work

Four Ways to Boost Your Energy at Work

By in Living Well Tags: ,

TiredWorker

Work can be tiring. Even if you love your job, it can sometimes be difficult to stay energized throughout the day. So what should you do if you start to feel sleepy or sluggish? Well, you could drink a big cup of coffee. (I suspect that’s what most people do.) But you do have other options! Here are four of them:

  1. Take a break – Research has shown that people work more quickly and accurately if they take several short breaks throughout the day. So look away from your computer, stand up, and move around. You’ll feel better and get more done!
  2. Have a snack – Try to avoid sweets. They’ll give you a quick burst of energy, but it will die off quickly. Instead, choose a snack that’s high in protein and fiber. Good choices include things like string cheese with whole-grain crackers, an apple with peanut butter, or trail mix.
  3. Go for a walk – Taking a short, 10-minute walk can make you feel more energized, positive, and alert. If you can walk outside and get some fresh air, that’s even better.
  4. Take steps to reduce your stress – Stress is exhausting. So if you can, try to take steps to reduce it or remove it. You’ll have more energy – and be happier too!

If you have any other tips on how to stay mentally alert and energized during the workday, please share them in the Comments section below!

 

Fields, L. (2015, July 24). 6 quick ways to boost energy. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/women/features/fatigue-fighters-six-quick-ways-boost-energy

 

How Happy Are You?

By in Living Well Tags: , , ,

Happy_Employee (2)

It’s important to be happy at your job. Happy employees are more effective, productive, and successful. They feel trusted by their colleagues and supported in their efforts. And they’re less likely to suffer from feelings of stress, anxiety, and burnout.

So how happy are you at work? If you’ve never given it a lot of thought, now is your chance! The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, has created an online quiz that you can use to measure your level of happiness. Click the link below to take the short quiz and see how you really feel about the work that you do.

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/happiness_at_work

…

What to Do When You Make a Mistake at Work

By in Learning Tags: ,

Made_a_Mistake

We all make mistakes. No one is perfect. It’s how we respond to our mistakes that really matters.

So what should you do when you realize that you’ve made a mistake at work? Psychotherapist Barton Goldsmith offers the following recommendations:

  • Admit that you’ve made a mistake – If you make a mistake, own up to it. It’s the right thing to do. You shouldn’t try to hide it. Trying to cover up a mistake often takes a lot of time and energy. And it will only cause you to feel anxious and upset about the possibility of being found out. It’s much better to simply be honest about your mistake, and focus on how to fix it.
  • Don’t take shortcuts – When you’re trying to fix your mistake, make sure to do it the right way, even though it might take a lot of work. Don’t try to take a shortcut or quickly slap a Band-Aid on the problem. That approach will probably only cause more issues to arise later. Instead, put in the work and do it right.
  • Say you’re sorry – If there’s someone you need to apologize to due to your mistake, make sure to tell that person that you’re sorry. Your apology will be appreciated. And the person will certainly respect the fact that you’re taking responsibility for the mistake and working to fix it.
  • Don’t be too hard on yourself – Don’t beat yourself up about the fact that you’ve made a mistake. It happens to everyone! Try to let it go and move on.

…

Goldsmith, B. (2021, November 14). Barton Goldsmith: When you make a big mistake. The Sun. Retrieved from:  https://www.lowellsun.com/2021/11/14/barton-goldsmith-when-you-make-a-big-mistake/

Why Your Nightmares About Work Can Be Helpful

By in Living Well Tags: , ,

Nightmare

Do you ever have nightmares about work? Maybe a huge project is due and you suddenly realize you haven’t gotten it done? Or maybe you’re fighting with your boss or one of your coworkers? Or perhaps you get lost while walking to your office? It’s not uncommon for people to have nightmares about work. But it’s also not necessarily a bad thing.

According to psychologist Deirdre Leigh Barrett, we tend to dream about things that are important to us. Since work is something that a lot of us care about, it’s not unusual for it to be prominently featured in our dreams.

And nightmares are simply a way for people to work through stressful situations or concerns. They’re a way for us to cope with difficult issues and possibly find solutions to problems. So although they can be unpleasant, they can also be beneficial!

Nightmares about work can help you to identify the things that are truly concerning you (so you can better deal with them). They can help you to consider the issue from a different angle and gain a better understanding of it. And sometimes, they can even help you to figure out ways to alleviate the problem.

To get the most out of your dreams (and nightmares), write them down immediately after you wake up. In your nightmare, if you responded to a certain situation in a way that’s different than you normally would, this is something that you should pay attention to. It might suggest that you should tackle the issue in a new way or take a new approach to solving the problem.

…

Pawlowski, A. (2018, June 1). Sleeping with coworker, naked on the job: What your work nightmares mean. Today. Retrieved from: https://www.today.com/health/work-nightmares-bad-job-dreams-what-they-mean-t130086

How to Boost Your Self-Esteem at Work

By in Living Well Tags: ,

High_Self-Esteem

Do you sometimes question your abilities at work? Does a difficult or stressful project ever make you feel like you don’t really know what you’re doing or that you’re doing a bad job? If so, you’re definitely not alone. Everyone occasionally experiences feelings of low self-esteem. But if you feel that way on a daily basis, it can cause problems. Low self-esteem may fill you with so much self-doubt that you lose focus and have difficulty getting things done.

Luckily, however, there are things you can do to boost your self-esteem! Author Kathleen Smith suggests that you try the following:

  • Assess your level of self-esteem – Determine your level of self-esteem by making a list of the qualities that you think describe you best (for example, “cheery,” “driven,” “scatterbrained,” etc.).  Then take a look at your list and see how many of those words are positive and how many are negative. If you have more negative words, this is probably a sign that you’re being much too hard on yourself. Try to focus more on your strengths and talents, and think about other positive words that should be added to the list.
  • Change your thinking – If you’re suffering from low self-esteem, you’re most likely putting yourself down – a lot. You probably have negative thoughts about how you’re “messing up” or “not good enough.” And you might punish yourself for any small mistake that you make. You can reduce the occurrence of these types of damaging thoughts by taking note of what triggers them, determining that they’re mostly (or fully) irrational, and then replacing them with positive thoughts. Try to focus on how competent and accomplished you are, and think about all the success that you’ve had. This might take effort. Changing your thinking can be hard to do! But the more you work at it, the better you’ll get at it and the better you’ll feel.
  • Revel in your successes – If you have low self-esteem, you might suspect that your accomplishments have mostly resulted from luck, rather than your skills and hard work. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. You should feel proud of your successes and celebrate them!
  • Don’t compare yourself to other people – You may have a tendency to compare yourself to people who appear to be extremely successful, and end up feeling like you’re not living up to expectations. This can be very upsetting and anxiety-provoking. If you find yourself doing this, try to stop yourself. Focus on your own accomplishments. Remind yourself that you are capable, competent, and successful. No comparisons are needed.
  • Take care of yourself – Spend time with people who care about you. It’s a good way to remind yourself that you’re great and worthy of all you’ve accomplished. Also, try to take care of yourself. Try to get enough sleep, eat healthy foods, and take breaks during your workday. Looking after your health and taking short breaks throughout the day will help you to feel more positive (about yourself and your work), focused, and energized.

…

Smith, K. (2021, January 22). How to build self-esteem: 5 tactics to change how you see yourself. PSYCOM. Retrieved from: https://www.psycom.net/increasing-self-esteem

How to Have a Good Day at Work

By in Living Well Tags: , , ,

Happy_Employee

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every workday could be enjoyable and productive? Unfortunately, it’s not always something that’s entirely under your control. If you’re working on a frustrating project, dealing with personal problems, or feeling under the weather, those things can have a negative effect.

But luckily, there are things you can do to increase your chances of having a good day, every day. Author Elizabeth Scott suggests that you try the following to reduce your stress, boost your energy, and increase your feelings of happiness:

  • Get started on the right foot – Mornings can be hectic and stressful. But you can make things run a little more smoothly by doing a bit of planning the night before. Each evening, spend a few minutes picking out what you’re going to wear the next day (and ironing it, if necessary), packing yourself a lunch, planning what you’ll eat for breakfast, etc. This will give you more time in the morning to savor your coffee and get ready for work. Your morning will be less chaotic, and you won’t need to rush to get to the office on time.
  • Get organized – If you’re organized, your day will progress a lot more smoothly. So make a list of the tasks that you’d like to complete and cross them off when you’re done. Try to keep your desk free of clutter, and file away those loose papers.
  • Don’t argue with people – Be kind to your coworkers. Try to avoid conflict. Arguing or feuding with a coworker will only make you feel lousy and exhausted.  
  • Get some clarity – If you’re not really sure what you’re supposed to be doing on a certain project, this can be extremely stressful. So if you find yourself in this situation, talk to your manager about your role and what’s expected of you. Getting some clarification will help you to feel more confident and be more productive.
  • Get comfy – You don’t want to go through your workday feeling stiff and achy. It’s important to have a supportive chair and maintain good posture. In addition, if your workplace tends to be noisy, this may cause you to feel annoyed and uncomfortable. A pair of noise-cancelling headphones could help you to solve this problem.
  • Don’t multitask – Multitasking is not especially efficient or effective. When you multitask, you’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. You should try to avoid it.
  • Take a walk – Take a walk during the day. It feels wonderful to stretch your legs and get some fresh air. It’s also a great stress reliever. Even a short walk around the block can help to make you feel a little more upbeat and energetic.
  • Try not to be a perfectionist – It’s great that you take pride in your work and want to do a good job. But in many cases, it’s simply not possible to be perfect. Being a perfectionist can be incredibly stressful and make you agonize over every decision you make. To avoid this problem, try to remind yourself that you don’t need to be perfect – you simply need to do your best. And your best work is something to be proud of.
  • Listen to a little music – Listening to music as you drive home from work can be a great way to unwind. Singing along to your favorite song can help you to relax, boost your mood, and make the end of your workday a little more enjoyable.

…

Scott, E. (2020, January 20). 9 simple ways to deal with stress at work. Verywellmind. Retrieved from: https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-deal-with-stress-at-work-3145273

Should You Listen to Music While You Work?

By in Learning 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.

Don’t Eat Lunch at Your Desk

By in Living Well Tags: ,

Food_at_Computer

France used to have a law that forbade employees from eating lunch at their desks. Leaving the office and taking an actual break at lunchtime was considered to be very important for employees’ health and well-being. And there does seem to be some truth to that.

According to author Anna Rahmanan, sitting in front of a computer screen all day (and not taking breaks) can be detrimental. It can cause an increase in cortisol, a stress hormone. It can cause a decrease in your ability to focus. And ultimately, it can result in decreased productivity. So even though you’re not leaving your desk, you may actually get less done – not more.

In the U.S., it’s not uncommon to eat lunch in front of the computer, while scrolling through emails or doing other work-related tasks. And now that many people are working from home, this is more common than ever. When you’re working from home, the division between your work life and home life can start to get blurry. It sometimes starts to feel like you’re always on the clock, so it seems logical to work and eat lunch at the same time.

But Rahmanan cautions against this. If at all possible, you should try to take a 30-minute lunch break away from your work and your computer. After preparing your food, you should eat in a room other than the one you work in, put on some music, pull out a good book, and relax. Or, even better, eat outside and get a little fresh air. Make your lunch an event that you look forward to. It will help to reduce your level of stress, boost your energy, and make you more effective and productive for the rest of the day.

…

Rahmanan, A. (2021, March 23). Why you should never eat lunch at your desk (especially at home).HuffPost. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-you-should-never-eat-lunch-at-your-desk_l_60522125c5b6ce101643c3f8

Six Ways That a Lack of Sleep Can Affect You at Work

By in Living Well Tags: ,

Sleeping_Woman

How much sleep do you get each night? Do you feel like it’s enough? Most experts believe that adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep to function at their best. If you’re getting less than seven hours, it’s possible that you might be a little bit sleep deprived.

I average around 6.5 hours of sleep per night. I think that I still function pretty well, but do I really? Researchers have found that a lack of sleep can affect you and your work in a variety of ways. You might be meeting your deadlines – but if you’re not getting enough sleep, you might also be displaying the following behaviors:

  1. You’re more argumentative than you should be. You might have less patience than you usually do. So your coworkers’ slightly annoying habits might make you angrier than they should.
  2. Your coworkers often question your decisions. It’s great if your coworkers feel comfortable giving you feedback. But if they question EVERY decision you make, that might be a sign that your decision-making skills are not quite what they should be. Insufficient sleep could be the reason for your questionable judgment.
  3. You bump into things a lot. You might be naturally clumsy. But when you’re tired, that clumsiness can reach a whole new level. If you’re constantly bumping into your office furniture, it could be an indication that you need more sleep.
  4. You often have to read the same thing over and over before it sinks in. If a paragraph of text takes you much longer to read and process than it should, it indicates that you’re distracted by something, tired, or both.
  5. You spend a lot of money on things like takeout and grocery delivery services. When you’re tired, things like grocery shopping or cooking seem insurmountable, and paying someone else to do those things for you seems like a great idea.
  6. You avoid taking on new responsibilities – even interesting ones. When you start turning down (or actively working to avoid) taking on cool, new projects, it might be a sign that you’re tired, overworked, or both.

So watch out for those signs! And if you notice yourself bumping into your desk or arguing with your coworkers a lot, you might want to try getting a little more sleep, if possible.

 

Thibodeaux, W. (2018, May 4). 6 warning signs you need more sleep, based on your work behavior. Inc. Retrieved from: https://www.inc.com/wanda-thibodeaux/6-warning-signs-you-need-more-sleep-based-on-your-work-behavior.html

 

The Relationship Between Work and Happiness

By in Living Well Tags: ,

Happy_at_work

What makes us happy?

I think a lot of us believe that we can find happiness if we work hard, accomplish our goals, and become successful in our careers. But according to psychologist Shawn Achor, we’ve got things backwards.

He claims that work can’t make us happy. However, happiness can make us more productive, creative, and successful at work.

Watch his informative and entertaining TED Talk to learn more about the relationship between work and happiness.

1 2