Svetlana Romanova: How to benefit from the routine

– Who or what inspires you? Why?

I am inspired by beauty. It can be anything: nature, architecture, painting, well-written book or just an interesting color combination. Beauty provokes my creative imagination and motivates. Most importantly, be able to notice it around you. For example, scrolling through a random plane, can be inspired by well-written article or a photo to enjoy of good design and execution. Everything beautiful inspires me to live, somewhere to go, something to achieve. The aesthetics of things, the environment is very important to me. Now there is a lot of unfortunate events, and I, like other people, we need a counterweight. No wonder they say that beauty will save the world. Me, it definitely saves and inspires. Beauty creates the mood, and the mood depends on the desire, which lead to the implementation of various ideas.

– How do you reboot? That helps you find strength?

Read. Always, any time I read something. I have no breaks in reading for a week or a month. Reading, in principle, it is also an escape from reality like movies or computer games. All this takes us to another world where we can experience new emotions, to feel others.

I read in all the languages you have. Sometimes you want to read in English, sometimes only in Ukrainian. I love high-quality the detective re-read the classics of the detective genre and all the classics. From modern literature to choose psychological things, like Haruki Murakami.

When you are not ready to start a new book in the evening can choose a topic (usually historical) and spend hours reading Wikipedia, going from one link to another.

– How to do everything: is there a balance between career and personal life? How to find and keep?

And it is not necessary all the time. To this I have not come immediately. As a perfectionist, I always is important not only the essence of the document, but also its design, not to mention literacy and punctuation. When I came to Metinvest, it was found that this quality bothers me. I spend time on commas, and do not have time important. I was very worried about this. In the end, I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to do everything – to do the most important things.

At the beginning of the work in Metinvest surprised me that colleagues can reply the letter is just “OK” or “Agreed” miss polite “good day” or “sincerely”. Now I understand that the main value of the time, and it must be used in the most efficient way. This applies to all spheres of life.

Read the whole interview with the heroines of the project SCM.She

I would highlight three points, considering that you can make their lives more comfortable and in balance.

The first is to keep the focus on what they were doing at the moment. Work is work, free time, family and household chores. Do not confuse one with the other. I clearly agree with the house and work. For example, I can’t work at home and never take work home. At home I was even uncomfortable talking on the phone on work items. If you have to do it, I’m in the other room, closing the door behind him, and not because there are any secrets, it helps to distract me from the other, to concentrate. If necessary, I will continue to work at six in the morning or three in the morning, but it will be in the office.

Second, it is important to find, to build in the life of a predictable framework. Many people say “routine sucked”. But I believe that routine is very useful and healthy life design, the basis of life. If we look back to the events of yesteryear, you realize how important people’s stability, both globally and in everyday life. The word “routine” for me there is no negative implication, that as the mode order of the day. The basic routine is important because it helps to identify where you have the working ends and private space begins. Usually my working day lasts from 9 am to 8 PM. For me uncomfortable as to leave early and come late. If the boundaries are clear, it is easier to strike a balance between the different spheres of life.

The third point is the proper organization of all processes. When everything is clearly organized, you don’t have 22 hours to work-related issues or work to think about how to pick up the child from kindergarten. The better organized life, the easier it is to live.

It is impossible to catch everything. But by eight in the evening I try to finish all the most important, to finish the day.

– What career accomplishments are you proud of?

To be proud of? I don’t close this thing. I’m not a shy person, I like it when people praise me when I’m successful. But the most I like to talk about the achievements of my daughter or husband. About myself I can say that I am a lucky man. I think the great good fortune admission to two universities, study and work in America, in London, Baker & McKenzie, an invitation to a leadership position in Metinvest.

I’m not proud of achievements and rejoice your luck. Of course, there is my share of the work, the effort. But I sincerely believe that I largely luck. Lucky me and nature, I always had a positive look on life. Perhaps I take a job for the will to win and optimism. The human factor is very important, because we do not work with lawyers or economists, we work with people. At the forefront of people with his personal qualities and character. Nobody wants to work with a whiner, whining and pessimism and professionalism will not see.

– What childhood dreams have you fulfilled in life?

I had a big dream – dog! I zealously collected all articles and pictures from magazines and annual calendars, and all the money I have got “pies” and “ice cream”, stubbornly folded into a piggy Bank with one purpose – to buy a dog. Needless to say, my parents (and mom in particular) was against the idea of dogs in the house (“Out in the yard how many of them are running”), but I never gave up. I so wanted a dog that could not stand, I bought a canvas leash in the store “sports goods” and not to being scolded by parents, hid it under the pillow. Is it worth mentioning that discovering the leash under the pillow of my bed, my mom gave in and gave its long-awaited approval for the purchase of the dog.

So in fourth grade I finally bought a puppy, the Airedale Terrier, like in the movie “the adventures of electronics”! On the topic of “me and my dog” you can tell a lot, but I’ll limit myself to buying dogs for me was a landmark event. So important that for many years I faithfully followed all data I have parents promises. I’d get up early in the morning and hurried home after school in time to walk and feed the dog. All weekend I have been in the classroom for training at the club at DOSAAF, and in the summer and is left with the dog all day outside the city, taking with him a book and some sandwiches. Sometimes we wander so far away that returning home in the evening literally flaked out.

Perhaps it was the realization of my biggest childhood dreams.

– What we have not asked you, but You would like about it have to tell?

I’d like to tell you a story about myself. Once in summer camp when I was 12 years old, leader half-jokingly told me that I would be the Director of a brick(!!!) plant. Apparently, I was already impressed that they are able to lead, but, alas, not sewing or confectionery production… As you can easily guess, all the kids started laughing. For me, it was a real tragedy!

By the way, after several years working in Baker & McKenzie told me to do court work and mining, because he believed that I had the “any character”. Probably my “brick” the essence still shone through.