ITList Information Technology Blog » Stress http://itlist.com Current IT field related information Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:35:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Tips for a Simplified and Happier Life http://itlist.com/tips-for-a-simplified-and-happier-life/ http://itlist.com/tips-for-a-simplified-and-happier-life/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 04:23:51 +0000 bikram http://itlist.com/?p=2777 When life has taken a toll on our lives with its hectic schedule, harsh and merciless stressful days and long hours spent at work how some of us still manage to lead a happier and peaceful life? Have you ever wondered or have you pacified yourself saying, it’s just they are lucky? Well, no one is lucky, they have just given an effort to simplify and beautify their lives. Knowing few simple tips can make life indeed happy and simplified. These tips are as given below –

Find your personal goal

If you know what you want to do in life, what’s your purpose of living; life will not only be easier for you, but also meaningful and worth. Most of us live life without any goal and thus life turns out to be frustrating. Talk to yourself, find out your dreams and aspirations and what you want to do in this life. Then work towards achieving your goal. Set small goals before reaching the final one. With sheer dedication and passion work towards the goal, it will also boost your confidence and self esteem.

Prioritize your wants

Many times we want everything and get nothing, it’s because we fail to prioritize our wants and ignore what we actually value. Know yourself, know what is your priority – money or success, family or spirituality? It will help you to set your personal goals and categorize your priorities in order.

Know your passion

Know what you are passionate about, what makes you happy and what you never deny to do. Try to make your passion your profession; then work will never seem to be a load and stress. If you love your job, life will be easier and happier.

Meditate everyday

Sit alone quietly and meditate every day, it will help you to talk to your inner self. Don’t think about anything while meditating, you can chant too. Listen to your inner voice.

Know what you are good at

Knowing your strengths will help you to enhance them and utilize. Honor your strengths and enhance them.

Help others

Serve the society, it will not only help you to evolve as a better human but also soothe you from within. Help others as per your own capacity. In this way you will be more humble, honest, helpful and loved by all. Tomorrow others may help you back.

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Avoid Being Burnt Out By Your Job http://itlist.com/avoid-being-burnt-out-by-your-job/ http://itlist.com/avoid-being-burnt-out-by-your-job/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:39:24 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=2230 Getting jaded by your job is no good.  Makes you hate your job, and makes the work you have to slog through all the more difficult.  In a recession, where finding a new job is extremely difficult, you can’t really afford feeling burnt out at your job.  Managing your work, and environment is key to staying happy, and productive at your job.

Plan and prioritize your projects so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by having too many things to do at the last minute.  Figure out what you need to complete now, so that you can push a few things off until later.  By creating a schedule ladder of importance, you can focus on the tasks and complete them with plenty of time.  Taking the stress off, allowing you to relax a bit, and keeping you happy as well as productive.

Remember to take your breaks.  Even if you have a ton of work, and you want to skip a break to work through it, don’t!  Skipping your breaks will only make you feel more disheartened and overwhelmed.  Take that break so you can get some fresh air, maybe a cup of coffee, and relax for a few minutes.  You’ll feel better, and will work more effectively when you resume your duties.

Know when to ask for help.  Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s just finding a solution to a problem that you can’t solve yourself at the moment.  What’s worse that having to ask for help, is not getting your work done because you didn’t.  Failing on your own instead of succeeding with help should never sound like the better option.

Always stay polite and courteous no matter what.  Keeping in a positive mind with a positive attitude is the best way to work through the problematic times.  By staying positive you’ll feel better, as will the people around you.  You’ll all get more done, and you’ll be much less apt to get overwhelmed, or feel unhappy at your job.

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Bounce Back From Interview Tardiness http://itlist.com/bounce-back-from-interview-tardiness/ http://itlist.com/bounce-back-from-interview-tardiness/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:21:04 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=1975 Being late to an interview is horrible, but not necessarily a job death sentence.  While this is most definitely not the best first impression you can make, you can still save face.  Sometimes there’s an emergency that is completely out of your hands.  Or even traffic mishaps that you can’t control.

Although the best way to save yourself from being tardy to an interview, is to make sure you’re not late in the first place.  That means mapping out your route beforehand.  Know the territory, and leave a few minutes earlier than needed.

If you cannot avoid being late, then always call ahead immediately to notify your interviewer of the situation.  You have a cell phone for a reason.  If there’s bad unexpected traffic, or an accident, call them immediately to let them know you’ll be late.  Explain the reason, apologize, and tell the interviewer that you’ll be there as quickly as possible.

When you arrive, don’t rush into the office.  Stay calm and composed.  Turn this into an opportunity to show your grace under pressure.  Being late to an interview could be considered a huge lapse in credibility.  But you can spin that by keeping your posture confident, and your demeanor positive and courteous.

By rushing in you show nervousness, which is essentially weakness.  If you crack under the stress of getting to an interview on time, are they going to want you during a real work crises?  Show that you can stay composed and confident in any scenario.

A good tactic actually is to rush as quickly as possible to the interview, then take a few moments before you enter the building to compose yourself.  The key here is staying calm, if you can’t stay calm you’re not going to make a good impression.  You’ve already got the tardiness strike against you, so your interview has to be stellar.

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Brush Up Those Customer Care Skills http://itlist.com/brush-up-those-customer-care-skills/ http://itlist.com/brush-up-those-customer-care-skills/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:30:49 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=1651 Customer service skills are important to have at a variety of jobs, as almost every business is a for profit industry.  Part of working for profit is getting people to pay you for a service, and likely at some point you’ll have to directly deal with those people.  Your customers are important, they are the lifeblood of your company and your job.  So knowing how to handle them in the proper way is invaluable.  Even if you don’t typically deal with customers at your job now, it’s good to have the knowledge on hand.  You never know when you’ll end up with a job where you just might have to.

First off it’s important to know how to maintain an appropriate work demeanor.  Remember that your customers are the basis of your business, and treat them as such.  Without their money you don’t have a job, so part of your task is to ensure that they are happy with what their money is doing for them.  Keep everything professional but be courteous, and always take someone’s mood into account.  At times you have to relay information that can anger a customer, and work through it with the customer.  Don’t give up or let their bad mood control yours.

Don’t bring your stress to the customers.  If you’ve had a bad day, or feel that something just didn’t go your way, don’t take it out on your customers.  Keep your personal feelings personal.  This way you can maintain a professional atmosphere that people will want to participate within.  Always keep professional and courteous, that’s pretty much the name of the game.

You basically need to have the patience of a saint sometimes.  So just remember, you’re being paid to do a job, and part of that job is waiting for customers to work through their own frustrations.  Whether it’s you having to explain the same points over and over again, or if they just seem to have an angry disposition, work through it.  Don’t let their mood or inability to quickly understand you affect your mood.  You’re there to help, and are being paid to do so, so jut take everything in your stride and have the patience to deal with customers effectively.  So just don’t take anything personally, and get the job done remaining professional and courteous.

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Exercise At Work To Keep Focus http://itlist.com/exercise-at-work-to-keep-focus/ http://itlist.com/exercise-at-work-to-keep-focus/#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:01:02 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=1547 The key to being a better worker is pretty much the same as the key to enjoying virtually every other aspect of life.  Being physically fit makes for better workers, and even if you just have an office job, where your only physical requirement is staying awake during long days in front of your computer screen, the more fit you are, the better of a performance you are going to kick out.  The better shape you are in the sharper your mind stays, this means eating right and exercising regularly.  You’ll be surprised at the results it will have on your personal and professional life.

But there’s more to the exercise to be a better worker concept.  Studies also show that those who find time to exercise at work also kick out better performances on the whole.  There’s a reason Japan has made it a habit to provide for exercise time for every worker during the work day.  Often times taking the entire work force to the roof of their office buildings for a period of cardiovascular activity, before returning to work.

Physical activity has a way of resetting your mind if you’ve been having trouble working through a particular issue at work, giving you a reprieve to reset yourself, and better focus on something else.  Your mind will be better off for it, and when you return to work you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll be able to concentrate much more effectively.  Exercising works out stress, and emotional tension that you may have, freeing yourself so you can continue in the grind.

A few exercises you can do at the office with ease include:

You could sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair for a period of time.  This will strengthen core and back muscles, improve posture, and burn a few extra calories.

Stand up once every hour or so, flap your arms around a bit and walk around, even if you only have a small space to walk around.  Pace back and forth, and move your arms, this will get your blood pumping, and help you refocus, and calm yourself.

Get a wireless headset for your phone so you aren’t stuck being stationary at your desk while you’re talking.  This way you are free to move about, and motion is always a good thing for keeping you focused and exercised.

Finally, anytime you need to navigate between floors at work, try using the stairs instead of an elevator.  This will help you get in much more physical activity than you would normally be getting, keep your heart working, your blood pumping, and your stress as far away as possible.

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Stave Off Writer’s Block http://itlist.com/stave-off-writer%e2%80%99s-block/ http://itlist.com/stave-off-writer%e2%80%99s-block/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 21:12:41 +0000 SamElli http://itlist.com/?p=1363 Anybody who writes, whether for a living or otherwise, has encountered the dreaded problem of writer’s block.  Writer’s block is one of the most frustrating experiences to battle with and through no matter how seasoned you are in the field, mostly because you feel so helpless to combat the lack of creative energy.  But there are many strategies you can employ to try and take down writer’s block, although some of them will have mixed results depending upon the individual, here are some you can try to get that creative spark burning bright once more.

One main stratagem is to just allow yourself to write badly.  Often a writer with writer’s block feels disappointed with anything that they are able to write.  One way to get beyond this is to just keep working even if you are unhappy with the quality of what you are writing.  By allowing yourself to write badly you are still writing and influencing the creative process, increasing the likelihood of you escaping your dreaded writer’s block sooner rather than later.

Take a break and clear your head with a trip outside.  Take a nice long walk, or go for a jog or run, do some yard work, anything around fresh air that involves a relative amount of physical exertion.  After which you’ll feel better and your mind will feel much more clear, taking away the stress you felt before from your inability to write.

And if those don’t work, there’s always one of the best methods in music.  Listen to some of your favorite music, something that moves you, makes you emote whether in anger, happiness, sadness, etc.  Anything that inspires your emotions to come out or come alive, as that will facilitate the artistic need to create, inspiring you to write, and to write words you are connected to, that you feel.

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