Stress Management: 5 Ways to Relax at Work
By Amy Levin-Epstein | Mar 31, 2011
Almost by definition, work is stressful — that’s why God (and/or HR) created vacation days. And these days, workplace anxiety is being felt at record high rates. “People, no matter what income levels, are feeling pinched,” says relaxation expert Darren Zeer, who has worked with companies like Maidenform and Del Monte Foods to ease employee stress. “Between the bad economy, smaller staffs and employment insecurity, it’s a brutal combination.”
From crazy clients to time-consuming conference calls, it’s easy to get worked up at work. Here are some great tips that will help you instantly feel better on the job, so you’ll be healthier and more productive:
Sip Chamomile Tea
A coffee break might put a pep in your step, but herbal tea will keep you calmer - and chamomile extract, in particular, has been shown to reduce anxiety. Bonus points if you take a quick walk to the corner deli to pick it up while getting some fresh air.
Clear Out Clutter
How clean is your desk? An organized workspace can keep you focused. “Having a clutter-free workspace means there’s no stress hunting down needed items, so time is spent more productively,” says professional organizer Sally Allen, CEO of A Place for Everything. Her advice: Keep the things you work on daily on top of your desk, the things you work on weekly in your desk, and the things you work on monthly around your desk. Everything else? Toss it.
Do a Desk Stretch
You can treat tension instantly with office yoga — but no need to go straight into Downward-Facing Dog. Zeer says a client favorite is his “Kick-back Log-on Pose.” To try: Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe, and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly, and repeat throughout the day.
Feng Shui Your Bag or Briefcase
At a meeting and looking for your notes? If your bag is filled with old receipts, wrappers and other refuse, you are more likely to get distracted and make mistakes — and that’s certainly stressful. It’s time to start thinking of your purse or briefcase as a field bag, says Zeer: “Make sure you are well equipped for your meetings, and have your briefcase fully stocked with extra cell-phone batteries, a snack, and water. Empty out old material that is not needed,” he says. Another way to stay relaxed and motivated? “On the inside of your briefcase you can tape a picture of loved ones or an inspiring message for reassurance on the road,” he says.
Watch a Silly YouTube Video
Remember when The Office’s Michael Scott called himself the “King of Forwards”? That might actually have been good business sense, say some experts. Laughter — like the kind that comes after watching a dog skateboarding on YouTube — can improve mood and immune function and even lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, according to researchers from Loma Linda University. “Go online and look up jokes for a minute or two. This allows for a change in your physiology,” says study author Lee Berk, DrPH.
Have any other suggestions on lowering office stress? Please sign in below and share. And for more career advice, follow @MWOnTheJob on Twitter.
MY THOUGHTS
I am vouching for all these tips. They all work. A quick coffee break can help me relax but I agree that chamomile tea is a better choice. Walking around the block also does the trick for me. Knowing where everything is (almost everything, anyway) is a great time management tool. And the more successful you are in managing your time, the less stressed you would be. The best de-stressor, of course, is having a good laugh. Alone or with others-it really doesn't matter. What's important is you laugh your problems off without forgetting that the problems need to be dealt with.
Showing posts with label work smart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work smart. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
SIGNS THAT YOUR JOB IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU
7 Signs You're in Over Your Head
By Steve Tobak | January 21, 2011
Nobody wants to believe they’re the problem. Why that is, I don’t know. But it’s far and away the stickiest issue that plagues organizations big and small. That’s why it keeps coming up again and again here.
In last year’s most clicked post - 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager - we talked about how most bad managers aren’t consciously aware that they are bad managers. That was news to a lot of people.
It seems that, while we talk about denial all the time, we don’t really understand what it means: that, on some level, we are aware of our behavior and our issues; we’re just not consciously aware. That requires a measure of self-awareness few of us possess.
As I alluded to at the time, this phenomenon isn’t at all limited to bosses, but applies to executives, managers, employees too. What that means is that, no matter who you are or what you do, you can be in over your head and not realize it.
As we all know, realizing a problem is the first step to resolving it. But, for those of you who still aren’t convinced that knowing the truth about your level of competency is a good thing, here’s a different way to say it: If you bury your head in the sand, you’ll likely suffocate. How’s that for motivation?
So pay attention to these 7 Signs You’re in Over Your Head
1. You’re more anxious and stressed-out than usual. Why is that a sign? Because, on some level, you’re aware that you’re in over your head and the disconnect between that awareness and the lie you keep consciously telling yourself - and others, in all likelihood - is causing you great anxiety and stress.
2. Goals you thought were reasonable now seem insurmountable. Congratulations, you’ve fallen victim to one of the most common pitfalls in the working world: pedestal thinking. Don’t feel too bad, it’s just god’s sick little gift to overachievers. Just remember that the next time your ego wants to write a check that your capability can’t cash.
3. You’re feeling depressed when you should be feeling fine. You’ve been given a chance, an opportunity to prove yourself, maybe even a promotion. You should be on top of the world … but you’re not. Again, that’s the disconnect talking. And maybe, just maybe, you can’t help but wonder if you haven’t been given just enough rope to hang yourself with.
4. Your schedule is constantly slipping. Maybe your budget, headcount, and capital requirements, too. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And management’s starting to get really tired of it. Every time they ask, “Is that going to do it,” you say “Absolutely.” But you have no idea if that’s true or not. Dangerous game to play.
5. I can do this has turned into I’m going to do this if it kills me. Well, it probably won’t kill you, but it might set your career back a bit or even get you fired. The point is that there are diminishing returns when it comes to being so driven that you push yourself to do things you’re either not ready for or are not capable of doing. And frankly, nobody wins when you do that. Nobody.
6. You find yourself working even when you’re not … and shouldn’t be. You find yourself thinking about work at all times of the day and night? While you’re eating, sleeping, on weekends, even during sex? Working longer and longer hours but coming home with less and less accomplished? Yup, that’s a sign alright. Been there many times.
7. You’re screwing up … and you’re not a screw up. I know it sounds sort of obvious, but I can remember times when I made excuses for errors in judgment that I probably wouldn’t have made if I wasn’t stretched so thin or pushing the envelope. Why did I do that? I guess I’m not the sort of guy who gives up easily. But again, there comes a point when that can actually work against you.
Once you’ve recognized that you’re in over your head, what do you do about it? In a nutshell, it’s always a good idea to be honest with yourself and face the fact that maybe you need to get some help, i.e. fess up to your boss, ask for more time and resources, that sort of thing.
If you’re a young up-and-comer who’s just pushing the envelope, i.e. no pain no gain, I’d give you a pass for sticking your neck out and taking risks, as long as you learn from the experience and don’t make it a regular thing.
If this is chronic with you, then there’s a distinct possibility that you’ve risen to your level of incompetence, i.e. the Peter Principle. In that case, you might want to read What’s the One Thing Limiting Your Success? and deal with it.
MY THOUGHTS
this can happen. absolutely. you're not good. you're very,very good. in fact, you're excellent. all you past performances can back that up. so, here you are. in a new post. a new assignment. and you just can't hack it. believe, the signs outlined in this article? these are killers. and the more you postpone getting help, the risk that you're setting yourself up for failure gets higher and higher.
By Steve Tobak | January 21, 2011
Nobody wants to believe they’re the problem. Why that is, I don’t know. But it’s far and away the stickiest issue that plagues organizations big and small. That’s why it keeps coming up again and again here.
In last year’s most clicked post - 7 Signs You May Be a Bad Manager - we talked about how most bad managers aren’t consciously aware that they are bad managers. That was news to a lot of people.
It seems that, while we talk about denial all the time, we don’t really understand what it means: that, on some level, we are aware of our behavior and our issues; we’re just not consciously aware. That requires a measure of self-awareness few of us possess.
As I alluded to at the time, this phenomenon isn’t at all limited to bosses, but applies to executives, managers, employees too. What that means is that, no matter who you are or what you do, you can be in over your head and not realize it.
As we all know, realizing a problem is the first step to resolving it. But, for those of you who still aren’t convinced that knowing the truth about your level of competency is a good thing, here’s a different way to say it: If you bury your head in the sand, you’ll likely suffocate. How’s that for motivation?
So pay attention to these 7 Signs You’re in Over Your Head
1. You’re more anxious and stressed-out than usual. Why is that a sign? Because, on some level, you’re aware that you’re in over your head and the disconnect between that awareness and the lie you keep consciously telling yourself - and others, in all likelihood - is causing you great anxiety and stress.
2. Goals you thought were reasonable now seem insurmountable. Congratulations, you’ve fallen victim to one of the most common pitfalls in the working world: pedestal thinking. Don’t feel too bad, it’s just god’s sick little gift to overachievers. Just remember that the next time your ego wants to write a check that your capability can’t cash.
3. You’re feeling depressed when you should be feeling fine. You’ve been given a chance, an opportunity to prove yourself, maybe even a promotion. You should be on top of the world … but you’re not. Again, that’s the disconnect talking. And maybe, just maybe, you can’t help but wonder if you haven’t been given just enough rope to hang yourself with.
4. Your schedule is constantly slipping. Maybe your budget, headcount, and capital requirements, too. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And management’s starting to get really tired of it. Every time they ask, “Is that going to do it,” you say “Absolutely.” But you have no idea if that’s true or not. Dangerous game to play.
5. I can do this has turned into I’m going to do this if it kills me. Well, it probably won’t kill you, but it might set your career back a bit or even get you fired. The point is that there are diminishing returns when it comes to being so driven that you push yourself to do things you’re either not ready for or are not capable of doing. And frankly, nobody wins when you do that. Nobody.
6. You find yourself working even when you’re not … and shouldn’t be. You find yourself thinking about work at all times of the day and night? While you’re eating, sleeping, on weekends, even during sex? Working longer and longer hours but coming home with less and less accomplished? Yup, that’s a sign alright. Been there many times.
7. You’re screwing up … and you’re not a screw up. I know it sounds sort of obvious, but I can remember times when I made excuses for errors in judgment that I probably wouldn’t have made if I wasn’t stretched so thin or pushing the envelope. Why did I do that? I guess I’m not the sort of guy who gives up easily. But again, there comes a point when that can actually work against you.
Once you’ve recognized that you’re in over your head, what do you do about it? In a nutshell, it’s always a good idea to be honest with yourself and face the fact that maybe you need to get some help, i.e. fess up to your boss, ask for more time and resources, that sort of thing.
If you’re a young up-and-comer who’s just pushing the envelope, i.e. no pain no gain, I’d give you a pass for sticking your neck out and taking risks, as long as you learn from the experience and don’t make it a regular thing.
If this is chronic with you, then there’s a distinct possibility that you’ve risen to your level of incompetence, i.e. the Peter Principle. In that case, you might want to read What’s the One Thing Limiting Your Success? and deal with it.
MY THOUGHTS
this can happen. absolutely. you're not good. you're very,very good. in fact, you're excellent. all you past performances can back that up. so, here you are. in a new post. a new assignment. and you just can't hack it. believe, the signs outlined in this article? these are killers. and the more you postpone getting help, the risk that you're setting yourself up for failure gets higher and higher.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Win Over Your Boss
How to Win Over Your Boss
By Steve Tobak | January 20, 2011
In Getting a New Boss? Interview Again for Your Job, career coach Priscilla Claman outlines three steps to get yourself “rehired,” as she calls it. Since BNET blogger Sean Silverthorne called her advice “absolutely brilliant,” I thought I’d check out the three steps:
1. Update your resume.
2. Set up a meeting.
3. Present yourself.
Now, I happen to think that this sort of “me-centric” approach can easily backfire. But, the original post does have some decent points and Claman herself has a disclaimer at the end, “I find that the higher up you are, the less successful the “rehiring” method is.”
In any case, if your boss isn’t behind you 100 percent, it can make your life miserable. Believe it or not, you can win him over just by asking a few questions that show him you “get it” and are management or senior management material. Whether he’s newly promoted, newly hired, the result of a merger or acquisition, or has been your boss forever, here are:
10 Simple Questions That Will Win Over Your Boss
1. Ask what he thinks you can do to be more effective.
2. Ask what her top three priorities or goals are.
3. Ask what you can do to make him more effective.
4. Ask what you can do to make the team more effective.
5. Ask if he’s interested in knowing what will make your job easier.
6. Ask what her take is on the company’s top priorities and goals.
7. Ask what he thinks you should do differently or improve upon to be more effective.
8. Ask if she’d like to meet periodically, one-on-one, and if so, how frequently and what format would she like the meeting to take. Then set it up.
9. Ask what his philosophy is on your shared functional responsibility, whatever that is, i.e. marketing, HR, IT, engineering, finance.
10. And, if the meeting’s open-form and you feel it’s appropriate, ask about her background. Most people like to talk about themselves and how they got there, as long as they don’t feel like they’re being grilled, pumped for information, or played in some way.
In case it isn’t obvious, you don’t just plop down in your boss’s office with a notepad and start an inquisition. Ask for a one-on-one meeting because you’d like to know what you can do to be more effective and help him be more effective, wherein you ask a few questions, as appropriate, etc.
And, contrary to the aforementioned HBR advice, do not tell her about your role and your team. Instead, ask if she’d like to hear your perspective on your and your team’s role. If she says, “absolutely,” then set it up. But I still say it’s better to ask for her perspective on your and your team’s role. Get the difference?
And whatever you do, don’t present yourself, your resume, or your achievements either. Frankly, your boss, new or old, isn’t primarily interested in any of that stuff. He’s primarily interested in meeting his objectives and helping his boss meet hers.
The closer you come to demonstrating that that’s your priority as well, the sooner you’ll win him over because you “get it.” And the sooner you’ll be viewed as management or senior management material.
MY THOUGHTS
hmmm. food for thought. calls for some heavy thinking. i remember asking a new boss what my job description was. he said - "NONE". i wanted to resign right then and there. i stayed. wise decision. he said he didn't want to limit what i can do by having a list of tasks. i figured, from where he's from, the term "perform other tasks that may be assigned" does not appear in JDs. demanding as he was, he was also very wise. true enough, my stint with him proved to be very rewarding. there was no limit to what he wanted to achieve. i worked along side him. in other words, i won him over. and he won me over,too.
By Steve Tobak | January 20, 2011
In Getting a New Boss? Interview Again for Your Job, career coach Priscilla Claman outlines three steps to get yourself “rehired,” as she calls it. Since BNET blogger Sean Silverthorne called her advice “absolutely brilliant,” I thought I’d check out the three steps:
1. Update your resume.
2. Set up a meeting.
3. Present yourself.
Now, I happen to think that this sort of “me-centric” approach can easily backfire. But, the original post does have some decent points and Claman herself has a disclaimer at the end, “I find that the higher up you are, the less successful the “rehiring” method is.”
In any case, if your boss isn’t behind you 100 percent, it can make your life miserable. Believe it or not, you can win him over just by asking a few questions that show him you “get it” and are management or senior management material. Whether he’s newly promoted, newly hired, the result of a merger or acquisition, or has been your boss forever, here are:
10 Simple Questions That Will Win Over Your Boss
1. Ask what he thinks you can do to be more effective.
2. Ask what her top three priorities or goals are.
3. Ask what you can do to make him more effective.
4. Ask what you can do to make the team more effective.
5. Ask if he’s interested in knowing what will make your job easier.
6. Ask what her take is on the company’s top priorities and goals.
7. Ask what he thinks you should do differently or improve upon to be more effective.
8. Ask if she’d like to meet periodically, one-on-one, and if so, how frequently and what format would she like the meeting to take. Then set it up.
9. Ask what his philosophy is on your shared functional responsibility, whatever that is, i.e. marketing, HR, IT, engineering, finance.
10. And, if the meeting’s open-form and you feel it’s appropriate, ask about her background. Most people like to talk about themselves and how they got there, as long as they don’t feel like they’re being grilled, pumped for information, or played in some way.
In case it isn’t obvious, you don’t just plop down in your boss’s office with a notepad and start an inquisition. Ask for a one-on-one meeting because you’d like to know what you can do to be more effective and help him be more effective, wherein you ask a few questions, as appropriate, etc.
And, contrary to the aforementioned HBR advice, do not tell her about your role and your team. Instead, ask if she’d like to hear your perspective on your and your team’s role. If she says, “absolutely,” then set it up. But I still say it’s better to ask for her perspective on your and your team’s role. Get the difference?
And whatever you do, don’t present yourself, your resume, or your achievements either. Frankly, your boss, new or old, isn’t primarily interested in any of that stuff. He’s primarily interested in meeting his objectives and helping his boss meet hers.
The closer you come to demonstrating that that’s your priority as well, the sooner you’ll win him over because you “get it.” And the sooner you’ll be viewed as management or senior management material.
MY THOUGHTS
hmmm. food for thought. calls for some heavy thinking. i remember asking a new boss what my job description was. he said - "NONE". i wanted to resign right then and there. i stayed. wise decision. he said he didn't want to limit what i can do by having a list of tasks. i figured, from where he's from, the term "perform other tasks that may be assigned" does not appear in JDs. demanding as he was, he was also very wise. true enough, my stint with him proved to be very rewarding. there was no limit to what he wanted to achieve. i worked along side him. in other words, i won him over. and he won me over,too.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Want to Avoid Workplace stressand be more productive? Stop Working
How to Be Productive: Stop Working
By Margaret Heffernan | August 10, 2010
Industrial companies put a lot of effort into “asset integrity” — which really just means protecting critical plants and machinery from damage and wear and tear. At companies like BP, it’s clearly more of an aspiration than a reality, but anyone trained in a manufacturing environment learns that asset integrity is a top priority. But what about service industries — companies where the only assets are the brains of the people who work there? Shouldn’t they worry about asset integrity, too? Astonishingly, most of them don’t. Instead, financial services, consulting, the law and even the medical profession perpetuate working hours where all-nighters are heroic, driving with jet lag is the norm and anyone who actually has lunch risks becoming lunch.
But, they argue, we’re in the midst of an economic downturn, the worst recession in our lifetimes. Shouldn’t we all be working as hard as we can? Who has the luxury of time? What do you mean weekends aren’t for working?
Well, for the last 100 years, every productivity study in every industry has come to the same conclusion: after about 40 hours in a week, the quality of your work starts to degrade. You make mistakes. That’s why working 60 hours may not save you time or money: you’ll spend too much of that time fixing the mistakes you shouldn’t have made in the meantime. That’s why software companies that limit work to 35 hours a week need to employ fewer QA engineers: there isn’t as much mess to clean up.
In a knowledge economy, where thinking and creativity are the raw materials from which products and profit flow, brains are assets. They need to be cherished, nurtured and protected, not abused. Leaders need to take seriously a century’s evidence that 1) overwork doesn’t make us productive, it makes us stupid, 2) looking away from a problem is often the best way to solve it, and 3) burnout is what happens when people are asked to work in ways that obliterate all other parts of their lives.
Also: we need to hammer the last nail into the coffin of multi-tasking. No, you can’t safely drive and hold conference calls, nor can you text while driving. And checking emails while in meetings means you may as well not be there. What modern businesses need isn’t distracted Blackberry addicts but human beings who haven’t forgotten the gifts of focus, concentration and mindfulness.
When the cognitive scientist Dan Simons looked at the vast mountain of evidence that demonstrates the futility of multitasking, he was inevitably asked whether there were anything we could do to enlarge the capacity of our minds. The answer was an emphatic “no.” There are hard limits to what our brains will do, and no amount of Baby Mozarts or Brain Trainers will alter that. Practice, Simons says, will improve specific skills but not general abilities. Doing Sudoko will make you better at Sudoko; it won’t raise your GMAT scores.
Is there anything that truly enhances cognition? Yes, says Simons: exercise. Experiments by his colleague Arthur Kramer showed that walking for a few hours a week led to large improvements on cognitive tasks. Stretching and toning exercises had no cognitive benefits, but aerobic exercise, which increases blood flow to the brain, did. Seniors who walked for just 45 minutes a day for three days a week showed better preservation of their brains in MRI scans. Exercise, Simons concludes, improves cognition broadly by increasing the fitness of your brain.
Care about asset integrity? Get out of the office and go for a walk. And make sure the people who work for you do, too.
MY THOUGHTS
the short but brisk walking helps. i walk around the block sometimes if i need to work well into the night. clears the brain, relaxes the muscles and makes me more productive.
By Margaret Heffernan | August 10, 2010
Industrial companies put a lot of effort into “asset integrity” — which really just means protecting critical plants and machinery from damage and wear and tear. At companies like BP, it’s clearly more of an aspiration than a reality, but anyone trained in a manufacturing environment learns that asset integrity is a top priority. But what about service industries — companies where the only assets are the brains of the people who work there? Shouldn’t they worry about asset integrity, too? Astonishingly, most of them don’t. Instead, financial services, consulting, the law and even the medical profession perpetuate working hours where all-nighters are heroic, driving with jet lag is the norm and anyone who actually has lunch risks becoming lunch.
But, they argue, we’re in the midst of an economic downturn, the worst recession in our lifetimes. Shouldn’t we all be working as hard as we can? Who has the luxury of time? What do you mean weekends aren’t for working?
Well, for the last 100 years, every productivity study in every industry has come to the same conclusion: after about 40 hours in a week, the quality of your work starts to degrade. You make mistakes. That’s why working 60 hours may not save you time or money: you’ll spend too much of that time fixing the mistakes you shouldn’t have made in the meantime. That’s why software companies that limit work to 35 hours a week need to employ fewer QA engineers: there isn’t as much mess to clean up.
In a knowledge economy, where thinking and creativity are the raw materials from which products and profit flow, brains are assets. They need to be cherished, nurtured and protected, not abused. Leaders need to take seriously a century’s evidence that 1) overwork doesn’t make us productive, it makes us stupid, 2) looking away from a problem is often the best way to solve it, and 3) burnout is what happens when people are asked to work in ways that obliterate all other parts of their lives.
Also: we need to hammer the last nail into the coffin of multi-tasking. No, you can’t safely drive and hold conference calls, nor can you text while driving. And checking emails while in meetings means you may as well not be there. What modern businesses need isn’t distracted Blackberry addicts but human beings who haven’t forgotten the gifts of focus, concentration and mindfulness.
When the cognitive scientist Dan Simons looked at the vast mountain of evidence that demonstrates the futility of multitasking, he was inevitably asked whether there were anything we could do to enlarge the capacity of our minds. The answer was an emphatic “no.” There are hard limits to what our brains will do, and no amount of Baby Mozarts or Brain Trainers will alter that. Practice, Simons says, will improve specific skills but not general abilities. Doing Sudoko will make you better at Sudoko; it won’t raise your GMAT scores.
Is there anything that truly enhances cognition? Yes, says Simons: exercise. Experiments by his colleague Arthur Kramer showed that walking for a few hours a week led to large improvements on cognitive tasks. Stretching and toning exercises had no cognitive benefits, but aerobic exercise, which increases blood flow to the brain, did. Seniors who walked for just 45 minutes a day for three days a week showed better preservation of their brains in MRI scans. Exercise, Simons concludes, improves cognition broadly by increasing the fitness of your brain.
Care about asset integrity? Get out of the office and go for a walk. And make sure the people who work for you do, too.
MY THOUGHTS
the short but brisk walking helps. i walk around the block sometimes if i need to work well into the night. clears the brain, relaxes the muscles and makes me more productive.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
workplace stress? find out if you have a good job
Do you have a good job? Take the test
Today's job market favors employees. The attitude of most workers is that they should have a job that makes them happy. So it's no surprise that at any given time 70 percent of the workforce is job hunting, according to the Wall St. Journal.
Everyone is looking for the right position. But what exactly does that mean?
Here is something it's probably not: Prestigious. People who chase fame and prestige are generally not as happy as other people. If you're after fame, you are setting goals that are dependent on other peoples' approval. Conversely, goals about self-acceptance and friendship make you happy because you have more control over them.
You might think you're different – that you have a legitimate shot at fame. Ninety percent of young workers think they are in the top 10 percent of all workers, according to Business Week. Also, 40 percent think they will become famous. The reality is 1 or 2 percent ever achieve a modicum of fame.
A good rule of thumb when choosing a job to make you happy is to pick one that is based on the following list of attributes.
To test a job to see if it's good, give the job points for each attribute it has:
1. A short, predictable commute – 1 point
The problem with a long commute is that it is long in a different way each day. Sometimes it's the rain, sometimes there's an accident. Sometimes traffic is backed up for no apparent reason. Humans can acclimate themselves to a lot of traumatic stuff – even being a paraplegic, according to Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. But you cannot acclimate yourself to something that is bad in a different way every day.
2. Workflow you can manage – 1 point
This is not about doing work. This is about managing your personal life, which you cannot do if you have no control over your workflow. You need to be able to predict when things will be difficult and when it's safe to focus more on your personal life. This is why management consultants are generally happy – they oversee their own schedule. But those who hold client-heavy jobs, such as lawyers or financial analysts, have to jump at a clients' whim.
3. Clear goals that are challenging – 1 point
Goals that are not challenging result in boredom, not happiness. But challenging work without a clear goal is a bad job waiting to happen because people want to know how they're doing. But you can't get feedback from a boss who does not set clear goals to manage your progress.
It is worth noting that the primary cause of workplace burnout is not the amount of time spent working, but whether the work you did can make a difference. For example, nurses on the pediatric burn unit have high turnover because it is exhausting to be taking care of children without being able to stop their suffering. Conversely, entrepreneurs are typically happy because they have so much control over workflow and goals.
4. Two co-workers you're close friend with – 3 points
If you have two good friends at work, you are almost guaranteed to like your job, according to Tom Rath, the author of Vital Friends. This is, in part, because you can process the bad parts of a job more productively with friends by your side to help you.
So finding a job you like or turning a bad job in to a good job might actually be totally under your control; you can decide you are going to be likable and make friends, or not.
Test results:
0-2 points, probably not a good job
3 points, probably a good job
4 – 6 points, probably a really good job
MY THOUGHTS
so, do you have a good job or not? remember,happiness is a state of mind. if you're ready to be happy, then you will be. don't make a mistake of leaving your job because it sucks. you'll find the next job sucks,too. why? the problem is not out there.
Today's job market favors employees. The attitude of most workers is that they should have a job that makes them happy. So it's no surprise that at any given time 70 percent of the workforce is job hunting, according to the Wall St. Journal.
Everyone is looking for the right position. But what exactly does that mean?
Here is something it's probably not: Prestigious. People who chase fame and prestige are generally not as happy as other people. If you're after fame, you are setting goals that are dependent on other peoples' approval. Conversely, goals about self-acceptance and friendship make you happy because you have more control over them.
You might think you're different – that you have a legitimate shot at fame. Ninety percent of young workers think they are in the top 10 percent of all workers, according to Business Week. Also, 40 percent think they will become famous. The reality is 1 or 2 percent ever achieve a modicum of fame.
A good rule of thumb when choosing a job to make you happy is to pick one that is based on the following list of attributes.
To test a job to see if it's good, give the job points for each attribute it has:
1. A short, predictable commute – 1 point
The problem with a long commute is that it is long in a different way each day. Sometimes it's the rain, sometimes there's an accident. Sometimes traffic is backed up for no apparent reason. Humans can acclimate themselves to a lot of traumatic stuff – even being a paraplegic, according to Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness. But you cannot acclimate yourself to something that is bad in a different way every day.
2. Workflow you can manage – 1 point
This is not about doing work. This is about managing your personal life, which you cannot do if you have no control over your workflow. You need to be able to predict when things will be difficult and when it's safe to focus more on your personal life. This is why management consultants are generally happy – they oversee their own schedule. But those who hold client-heavy jobs, such as lawyers or financial analysts, have to jump at a clients' whim.
3. Clear goals that are challenging – 1 point
Goals that are not challenging result in boredom, not happiness. But challenging work without a clear goal is a bad job waiting to happen because people want to know how they're doing. But you can't get feedback from a boss who does not set clear goals to manage your progress.
It is worth noting that the primary cause of workplace burnout is not the amount of time spent working, but whether the work you did can make a difference. For example, nurses on the pediatric burn unit have high turnover because it is exhausting to be taking care of children without being able to stop their suffering. Conversely, entrepreneurs are typically happy because they have so much control over workflow and goals.
4. Two co-workers you're close friend with – 3 points
If you have two good friends at work, you are almost guaranteed to like your job, according to Tom Rath, the author of Vital Friends. This is, in part, because you can process the bad parts of a job more productively with friends by your side to help you.
So finding a job you like or turning a bad job in to a good job might actually be totally under your control; you can decide you are going to be likable and make friends, or not.
Test results:
0-2 points, probably not a good job
3 points, probably a good job
4 – 6 points, probably a really good job
MY THOUGHTS
so, do you have a good job or not? remember,happiness is a state of mind. if you're ready to be happy, then you will be. don't make a mistake of leaving your job because it sucks. you'll find the next job sucks,too. why? the problem is not out there.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Everything You Know About Productivity is Wrong
Everything You Know About Productivity is Wrong
By Jessica Stillman | February 17, 20
Want to get more done at work? You need to buckle down, work consistently and hard for longer hours and quit procrastinating, right? Only if you work on a factory floor, counters blog Chief Happiness Officer from author and consultant Alexander Kjerulf. And as you’re reading a blog right now, you probably don’t work in an industrial job.
“For knowledge workers,” asserts Kjerulf, the old ideas about productivity “are not only wrong, they’re actively harmful.”
Instead, he suggests five new rules of productivity:
Your productivity will vary wildly from day to day. This is normal. In an industrial setting, you know that if the plant operates for X hours tomorrow you’ll produce Y widgets. For knowledge workers, you can’t possibly know in advance whether tomorrow will be a day where you reach a brilliant insight that saves you and your team weeks of work, or the day where you spend eight hours gazing dejectedly into your screen. This variation is normal -– if a little frustrating. You shouldn’t judge
your productivity by the output on any given day but rather by your average productivity over many days.
Working more hours means getting less done. A client asked me to conduct a study on the effects of work hours on productivity and errors, my findings were quite simply that… productivity decreased by half after the eighth hour of work. This may be counter-intuitive but it’s important to grasp: for knowledge workers there is no simple relationship between hours worked and output!
Working harder means getting less done. In an industrial environment, you can most often work harder and get more done. For knowledge workers, the opposite is true. You can’t force creativity, eloquence, good writing, clear thinking or fast learning -– in fact, working harder tends to create the opposite effect and you achieve much less.
Procrastination can be good for you. Sometimes you’re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility. Sometimes procrastinating is exactly the right thing to do at a particular moment.
Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer. The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.
For me, selling accomplishment without sweat and pain is a bit like selling snake oil. Writing, creativity and learning sometimes do involve beating your head (metaphorically) against the screen for hours, and every burst of inspiration is backed up by hours of donkey work. Still, I agree with Kjerulf’s point that outright misery is counter-productive and that allowing for humans to actually be human (quirky, variable, susceptible to exhaustion and inspiration) is essentially productive. It’s all a matter of balance. Do you agree?
MY THOUGHTS
"it's all a matter of balance". and this balance has to flow from the top. how can people below balance things when the demands given to top management are unrealistic. naturally, the domino effect would be unrealistic demands (and work hours) for people way down below. this is the biggest challenge for middle-management though. you don't really have control (not very much) on the supposedly strategic goals. you can influence it. but at the end of the day, your job is to implement what has been decided upon. so, if the the demands are unrealistic from way up, middle managers task is to ensure that demands are less unrealistic for the staff. otherwise, you're bound to lose people. and then top management will get your hide. and so, the unrealistic demand will be on your shoulders. and dno't say you don;t have a choice. you do.
By Jessica Stillman | February 17, 20
Want to get more done at work? You need to buckle down, work consistently and hard for longer hours and quit procrastinating, right? Only if you work on a factory floor, counters blog Chief Happiness Officer from author and consultant Alexander Kjerulf. And as you’re reading a blog right now, you probably don’t work in an industrial job.
“For knowledge workers,” asserts Kjerulf, the old ideas about productivity “are not only wrong, they’re actively harmful.”
Instead, he suggests five new rules of productivity:
Your productivity will vary wildly from day to day. This is normal. In an industrial setting, you know that if the plant operates for X hours tomorrow you’ll produce Y widgets. For knowledge workers, you can’t possibly know in advance whether tomorrow will be a day where you reach a brilliant insight that saves you and your team weeks of work, or the day where you spend eight hours gazing dejectedly into your screen. This variation is normal -– if a little frustrating. You shouldn’t judge
your productivity by the output on any given day but rather by your average productivity over many days.
Working more hours means getting less done. A client asked me to conduct a study on the effects of work hours on productivity and errors, my findings were quite simply that… productivity decreased by half after the eighth hour of work. This may be counter-intuitive but it’s important to grasp: for knowledge workers there is no simple relationship between hours worked and output!
Working harder means getting less done. In an industrial environment, you can most often work harder and get more done. For knowledge workers, the opposite is true. You can’t force creativity, eloquence, good writing, clear thinking or fast learning -– in fact, working harder tends to create the opposite effect and you achieve much less.
Procrastination can be good for you. Sometimes you’re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility. Sometimes procrastinating is exactly the right thing to do at a particular moment.
Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer. The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.
For me, selling accomplishment without sweat and pain is a bit like selling snake oil. Writing, creativity and learning sometimes do involve beating your head (metaphorically) against the screen for hours, and every burst of inspiration is backed up by hours of donkey work. Still, I agree with Kjerulf’s point that outright misery is counter-productive and that allowing for humans to actually be human (quirky, variable, susceptible to exhaustion and inspiration) is essentially productive. It’s all a matter of balance. Do you agree?
MY THOUGHTS
"it's all a matter of balance". and this balance has to flow from the top. how can people below balance things when the demands given to top management are unrealistic. naturally, the domino effect would be unrealistic demands (and work hours) for people way down below. this is the biggest challenge for middle-management though. you don't really have control (not very much) on the supposedly strategic goals. you can influence it. but at the end of the day, your job is to implement what has been decided upon. so, if the the demands are unrealistic from way up, middle managers task is to ensure that demands are less unrealistic for the staff. otherwise, you're bound to lose people. and then top management will get your hide. and so, the unrealistic demand will be on your shoulders. and dno't say you don;t have a choice. you do.
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