Archive for the Work happy tips Category
5 Tips to Overcome Daily Distractions
If you're ready to level up your superpowers, you may want to sign-up for my 7 Part free E-Course to a Happier and More Successful You or my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
What distractions do you use to avoid doing your work?
Try making a list of them.
You’ll be surprised by how many different ways you let something distract you from your work.
My Top Ten Distractions:
- Espn.com
- My dog
- YouTube
- Sunny day
- Coffee
- TV
- Chatting with a friend.
How to Deal with “To Do” List Overwhelm
Most of you know I was laid off from day job in 2011 and been helping small business owners develop their core values, improve their sales pages and create amazing product launches. The business has been going well, but there are struggles too. Last week my son was sick and I had to keep him home with me. Every hour of work time is precious to me, but like any family man with strong family values my son comes first.
He stayed home with me last Tuesday and Wednesday. He broke his fever on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon he was back to his happy self.
On Wednesday night I looked at my “to do” list that had piled up. I felt behind. Overwhelmed. I felt this panicky feeling bubbling up inside me. You probably know that I like to call this my “arch nemesis”. That little negative inner voice that tries to scare the heck out of me every chance he gets.
Take Back Control
Instead of letting my arch nemesis take over I looked at where this stress was coming from. I began to feel like I didn’t choose to stay at home with my son. This made me feel even worse. I was lying to myself to motivate myself to be more focused. It wasn’t working. I was freaking out. I couldn’t focus.
As you know fear isn’t a very good motivator or at least too much of it is bad. There is a difference between good stress (Eustress) and overwhelming stress (distress).
I had a little chat with my arch nemesis. We went for a short walk.
I needed to readjust my attitude. Taking 15 minutes out of my day to do this saved me from wasting hours of work worrying instead of actually getting something accomplished.
Conversation with My Arch Nemesis
Me: “It’s ok to feel behind.”
Arch nemesis: “No it’s not. You have 100 things to do to take your business to the next level.”
Me: “I agree, but who is more important my “little dude” or the work?
Arch nemesis: “I hear you, but…what about the blog post, client call and proposal that you have to do today?”
Me: “They are all at the top of my list. I’ll get it done. I have 4 hours. If you ease up on my a little bit I’ll be able to get a lot more done.”
Arch Nemesis: “Ok, what about the first draft of the landing page you have to write?”
Me: “Number 4 on my list and I’ll get it done. I can only do one thing at a time.”
Arch Nemesis: “Hmmm, what about your ebook that you wanted to outline?”
Me: “That’s going to have to wait until tomorrow.”
Arch Nemesis: “What?! But you were so looking forward to it and once it’s done you can get started on it and that’s going to really help level you up.”
Me: “I know, but we did what was right. Our little dude needed us. Right?”
My Arch Nemesis puts his head down in defeat.
Arch Nemesis: “Ok, you promise to work on it for at least an hour tomorrow?”
Me: “I promise.”
After our conversation was over I felt much better.
It’s amazing what a walk with your inner arch nemesis can do to improve your perspective.
Your Turn
What do you do to bring your “To Do” anxiety back under control?
Top 15 Business Building Quotes and Research
Companies that put an emphasis on employee happiness are rewarded. Every company has a culture that either supports or detracts from their productivity and bottom line. Figuring out how to create a more supportive culture should be at the top of every company’s “to do” list.
Here are some of the best quotes and research that I have on the importance of work happiness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Comments Off
Hire Happy People and Teach Them the Rest
When I first started this blog in 2008, I was prone to depression. I literally felt like I had those huge ankle weights holding me down. Those days don’t happen very much any more. Over the years of studying work happiness, I’ve learned about life happiness, too.
I still feel sad like everyone else. No one can avoid sadness, but my sadness doesn’t last as long as it used to.
Core Happiness
The more work I’ve put into my core happiness, the more resilient I feel. When I fail, I don’t take it as hard as I used to. I shake it off and try something else. It’s this trait that all happy people seem to possess. They never let things bring them so far down that they just give up.
Just so we are clear, I’m not talking about hiring people who aren’t phased by failure. I’m talking about hiring the resilient people who can get knocked down and find a way to see a positive and build on it.
Read the rest of this entry »
7 Comments »
How to Turn Rejections into Inspiration
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jess of Hack My Modern Lifestyle.
Have you ever had times in your life when you found it hard to get up after being rejected?
Being rejected is difficult to handle in any capacity in life. Whether it is in your love life, social life, or work life, rejection often hits hard, and can sometimes knocks the wind out of your sails. Rejection in the work place has a special kind of sting to it, while rejections in relationships or social life are full of emotion.
Finding a way through rejection is not always easy because the reason for the rejection can sometimes be biting. Even comprehending “feeling better” immediately following a rejection can be difficult. This inability to feel better immediately is a normal reaction, and it can actually be a great moment of clarity for the individual.
Read the rest of this entry »
Freedom at Work is Relative
So many of my friends complain about the restrictions that work puts on them. They have to come in at a certain time, they don’t have the resources to make their projects successful or their co-workers are difficult. They don’t see how these obstacles are windows into their ability to feel happy.
I do the same thing.
When you work for someone else or yourself there will be restrictions within your day. Your co-worker might ask for your help right in the middle of working on your own project or you might get a phone call.
It’s how you handle your restrictions, distractions and difficulties that will really support your happiness.
Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments »
How to Create Emotional Space at Work
Building an emotional buffer is vital to surviving the working world. If we take every complaint, compliment and comment to heart we get too caught up in our emotions. When we are attached to how we feel we get pushed around by the most dominant emotion.
Anger
I had an old boss that was an emotional roller coaster. Every day was a new type of ride. A lot of times I had trouble interpreting her emails. For example I sent her an update on a project that I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks. I thought it was thorough and quite good.
She did not see it this way.
Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments »
Start to Thrive in Your Corporate Career with 3 Actionable Steps
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Farnoosh Brock of Prolific Living.
In 2007, I felt like I was trapped. Trapped like you would be in a cave, a closed space, a cell. Except I was a perfectly free person, living in the most free country in the world. Ironic, right? I felt so trapped in my job that I stopped seeing anything else. I turned blind to the world around me and all the opportunities that were open to me. And one by one, all the opportunities passed me by, as did the years, until I finally woke up and figured out the rules of the game.
I know now that I stayed only in a mental prison because the truth of the situation is that you are not ever trapped in a job. Ever. You simply create that condition in your mind and then project it to your perception of reality. When you feel that way, when you are miserable and powerless, it is very difficult to do anything but barely survive the days and the weeks of your job.
Work is Killing You and 10 Ways to Stop It From Happening!
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Gus Zambrano.
Every morning, you awaken to a new day and you launch into your familiar routines as you hustle to meet your daily obligations.
Ideally, your work excites you, energizes you, and brings joy to your life. If your work brings you more stress and fatigue than joy then now is the time to make some changes. You can introduce a renewed vigor into your work and upgrade your attitude.
You know that taking care of yourself should be your number one priority. Yet you often let your health and fitness levels fall by the wayside if you are consistently working 50 or more hours a week.
Read the rest of this entry »
Comments Off
Calling for Volunteers to Help with Work Happy Now
I need your help. As you probably know I’ve had Work Happy Now up and running since 2008. It’s been an amazing resource for myself and my readers.
Many of you don’t know I was laid off last year, so I’ve been working hard on my marketing company Party Biz Connect, soon to be Domino Connection. It’s been taking up the bulk of my time. I’ve gained a lot of traction, but as many of probably know it’s not easy to get a company off the ground. I’m helping companies create a domino effect in their business through smarter marketing efforts.
I’ve been unable to focus on generating much new content for you. I’m so sorry about this. I get emails every day about people who are struggling with their careers.
I’m asking for your help. I’m looking for about 3-4 volunteers to help me keep this site up and running.
Would you be interested in helping me keep this resource alive for you and a lot of unhappy people who need help?
Work Happy Now gets about 10,000 to 15,000 page views a month. I would be happy to give you credit for your help. I’m thinking about creating a separate page to highlight all volunteers.
If so please fill out this form. I’m not sure what to expect, but in case I get a lot of people I created a form. I would like to answer a few questions. The 3-4 best candidates will be chosen to help me keep this website up and running.
Read the rest of this entry »