Archive for category Business

18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work by Dave Cheong









  1. Write out a daily task list and plan your day. There's nothing like a task list sitting next to you to keep you focused. When you have a list of the things you need to accomplish in a day, having that close to you constantly reminding you of what needs to be done is a great way of keeping on track.

  2. Allocate time slots colleagues can interrupt you. In a busy work place, people are moving and talking all the time. If you play a role in a team where others need to interact with you, try allocating a time slot they can interrupt you. Instead of having people stop by your desk every 10 mins and asking you questions, let them know of a time in the day, say between 2-4pm you can be interrupted. At all other times, you can really get some work done.

  3. Apply time boxing. In a previous article, I wrote about the benefits of time boxing. Instead of working at something till it is done, try working on it for a limited period, say 30 mins. By that time, the task is either completed or you allocate another time slot, perhaps in another day, to pick it up again. This way, you keep your work fresh and engaging throughout the entire working day.

  4. Setup filters in your email. If you spend a lot of your time communicating and planning in front of your computer, chances are you deal with emails on a frequent basis. Setting up filters in your email client can be a great way of sorting out what's important and urgent from personal stuff which can wait. Instead of dealing with a single Inbox with hundreds of unread email, you only need to deal with smaller folders categorised by project, priority and context.

  5. Do not check personal email in the morning. Checking personal emails can be very distracting even with filters setup. This is especially true when your friends send you links to interesting articles, jokes or videos on YouTube. If you're not careful, you can get side tracked for hours. Instead of checking your personal email as soon as you get in, try starting work straight away. This will build up some momentum as you ease into your work day. You should check your personal email only after you have a few tasks completed or underway. Also, if you don't want to perpetuate a particular distracting email thread, just don't reply to it until after work.

  6. Set your IM status. If you use Instant Messenger, when you don't want to be disturbed, make use of the status and set yourself as being away or busy. Your friends and colleagues will honour that. They can either send you an email or look you up later when you aren't as busy.

  7. Listen to the right types of music. Music is a great way of settling into the working routine. In addition, having music can drown out office noises like printers and background chattering. Be careful though, depending on personal preference, some types of music are not particularly conducive to productive work. For me, I can't work when listening to songs with lots of lyrics because the words interrupt my thinking process.

  8. Use the headphones but leave the music off. Some people prefer to have absolute silence when working. I think that also depends on what kind of work you are doing. If you're doing some serious planning or something computational, having music blasting in your ears may not be the best thing for keeping focused. Try using headphones or ear plugs to block out the background noise but leave the music off.

  9. Fill up a water bottle. Keeping yourself hydrated is pretty important for all sorts of health reasons. Instead of going to the water cooler with your glass every hour, try filling up a water bottle at the start of the day. This does a couple of things ' firstly, it limits the starts/stops associated every time you get up for water and secondly, it avoids being sucked into lengthy discussions around the water cooler.

  10. Find the best time to do repetitive and boring tasks. No matter how much you try to avoid it, you're going to have to face doing things which are either repetitive or boring. For these tasks, I find it is best to choose a time in the day to work on them. For example, I'm more alert at the start of the day, so it's better to work on things which require brain power early. Working on boring tasks that can be done via auto-pilot are better left towards the end of the day when I'm usually tired.

  11. Bring your lunch and have it at your desk. I'm not suggesting you do this every day, but if you really have to focus and are trying to meet a deadline, having your lunch at your desk really helps. The normal one hour lunch break can really interrupt any momentum you might have built up during the morning. I find when I'm eating lunch at my desk, my lunch breaks are shorter and I can get through a few emails while I'm eating. After I'm done, I'm straight back working on the next task.

  12. Don't make long personal calls. Most of us have a good separation between our working and personal lives (or a least try to). I think we can all agree we should avoid having work intrude on our personal time as much as possible. The reverse of this also applies. Try limiting the time you spend doing personal things during work as they can be distracting and draining on your motivation. For example, you do not really want to be thinking about your weekend away with your spouse when you really need to get things done.

  13. Clean up your desk. Some of you may have desks which can only be described as ordered chaos. That's not necessarily a bad thing as long as you can find what you need without too much digging around. However, if you can't, I suggest cleaning up your desk. That doesn't mean having an empty desk, it just means having neat stacks of paper, all filed in the correct location. It also helps tremendously having all the things you need easily within arms reach. For example, if you need a place to write, having your pen and notepad close by and easily accessible is incredibly useful.

  14. Get a good chair. If you sit for long hours at your desk and I'm sure some of you do, you might find it helpful to get a good chair. I find it's pretty hard to stay focused when my neck and back are sore because I have a bad setup at my desk. A good chair can eliminate this, allowing you to work for long stretches without breaks and physical distractions.

  15. Use shortcuts on your computer. If you find you do the same thing with your computer more than once throughout the day, you might find it helpful to look for ways in which you can do them without too much manual repetition. For example, if there's a project folder you access all the time, try adding a shortcut to your Explorer or Finder so you can get access to it with a single click, instead of expanding folder after folder in the tree panel.

  16. Close programs you're not using. As a software engineer, I use a lot of programs important to my work. However, in most cases, I only need a few applications open at the same time. Instead of Alt-Tabbing constantly and fighting the computer to locate the program you need, try only having the applications you need open. Close everything else. For example, if you have already located a file and no longer need a particular Explorer or Finder instance open, close it. There's no reason to leave it around at all.

  17. Limit time on Digg, Delicious, news sites and blogs. I don't think I need to say too much about this. There are so many sites on the Internet worth looking at, including this site ;) . Digg, Delicious, news and blogs are great from an interest perspective, but they can really take you away from the work you should be working on. Try to limit going to these sites during the working day. If you really have to, try doing it during your lunch time. No, you don't need to have your finger on the pulse every single minute of the day

  18. Change your mindset and make work fun. For me, I find it difficult to stay focused on doing things I'm not by nature interested in doing. In most cases, there's probably nothing I can do about it. However, be mindful of the fact that your perception of work is something you can control. For my last tip here, I suggest you try changing your mindset or turning work into a game. An unfocused mind, is an unchallenged mind. So make things fun!




I hope these tips will take you closer to more focused and productive work days. If you are still in need for more tips about staying focused, you can take a look at a previous blockbuster smash hit article I wrote entitled 11 ways of staying focused. In that article, I approached the issue from a top down, rather than bottom up perspective.



Ok, good luck!



Hey, what are you still doing here? Get back to work:)

3 Comments

Untitled


Today we will see how to manage the time efficiently.




· If we all have 24 hours in a day, why is it that some of us feel like we have no time at all, while others seem able to balance work and leisure?




· The 80/20 Rule




· According to Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, 20% of what we do produces 80% of the results we see while 80% of what we do produced 20% of the results we see. If this is so, than many of us are expending a lot of energy for relatively nothing. That's what makes time management and learning to say “no” so important to achieving quality of life.




· The Time Management Quadrant




· According to Stephen Covey, virtually everything we do can be categorized into
Urgent or Not Urgent
Important or Not Important




· You could also add
Controllable or Not Controllable




· Watching television is Not Urgent and Not Important but we waste so much time doing it, mainly because we're stressed out and it's become a form of relaxation. To gain more hours in your day, try creating 4 lists:




· Urgent-Important
Urgent-Not Important
Not Urgent-Important
Not Urgent-Not Important




· List everything you do and how much time it takes. Then check off the items that are under your control to change. Do this for a week and it'll become much clearer which 20% of your effort produced 80% of results and which 80% of your effort produces only 20% of results.




· Just Say No




· The next step is learning to say “no” to Not Urgent-Not Important demands on your time. Research has shown that most people respond favorably to statements that include “because.” Saying “no” and giving a reason (such as you have something important to do or it's not in the person's best interest to have you say “yes”) is more likely to be accepted. This relieves you of an unnecessary burden while still maintaining good relations with the requestor.




· Keep a Time Diary




· Keeping a time diary will be very eye opening. I once had a client find 6 hours in his week to do what he loved - sailing - by keeping a time diary. Basically, you write down everything that you do for a week. The more detailed you can get, the more powerful this exercise will be. Once you see where your time is going, put those activities into the Time Quadrant. It'll become more obvious which activities are Not Important and Not Urgent. Maybe you'll find 6 extra hours in your week!




· If you follow these guidelines, you might be pleasantly surprised to find your “busy lifestyle” has suddenly become much more balanced!




Our life revolves around the passing of the time. To waste the time is to waste the part of the life. The time cannot be paused, bought, or can be changed, but we can do learn to use it in better way. Time is one of the scarcest resources and unlike the money or the energy, is irreplaceable. By learning the effective time management, you will learn to take control over your life.




Taking the control over life involves taking control over time by planning. Planning will take time itself, but the initial time investment frees a much more time later on. Like the most other things, an effective planning is the skill which starts off being difficult, but soon will become a habit.




Balancing the Work and Family




The successful people are very clear about what is important for them. They know how to set the priorities and concentrate on doing things that will give them a great satisfaction and happiness in the life.




· Why the relationships are so important.




· Practice the moderation in all the things.




· Balance the work and family life.




· Recognize when your life will come out of balance.




· Time Management Principles




· Time management explains the attributes which are needed for the effective time management, and also the benefits of beginning with the limited range of the tactics, before extending these into the overall time management strategy.

Identifying a Time Loss

This will explains the importance of carrying out the objective review of how do you currently spend the time and identifying what proportion of the time is spent in the areas which are not essential for achieving the goals.

Urgency and the Importance

This will describes how to use urgency/importance grid to classify the tasks which you currently perform, and how to optimize an amount of the time which you do spend on each of the type of task.




· The Effective Decision Making
It describes the various techniques which can contribute to the more effective decision making.




· Setting the Goals
This will discuss of adopting the proactive approach in the order to anticipate the events and be in the position to identify and define the goals clearly.




· Defining the Objectives
This will explains how to analyze the goals to define the series of objectives and need to rank the objectives in order to identify means and actions which are needed to achieve them.




Time Saving Techniques




Dealing With The Interruptions
This will explains how to evaluate what the interruption represents as the demand on the time and how to deal with the non-urgent interruptions in the polite but an effective way.




Knowing When to Delegate
This will explain how to overcome a reluctance to the delegate, and also how to decide which tasks are most suitable for the delegation.




Delegating Effectively
This will give details about the practical aspects of the delegating work, the importance of providing the ongoing support and the feedback, and a need to evaluate a outcome and apply the lessons learned when delegating the work in future.




Managing The Incoming Calls
This will describes how to screen the incoming calls when you do not want to be disturbed, and a various tactics for keeping the incoming telephone calls as short as possible.




Organizing The Workspace
This will explains how to deal with the incoming paperwork in the efficient way, and how to identify the manual and the electronic filing systems which meet the needs of a way you do work.




Communicating Effectively
This will discusses the various time saving techniques which you can use to improve the efficiency with regard to the written communications. This includes: speed-reading, the business letters and the email.




Practical Time Planning




Understanding the Overload
Describes most common sources of the work-related stress, and provides the objective assessment of an extent to which you would be suffering from the overload at work.




Negotiating the Workload
Inability to say ‘No’ to the requests can be significant contributor to the stress and the overload. This section explains how to decline the requests when it will be appropriate to do so.




Planning The Day
Make schedule or plan all your tasks according to the workload and the performance cycle. This will save your time in thinking what to do next.




Using The Activity Networks
The activity networks, have become established as one of a most popular resource planning techniques that are available.




The Critical Path Analysis
It will show how to identify a critical path within the networks of the activities and how to calculate a total float and a free float available.




The Effective Resource Planning
This describes the resource planning, which is concerned with an effective scheduling of all the resources available in the order to deliver outputs which are required.




Preparing The Planning Diagrams
It discusses various ways which the resource planning information may be summarized for presenting to the senior management.




The Time-wasters will surround you all the sides and will tear away at your minutes and hours, holding the back from producing a critical results which are vital to the success in the career.




· Eliminate a time wasters in life;




· The Law of an Excluded Alternative;




· Identify a major time-wasters;




· Practical ways to overcome and avoid them if possible.




Maximizing the Productivity




It is only what you do produce to what you put in determines the success. Over the time, the results-orientation goes hand-in-hand with the big payoffs in the life.




· Work with full capacity;




· Develop an ability to get the results;




· Concentrate on the high-value tasks;




· Increase a quality and the quantity of the results.




An article from Techpreparation…I hope it would surely benefit all my rediff friends…goodluck and have best of your time :-)!

8 Comments

Is a Lack of Experience Really Such a Bad Thing?

old manYoung entrepreneurs don't have a lot of experience. That's a given. And in many cases this is rarely brought up as an issue. But in certain industries (especially in "older industries" or B2B-related industries) that lack of experience will be a sticking point. At least for many people inside the industry.


It's certainly been a point of discussion around Standout Jobs. We've received a fair amount of good press, but one of the sticking points we see consistently is our lack of experience in recruiting. None of the founders are recruiters. We haven't lived the last 15 years of our lives in HR.


Experience is valuable. There's no question about it. But it's not a guarantee of success. If that was the case, very few startups would ever succeed. And there are ways of getting around a lack of experience.




  1. Do Your Homework. Before diving into an industry that you're not intimately familiar with, you better do some research. Luckily, it's not hard. You can find a ton of information online ' be it from analysts, industry trends, blogs, etc. Research and understand the problems in an industry. Talk to people. Get a feel for the space so you can form intelligent opinions based on more than just whimsy.
  2. Find Great Advisers. You can never have all the answers. No one can (I don't care how much experience they have!) Surround yourself with great advisers that fill in the gaps in experience you have. In the case of Standout Jobs we've been working with a number of veteran recruiting experts for many months, it's just not something we've announced publicly (yet).
  3. Solicit Lots of Feedback. You can't be afraid of feedback. One of the advantages of being green is that you have fewer strong opinions than the grizzled veterans of your industry, and are more apt to listen. Speak to the experts. Speak to other entrepreneurs. Collect lots of feedback. Ask for it. Engage people for it. Just don't get bogged down in it.
  4. Find Believers. Unless you're completely wrong and your idea is absolutely brutal you will find believers out there. Go get 'em! Believers turn into evangelists. Evangelists turn into customers. Evangelists turn others into customers. That's all good. Of course, if all you look for is positive feedback you're doing yourself a disservice. You need a more balanced view of things, but believers are great for providing support, pointing you in the right direction and buoying your spirits.
  5. Go Faster. Be Flexible. Test More Often. One of the downfalls of experience is getting locked into one way of thinking. It happens all the time. How often have you said to someone (or thought it), "I've been doing it this way for years, and that's the way it's supposed to be done. End of story." That rigidity can kill you. For young entrepreneurs it's much less of an issue, and you can turn that lack of experience and "stuck thinking" into an advantage. Do things faster. Be flexible and adjust quickly. And always test & validate your theories and practices.
  6. Admit What You Don't Know. There's no shame in admitting that you don't know the answer. Go find it.
  7. But Stand Up For What You Believe In. At the same time, don't be afraid to express your opinion. You've done your homework, brought on great advisers, collected positive and negative feedback and are actively experimenting with your ideas to see what works. Don't be ashamed of your opinions and beliefs. Whether you've been in an industry for 10+ years or not doesn't mean you're incapable of understanding it, the problems it faces and coming up with solutions.

No matter what I do, I can't turn back the clock, get a job in Human Resources, spend decades in the industry and then rush back to the present to start Standout Jobs. Neither can you. But don't be disheartened by a lack of experience. If you've got enough brains in your head to look at problems analytically, surround yourself with people smarter than yourself, work insanely hard and accept the bumps and bruises of failure you've got as a good a chance as anyone else. Even the grizzled veterans of your industry.

WhyHappiness at work is the ultimate productivity booster

Our Productivity boost from various activities


Being happy at work


Prioritizing your tasks


Structured calender


Better to do list


Lisa was falling behind at work. Every morning she woke up nervous about the workday ahead of her. Every evening she went home thinking of all the tasks she hadn't gotten around to.


Lisa is a 35-year old engineer and project manager at a Danish IT company. With business booming, keeping up had become a struggle ' she felt she had to run really fast, to just to stay in place.


With her in-box overflowing and people all around her clamoring for assistance on their projects, she started to look at various productivity tools and systems and quickly settled on the one she'd use. As is typical for Lisa, once she's decided to do something, she does it, and with new ways of tracking time, improved todo-lists and prioritizing her work, she did notice that she was getting more work done.


But she still felt, that she could be more productive. While she was thinking about her next step, it struck her: Some of what she did, she hated doing.


While she generally enjoyed her job, especially helping people plan their projects and advising them on the best ways to move forward, some of her tasks were administrative in nature. Tracking progress, updating various statics, generating reports, etc . They didn't take up that much of her time ' but they were a lot less fun. Let's face it: to Lisa, they were boring as hell.


She talked to her boss about it, and they decided to give those tasks to a project secretary. This freed up a little time for Lisa, but mostly it allowed her to work on those parts of her job that she really liked. Consequently Lisa became a lot happier at work ' and THAT'S when her productivity sky-rocketed. Now she had the energy to connect with her people and the creativity to think up and implement new ideas. Instead of feeling stressed and harried, she was optimistic and positive.


While her productivity system had definitely helped her get more done, the productivity boost she got from being happy at work was many times bigger. Lisa is now working way less hours ' and getting much more done. And most importantly, she's enjoying work a lot more!


If you want to get more done at work, the productivity gurus out there will tell you that it's all about having the right system. You need to prioritize your tasks, you must keep detailed logs of how you spend your time, todo-lists are of course essential, you must learn to structure your calendar and much, much more.


But that's not where you should start. You should start by liking what you do.


The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work.


I'm not knocking all the traditional productivity advice out there ' it's not that it's bad or deficient. It's just that when you apply it in a job that basically doesn't make you happy, you're trying to fix something at a surface level when the problem goes much deeper.


Here are the 10 most important reasons why happiness at work is the #1 productivity booster.


1: Happy people work better with others
Happy people are a lot more fun to be around and consequently have better relations at work. This translates into:


  • Better teamwork with your colleagues
  • Better employee relations if you're a manager
  • More satisfied customers if you're in a service job
  • Improved sales if you're a sales person

    2: Happy people are more creative
    If your productivity depends on being able to come up with new ideas, you need to be happy at work. Check out
    the research of Teresa Amabile for proof. She says:



    If people are in a good mood on a given day, they're more likely to have creative ideas that day, as well as the next day, even if we take into account their mood that next day.


    There seems to be a cognitive process that gets set up when people are feeling good that leads to more flexible, fluent, and original thinking, and there's actually a carryover, an incubation effect, to the next day.


    3:Happy people fix problems instead of complaining about them
    When you don't like your job, every molehill looks like a mountain. It becomes difficult to fix any problem without agonizing over it or complaining about it first. When you're happy at work and you run into a snafu ' you just fix it.


    Happy people have more energy and are therefore more efficient at everything they do.


    4: Happy people are more optimistic
    Happy people have a more positive, optimistic outlook, and as research shows (particularly
    Martin Seligman's work in positive psychology), optimists are way more successful and productive. It's the old saying "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right" all over again.


    5: Happy people are way more motivated
    Low motivation means low productivity, and the only sustainable, reliable way to be motivated at work is to be happy and like what you do.


    6:Happy people get sick less often
    Getting sick is a productivity killer and if you don't like your job you're more prone to contract a long list of diseases including ulcers, cancer and diabetes. You're also more prone to workplace stress and burnout.


    One study assessed the impact of job strain on the health of 21,290 female nurses in the US and found that the women most at risk of ill health were those who didn't like their jobs. The impact on their health was a great as that associated with smoking and sedentary lifestyles (source).


    7: Happy people learn faster
    When you're happy and relaxed, you're much more open to learning new things at work and thereby increasing your productivity.


    8: Happy people worry less about making mistakes ' and consequently make fewer mistakes
    When you're happy at work the occasional mistake doesn't bother you much. You pick yourself up, learn from it and move on. You also don't mind admitting to others that you screwed up ' you simply take responsibility, apologize and fix it. This relaxed attitude means that less mistakes are made, and that you're more likely to learn from them.


    9: Happy people make better decisions
    Unhappy people operate in permanent crisis mode. Their focus narrows, they lose sight of the big picture, their survival instincts kick in and they're more likely to make short-term, here-and-now choices. Conversely, happy people make better, more informed decisions and are better able to prioritize their work.


    The upshot


    Think back to a situation where you felt that you were at peak performance. A situation where your output was among the highest and best it's ever been. I'm willing to bet that you were working at something that made you happy. Something that you loved doing.


    There's a clear link between happiness at work and productivity. This only leaves the question of causation: Does being productive make us happy or does being happy make us productive? The answer is, of course, yes! The link goes both ways.


    But the link is strongest from happiness to productivity ' which means that it if you want to be more productive, the very best thing you can do is focus on being happy with what you do?


    So how do you get to be happy at work? There are two ways, really:



    1. Get happy in the job you have. There are about a million things you can do to improve your work situation ' provided you choose to do something, rather than wait for someone else to come along and do it for you.
    2. Find a new job where you can be happy. If your current job is not fixable, don't wait ' move on now!
  • 2 Comments

    Untitled

    Six Serious Résumé Blunders


    Résumés are tricky: If done well, they can put you in the running for a job; if done poorly, they end up in the hiring manager’s recycling bin. They should be easy since you’re just talking about yourself. No one knows your work history, qualifications and skills better than you. Unfortunately, they are hard work.




    Making years of experience fit on one or two pages is no easy task. Yet, while there is no one way to craft the perfect résumé, there are some moves guaranteed to hurt your job hunt.



    Here are some résumé blunders you should avoid at all cost.



    1. Forgetting the employer
    Although the résumé is about you, it’s not for you. After all, if you were the intended audience, you wouldn’t bother sending it out. The résumé is meant to show prospective employers why you’re the perfect match for the job. They want to see the skills, experience and qualifications mentioned in their job postings. If you have skills that don’t line up exactly with the position but you know are transferrable, make that clear in the résumé. Don’t assume they’ll infer what you mean, because if they don’t, you won’t be considered for the job.



    2. Not using keywords
    Keywords, like career summaries, are signs of the time. Today, many employers use software to scan submitted résumés for keywords that suggest an applicant is a good match for the job. Although you won’t know which exact words the software is looking for, a job posting can give you a good idea. Incorporate phrases and terms from the posting, and see what words reappear in several industry ads. Concrete terms such as “infrastructure development” and “strategic planning” will fare better than generic phrases like “hard worker” and “team player.”



    3. Using an objective instead of a career summary
    An advantage of updating your résumé regularly is that you can not only update your skills and accomplishments but also its format. For example, just five or 10 years ago most résumés included an objective at the top. These days, the career summary has taken its place. Like an objective, the summary should give the employer an idea of who you are, except it allows you to focus more on your experience than on your goals. You can briefly mention your career highlights, including past roles and your strongest skills.



    4. Not proofreading
    Typos and grammatical errors on a résumé are the textual equivalent of showing up at an interview chewing gum and wearing tennis shoes. A résumé full of mistakes suggests you care neither about the quality of your work nor the impression it makes. An employer wants someone who produces exemplary work and will be an excellent representative of the company.



    5. Lying
    Embellishing is a common practice that rarely impresses hiring mangers because they’ve seen it all. They know “childcare leadership executive” means “baby-sitter.” Outright lies, however, have no place on a résumé. For one thing, it’s not hard to verify any information you put down, so you could get caught at any point between submitting your résumé and getting a job offer. Plus, it’s a small world, and the truth has a way of coming out when business associates bump into one another at conferences. If your boss mentions your name to your supposed former supervisor only to be told you never worked there, you could get fired.



    6. Not keeping up appearances
    Before an employer even reads your résumé, he or she forms an impression based on how it looks. It’s a snap judgment that can’t be avoided – after all, don’t you immediately zone out when you receive an e-mail that’s one huge block of text? Make your résumé visually appealing by using bulleted lists, plenty of white space and subheadings. Also, avoid fonts that are full of distracting swirls and colors. It doesn’t matter how well-written your résumé is if no one wants to read it.

    2 Comments

    Untitled

    13 Things Not to Share with Your Co-workers


     


    It's happened to everyone before. The constant flow of words that just keep coming, long after you've made your point (if there ever was one) and even longer after people stopped caring. The kind of gibberish that just won't stop unless someone else starts talking. The type of chatter that inevitably ends with you wishing you'd put a sock in it.


    Yes, verbal diarrhea is never a good thing ' but it can be worse in some places more than others.



    Like the workplace.



    There are certain things co-workers need not know about each other ' your baby-making plans and stomach issues, for example ' but some folks just can't seem to keep their mouths shut.



    Some people talk to hear the sound of their own voice; others share because they don't really have a life and, by revealing details you'd rather not know, they create the illusion of one, says Linda Lopeke, a career advancement expert and creator of SmartStart Virtual Mentoring Programs. "Then there is the person who believes gossip, even about them, creates instant emotional intimacy. It doesn't."



    Walk the line



    Because people spend more time at the office with co-workers than anywhere (or anyone) else, some workers have trouble drawing the line between business and friendship, says Susan Solovic, co-founder and CEO of SBTV.com, and author of three books, including "Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Desire and Deserve."



    "It's a social environment as well as a work environment. However, you must remember while you can be friendly and develop a good rapport, business is business and friendship is friendship."



    Most workers don't realize that what they say has as much impact on their professional images as what they wear, . People who say too much, about themselves or others, can be seen as incompetent, unproductive and unworthy of professional development.



     To avoid your next case of verbal diarrhea, here are 13 things to never share or discuss with your co-workers.



     1. Salary information
    What you earn is between you and Human Resources,. Disclosure indicates you aren't capable of keeping a confidence.



    2. Medical history
    "Nobody really cares about your aches and pains, your latest operation, your infertility woes or the contents of your medicine cabinet," . To your employer, your constant medical issues make you seem like an expensive, high-risk employee.



    3. Gossip
    Whomever you're gossiping with will undoubtedly tell others what you said, . Plus, if a co-worker is gossiping with you, most likely he or she will gossip about you.



    4. Work complaints
    Constant complaints about your workload, stress levels or the company will quickly make you the kind of person who never gets invited to lunch, . If you don't agree with company policies and procedures, address it through official channels or move on.



    5. Cost of purchases
    The spirit of keeping up with the Joneses is alive and well in the workplace, but you don't want others speculating on the lifestyle you're living 'or if you're living beyond your salary bracket.



    6. Intimate details
    Don't share intimate details about your personal life. Co-workers can and will use the information against you.

     

    7. Politics or religion
    "People have strong, passionate views on both topics," . You may alienate a co-worker or be viewed negatively in a way that could impact your career.



    8. Lifestyle changes
    Breakups, divorces and baby-making plans should be shared only if there is a need to know, Otherwise, others will speak for your capabilities, desires and limitations on availability, whether there is any truth to their assumptions or not.



     9. Blogs or social networking profile
    What you say in a social networking community or in your personal blog may be even more damaging than what you say in person, . "Comments online can be seen by multiple eyes. An outburst of anger when you are having a bad day can blow up in your face."



     10. Negative views of colleagues
    If you don't agree with a co-worker's lifestyle, wardrobe or professional abilities, confront that person privately or keep it to yourself, . The workplace is not the venue for controversy.



    11. Hangovers and wild weekends
    It's perfectly fine to have fun during the weekend, but don't talk about your wild adventures on Monday, . That information can make you look unprofessional and unreliable.



    12. Personal problems and relationships ' in and out of the office
    "Failed marriages and volatile romances spell instability to an employer," . Office romances lead to gossip and broken hearts, so it's best to steer clear. "The safest way to play is to follow the rule, 'Never get your honey where you get your money.'"



     13. Off-color or racially charged comments
    You can assume your co-worker wouldn't be offended or would think something is funny, but you might be wrong,  Never take that risk. Furthermore, even if you know for certain your colleague wouldn't mind your comment, don't talk about it at work. Others can easily overhear.

     

    So dear inlanders enjoy ur work and workplace….!

    4 Comments

    Learning to Multitask: Don't Bother!

    Multitasking .???


    I’m typing this while talking on my cell phone to one person and IMing another. Am I fooling myself that I can actually do these three things without a loss of quality? No… because I know I can’t. I understand that what most of us call multitasking comes with a steep price tag.


    But where I once believed that the myth of multitasking was about time (that doing four things simultaneously takes much longer than to do those same four things in sequence), scientists now know it’s also about quality. And it gets worse… it’s not just that the quality of those four things in parallel will suffer, it’s that your ability to think and learn may suffer. Some researchers believe that all this constant, warpspeed, always-on multitasking is causing young people, especially, to become less able to follow any topic deeply. (more on that in another post)


    We believe we can e-mail and talk on the phone at the same time, with little or no degradation of either communication.


    We believe we can do homework while watching a movie.


    We believe we can surf the web while talking to our kids/spouse/lover/co-worker.


    But we can’t! (Not without a hit on every level–time, quality, and the ability to think deeply)


    The Multitasking Generation


    It’s 9:30 p.m., and Stephen and Georgina Cox know exactly where their children are. Well, their bodies, at least. Piers, 14, is holed up in his bedroom–eyes fixed on his computer screen–where he has been logged onto a MySpace chat room and AOL Instant Messenger (IM) for the past three hours. His twin sister Bronte is planted in the living room, having commandeered her dad’s iMac–as usual. She, too, is busily IMing, while chatting on her cell phone and chipping away at homework.


    By all standard space-time calculations, the four members of the family occupy the same three-bedroom home in Van Nuys, Calif., but psychologically each exists in his or her own little universe. Georgina, 51, who works for a display-cabinet maker, is tidying up the living room as Bronte works, not that her daughter notices. Stephen, 49, who juggles jobs as a squash coach, fitness trainer, event planner and head of a cancer charity he founded, has wolfed down his dinner alone in the kitchen, having missed supper with the kids. He, too, typically spends the evening on his cell phone and returning e-mails–when he can nudge Bronte off the computer. “One gets obsessed with one’s gadgets,” he concedes.


    Zooming in on Piers’ screen gives a pretty good indication of what’s on his hyperkinetic mind. O.K., there’s a Google Images window open, where he’s chasing down pictures of Keira Knightley. Good ones get added to a snazzy Windows Media Player slide show that serves as his personal e-shrine to the actress. Several IM windows are also open, revealing such penetrating conversations as this one with a MySpace pal:


    MySpacer: suuuuuup!!! (Translation: What’s up?)


    Piers: wat up dude


    MySpacer: nmu (Not much. You?)


    Piers: same


    Naturally, iTunes is open, and Piers is blasting a mix of Queen, AC/DC, classic rock and hip-hop. Somewhere on the screen there’s a Word file, in which Piers is writing an essay for English class. “I usually finish my homework at school,” he explains to a visitor, “but if not, I pop a book open on my lap in my room, and while the computer is loading, I’ll do a problem or write a sentence. Then, while mail is loading, I do more. I get it done a little bit at a time.”


    Bronte has the same strategy. “You just multitask,” she explains. “My parents always tell me I can’t do homework while listening to music, but they don’t understand that it helps me concentrate.” The twins also multitask when hanging with friends, which has its own etiquette. “When I talk to my best friend Eloy,” says Piers, “he’ll have one earpiece [of his iPod] in and one out.” Says Bronte: “If a friend thinks she’s not getting my full attention, I just make it very clear that she is, even though I’m also listening to music.”



    As for multitasking devices, social scientists and educators are just beginning to assess their impact, but the researchers already have some strong opinions. The mental habit of dividing one’s attention into many small slices has significant implications for the way young people learn, reason, socialize, do creative work and understand the world. Although such habits may prepare kids for today’s frenzied workplace, many cognitive scientists are positively alarmed by the trend. “Kids that are instant messaging while doing homework, playing games online and watching TV, I predict, aren’t going to do well in the long run,” says Jordan Grafman, chief of the cognitive neuroscience section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Decades of research (not to mention common sense) indicate that the quality of one’s output and depth of thought deteriorate as one attends to ever more tasks. Some are concerned about the disappearance of mental downtime to relax and reflect. Roberts notes Stanford students “can’t go the few minutes between their 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock classes without talking on their cell phones. It seems to me that there’s almost a discomfort with not being stimulated–a kind of ‘I can’t stand the silence.’”


    YOUR BRAIN WHEN IT MULTITASKS


    ALTHOUGH MANY ASPECTS OF THE networked life remain scientifically uncharted, there’s substantial literature on how the brain handles multitasking. And basically, it doesn’t. It may seem that a teenage girl is writing an instant message, burning a CD and telling her mother that she’s doing homework–all at the same time–but what’s really going on is a rapid toggling among tasks rather than simultaneous processing. “You’re doing more than one thing, but you’re ordering them and deciding which one to do at any one time,” explains neuroscientist Grafman.



    Then why can we so easily walk down the street while engrossed in a deep conversation? Why can we chop onions while watching Jeopardy? “We, along with quite a few others, have been focused on exactly this question,” says Hal Pashler, psychology professor at the University of California at San Diego. It turns out that very automatic actions or what researchers call “highly practiced skills,” like walking or chopping an onion, can be easily done while thinking about other things, although the decision to add an extra onion to a recipe or change the direction in which you’re walking is another matter. “It seems that action planning–figuring out what I want to say in response to a person’s question or which way I want to steer the car–is usually, perhaps invariably, performed sequentially” or one task at a time, says Pashler. On the other hand, producing the actions you’ve decided on–moving your hand on the steering wheel, speaking the words you’ve formulated–can be performed “in parallel with planning some other action.” Similarly, many aspects of perception–looking, listening, touching–can be performed in parallel with action planning and with movement.


    The switching of attention from one task to another, the toggling action, occurs in a region right behind the forehead called Brodmann’s Area 10 in the brain’s anterior prefrontal cortex, according to a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study by Grafman’s team. Brodmann’s Area 10 is part of the frontal lobes, which “are important for maintaining long-term goals and achieving them,” Grafman explains. “The most anterior part allows you to leave something when it’s incomplete and return to the same place and continue from there.” This gives us a “form of multitasking,” he says, though it’s actually sequential processing. Because the prefrontal cortex is one of the last regions of the brain to mature and one of the first to decline with aging, young children do not multitask well, and neither do most adults over 60. New fMRI studies at Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute suggest that as we get older, we have more trouble “turning down background thoughts when turning to a new task,” says Rotman senior scientist and assistant director Cheryl Grady. “Younger adults are better at tuning out stuff when they want to,” says Grady. “I’m in my 50s, and I know that I can’t work and listen to music with lyrics; it was easier when I was younger.”


    Right now, I have 36 windows opened up on my computer. No, I'm not doing (or trying to do) 36 things at once. It's just that's what happens when you give a dumb human like me the tools to open up 36 or 72 or 172 windows at once.


    It's no wonder it's so easy to lose track of where we are and what we're doing.


    Welcome to the wonderful world of multi-tasking. That modern marvel where companies and bosses expect us to perform miracles simply because the technology allows it. Nobody bothered checking with the human brain first to see if multitasking was even a good thing.


    Learning to Multitask: Don't Bother


    by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
    October 30, 2008


    Right now, I have 36 windows opened up on my computer. No, I'm not doing (or trying to do) 36 things at once. It's just that's what happens when you give a dumb human like me the tools to open up 36 or 72 or 172 windows at once.


    It's no wonder it's so easy to lose track of where we are and what we're doing.


    Welcome to the wonderful world of multi-tasking. That modern marvel where companies and bosses expect us to perform miracles simply because the technology allows it. Nobody bothered checking with the human brain first to see if multitasking was even a good thing.


    Well, until not recently.


    Turns out that multitasking is generally not a good thing.


    Need proof?


    A whole generation (the "Net Gen") is growing up supposedly learning and doing more by multitasking. But what's really happening? If more time spent IMing means less ability to concentrate on tasks and activities that are needed for real life (you know, like learning in school, reading, boring stuff like that), they aren't really doing more. They're learning to do less, be less patient, and be less able to concentrate on a single task for more than a few minutes at a time (resulting in an inability to actually "go deep" or engage in critical thinking on any topic) (Levine et al., 2007).


    For years, we've thought that laptops in school classrooms were a good learning tool. "We need to increase the school budget, every child should have access to a laptop in the classroom!" Sadly, again, no one thought to actually study the question before spending millions of dollars equipping schoolchildren with laptops. Since then, emerging research (for instance, Fried, 2008) suggests that laptops aren't all they were cracked up to be:


    Results showed that students who used laptops in class spent considerable time multitasking and that the laptop use posed a significant distraction to both users and fellow students. Most importantly, the level of laptop use was negatively related to several measures of student learning, including self-reported understanding of course material and overall course performance.


    Researchers show that even when you do learn things through multi-tasking, you compromise the quality of that learning. Foerde et al. (2006) showed that while people can and do learn things while multitasking, the learning is less flexible and more specialized. What that means is that when you go to recall something you learned while multitasking, chances you won't do so quite as easily or readily.


    In addition, the more the task requires attention and concentration, such as learning a new subject, the more your learning will be negatively affected by multi-tasking.


    But really, what's the big deal with multitasking? After all, everyone does it and many employers not only expect it, but demand it.


    The deal is simply that we are building roles and teaching our children how to learn less, in less time, with a result that while potentially similar to a result not done while multitasking, will be more difficult to recall and will likely be of lesser quality. You seemingly "get more done," but at a cost to the quality of ? not necessarily the work or studying ? but the worker or student. For instance, Mark et al. (2008) found that while one's work may be similar in quality while multitasking, the worker is stressed out, expends more effort and feels more frustrated by doing so.


    So yeah, keep on multitasking, because that's what expected in this modern world. But just don't be surprised by the resulting problems associated with it. Meanwhile, I think I'll close a few of these windows on my computer and stop checking my email every 2 minutes. Maybe that will help.


    Does multi-tasking help you deal with all the distractions in life? Or does just hearing the word "multitasking" drive you to distraction? If the latter is the case, you have plenty of company.


    I think the term multi-tasking is a euphemism?a way to put a positive spin on learning to tolerate a work-style of constant interruption. No one would choose to be jerked randomly off task again and again until you have half a dozen things you're trying to get done, all at the same time.


    The email, instant messaging, and cell phones we all love have caused this problem. They give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized.


    Working in an office with an array of electronic devices is like trying to get something done at home with half a dozen small children around. The calls for attention are constant.


    Plus, multi-tasking is tempting due to so many brief download times and other computer-related pauses and slowdowns. In addition, many people feel they must multi-task because everybody else is multitasking, but this is partly because they are all interrupting each other so much!


    Yet I am multi-tasking as I write for no good reason at all. I am printing an order I placed online, glancing at my email now and then, backing up some files, and I just hung up the phone. Oh, and did I mention my two computers and three monitors?!


    So, is multitasking a good thing or a bad thing?


    That depends on whether you're referring to people or to their work. A person who learns to juggle six balls will be more skilled than the person who never tries to juggle more than three.


    And the chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time, even if he or she doesn't play each of those simultaneous exhibition games in top form.


    Experts say you can't concentrate on more than one task at a time'that "multitasking" is actually a rapid toggling back and forth between tasks. This is the reason jurors are not allowed to take notes in the courtroom and why it may not be wise for students to take notes during class. While you're writing, you can't concentrate nearly as well on what the speaker is saying.


    However, I believe that one can indeed work on two or more tasks at once, but in ways yet to be understood. For example, we've all had the experience of trying to remember a fact and failing, only to have the fact pop into our consciousness hours or days later when we're absorbed in a totally unrelated activity.


    It's clear we were continuing to work on locating that fact, even though we were unaware of the mental activity. There was no toggling back and forth: the task was running in the background.


    And people who work crossword puzzles know that if they stop making progress, they should put the puzzle down for a while. After time passes, they may pick up the puzzle and find the missing answers obvious.


    What to Do?


    Multitasking is not a skill to be dismissed or avoided or feared. It is the people who can do many things at once who are the most valuable in a chaotic situation, especially when time is important or much is at stake.


    Another point: Do you find it difficult to concentrate, especially in a quiet environment? Or do you take frequent breaks for coffee or tea or a snack? Multitasking may work for you especially well. After all, multi-tasking arises out of distraction itself.


    That said, I would not encourage children or teens to multitask because we don't know where those efforts may lead. Attention-deficit disorders seem to abound in modern society, and we don't know the cause.


    Yet I would not discourage multitasking that seems to occur naturally, meaning at the young person's own initiative and when he or she is in control of his or her situation. Society needs people who can manage projects in addition to handling individual tasks.


    Keep in mind that you can multi-task more easily when using one sense than when using more than one sense. Have you ever noticed that when you must struggle to hear something, you close your eyes? That's why: You're turning off a competing sense.


    For example, say you can comfortably watch six children in a swimming pool. You will be much less comfortable watching only four of them if two are standing nearby and talking to you.


    Regardless, multitasking often is stressful. Consider how annoying it is to talk on the telephone while someone else in the room is trying to tell you something. But turn on the speakerphone, and the problem disappears. Why? You've stopped multi-tasking. Unlike children clamoring for your attention, the speakers will try to cooperate.


    The difference between talking on your cell phone while driving and speaking with a passenger is huge. The passenger is aware of your driving environment and tailors his or her conversation accordingly. The person on the other end of the cell phone is chattering away, oblivious.


    To sum up:


    Don't multitask while you're studying. Teens think listening to music helps them concentrate. It doesn't. It relieves them of the boredom that concentration on homework induces. Not that this boredom is minor. The boredom can be so intense that homework seems intolerable otherwise. If this is a serious problem, change your environment. So far, coffee houses don't seem to mind!


    Do multitask when the task focuses are closely related. Speaking of coffee houses, try watching the baristas. They are more than efficient: The best ones look like they're enjoying their feats.


    Do play more than one game at a time. This is a painless way to learn how to do many things at once. Just don't play with a person to whom you'd hate to lose. Unless she's multi-tasking, too!


    And be sure to multitask when you absolutely love it!


     

    2 Comments

    • How to Manage Your Time Efficiently


    · Today we will see how to manage the time efficiently.


    · If we all have 24 hours in a day, why is it that some of us feel like we have no time at all, while others seem able to balance work and leisure?


    · The 80/20 Rule


    · According to Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, 20% of what we do produces 80% of the results we see while 80% of what we do produced 20% of the results we see. If this is so, than many of us are expending a lot of energy for relatively nothing. That's what makes time management and learning to say "no" so important to achieving quality of life.


    · The Time Management Quadrant


    · According to Stephen Covey, virtually everything we do can be categorized into
    Urgent or Not Urgent
    Important or Not Important


    · You could also add
    Controllable or Not Controllable


    · Watching television is Not Urgent and Not Important but we waste so much time doing it, mainly because we're stressed out and it's become a form of relaxation. To gain more hours in your day, try creating 4 lists:


    · Urgent-Important
    Urgent-Not Important
    Not Urgent-Important
    Not Urgent-Not Important


    · List everything you do and how much time it takes. Then check off the items that are under your control to change. Do this for a week and it'll become much clearer which 20% of your effort produced 80% of results and which 80% of your effort produces only 20% of results.


    · Just Say No


    · The next step is learning to say "no" to Not Urgent-Not Important demands on your time. Research has shown that most people respond favorably to statements that include "because." Saying "no" and giving a reason (such as you have something important to do or it's not in the person's best interest to have you say "yes") is more likely to be accepted. This relieves you of an unnecessary burden while still maintaining good relations with the requestor.


    · Keep a Time Diary


    · Keeping a time diary will be very eye opening. I once had a client find 6 hours in his week to do what he loved - sailing - by keeping a time diary. Basically, you write down everything that you do for a week. The more detailed you can get, the more powerful this exercise will be. Once you see where your time is going, put those activities into the Time Quadrant. It'll become more obvious which activities are Not Important and Not Urgent. Maybe you'll find 6 extra hours in your week!


    · If you follow these guidelines, you might be pleasantly surprised to find your "busy lifestyle" has suddenly become much more balanced!


    Our life revolves around the passing of the time. To waste the time is to waste the part of the life. The time cannot be paused, bought, or can be changed, but we can do learn to use it in better way. Time is one of the scarcest resources and unlike the money or the energy, is irreplaceable. By learning the effective time management, you will learn to take control over your life.


    Taking the control over life involves taking control over time by planning. Planning will take time itself, but the initial time investment frees a much more time later on. Like the most other things, an effective planning is the skill which starts off being difficult, but soon will become a habit.


    Balancing the Work and Family


    The successful people are very clear about what is important for them. They know how to set the priorities and concentrate on doing things that will give them a great satisfaction and happiness in the life.


    · Why the relationships are so important.


    · Practice the moderation in all the things.


    · Balance the work and family life.


    · Recognize when your life will come out of balance.


    · Time Management Principles


    · Time management explains the attributes which are needed for the effective time management, and also the benefits of beginning with the limited range of the tactics, before extending these into the overall time management strategy.

    Identifying a Time Loss

    This will explains the importance of carrying out the objective review of how do you currently spend the time and identifying what proportion of the time is spent in the areas which are not essential for achieving the goals.

    Urgency and the Importance

    This will describes how to use urgency/importance grid to classify the tasks which you currently perform, and how to optimize an amount of the time which you do spend on each of the type of task.


    · The Effective Decision Making
    It describes the various techniques which can contribute to the more effective decision making.


    · Setting the Goals
    This will discuss of adopting the proactive approach in the order to anticipate the events and be in the position to identify and define the goals clearly.


    · Defining the Objectives
    This will explains how to analyze the goals to define the series of objectives and need to rank the objectives in order to identify means and actions which are needed to achieve them.


    Time Saving Techniques


    Dealing With The Interruptions
    This will explains how to evaluate what the interruption represents as the demand on the time and how to deal with the non-urgent interruptions in the polite but an effective way.


    Knowing When to Delegate
    This will explain how to overcome a reluctance to the delegate, and also how to decide which tasks are most suitable for the delegation.


    Delegating Effectively
    This will give details about the practical aspects of the delegating work, the importance of providing the ongoing support and the feedback, and a need to evaluate a outcome and apply the lessons learned when delegating the work in future.


    Managing The Incoming Calls
    This will describes how to screen the incoming calls when you do not want to be disturbed, and a various tactics for keeping the incoming telephone calls as short as possible.


    Organizing The Workspace
    This will explains how to deal with the incoming paperwork in the efficient way, and how to identify the manual and the electronic filing systems which meet the needs of a way you do work.


    Communicating Effectively
    This will discusses the various time saving techniques which you can use to improve the efficiency with regard to the written communications. This includes: speed-reading, the business letters and the email.


    Practical Time Planning


    Understanding the Overload
    Describes most common sources of the work-related stress, and provides the objective assessment of an extent to which you would be suffering from the overload at work.


    Negotiating the Workload
    Inability to say ‘No’ to the requests can be significant contributor to the stress and the overload. This section explains how to decline the requests when it will be appropriate to do so.


    Planning The Day
    Make schedule or plan all your tasks according to the workload and the performance cycle. This will save your time in thinking what to do next.


    Using The Activity Networks
    The activity networks, have become established as one of a most popular resource planning techniques that are available.


    The Critical Path Analysis
    It will show how to identify a critical path within the networks of the activities and how to calculate a total float and a free float available.


    The Effective Resource Planning
    This describes the resource planning, which is concerned with an effective scheduling of all the resources available in the order to deliver outputs which are required.


    Preparing The Planning Diagrams
    It discusses various ways which the resource planning information may be summarized for presenting to the senior management.


    Preparing The Planning Diagrams
    It discusses various ways which the resource planning information may be summarized for presenting to the senior management.


    The Time-wasters will surround you all the sides and will tear away at your minutes and hours, holding the back from producing a critical results which are vital to the success in the career.


    · Eliminate a time wasters in life;


    · The Law of an Excluded Alternative;


    · Identify a major time-wasters;


    · Practical ways to overcome and avoid them if possible.


    Maximizing the Productivity


    It is only what you do produce to what you put in determines the success. Over the time, the results-orientation goes hand-in-hand with the big payoffs in the life.


    · Work with full capacity;


    · Develop an ability to get the results;


    · Concentrate on the high-value tasks;


    · Increase a quality and the quantity of the results.


    An article from Techpreparation…I hope it would surely benefit all my rediff friends…goodluck and have best of your time :-)!

    2 Comments