Posts Tagged ‘work life’
Is your life off-balance?
August 12th, 2010
As a small child, I was so afraid of heights I was scared to go up on a teeter-totter. So I only got on with children much smaller than I was. That way I could control the experience, keeping myself in the middle and bottom ranges and sending the other kids soaring to the top. Naturally, they were thrilled with the view from on high. The view from the bottom wasn’t so great, but at least it didn’t come with a panic attack.
The other day, I realized I’m back on the teeter-totter, sitting at the bottom and hating the sucky view. Only this time, I don’t have the same level of control. That’s because the teeter-totter is my life, and I’ve somehow seesawed out of balance
Keep burnout at bay
July 22nd, 2010
No wonder our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents talk so longingly about how much more relaxed life seemed in their youth. A quick Internet search reveals the term burnout didn’t go mainstream until about 1980. That’s when headlines suddenly began warning that health professionals, office workers, parents, priests, ministers, teachers, perfectionists, coaches, air-traffic controllers, child stars, and holiday celebrants were in danger of incinerating. Burnout, the papers proclaimed, was pandemic. People were even burned out on talking about burnout.
Three decades later things have gotten worse. A recent survey of British human-resource execs by Capital Learning and Development finds that two-thirds are worried about their employees burning out from added responsibilities following recession-based layoffs. And the outsourcing provider found more than half those HR execs are concerned extra duties have kept employees from learning new technologies. Their skills are becoming obsolete, which could impede them from fully exploiting any economic recovery.
TAGS: balance, burned out, inspiration, motivation, overwhelmed, Self-Improvement, stress, success, work life | 
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Find your passion after a layoff
October 27th, 2009
If employers said what they really think, a few would admit they see some upside to the economic downturn. Bad times give companies an opportunity to clean house, to lay off—no questions asked—not only workers who aren’t pulling their weight, but also those who have seniority or fall into protected classes. “I understand you’re nearing retirement and about to start drawing your pension, but—so sorry—we’ve eliminated your position. Recession, you know. Ta-ta!”
But whether you’re a random victim of a declining economy or the target of diabolical executives, all you can do is wave good-bye as security escorts you to the door … then try to figure out how to make the best of your sudden unemployment. Fortunately, one good thing may come from losing your job: Now you have the chance to rethink what you want to do with the rest of your life.