Tuesday, August 20, 2013

5 better ways to cope with workplace stress than breaking your computer




KINDLY CLICK ADVERTISEMENTS APPEARS IN THIS PAGE / WEBSITES. PLEASE.
 


If you have a job, chances are high that you don’t like it. In fact, according to a 2012 survey conducted in the US by Right Management, approximately 66% of participants admitted they are either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “completely unsatisfied” with their current work situation. That’s a lot of unhappy employees.
Whether you’re dealing with difficult personalities, unfulfilling job responsibilities, low pay, or just plain malaise, you may find it nearly impossible to keep heading into the office, day after day. While it’s tempting to go looking for other prospects, that’s not always possible in a shaky economy. In this article we gathered some tips on how to cope with a job that you can’t leave … yet.

Let’s get physical
It’s been well established by the medical community that physical exercise lowers stress levels. Exercise releases endorphins, that feel-good hormone that provides a sense of exhilaration while you’re getting your sweat on.
If you’re stressed at your job and have been avoiding an exercise regime, make it an important part of your day. It doesn’t take much: just 30 minutes of physical activity is not only good for your body, but your mood, as well. For one week, try devoting your lunch break to taking a walk. Evaluate how you feel afterward. You can always eat your lunch at your desk when you get back.

Don’t procrastinate dealing with problems
When conflicts arise, it’s human nature to avoid them like crazy. However, that only prolongs the agony while bad feelings simmer, creating a toxic work environment for everyone involved. Identify potential issues immediately, deal with them head on, and resolve small problems before they balloon into massive disasters.

What’s the worst that could happen?This article is written by the Bookboon guest author Danielle Hernandez. You can find further stress eBooks on our website.
Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy.com, is not a big fan of living with indefinable consequences. In his ’16 Rules for Survival’ on Lifehack.org, businessman Bob Parsons suggests approaching potentially frightening and stressful situations by asking, “What’s the worst possible outcome?”
Ask yourself the same question when you’re riddled with anxiety over giving a big presentation, facing unreasonable colleagues or bosses or asking for a raise. The truth is, none of these situations will kill you. Regardless of the outcome, you will walk away from them. You might feel chagrined and hopefully a little wiser from the experience, but you will live to tell the tale. Stay focused on the big picture, and keep a healthy perspective.

Try these great persuasion techniques




KINDLY CLICK ADVERTISEMENTS APPEARS IN THIS PAGE / WEBSITES. PLEASE.
 

No matter whether it’s your business or private success it is essential to develop your power of persuasion. Effective leadership often requires such direct methods to influence those we lead.
Persuasion is defined as: the act or process of causing someone to do something through reasoning or argument. But how do you set about persuading someone?
Arguing if you are right, listening as if you are wrong!
Stanford University Professor Bob Sutton argues that leaders should adopt this approach to influencing:
Argue as if you are right, listen as if you are wrong.
The two sides of this approach mirror the notion of advocacy and inquiry. Advocacy is making your thinking process visible.
“Here is my view and this is how I arrived at the view”
In relation to developing your inter-personal skills, advocacy is about:This article is based on the free eBook
  •  Making your point, taking a position in an attempt to influence others.
  • Supporting your viewpoint with how you came to that view, whilst remaining open to alternative views.
On the other hand, inquiry means asking others to make their thinking process visible.
“How does it sound to you? What makes sense to you and what doesn’t?”

Learn what behavioural finance is all about

<![endif]-->

KINDLY CLICK ADVERTISEMENTS APPEARS IN THIS PAGE / WEBSITES. PLEASE.
 


Finance and investment management are not like physics. In finance, there are very few systematic “laws of nature” to be observed. We instead observe the effects of compounded human behaviour on asset prices in an open environment where exogenous shocks take place on a continuous basis.
Standard finance theory tackles this complexity through some rather extreme shortcuts. These include, for example, the assumption that the dynamics of asset prices are random and that the distribution of possible outcomes follows a Gaussian law. Further embedded within standard finance is the concept of “Homo economicus” being the idea that humans make perfectly rational economic decisions at all times. These shortcuts make it much easier to build elegant theories, but, after all in practice, the assumptions did not hold true.
Behavioural finance puts a human face on the financial markets
So what is the alternative? Behavioural finance may be part of the solution, with its emphasis on the numerous biases and heuristics (i.e. deviations from rationality) attached to the otherwise exemplary rational “Homo economicus” individual assumed in standard finance. Anomalies have been accumulating that are difficult to explain in terms of the standard rational paradigm, many of which interestingly are consistent with recent findings from psychology.
Behavioural finance makes this connection, applying insights from psychology to financial economics. It puts a human face on the financial markets, recognising that market participants are subject to biases that have predictable effects on prices. It, thus, provides a powerful new tool for understanding financial markets and one that complements, rather than replaces, the standard rational paradigm.

How entrepreneurial are you? Take the test!

color: black;">

KINDLY CLICK ADVERTISEMENTS APPEARS IN THIS PAGE / WEBSITES. PLEASE.
 


 Many people believe that because they have decided to start their own business, this makes them an entrepreneur. If that were the case, why is it that they do not behave entrepreneurially in their own life or when working for others? In this article the business consultant, writer and motivational speaker Roger Cowdrey has put together some tests to find out how entrepreneurial you really are. Interested? Then go for it!

How to consider whether you are entrepreneurial
I have worked with countless embryo businesses, and, all too often, people have decided to start up a new venture because of redundancy or lack of employment opportunities in their field of expertise. This rarely demonstrates a true entrepreneurial desire but rather a ‘last ditch’ alternative to unemployment.
One way to consider whether you are entrepreneurial in your approach to life is to look at your behaviour at home or in employment. For example, try writing down all of the new ideas or processes that you have suggested and/or implemented in the workplace. Did this give you a buzz or did you resist the concept of change?
When I give lectures or work with entrepreneurs I often give some puzzles to illustrate my points regarding entrepreneurship. I do not refer to these examples as tests but rather as a stimulus to get people to want to look harder at how to become truly entrepreneurial. What follows are three examples of the sort of things that I use. I would suggest trying to tackle these before moving on to the answers that follow.

Your body language’s impact on your success



KINDLY CLICK ADVERTISEMENTS APPEARS IN THIS PAGE / WEBSITES. PLEASE.
 

 Body language is one of the most important parts of communication. In fact, we devote more than 90 percent of our attention to interpreting one another in terms of body language and voice. Only once we have done that do we listen effectively to what the speaker says.
What do we observe?
  • 55 percent: Body language
  • 38 percent: The voice
  • 7 percent: The message
That is why it matters how you handle your behavior, your body language, and your attitude in public.
The more you understand yourself and your attitude, the greater opportunity you have to optimize your attractive, positive signals. If your body language is open and pleasant when you meet people, you increase your charisma and thereby the chance of a positive outcome.
If instead you are nervous or uncomfortable about stepping into a gathering where you don’t know anyone, your natural posture will be closed, and you will hug the walls and make yourself invisible.
Your eyes wander or are lowered and withdrawn. In that way, you protect yourself and tell those around you “I don’t feel comfortable in this situation”.