How To Enjoy Your Job...
    Or Find A New One!

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Some days at work are just not great! Here are 15 ways to life your mood.

1. Get some exercise, even if it is just a walk. You may feel like slumping in front of the TV, but the best thing to do is get moving. Exercise will release endorphins and make you feel better.

2. Go to bed early. Sometimes it’s just better to finish the day early and get some sleep. Have a warm drink, snuggle up and make sure it’s very dark. Tomorrow will be a better day.

3. Get hugged. Whether it is your partner or a friend, get some physical contact. A hug will always help. If there are no people around, love your pet. I’ll bet they will love you back.

4. Buy some expensive, high quality, yummy food and eat it with relish (and no guilt!). If you buy a small amount of luxury, it will make you feel good – as opposed to truckloads of cheap, sugar-loaded food. I am a fan of Green & Black’s organic Darker then Milk chocolate which you can buy in 30g bars.

5. Have a bath. Fill it with bubble bath or aromatic oil and relax.

6. Get a massage. Pay for a professional and you won’t regret it. During the massage, concentrate only on the physical sensations and forget all the troubles of the day

7. Talk yourself up. We all have inner self-talk and a lot of it is negative and can bring us down. Notice what you say to yourself, and be kinder. Write down some positive affirmations and carry them with you. Look at them when you feel down.

8. Go dancing, either with friends or go along to a club. There are all kinds of dancing classes available now and you will find you relax more and can groove your cares away.

9. Sing. It helps – really! Karaoke is a fantastic way to feel better. Belt out some early Madonna, or thrash your head to some rock. You may need a drink to loosen the vocal cords first.

10. Laugh. See the dance class above. You can’t help but smile when attempting to salsa! Get a funny movie out.

11. Phone a friend and catch up. Don’t moan and don’t focus on the bad things. Just catch up and be grateful for the friendship.

12. Plan your next holiday. Dream it and Google all the things you would do with unlimited money.

13. Breathe deeply. Sometimes your stress will be so high, you forget to breathe which holds in all the tension. Let it out with long, slow breaths.

14. Thrash a punch-bag at a boxing class. If you can exhaust your body and get all your frustrations out on the bag, you will feel a whole lot better!

15. Listen to happy music. Make a song list on your ipod for when you really feel down. Make it happy and uplifting, positive music. Cheesy is sometimes best in these situations. Some of my favourites: Christina Aguilera – Soar, Wilson Phillips – Hold On, Survivor – Eye of the Tiger, Chumbawumba – I get knocked down

If this day keeps repeating itself, ask yourself why and write down 5 things you can change so you are not still repeating this day in 6 months time. Take massive action and make sure this situation changes.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons David Nikonvscanon

People do not work or live in isolation. Even if you are in a dream job, it can be marred by the presence of someone who upsets, frustrates or bullies you. This conflict can dominate your work life and spill over into your private time. The situation can be intensely stressful and can make the working days hell.

Everyone has ways in which they like to work and there are different styles of management for different types of people. However, some managers use the same approach with everyone, so there will inevitably be conflict. I have been in situations like this before for the following reasons:

· I feel my work and decisions are undermined by my manager who questions my abilities

· I am micro-managed and have to account for all my time, making me feel like I am not trusted

· I don’t respect my manager or the way they works or treat people

What are your specific problems with your manager?

Don’t be put off though! There are some fantastic managers out there who know how to look after and appreciate their people. They manage to the individual’s style and not with a broad brush approach. If you are a manager yourself, or if you want to be one, consider how you would like to be treated and appreciate individual differences in styles of work.

How do you want to be treated by your manager?

Relaxation is important as it helps prevent and control the overwhelming panic that can occur when you are stressed. Relaxation may be a different experience for everyone but common themes are peace, quiet and calm. You need to be able to relax regularly in order to manage your stress. Give your mind and body some time off. It doesn’t have to cost you anything, but you do need to commit some time for relaxation. Here are some suggestions.

· Sleep more. Your mind is powerful and can work on problems when you are asleep. As well as feeling refreshed when you wake up, you may also have the answers to some of your problems.

· Turn off the TV and stop the constant noise and stimulation. Be silent or read a book.

· Listen to some relaxation or meditation CDs. These are often available in your local library if you don’t want to buy any.

· Learn a relaxation technique like progressive muscle relaxation or visualisation. Again, there are books and CDs available on these topics.

· Have a regular massage. Ask the therapist where you hold your stress in your body. This can help you identify which physical areas to focus on relaxing.

· Take a yoga class. Breathe and stretch more.

· Get a hammock and spend some quality time in it. There is something inherently relaxing about being in a hammock. You can get a stand instead of using hooks so you can put it anywhere.

· See a professional hypnotist for relaxation and de-stressing.

· Cry. Big sobbing bursts of crying can release tension and you will feel better when you are all cried out. This will only be useful if you find it socially acceptable but it does work!

· Laugh a lot. Get some funny movies. Play with your children. Go to a fun park and go on the rides. Be silly. Check out a laughter club at www.laughteryoga.org

· Get out into nature and walk. Go and look at something that is not the city.

Self-efficacy is your belief in your own capability to do something. It may be a proven capability based on something you have achieved or it may be the belief that you can do a new thing given the opportunity. If you believe you can do something, you will feel more in control and therefore less stressed.

If you try something new and it works, you will feel you have achieved. You will have increased your self-efficacy. If it doesn’t work, then you can learn from it and the lesson will also improve your self-efficacy.

It is about how you perceive the situation.

For example, I have started three businesses. Each folded within a year after much hard work and money spent. As much as the experience was painful, I learnt a great deal each time that has enabled me to go on to later success. I perceived that the failures increased my abilities to eventually run a successful business so my self-efficacy improved even though some would say that I “failed”.

Your comfort zone is where you are happy doing your work or using your abilities. Part of developing self-efficacy is to stretch these comfort zones and increase skill level so you can function without being stressed in the outer limits.

If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never know what you are capable of.

Here are some ways to improve your self-efficacy in work situations.

• Identify what you have achieved – at work or in other areas of your life. Really look at what you have done and acknowledge that you have skills, and that you are valuable.
• Identify where your comfort zone is. Where are the boundaries of your skills? Where do you lose your self confidence? For example, you may be happy speaking in front of colleagues at a staff meeting, but not at a conference of 500 people.

• Find ways to apply the skills you have to the boundaries of your comfort zone in order to extend it out further.
• List ways you could improve in specific areas by developing new skills.
• Aim to put yourself in these situations in manageable ways in order to increase your comfort zone without being too stressed.
• Once you have tackled a new situation, add it to the list of what you have achieved and learned. Celebrate another step forward!

1. Assess why you are stressed

What are the situations in which you get stressed? Who makes you feel stressed? Here are some examples of workplace stress to help you identify your stressors.

• Trying to do a job that doesn’t match your values or skills
• Conflict with other people
• Working long hours which leaves you so tired you can’t function at home or do things you enjoy
• Not enough time to do a quality job and then being criticised for under-performing
• Lack of support from other team members

There are many more things in the workplace that are stressful. Write down the things that particularly affect you.

2. Use time management techniques

You might feel stressed because you do not have the time to do everything that you need or want to do. The key is to actively manage the situation and bring it under your control. Try the following time management techniques.

• Write down everything you have to achieve and by when. Even the small things add up.
• Estimate how long these things will take and rate them in terms of urgency and importance (although this list will keep changing, sometimes it is necessary to write it all down so you can get some perspective).
• Review your work related items with your manager so they are aware of the competing demands on your time and ask for more help if necessary. You may find that they are unaware of your workload and there may be others who can help you with it. Managers prefer to know in advance if deadlines will be missed.
• Ask people to book your time rather than turning up at your desk with impromptu requests.
• Start saying ‘No’ when people ask you to do things outside the boundary of your prescribed job. This may be very difficult for some people who want to be helpful all the time, but it is essential if you are to be less stressed.
• Some workplaces have “no meeting days” or only have meetings in the mornings so people also have time to achieve their actions by the next meeting. You could suggest this for your workplace or your team.
• Only check your email twice a day, or turn off your email program when you are doing a piece of work. This prevents regular interruptions from incoming mail.

In what ways you could implement time management techniques to make your work life less stressful?

3. Take control

If you blame your stress on aspects of your life which are not under your influence, you will not be able to reduce or control your stress.

Take ownership of what is stressing you and be in control of it.

If you acknowledge that you have control over what stresses you, you can deal with it by actively solving the problem. If you believe it is someone else’s fault or responsibility, then nothing will change.

Own it, change it.

Stress can actually be positive if the work is challenging as it brings an edge from the adrenalin of achievement. Unfortunately, most people will suffer negative stress at work.

Negative stress is now a constant in the working life and is not considered unusual. But how do people get the right balance? They are either too stressed and spend life rushing from one thing to the next, or they are not challenged enough and are stressed with boredom, repetition and frustration!

Negative stress happens when the job you do is mismatched with what you really want, when you work long hours at something you don’t enjoy, and when you don’t have time to relax and recover. Too much of this can damage your health and your relationships. Different people have different responses to levels of stress, but it becomes overwhelming when the ability to cope is outweighed by the number of stressors in your life.

Look at these statistics on negative stress. It is not to be taken lightly!

• “People’s jobs are the single biggest cause of stress with over a third (36%) of Britons citing it as one of their biggest stressors. 45% of those who have felt stressed have been depressed as a consequence”. (Source: Hazards Magazine)
• “26% of adult Americans reported being on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown”. (Source: American Psychologist)
• “Workplace stresses can double the rate of death from heart disease. High demands, low control, low job security and few career opportunities contributed to the overall stress measured in the study”. (Source: Centre for the Advancement of Health)
• “Work-related stress (including job insecurity) and fatigue may increase the risk of cold, flu and stomach inflammation. In one study, employees in demanding jobs developed colds 20 % more often than those in less demanding positions”. (Source: Centre for the Advancement of Health)
• “Seven of the top-selling drugs worldwide are either antidepressants or anti-ulcer medications, and stress is cited as a prime factor in the need for both”. (Source: Behavioral Healthcare)
• “Studies show that the greatest number of heart attacks in North America and Western Europe occur between 8am and 9am on a Monday morning”. (Source: Women’s Heart Foundation)
• “Japan has its own word for death from overwork – karoshi. The major medical causes are heart attack and stroke due to stress. Factors that indicate karoshi are: excessive working hours in a short period, long term excessive work burdens, irregular work hours, infrequent breaks, frequent business trips, shift work, late night work and work-related stress. It is now indicated that Western nations are suffering the same “disease”". (Source: Stress.org)

Stress is now so commonplace in the workplace that a growing industry exists just to manage it. Psychologists investigate it and employers’ bring in massage therapists and send people on “mental health” days because of the rising cost of workplace stress. Office workers in particular don’t do back-breaking physical work anymore, but many are exhausted by the sheer pace of modern work, the pressure to succeed or progress – or the frustration that comes with the inability to do exactly that.

Working with other people can also generate negative stress. Many people say that the friends they make at work are the reason to go in, but there are also people who can make it more stressful. It could be a manager with poor people skills who treats you badly or bullies people, or a co-worker who makes life difficult for everyone. Negative stress from people dynamics can impair thinking, so rapid and poor decisions can be made in error. Negative stress can be passed on in the haste to get out of the situation. Social stress can cause people to protect themselves by being hostile and over sensitive.

What triggers your stress? If you know you get stressed but are not aware of what triggers it, try keeping a weekly log. Notice what triggers you and then use strategies to avoid or mitigate the situation.

A new study by Tourism Australia has shown that people are not taking their annual leave, but working instead.Close to 60% of full-time workers did not use their 4 weeks holiday, citing “workplace issues” and “personal issues” as reasons why.

Stockpiling annual leave has an effect on people’s performance and workplace happiness as well as the company bottom line. The study is aimed at turning this missing leave into Australian holidays to boost the tourism industry, which should have a positive effect for everyone.

“In the interests of workplace productivity as well as individuals’ mental refreshment and general health, it is important that annual leave be taken seriously by business.  During this time of skill shortages, employers who want to retain their talented workers increasingly need to be seen as employers of choice.

“Employers who impose a culture of ‘work first at all costs’ are not investing in their people and will lose them to competitors who have a culture of looking after their human capital,” Jo Mithen, AHRI executive director said in the report.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons Aaron Escobar

“This is exactly what is wrong with my life.

Travelling home in the dark after a long day at work, I feel I haven’t achieved much, but no-one notices anyway. I have a stress headache and my neck hurts from my bad desk posture. I am tired even though I have done nothing physically active all day. I don’t have the energy to go to the gym now – I just want to go home, have dinner and watch TV. Looking around, I know I am not the only one on this train to feel like this.”

Terri, on the commuter train home

Can you identify with this?

Do you feel as if you have been doing something you don’t like for far too long?

Don’t worry. If you feel like this right now, you are not alone.

A multitude of surveys and figures indicate how many people don’t enjoy their jobs. Here are just some of the studies:

• “Approximately 60% of today’s workers and 50% of middle managers are unhappy in their current jobs.” (Source: Accenture)
• “Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past 20 years, with fewer than half saying they are satisfied. The trend is strongest among workers under the age of 25, with less than 39 % satisfied with their jobs. Overall, dissatisfaction has spread among all workers, regardless of age, income or residence.” (Source: Live Science)
• “Only 29% of Australians polled said they were happy in their jobs. The number one cause of unhappiness is stress”. (Source: Seek.com.au)
• “A quarter of working Brits, more than 7 million people, are disillusioned with their jobs. One in three Londoners are trapped in jobs they hate”. (Source: YouGov.com)
• “Some surveys have found that 87 % of Americans don’t like their jobs. About a million people a day phone in sick. It costs the nation an estimated $150 billion per year in treatment for stress-related problems, absenteeism, reduced productivity and employee turnover”. (Source: Forbes)

With figures like these, each of us has to rethink the way we work!

It is not sustainable for people or for businesses.

There is a problem, and you can only solve it for yourself.

We are all busy. Work is busy and so is our personal life. So how do we get it all done? Here are 12 tips to improve your efficiency and personal effectiveness.

1. Make lists. These will help de-clutter your mind and organise what you need to do into specific tasks.
2. Spring clean your office space. At work and at home, go through and ditch all the old paperwork in your drawers. Do the filing and create a To Do pile that consists of the relevant information. Make space on your desk and you will find your head clearing.
3. Streamline your bill paying. Set up direct debits for the common household bills. Organise online banking for everything else and make sure you pay early for discounts.
4. Shop online. You can get everything online now including your weekly groceries which saves you time (although may cost more). You are less likely to browse online, and you can shop out of hours.
5. Organise your email. Keep your Inbox for items that need actioning. Archive old mail and delete old stuff. If you use a searchable email system like Gmail and don’t use folders, then make sure you use the Archive function so the Inbox is still actionable items.
6. Be proactive about your calendar. Whether you use a PDA or a Filofax/ paper diary, make sure that you actively manage your calendar. Put in your regular appointments, birthdays and things to remember. Then plan your weekends, and week nights writing in items like the gym, social plans and business meetings. If you organise in advance, you will fit so much more in.
7. Be ruthless with your email and phone contact. Limit your phone and email usage to specific times during the day, and do all admin tasks at the same time. This chunks your time into manageable pieces.
8. Learn to say no. When asked to do something, weigh up whether or not you really need to do it. Sometimes people get trapped into doing tasks that are not part of their job because they are being nice. But this can impact stress levels and people are often respectful if you say no for good reason.
9. Find out about job opportunities for flexi-working. In these times of high fuel prices and the need to retain staff, companies are allowing telecommuting and flexible hours. If you can work from home, you can use the commuting time for other things.
10. Stop procrastinating. There are always things you don’t want to do, but they need to get done. By putting them off, blockages are created as those items just sit on your list. Stop procrastinating and do them first. At the beginning of the day is always a good way to get them done quickly.
11. Delegate and outsource tasks. Within a company, see who you can delegate or share tasks with. At home, consider outsourcing tasks like cleaning and gardening to free up quality time for other things. In business, try using a Virtual Assistant or outsourcing to contract labour online e.g. www.Elance.com
12. Set up Google alerts for targeted information. If you need to monitor specific news or information online, set up Google alerts so you are emailed with the latest updates. This prevents the need for trawling the internet. The information is sent daily. Subscribe to newsfeeds and RSS feeds for the sites you want to monitor.

The media is filled with the rocketing oil prices at the moment. The jokes are starting to circulate on the net.

People are starting to cut their car journeys. Airlines are going bust or adding more fuel surcharges to the bill. My flight just got cancelled for tomorrow because Qantas are laying off staff and economising. This seems all bad. But look on the bright side!

1. Volunteer to do a research project into how your organisation can reduce its carbon footprint and be more energy efficient. Work out how much fuel all employees would save if they worked from home one day per week. This does only work if you are in an office environment, but most jobs have admin tasks that can be left to one day per week. Use this to your advantage. Working from home is actually more productive, plus you get to see your family and get some exercise in as well.

2. Use Skype, webcams and e-meeting rooms for your interstate or international work. Save on the flight cost (financial and to the planet). This also saves your social and family life. Or at least tell your company that cutting down half of the commutes would be more economical. Many people say that travel is one of the most stressful things they do – physically and for their emotional life, so cutting it down would help everyone.

3. The lifestyle we are finally being forced to live is better for us now, and the future generations. We have been talking for so long about climate change, but now the economics are forcing behavioural change on us. We have less money in our pockets – but by changing our behaviour, we are benefiting the planet.

4. The above may make you think all greeny and leftie – but capitalism lives on in the carbon neutral future. With all the global economic crisis being touted, now is a great time to get in on the big sale of stocks/shares. Get educated in the green investment arena. Who will benefit from carbon credits, from the oil decline, from the move by governments to greener energy? In times of turbulence, money changes hands. Make sure some of it heads in your direction.