:
I'm being compensated fairly, or I feel like I'm being you know, there's a return there. But sometimes it does get a little too much, and it's okay to acknowledge that and to seek assistance or to get creative with how to solve that problem. Right? So and, again, it could be a temporary solution just to get you through a tough patch or a tough quarter or a tough couple of months or a tough semester, or it could be something long term, you know, whatever that looks like for you. Bottom line, don't keep it in. I love that you acknowledge it. Acknowledging it is 50%. The other 50% is having a conversation with another and asking for help in whatever that looks like for you. Don't hold on to this feeling that you need to exceed and everything.

Debra Coleman [00:32:46]:
You're managing everything you need And your and your fists are just getting tighter and tighter and tighter because it's not going to end well. It will start to present itself either to inside of you, like, physically in a stress in a stressful way or emotionally, mentally, it will start to reveal itself in an unhealthy manner. So acknowledging it, 50% of it. Acknowledge, yep. I'm managing all the things, but I feel like I need to exceed in everything. Good for you for acknowledging it and for even starting that conversation. And number 2, talk to another about it. Seek some help.

Debra Coleman [00:33:23]:
Seek some guidance. Seek some solutions. Don't keep it bottled up. So that's why I applaud you, listener. Thank you for sending that topic again to me. That's your way of, hey. I'm ready to kind of listen to some advice, maybe have a dialogue about this, but, you know, bravo. That's great.

Debra Coleman [00:33:39]:
You are doing wonderful. And to those of us that you know, all of us in the admin professional space in whatever, again, whatever title you have, you know, just celebrate yourself this week. Make a promise to to yourself, not to me. I was gonna say make a promise to me, but that's too much pressure. Make a promise to yourself to celebrate yourself low key this week. Do whatever it is for you. It it you know, I've heard so many lovely ideas of what people do to acknowledge themselves. Maybe their department acknowledges them.

Debra Coleman [00:34:10]:
Maybe their boss does. Maybe, you know, I have some definite thoughts on what that should look like in past episodes. Episodes. I won't bore you with the details. If you're interested, check out the show notes to my website and check out minicasts on my thoughts on proper and improper gifts to acknowledge administrative support day. So, but whatever that looks like for you, definitely, you know, celebrate your role. Celebrate all the work you do, especially these last couple years, man. Oh, I'm telling you.

Debra Coleman [00:34:39]:
Anywhere that you can get, you know, get to make yourself feel good for all that you have accomplished, all that you have done, celebrate. And to those of you who may be looking for your next role, maybe you're in between roles right now or maybe you're actively looking, I still say celebrate you. Celebrate all that you have come through. Celebrate that all that is coming your way and whatever that means for you. Maybe it's simp something as simple as buying yourself of treating yourself to your favorite dessert or coffee or lunch or breakfast or something along those lines. Maybe you wanna send yourself some flowers, you know, or maybe it's just simply saying to yourself you know what friend you have this. You've got this. Yeah.

Debra Coleman [00:35:23]:
You may be in a little bit of a a tight spot right now, but you have the strength and intelligence and experience to get yourself through this and you will you will come out on the other side of this you will I know it and I know you know it too. Sometimes we just need to hear it. I know that's how it is for me sometimes. I get into the doldrums a little bit myself, and I'm like, I just wanna roll coat you know, roll up in a ball, sit in the corner, grab a whole canister of Pringles, and just, like, you know, tune everything out. Right? But that's okay. I acknowledge it and then the moment passes because I realized, you know what, I'm stronger than this. I got this. You know, I'm gonna show up for myself.

Debra Coleman [00:36:00]:
So show up for yourself this week in what ever that means for you. Because I know I see you and I know you've got this. You do. I have faith in you. I have faith in us. Alright. So that wraps up this week's mini cast. I know it was a little, you know, I literally honest to God.

Debra Coleman [00:36:16]:
I I grabbed the microphone and hit record. I have no script. I have no bullets. The only thing I had in front of me was the listener submission, and I'm staring at the words and just talking. So I hope you enjoy this week's episode. Again, thank you for tuning in. If you made it this far, I hope some of my advice lands with you. If you have anything to add to the conversation, I would love to have you on the show.

Debra Coleman [00:36:40]:
Let's continue. Let's continue what it means to, you know, have those conversations with those we need when we find we just need some extra support, because we all do from time to time. So I would love your thoughts or maybe you have some tips that, obviously, I didn't cover. So would love to have you on the show. Once again, check out the show notes for a link to the Have A Seat website. Click that register to be a guest link, and there you go. It is that easy. For those of you though who may not be interested in coming on the show but have some something more to add, you can also just email me some of your thoughts, or there is a microphone at the bottom, bottom right hand corner.

Debra Coleman [00:37:15]:
Feel free to leave a voice mail. I won't play it. I will unless you want me to, but, again, you can share it that way too. If if if going audio is more your thing, but not necessarily in the form of a podcast episode, feel free to do that too. I am always open to hear more perspectives and to learn from you. And, so with that being said, thank you. Thank you for tuning in this week once again, and you know the assignment, right? Stay safe, be well, and remember, keep having those conversations and happy admin professionals day.