For my loyal readers out there, I’m giving you $50 OFF the BRAND NEW HOME STUDY VERSION of my training program “New Consultant Boot Camp.” But hurry, sale ends February 10th! Get the details here…

Question: “I despise traveling for work every week and I want to make it stop! My project leadership has informed that as long as the role seems like a good fit, I’m out of luck. What’s the best way to make things happen without burning bridges?”

I was sitting in the tub in an old hotel recently, happily watching the water rise, when something caught my eye. There was a hole in the side of the tub with a large pipe coming out the side and down into the floor. It was an overflow tube, common in many old tubs. This image could not be more apropos for consultants. The water is always rising, but there’s only so much room in the tub. And on the job, there’s endless work to take on, but only so much one person can do in a fixed number of hours in the day. So if you’re drowning in work right now, here are three easy ways to create your own overflow tube and make more room in the tub.

For all the talk of how much life on the consulting career path can be difficult at times, there are some pretty sweet perks. Whether you’re on the partner track or using this as a jumping off point to your “real career” here are six perks you should be exploiting right now.

The thought of saying no to your boss has you shaking in your stilettos. But you’ve hit your breaking point with too much on work your plate, assignments that keep on coming, and weekends filled with work. Here are a few pointers to help not only tell your boss no, but stay on her good side too.

Submitted By: Kristine Schoonmaker
In just a one day I’m going to be sharing the 3 questions (and the answers too) that you need to know if you want less stress, better performance, and more free time as a new consultant.
I’m really excited for the call and hope you are too.  If you haven’t already reserved [...]

Do you know any consultant that isn’t glued to their cell phone? I don’t. It’s almost like a nervous twitch that all become afflicted with as soon as they join a firm. You may think your constant emailing and conversation makes you seem indispensable and highly responsive. In reality, however, it could be suggesting more about how you view those around you. While it’s great to be connected and in the know, there are some places that are not appropriate for conversations or emailing.

Vacations are always an interesting subject for consultants. When you’re new, you always can come up with a million reasons why can’t get one scheduled: You have no vacation time yet, you don’t know where you’re going to be staffed next, or your boss keeps asking you to put it off to a better time. Taking a vacation can take a year of negotiating and an act of Congress to schedule. Or you can follow these five simple steps.

In celebration of 2011 International Women’s Day, Accenture hosted a webcast with Barbara Walters. Don’t worry, you can still catch the full replay here if you missed live. I have to say, while I expected to hear words of inspiration for women from a pioneer in her industry, what I didn’t expect to hear and did was a beautiful, gender-neutral, crash course in career lessons-learned. She was also pretty damn funny to boot. So if you want to hear some sage advice from a living legend, I highly recommend catching the replay. And, if you don’t have time, here’s a slightly paraphrased recap of my favorites.

Do you ever wish you could just catch a breather at work? For many, the holidays might just be the only time of year that the opportunity exists to make time stand still. Generally, business comes to a near halt as people become pre-occupied with shopping, holiday parties and their families. Some people love to work over the holidays because it’s generally a quiet time. Others (like me) jump on the chance to take a good bit of time off. Whichever direction you choose, here are three valuable ways to use your time so you can hit the ground running next year!

The greatest truth I’ve learned when it comes to work life balance is that work will take and take and take until you say stop. And, the only way to truly feel you have good work-life balance is to find your unique sweet spot of harmony between what you give to yourself and what you give to others. With financial matters, the line is black and white. But what about giving in areas outside of the financial realm, especially when it comes to work? Here are 3 steps to help you find the right balance for you.

Ah, the end of summer (at least everywhere but Florida – it’s still 95 degrees here)! That also means one last long weekend. Aside from back yard BBQs, the return of college football, days at the beach or whatever your Labor Day tradition holds, it’s also a great time to recharge the batteries before the hustle and bustle of fall kicks in. So what else does a long weekend have to offer that you might be missing? The opportunity to steal a week at home.

Work life balance for consultants is a subject that absolutely fascinates me. While many choose to just suck it up and accept the notion that it’s unreasonable to expect to maintain any type of balance, I disagree. In my experience, masters at balancing work and personal lives follow 4 basic principles.

Because consulting commonly requires long hours and work-intensive projects, many a consultants are sitting for long periods of time. Rarely are they up out of their chairs unless for a meeting or bathroom break. If I sit for long periods of time, not only do I become tired, I loose my train of thought in a duststorm of monotony. Variety stimulates me – variety of work, variety of scenery, variety of speed. While work/life balance may difficult to attain as a consultant, I think is an important part of the balance is Staying active = Staying alert.

This week I’m on vacation in one of my favorite places to go when I need some down time – Nicaragua. Leading the life of a consultant opens doors to many a great travel experiences thanks to status, perks, complimentary upgrades and more. However when I really need to relax, I find a getaway to a less developed country is just what I need.