Things that I never thought I'd learn on the job but at which I am now relatively skilled to proficient

- Driving in the snow. Actually, just driving in general...and mostly through trial and error. Due to the nature of consulting/traveling, I have engaged in polygamous liasons with many a rental car, some of which are well equipped for slush and snow, others which are more slippery and slide-y than your mother (zing!). I can now get to work and back when there is snow outside without killing myself or anybody else on the road. This for me is veritably, a Great Success.

- Trimming down my morning routine to 15 minutes on a non-shower morning. 5 minutes to trudge over to the sink and brush my teeth/wash my face, 5 minutes for makeup, 5 minutes for ransacking my closet for something that is not a burlap sack to wear to work.

- Writing fast, snappy e-mails. If I were to take my time and write well thought-out responses, I would be trapped in e-mail hell for the rest of my career. Also as long as I insert a :-) or a "Cheers!" somewhere in there I don't come off sounding like a giant bitch no matter the rest of the tone of the e-mail.

- Taking a 30 second breather. I open up my personal e-mail, Facebook, and sometimes a reddit tab or two and quickly glance through for anything interesting before resuming work. This activity, done once every couple of hours, serves as a good reminder that I have a life outside of the office. Or once had one. I dunno anymore.

- The entire Starbucks menu. I have mastered it as well as found my fallback/default order: a grande Americano with nonfat milk and one sugar. And an oatmeal when they have the nut toppings, a spinach wrap when they don't.

Oh, and a bunch of stuff on how to be a competent consultant/business analyst/communicator/team player/interface designer/product modeler/meeting facilitator, but those are all boring, eh? ;)