Modern office life ranges from very boring to oh-my-god-the-sky-is-falling-and-my-hair-is-always-on-fire. Both are imperfect. When you are bored, you can waste time on the internet while worrying about how secure your job really is. When you are over-worked, you’re exhausted and unhappy while worrying about whether others perceive your hectic days as a loss of control on your part.
Both are undesirable. And both demand that you raise the bar.
Popular search terms for this article:I met my friend, Melody Abella, over ten years ago when we worked in the marketing department of a dot com near Washington, D.C. It was a good job. Great benefits. Couldn’t complain, except I could’ve cared less—about the company, my work or where my career was going. Don’t get me wrong. I performed my job duties, got a couple big promotions, bonuses and pay hikes. Parents were proud and relieved.
Every day I dragged myself into the office, I was playing the role of someone who cared. They could’ve tripled my salary and the sentiment would have been the same. Melody and I both had the benefits of education and lucrative employment, but our passions weren’t stoked by corporate power or ladder-climbing.
Sometimes I’d look around the office and wonder if everyone was as “into it” as they appeared. Even my boss, who is a fantastic writer, would talk about her book ideas that were going on paper once the kids graduated college (the boys were in grammar school). Melody began practicing yoga in college and the love affair continued into her corporate years.
Popular search terms for this article:leap and the net will appear meaning, meaning of this, leap and a net will appear meaning, what the meaning of
A good friend told me that within the last couple of weeks the most depressing day of the year pops up. Some say it falls on the Monday, some say it falls on a specific day; the bottom line is that it falls somewhere in there. So if you’re feeling a little low around that time, now you know why.
But I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again: it doesn’t have to be that way.
Some say the reason that this time of year leads to a lack of fulfillment is because many have let their resolutions that they made only a few weeks before fall by the wayside. The dull weather plays a part, too. Oh, and let’s not forget the post-holiday credit card bills that fill your mailbox….and empty your wallet.
Popular search terms for this article:Importance of setting goals, the importance of setting goals, importance of goals, the importance of goals, importance of setting goals in life, what is the importance of setting goals, why is setting goals important, the importance of setting goals in life
So you’re about to launch. You’ve done a great job planning and executing this project. And you’re almost ready to unveil your baby to the world.
And this is when people start coming up with new ideas and suggestions. Often it’s a major decision maker such as your boss who thinks a new feature or two is needed. Do you rework everything? How do you consider everyone’s feedback and respectfully decline the advice? That all depends on many factors. In the end, you need to decide what’s the gain. And some of that advice comes from someone you can’t ignore.
Popular search terms for this article:Most of today’s companies still value presence over performance. The amount of time employees spend in the office matters more than what they accomplish during that time. The expectation of putting in long hours, regardless of whether or not it’s warranted, breeds a habit of filling time by creating non-critical activities, drifting into excessive socializing, or getting caught up in trivial office politics. For those of us who actually want to be productive rather than busy, being surrounded by counterproductive behavior can be frustrating.
How do you replace busyness with productivity? One powerful way is by increasing your presence-to-performance ratio.
Popular search terms for this article:engagement at work, what is the benefit of recording productive and nonproductive time, full engagement, engagement activities at work, What is the benefit of recording productive and nonproductive time if at all?, benefits of recording productive and nonproductive time, What is the benefit of recording productive and nonproductive time if at all, benefit of recording productive and nonproductive time, • what is the benefit of recording productive and nonproductive time if at all?, what are the benefits of recording productive and nonproductive time
Decluttering your cubicle or desk can greatly minimize visual distraction in the workplace. Seeing last week’s memo out of the corner of your eye can trigger your brain to periodically reevaluate its relevance. There’s no point in wasting cycles on redundant processing.
But what about your computer desktop? If you want to take workspace decluttering to its logical conclusion, getting rid of icons on your desktop is worth exploring.
Popular search terms for this article:zen desktop, zen desktop wallpaper, empty desktop, desktop zen, zen workspace, zen desktops
For any of you who have gotten a little long-in-the-tooth, you probably have some of the same concerns as I have. You may have friends or co-workers who have been let go under, let’s call them, sketchy circumstances. The party line was that there was a layoff or a re-organization, but it’s kind of strange how that person’s responsibilities now have gone to either a newly-hired employee or a younger one within the company. If you’ve been at a job for a number of years and realize that you are among the older workers in the company, you may have the following concerns.
Get twice-a-month updates from the blog and
occasional subscriber-only tips and giveaways.
