Listen to Traci

My intention for this post was to wax rhapsodic about the motivational powers of music.  I would then elaborate on this theory by talking about the scientific evidence that our brains tell our hearts to beat at the same tempo as the music we’re listening to.  So for a really effective workout, we should listen to upbeat (120-130 bpm) music, whereas for concentration, we should listen to music that calms and focuses (about 60 bpm).  At this point I would segue brilliantly into the superior quality of Plantronics headsets that maximize the delivery of the right music for the occasion.  Finally, I would effectively come full circle and encourage you to turn up the music and get to work. I got distracted, though.  I polled co-workers, friends and family to see if I could find a common thread for motivation.  The answers ranged from the obvious (cash, survival), to the inspirational (excellence, curiosity), to the amusing (looking for lost keys, pickled beets).  And I thought long and

Let’s talk about politics.  Just kidding.  I’m actually not a big fan of beating my head against a brick wall.  How about religion?  Um, yeah, ditto. Customer service it is then.  Now there’s a topic I’m happy to sink my teeth into.  Everyone has a customer service horror story.  A truly hair raising tale about terrible treatment from a so-called professional when you needed assistance.  There are some pretty entertaining stories  from the other side of the looking glass as well – customers whose requests were so outlandish as to be laughable, or whose treatment of salespeople was flat-out abusive.  Consistently bad service, however, indicates a company that runs by rote, and requires employees to stick to a script even when the script is nonsense. On the flip side are the stories of epic customer service that are passed around new-hire training sessions like The Good Word at bible camp.  If you Google “great customer service stories,” you’ll find tales of wonder that will mak

Fifteen states and four U.S. territories have hands-free laws, and all but six states have some form of restrictions on cell phone usage while driving.  Even without state regulations, giving your absolute attention to the road is simply good common sense.  And as a working mom, I need to be reachable no matter where I am or what I’m doing, but I need to be safe while doing it.  Furthermore, having all the natural navigational abilities of a petrified stump, I also really appreciate having my GPS’s instructions delivered directly into my ear.  Pre-GPS, a trip to a new location for me involved a map, inevitable tears, and liberal reliance on U-turns.  Combining new state-of-the-art navigation systems with a really great headset means I never get lost (at least for very long) anymore. The fact is, there are a lot of reasons we need mobile communication – smart phones, soft phones, GPS, unified communication, working from home, traveling to meetings.  These days, working effectiv