#womeninbusiness

The Office Elf

Oct 21, 2022
1 min

Happy Birthday to The Office Elf!

Today I'm celebrating 1 year of activity as The Office Elf! And I don't know where these 12 months have gone! It's been a year full of ups and downs, discovery, exploration, and I'm looking forward to what Year 2 has in stock for me! What about you? Is there anything you would like to celebrate today? If you want to know more about The Office Elf, discover who I am on this article! . . . . #virtualassistant #virtualassistantuk #sustainability #womeninbusiness #administration

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The Office Elf

Oct 12, 2022
1 min

How do you deal with stress? Tip #2

Last month I was sharing one of my tips to take a step back and relax when things get too much. As promised, here is my second relaxation tool: the 4-7-8 Breathing technique. Find a comfortable seat, somewhere quiet if possible. Stand with your spine straight, and take a deep exhale. With your tongue placed against the back of your top teeth, inhale through your nose for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. When exhaling try

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The Office Elf

Sep 28, 2022
1 min

Who is The Office Elf?

It’s been nearly a year since I’ve started The Office Elf so I think it’s time to re-introduce myself. Hello! I’m Dorothee. I’m originally from France, but I’ve lived in Australia, Canada and now in the UK (North Yorkshire). I originally trained in Marketing and I started my career in the independent music industry in France. And that was a lot of fun! After a few years as a marketing/event manager, I naturally switched to Admin and Accounts roles in various industries. I’m a

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What are the 3 things you like the most about your job?

The Office Elf

Sep 21, 2022
1 min

What are the 3 things you like the most about your job?

It’s always important to take time to reflect on what you like about your job, especially when you set up your own business. You can sometime forget why you started; what you were trying to achieve; maybe why you quit your last job… So today, take 5 minutes to ask yourself: what do you like about your job? I’ll go first: I like the diversity linked to working with multiple customers, jumping from one project to another keeps the job interesting! Meeting new customers, getting

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Have you ever heard of the Pratfall Effect?

The Office Elf

Sep 14, 2022
1 min

Have you ever heard of the Pratfall Effect?

So, the Pratfall Effect “states that people who are considered highly competent are found to be more likeable when they perform an everyday blunder than those who don’t. The effect was first studied by social psychologist Elliot Aronson in 1966. (…) Because these superior people were viewed by others as “superhuman,” a small mistake would allow others to better humanize them, and thus, like them more.” (https://www.brescia.edu/) I think the first time I came across that notio

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The Office Elf

Sep 7, 2022
1 min

How do you deal with stress?

It’s only Wednesday, but it’s been one of these busy weeks when sometimes life can become a bit overwhelming. So, I thought I’ll jump on here to share my 3 favourites stress release tips, all under 5 minutes: Tip #1 - Guided massage: Find a quiet spot, and seat comfortably. Take a few breaths, rub the palm of your hands together for a few seconds. Once you feel the heat building up, press your hands on your face – I usually go from forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose, mouth, and chi

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The Office Elf

Aug 31, 2022
1 min

What is your carbon footprint?

As an individual, we have our part to play to fight climate change, the first step, for me, is acknowledging what our impact on the planet is. To take action, you have to realise that you can play your part in helping to create a better (liveable) world for future generations. The easiest way to start is to know your carbon footprint. And it’s not difficult! Next time you have 5 spare minutes, go to WWF footprint calculator, and see what your carbon footprint is. Some might s

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The Office Elf

Aug 24, 2022
2 min

Is it OK to give up?

Earlier this month, I decided to join my partner on a bit of the Cleveland Way. He has been chipping away at it for months, doing a bit at a time every weekend. I must admit I am not a big fan of walks but if I do walk, I WALK. The last time was in 2020 when we decided to do the Great Glen Way in Scotland. 80 miles in 5 days with heavy backpacks. Needless to say, that after that I vowed to never walk again. However, I have always used walks as a bit of a challenge when I need

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The Office Elf

Aug 17, 2022
1 min

Awesome app alert!

I have been struggling with one thing since I started the Office Elf: what to do with my notes? How to keep them organised? How to make sure that I am not missing any actions? How to easily dig out any info? When switching from one customer to another, I was struggling to find a way to keep my notes organised. I tried loose sheets of paper filled in different binders, a notebook per customer, a notebook with different bookmarks, nothing was working! And then I discovered Scri

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The Office Elf

Aug 10, 2022
1 min

God! I am not missing the commute!

Last month, I had a great time visiting my customers down south. I really like long train journeys as I find that they really help my focus: no emails coming in, not having too many tabs opened, etc… However, on that journey, I ended up in the tube, in London, at 5 o’clock! And it all came back to me: why I left France, why I enjoy living in North Yorkshire and most importantly, why I love having no commute. In what seems like a different life, I used to live in the suburbs o

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The Office Elf

Aug 3, 2022
1 min

What is your favourite Podcast?

I came across the wonderful world of podcast about a year ago. In - what now seems like a lifetime ago - I use to have a 20-minutes commute to the office, and because I wanted to make the most of my time and learn something on the way, I started listening to Podcasts. I tried audiobooks in the past but they didn’t really worked for me; Podcast on the other hand, I’m addicted! So, what is your favourite podcast? I recommend Caroline Key – Snippets of Genius. The podcast is abo

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The Office Elf

Jul 27, 2022
1 min

Let’s talk social media!

So as you can probably see, The Office Elf is not the most active on social media. 🙄 I hear you; you must be present on here, consistent etc. BUT I have a genuine question: how often do you need to post when you are at full capacity and not actively looking to extend your network or to find new customers? I’m trying to post once a week, what do you think about that? 🤷‍♀️ I’ll be really interested to know as well: How long do you spend on social media per day / per week? Wha

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The Office Elf

Jul 20, 2022
1 min

I’m just going to leave that here!

This game is so challenging and eye-opening “Can you reach net zero by 2050? See if you can save the planet from the worst effects of climate change” https://ig.ft.com/climate-game/ I’ve played it a few times now with different #advisors, and the outcomes are so interesting! Give it a try and let us know what you think! . . . . #virtualassistant #virtualassistantuk #sustainability #womeninbusiness #climatechange

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The Office Elf

Jul 13, 2022
1 min

A month of mindfulness

I’ve discovered the “31-day mindfulness challenge” cards through a lovely friend of mine. She shared the cards for a few days on social media, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The exercises looked really simple and easy to do, even with a busy schedule. I instantly thought about some of my friends, family and customers who could do with taking 10 minutes a day for themselves, so I’ve ended up buying a few sets that I’ll keep aside for birthdays coming up. I obviously bo

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The Office Elf

Jul 7, 2022
1 min

Music at work – Yes or No?

Depending on the tasks, I do enjoy background music when working. What about you? Any playlist to recommend? I love listening to Binaural & Beats! They have different playlists to relax, focus etc. There is no scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the sounds but it works for me! What are binaural beats? “According to some researchers, when you listen to certain binaural beats, they can increase the strength of certain brain waves. This can increase or hold back differen

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Is Multitasking the enemy of Productivity?

The Office Elf

May 11, 2022
1 min

Is Multitasking the enemy of Productivity?

One of my customers shared this interesting article with me a few weeks ago: "Want to Improve Your Memory? A Decade-Long Stanford Study Suggests You Should Stop Doing This 1 Thing " It questions the impact of Multitasking on our brain and especially the long-term effect on our memory. I have the feeling that in recent years, the work place has changed. Everybody seems to always be working against tight deadlines, always in a rush. Planning ahead for a project doesn’t seem to

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The Office Elf

Mar 18, 2022
1 min

A long way from home...

I’ve questioned whether to share this article - Working in my native language requires empathy - as it doesn’t really reflect a lot of self-confidence but as I said in previous posts, getting to know your supplier or your customer is really important for The Office Elf - Virtual Assistant, and this article really hit home. Years of thinking how clever I was in the past, how much more I could give in a work setting if it was in my first language… I can now say after a few year

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My “Unique Selling Point” – Part 1: Carbon Literacy Project

The Office Elf

Jan 17, 2022
2 min

My “Unique Selling Point” – Part 1: Carbon Literacy Project

I have already mentioned the famous “Unique Selling Point - USP” in one of these posts a couple of weeks ago (see the previous post here > My Eureka moment: Scarcity VS Abundance Mentality). As I was doing my benchmark to start The Office Elf, I knew I had a set of skills that I could use to support entrepreneurs and SMEs to focus on what they do best: developing their business rather than spending their time doing Administration and Accounts tasks that are usually time-consu

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The Office Elf

Jan 2, 2022
1 min

New Year's Resolutions, yes or no?

Here it comes, New Year’s resolution time! I know it’s really cliché but there is something about the start of the year that makes it easier to change your habits, isn’t it? Although I really feel that most people will try to change too much, too hard, too fast and will end up failing after a few days, weeks or months. I personally try to stick with 3 resolutions every year: 1 for me 1 for a relationship that matters to me 1 for work I write them down on a piece of paper and

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When art is the best climate change advocate: CastAway

The Office Elf

Nov 23, 2021
2 min

When art is the best climate change advocate: CastAway

I think that getting to know your customer, or your supplier, is a crucial part of developing a long-lasting professional relationship. So,

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