Learning

Forget New Year’s Resolutions – Here Are Five Beneficial Things That You’ll Actually Want to Do in 2022

By in Learning, Living Well 1 Comment Tags: , , ,

Happy_With_Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions are often hard to keep. The majority of the time, people aren’t able to stick to the resolutions they make – maybe because they aren’t sure what they need to do to achieve them, or because they set their expectations too high. It can be difficult and stressful.

2021 was a hard year for a lot of people. So maybe we should cut ourselves some slack, and avoid making tough, demanding New Year’s resolutions this year. Instead, why not resolve to do things that are both fun and beneficial to our careers? Author Lea McLeod has a few suggestions:

  • Learn about something you’ve always been interested in that has nothing to do with your work – Have you always been interested in learning more about something random, like puppetry, interior design, classic car restoration, or hydroponic gardening? Well if so, you should go for it! Not only will it be fun and personally rewarding, it will also benefit you at work by making you more curious and creative. Plus, who knows how you might be able to apply those new skills? They might just come in handy on your next work project!
  • Ask to take on a task at work that seems enjoyable (even if it’s not in your area) – Is there something that you would like to try doing at work, even though it’s not in your area of expertise? Ask your manager if you could try it out. Even if it doesn’t end up being a good fit for you, you’ll still learn something new and hopefully enjoy the experience. In addition, your manager will admire you for wanting to try new things.
  • Get technical – Try to learn a new technical skill. And make sure it’s something that you’ve always been interested in learning, so that it’s an enjoyable process! Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn more about Photoshop. Or maybe there’s a new app for your phone that you’ve been dying to try. It doesn’t need to be directly related to your work. Getting more technologically-savvy is always beneficial, no matter what type of technical skill you’re learning.
  • Read a few books – Try to read a few books this year that will inspire you and make you think. Choose books that really interest you, so you’ll stick with them (even if you’re not a big reader). The intellectual stimulation that comes from reading a good book will help you to be a more effective employee.
  • Unplug for a weekend – For one weekend, try to unplug from all of your devices. Don’t look at your work email. Don’t look at social media. Just take a break, and spend your time doing offline activities that you really enjoy. Enjoying a weekend away from work and other responsibilities will help to prevent burnout, and will make you a more productive, engaged employee.

…

McLeod, L. (n.d.). 5 career-boosting New Year’s resolutions you’ll actually want to keep. The Muse. Retrieved from: https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-careerboosting-new-years-resolutions-youll-actually-want-to-keep

How to Be Curious

By in Learning 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Curiosity

Curiosity is a great quality to have in the workplace. People who are curious are more likely to examine problems from different perspectives and come up with innovative solutions. They’re more likely to be lifelong learners who are constantly developing and enhancing their skills and abilities. Curious employees tend to be creative employees. And they’re often a big asset to their teams.

We were all curious when we were young. But curiosity is a quality that can sometimes be lost as we get older. It’s not always encouraged. There’s an old saying – “curiosity killed the cat.” Many of us were taught that curiosity can get you into trouble and you should stick with the status quo.

So how can you become curious again? What can you do to rediscover this quality? Author Greg Blatt has a few suggestions:

  • Allow yourself time to think and learn – When you’re faced with a problem at work and you don’t need to take immediate action, give yourself a little time to reflect. Take the time to consider all of your options and possibly discover new ones. In addition, if you ever have downtime at work, try to spend some of it investigating a topic that interests you. Learning about new things can help to further spark your curiosity.
  • Be willing to listen to new ideas – When a coworker voices a new idea or opinion, don’t judge it immediately. Listen to what your coworker has to say, and try to be open to new ways of doing things.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions –If you don’t fully understand something, ask about it. Asking questions is one of the best ways to indulge your curiosity and improve the quality of your work. Your questions might help you and your coworkers to uncover new possibilities, collaborate more effectively, and develop your ideas more successfully.  
  • Get used to feeling a little uncomfortable – It can sometimes be a little uncomfortable to question the status quo and examine issues from a new perspective. But if you can stomach that feeling, the payoff will be worth it. Being curious, asking questions, and learning new things is tremendously rewarding. And ultimately, it will be beneficial to your whole team.

…

Blatt, G. (2020, April 7). Curiosity in the workplace: How to develop an inquisitive attitude and become a better leader. Thrive Global. Retrieved from: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/curiosity-in-the-workplace-how-to-develop-an-inquisitive-attitude-and-become-a-better-leader/

What to Do When You Feel Envious at Work

By in Learning No Comments Tags: ,

Envious_Fish

Have you ever felt envious of one of your coworkers? Maybe that person seems to have everything – money, charm, status, and the perfect home life. They might learn new information quickly, get constant praise from your boss, and have pictures scattered around their office that show them doing exotic things like climbing Mount Everest or swimming with sharks. Even if you like the person, you still might be gritting your teeth with envy.

Envy is an emotion that we feel when someone else gets something that we want. We’re all likely to feel envious now and then. It’s especially likely to crop up when things seem uncertain or chaotic at work. If you feel like you’re competing with your coworkers for limited resources, envious feelings will almost certainly exist.  

Unfortunately, these feelings can be really damaging — not only to the person who feels envious, but also to the entire team. The person who’s envious will feel angry, stressed, and dissatisfied about the fact that they haven’t been able to achieve the same things as their coworker. This could cause their work to suffer. In addition, the envious person may not want to communicate or collaborate with their coworker. This could have a negative impact on the team’s ability to work together, innovate, and get things done.

So what should you do if you find yourself feeling envious of a coworker? How can you banish this damaging emotion? Authors Tanya Menon and Leigh Thompson suggest that you take the following steps:

  • Figure out what’s causing your envious feelings – Try to pinpoint exactly what’s causing your envy. Is it the fact that your coworker has such a good relationship with your boss? Or that your coworker has a more important position in the company? Once you’ve figured out exactly what’s causing your envy, you’ll be better able to control that emotion. You’ll also be able to start working on achieving those things yourself.
  • Focus on yourself rather than other people – Don’t compare yourself to other people. Since you don’t know everything about your coworker (and the problems or insecurities that they might have), it’s impossible to make an accurate comparison. And it will always make you feel lousy. Instead, focus on yourself, and compare your present self to your past self. Have you accomplished things over the past six months? Are you in a better position now than you were a year ago? If so, you should feel good about that! If not, it’s something you can work on.
  • Think about your strengths and accomplishments – When you start to feel envious, try to stop yourself, and think about your strengths and the wonderful things that you’ve accomplished instead. Thinking about your own positive qualities will help you to overcome any feelings of resentment that you might have for your coworker.

…

Menon, T. & Thompson, L. (2010, April). Envy at work. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2010/04/envy-at-work

The Best Kind of Music to Listen to at Work

By in Learning 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Working_with_Music

Want to listen to music while you work AND be extremely productive? No problem! You just have to listen to the right kind of music.

According to productivity experts, certain types of music can help people focus and get their work done more effectively, while other types of music can be a distraction. Here are a few guidelines:

  • Don’t listen to music with words – Unless you’re doing some sort of mindless, repetitive work, you shouldn’t listen to music that has lyrics. The words will distract you from the work that you’re trying to do, and make it harder for you to read or process information efficiently.
  • Classical music is a good choice – Research has shown that classical music can stimulate brain activity. It can give you the mental boost you need to concentrate on a difficult task and get your work done efficiently and effectively.
  • Instrumental movie soundtracks are good too – Not a fan of classical music? That’s OK! An instrumental movie soundtrack is also an excellent option. The music will help you to focus and, as an added bonus, everything that you do will feel extremely epic.
  • Enjoy the sounds of nature – But what should you do if you don’t like classical music or movie soundtracks? Enjoy the sounds of nature! Listen to crashing ocean waves, a gurgling brook, or a lush rainforest, and you’ll be both productive and soothed.

…

Bologna, C. (2020, October 19). The best kind of music to listen to while working. HuffPost. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/best-music-while-working_l_5f8637a2c5b6e9e76fb84410

Don’t Sabotage Yourself

By in Learning No Comments Tags: ,

Self_Sabotage

I’m sure we all want to be effective, engaged, and productive at work. We want to get our work done, and get it done right! But according to authors Allana Akhtar and Shana Lebowitz, we just might be our own worst enemies.

Akhtar and Lebowitz claim that there are mistakes that people often make during the first 10 minutes of their workdays that can make them less effective and productive. Some of those mistakes can have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of their work. And other mistakes can make their bosses perceive them as being ineffective (whether that’s actually true or not).

Luckily, there are things you can do to help ensure that you have a successful workday! Here’s a list of common mistakes, and tips on how to avoid them:

  • Arriving late – Research shows that you if you’re regularly late for work, your boss will view you more negatively. This will be true even if you stay late to make up for your missed time and produce stellar work. To prevent this from happening, try your best to make it to work on time (or even a few minutes early).
  • Failing to say “good morning” to your coworkers – If you tend to rush to your desk in the morning without greeting your coworkers as you pass by, you may make a bad impression. You may be viewed as someone who is detached, unfriendly, or not a “team player.” So try to spend the first couple minutes of each morning greeting your coworkers. It will make a world of difference in how you’re perceived.
  • Responding to every new email in your inbox – When you start work in the morning, do you generally respond to every new email that you’ve received? If so, you run the risk of spending too much of your valuable time on minor issues and not enough on getting your essential work done. Instead of immediately responding to every email, you should scan through them quickly and then only respond to the most important items. The less important emails can wait.
  • Failing to plan out your day – Taking a few minutes in the morning to decide what you’re going to be working on and how you’re going to be spending your day is crucial. It will make you more organized and productive. You’ll be able to focus on the most important items on your “to do” list, and you’ll be prepared for the meetings that are on your schedule. Spending a few minutes on planning can help everything to run more smoothly.
  • Trying to multitask – As you sit down at your desk in the morning, don’t immediately start multitasking. Multitasking is never a good idea. When you multitask, we’re not actually working on multiple things at the same time. You’re just switching back and forth between tasks, instead of focusing on one thing at a time. And this can have negative consequences. Researchers have found that constantly shifting your focus can lead to reduced productivity, a greater number of errors, and increased levels of stress.
  • Scheduling an early morning meeting – People tend to have the most drive and creative energy in the morning. After lunch, that energy tends to drop. So if you schedule an early morning meeting, you’re taking up time that might be better spent working independently on challenging tasks. An early morning meeting is only a good idea if creative, demanding work needs to be done as a group.

…

Akhtar, A., and Lebowitz, S. (2019, May 14). 12 mistakes you might be making in the first 10 minutes of your workday. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/333723

Returning to the Office? How to Make the Transition Easier for Your Pet.

By in Learning 1 Comment Tags: ,

Man_Working_With_Dog

Have you been working from home for a while now? Do you have a dog or cat who has gotten used to you working from home? And do you worry about how your pet might react when you return to the office? If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people have similar concerns.

My current office mate, Gizmo, is going to miss me when I’m gone.

But luckily, according to pet-behavior specialists, there are things you can do to make the transition easier for your furry sidekicks. Here’s how to prepare them for the change in routine:

  • Start going out – Get them used to you going out (and show them that you actually WILL return) by leaving the house during the day. Start with 15 minutes, and then leave for progressively longer periods of time. Your pet will start to feel more comfortable with the idea of you being gone.
  • Spend a little time apart – If you have pets who like to be near you at all times, try to get them comfortable with being separated from you by shutting your office door for a couple hours a day. It will teach your dog or cat that they’re OK on their own and will help them to become a little more independent.
  • Stick to a schedule – Start following the schedule that you’ll be on when you’re working in the office. Get up at the appropriate time in the morning, and feed, walk, and interact with your pet as you normally would before commuting to work. Get your dog or cat used to the routine, and stick with it. Animals feel very stressed when their routine is disrupted, so try to make them feel comfortable with the new schedule.
  • Try to make it fun – When you leave your pet, try to give them something fun to do while you’re gone. A puzzle toy or treat-dispensing toy can be a wonderful distraction.

…

Horovitz, B. (2021, March 22). The pets we’re leaving behind. The Wall Street Journal, R7.

Should You Listen to Music While You Work?

By in Learning No Comments Tags: , , ,

Listening_to_Music

I know a lot of people who like to listen to music while they’re working. But is it a good idea – or an unnecessary distraction?

Research indicates that the answer to that question isn’t entirely clear cut. Whether or not you should listen to music depends on the type of work you’re doing, the type of music you’re listening to, and the type of person you are.

In a 2019 study, researchers asked three groups of students to complete a series of easy and challenging tasks. (The easy task required them to cross off the words on a list that started with the letter A. The challenging task required them to memorize and recall pairs of words.) The first group of students worked in silence. The second group listened to a simple musical composition while they worked. And the third group listened to a complex musical composition while they worked. Here’s what they found:

  • You shouldn’t listen to music when performing challenging tasks – Study participants who worked in silence did 4% better on the challenging task. So when you’re working on something difficult or demanding, it’s best to not have any distractions.
  • You should listen to music when performing easy, routine tasks – Study participants listening to complex music did 7% better on the easy task than the students who listened to simple music or no music. Researchers theorized that this was because the complex music helped to keep the students’ minds from wandering, and helped them to stay on task.
  • If you’re the kind of person who gets bored easily, you shouldn’t listen to music at all – Students who tended to get bored easily and were frequently looking for some sort of distraction (for instance, by checking their phones) did worse on both types of tasks when any type of music was playing. Researchers believed that this was because they got too involved in the music. So if you feel like you get bored easily and you’re the type of person who checks your social media a lot, it would probably be best to work in silence.

…

Mitchell, H. (2021, March 22). Listen to music while working? It depends. The Wall Street Journal, R6.

The Benefits of Having Both Optimists and Pessimists on Your Team

By in Communication, Learning 1 Comment Tags: , , , ,

Friendly_and_Grumpy_Cats

Optimists are positive, upbeat, and enthusiastic. Pessimists are realistic, cautious, and somewhat negative. Optimists are full of ideas. Pessimists tend to oppose new ideas because they focus on all of the bad things that could happen if those ideas were put into practice. Thus, this can sometimes lead to conflict at work.

On a team composed of optimists and pessimists, the optimists might feel angry and discouraged that the pessimists are always shooting holes in their ideas and preventing them from moving forward. The pessimists might feel annoyed that the optimists are always presenting unrealistic, underdeveloped ideas, and forcing them into the role of “the bad guy.” Both groups might secretly wish that they could work in teams in which everyone was like them – all optimists or all pessimists. But according to author Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, this would be bad for the organization.

  • In a group with all optimists, it’s likely that everyone would enthusiastically embrace new ideas without fully thinking through all of the possible ramifications. A phenomenon known as “groupthink” may also come into play. This is when bad decisions are made because the group members want to be positive and cohesive, and don’t want to voice a dissenting opinion.
  • In a group with all pessimists, it’s likely that not a lot of new ideas will be generated, because everyone will be too focused on the negatives. As a result, not a lot of progress will be made and necessary changes will not occur.

Tsipursky believes that the best teams include a mix of people. It’s important to have optimists who are enthusiastically generating ideas, as well as pessimists who play the role of the “devil’s advocate” and point out the flaws in those ideas. This is the only way that a team can develop a truly effective approach.

And according to Tsipursky, you can avoid conflict if everyone on the team has the right mindset. The optimists must understand that they’re needed to generate exciting new ideas – but that every idea needs to be developed and refined. And the pessimists need to know that they’re also essential, because it’s their job to take the ideas and shape them into something viable and effective.

…

Tsipursky, G. (n.d.) How optimists and pessimists can get along. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/348115

Five Ways to Self-Promote Yourself (Without Looking Like a Jerk)

By in Communication, Learning No Comments Tags: ,

Success in Business or Personal Talent Concept. Happy Businessma

When you’re working hard and doing great things, you want to make sure that your boss is aware of your achievements. But at the same time, you don’t want to sound like you’re bragging or come across as a jerk. So what should you do?

First, you should know that it’s perfectly OK (and even advisable) to tell your boss about all of the good things that you’ve accomplished. It’s important that your boss knows about the great work you do! He or she needs to know about the obstacles you’ve overcome, the projects you’ve completed, and the good feedback you’ve received. Otherwise, your boss might have no idea what kind of worker you are.

But if the idea of self-promoting yourself makes you cringe, take heart. There are a few easy ways to go about it. Author Meridith Levinson suggests you try one or more of the following:

  1. Be ready with a good comeback – When your boss walks by your office and asks you how you’re doing, don’t give a one-word answer like “fine” or “good.” Be prepared to give a more detailed response. Tell your boss that you’re happy that your latest project went well, you’re having a good time learning a new skill, or you’ve had success working with a certain client. Give your boss a thorough update, and make sure to mention all of the things that you’ve accomplished.
  2. Help people out – Offer to help out coworkers who might be struggling with a certain task or a new type of software. Don’t take on more than you can manage. But if you have the knowledge and capacity to help your coworkers get their work done more easily, you should do it. Not only will your coworkers really appreciate your assistance, but you’ll also start to be known around the office as someone who is helpful, knowledgeable, and collaborative.
  3. Talk about your work, rather than yourself – If you feel uncomfortable talking to your boss about your skills and strengths, focus on your work instead. Meet with your boss to talk about your projects, and be energetic and enthusiastic. Your boss will be impressed with how engaged you are in your work. 
  4. Share complimentary emails – If you get a complimentary email from a client or coworker, forward it to your boss. But make sure to add a sentence or two, just to make sure it doesn’t get overlooked. For instance, you could write something like, “It looks like the presentation was well received. I’m happy that we’re getting good feedback!”
  5. Praise your coworkers – If you worked on a successful project with a group of people, and you don’t feel comfortable talking to your boss about your good work, talk about your teammates’ contributions instead. Tell your boss about all of the great things they did to make the project a success. Your boss will know that you also had a lot to do with this achievement. And he or she will appreciate the fact that you’re praising your teammates. It will make you and your teammates look good.

…

Levinson, M. (2008, November 19). Self-promotion at work: 8 tips for shy people. CIO. Retrieved from: https://www.cio.com/article/2432152/self-promotion-at-work–8-tips-for-shy-people.html

A New Way to Manage Stress at Work

By in Learning No Comments Tags: ,

Cafe Digital Communication Connection Concept

I’ve written a few articles about stress management in the past. Researchers have found that you can ease the pain of a stressful day in a variety of ways, including watching a cat video, striking a power pose, or looking at trees.

But if cats, power poses, and trees aren’t you’re thing, now you have another option! A recent study suggests that one of the best ways to manage stress at work is to learn something new.

Study participants who learned something new at work reported feeling less stress and anxiety. The act of learning also improved their mood. They felt more positive and encouraged. Feelings of frustration and disappointment were reduced.

Learning something new can help you to become more skilled, confident, and ready to take on the challenges of the workplace. It can keep your mind active while still giving you a necessary break from the work that’s causing you stress.

So the next time you’re feeling stressed at work, try learning something new about a topic that interests you. You’ll not only become more knowledgeable and skilled – you’ll also feel a little bit better about your difficult day.

…

Niemiec, R. (2018, March 9). Surprising new finding on how to manage stress at work. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-matters-most/201803/surprising-new-finding-how-manage-stress-work

«‹ 4 5 6 7›»