Amy Hutchison

I'm sitting here, with a stack of things to do (literally, I should take a picture. The stack's high). But I'm taking a 15-minute mental break, as my friends at Red Cross say.

I love being busy. Anyone who has known me for more than two seconds knows this about me. If I'm not running in 5 different directions, I get slouchy, grumpy, and lazy. But over the past 2 years, I've been looking for something to really commit to. Something where I can take a leadership role and work hard. So, back in December, I applied to serve on one of the Engage! Charlotte committees as well as one of the Club Red committees.

Here's what's funny. Both of them accepted me. The exact same week.

For anyone who doesn't know what these two organizations are, here's the nutshell. Engage! Charlotte is the young professionals arm of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to create activities that will grow job opportunities for young pros and retain talent to the city of Charlotte. As someone who's lived here for 15 years, now, you could say I might have a small passion for this. Plus, I'm a huge Economics geek.

Club Red is the young pros arm of the Red Cross. I have been volunteering off and on with Red Cross over the past couple of years, and have a very good working relationship with them as well, so when I heard they needed help, of course I jumped on it! You all know how attimate I am about helping good, solid nonprofits.

Both of these will suck up a lot of my time. I love this. But it will also mean backing off in other areas. And, I've found, it has led to a few more 15-minute mental breaks.

Break over.