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Overcoming Office Distractions – 5 Tips to Keep Your Focus

By summer on Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A recent study by a New York-based research firm, Basex, found that the average knowledge worker loses 2.1 hours a day of productivity, or 28% of the workday due to workplace distractions. Even the most focused employees can have a difficult time remaining on task under a barrage of e-mails, phone calls and visits from uninvited co-workers. If workplace distractions are breaking up your concentration, check out the tips below to get back on task and in the zone.

Give Your Outlook a Break.
E-mail is a great tool for streamlining business communications, but at times the sheer volume of messages can defeat its purpose by overwhelming you with information. When you need uninterrupted concentration, use your e-mail’s out of office function, and then close the program for a few hours during the day.

Even if you don’t think e-mails are really a problem for you, you may be more distracted than you realize. A University of Illinois study reported by Globe and Mail found that when workers were frequently interrupted, it took them longer to finish projects. They also made more errors and experienced greater frustration and annoyance. If e-mail notifications are dinging in your ears or appearing on your screen every few minutes, chances are you’re losing focus and productivity. So when you need to focus, give yourself and your co-workers a break by going “e-mail free” for a few hours.

Just Say “No” to Unnecessary Meetings.
How many hours do you spend in meetings each week? Now, ask yourself how many of these meetings did you really need to attend. If you’re not contributing or learning something new from a meeting, it’s probably a waste of not only your time but the company’s as well. Another good way to evaluate whether you really need a meeting is to ask yourself whether the information could be handled just as effectively through an e-mail, memo or conference call.

So, think twice before you schedule your next meeting or accept a colleague’s meeting request. While you probably won’t be able to avoid all meetings, keeping these tips in mind will help you better evaluate when you really need to attend or schedule a meeting.

Hang it up.
In some offices, the telephone is the preferred means of communication. While the telephone is more personal than e-mail, it also tends to take a little more time. If phone calls interrupt your focus every few minutes, it’s time for you to take control again. Instead of jumping to respond every time your phone rings, let your calls go to voicemail. To ensure that callers know what to expect, change your voicemail greeting to let them know when you will be checking messages. By only checking messages at designated times throughout the day, you’ll reduce the number of distractions you encounter, giving you a greater ability to stay on task.

Send a Message.
When you’re working on a tight deadline or just really need to focus, it’s best to keep social visits from co-workers to a minimum. To discourage unexpected drop ins, shut your office door for an hour or two while you work. Or Monster.com suggests if you sit in a cubicle, put up a sign that says something like “working on deadline,” and adjust your workstation so that visitors see your back when they enter. This helps because once you make eye contact, people feel it’s an invitation to stay and chat. Of course, you won’t want to keep your door closed or the sign up at all times or else colleagues will view you as antisocial.

Leave Your Surfboard at Home.
According to a recent survey by Salary.com, the average worker wastes nearly two hours of every eight-hour workday. Of the 2,700 people polled, 52.0% cited web surfing as their No. 1 distraction at work. Imagine what you could accomplish if you harnessed those hours to do something productive instead.

Designate before work, break times and after hours for your online shopping, bill pay and other web surfing activities. Or, just make it a priority to do all of your online perusing at home. That way, you’ll keep your Internet usage from interfering with your work.

What’s your biggest distraction at work? What do you do to stay on task and keep your focus?

Professional Crossroads – How to Choose the Right Career Path for You

By summer on Monday, November 12, 2007

Have you reached a point in your career when you know it’s time for a change, but you’re not quite sure what your next move should be? When you come to a professional crossroads, it’s important to look at where you’ve been to determine where you want to go in the future. Your past successes and even failures can provide excellent insight into what direction will ultimately be right for you.

1. To begin, make a list of all the responsibilities you’ve had through current and past jobs, volunteer activities and hobbies. Label the responsibilities you enjoyed and excelled at with stars or smiley faces. Then put a line or an x through the tasks you disliked, as well as those you didn’t excel at.

2. If you’re not sure whether you excelled at something, think back to the type of feedback you received on that particular task. Also, consider the level of accuracy and speed with which you completed the responsibility. If you consistently received positive feedback and were able to fulfill the role in a timely and error-free manner, you excelled.

3. Once you’ve organized your past and current responsibilities by category, take inventory of the tasks that you enjoyed and excelled at. These items are your road map to finding the career path that’s right for you.

4. Now that you have a clear understanding both of what you like to do and what you’re good at, you can look for careers that rely heavily on these skills. Of course, most jobs will probably still require you to spend some time on tasks you don’t find 100% exciting, but the important thing is to acquire a position where the majority of your time will be spent on tasks that you really enjoy and excel at.

When you’re working in a career that plays on your strengths and stimulates your mind, you’ll find that you’re more professionally fulfilled, productive and satisfied.

Career Advancement Workplace Relationships

Working in Your Own World?

By Jennifer Kenley on Monday, November 5, 2007

In today’s workplace, tenure doesn’t necessarily mean you’re entitled to a promotion. Hard work, dependability and a positive attitude are just a few characteristics that employers look for when promoting employees. Some individuals might not realize that some of their actions and the direction they are heading in their employment might be keeping them from that job advancement they are going after.

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.
Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.

In Alice and Wonderland, Alice embarks on a wonderful adventure marked by chaos and misdirection. After wandering around from place to place meeting different characters who seem to be concerned only with what is going on at any particular moment, Alice finally decides she wants to go home. But, only after Alice took the necessary steps, does she get back home.

If you feel like you work hard but get nowhere or that you keep getting passed up for that promotion, then take a look at Alice’s story. Are you like Alice – taking the necessary steps to reach her goal, or are you like one of the following characters lost in a world without reality.

The White Rabbit – “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date. No time to say Hello. Goodbye. I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.” If you find yourself in this situation more often than not, then chances are your boss has noticed your tardiness. You might not think that being late for work should affect your chances for advancement as long as you do a good job while your there. But the truth is, if your boss can’t depend on you, your chances for a promotion will come late as well, if at all. To help you break the habit of tardiness, try getting up 30 minutes earlier each morning. Once you establish a specific time to leave your house in the morning, being on time will get easier.

The Queen of Hearts – “Off with their heads.” If you find yourself easily irritated with your co-workers or you frequently lose your cool, then you may have a temper problem. If you’re in a constant state of anger and make life uneasy for your co-workers, then you probably won’t see a promotion coming anytime soon. In fact, you might have to start looking for a new job. This will not only keep you from excelling at your job, but it will also create higher stress and loss of workplace relationships. Employers typically promote employees who have pleasant attitudes, exhibit professional, friendly tendencies and have good work ethics. These traits show great leadership potential and the ability to thrive under pressure. To help you stay calm during stressful situations, try counting to 10 the next time you get upset or take a walk around the building allowing yourself a five minute timeout. This will help you relax and see things in a clearer perspective. Until you tame the impulse to lash out, you’ll probably not see advancement opportunities.

Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum – “How do you do and shake hands, shake hands, shake hands. How do you do and shake hands and state your name and business. That’s manners!” If you find yourself doing only what is expected of you and nothing more, then you’re really no better than these two characters. Many employees prove that they can do the job, but it’s the ones who go beyond what is expected who get the promotions. To help you get over the “just OK” slump, try talking to your boss to see what you can do to improve your work. Once you’ve excelled at those duties, try asking for more responsibilities. Also, take some initiative on new projects by putting your ideas on the table or stepping up to the challenge when your boss asks for something to be done. Show your boss that you can be a leader.

If you found that your behavior resembles that of one of these directionless characters, it’s time to stop and head in a new direction – like Alice did. Visualize where you want to be in your career first, and then start to take the necessary steps to get you there. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way out of Wonderland and into a great career.

Career Advancement The Daily Grind Workplace Relationships

Are You a Workplace Fire Starter?

By summer on Friday, November 2, 2007

Do you enjoy coming to the rescue in a crisis? What happens when everything is peaceful and there isn’t a problem to solve? Do you find yourself starting little fires at work just so you can put them out later? According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, some employees take their love for providing solutions to the extreme. These individuals routinely create drama and chaos only to swoop in and be the “heroes” who come to the rescue by resolving the issue they created.

The article cites a case of an employee who habitually stirred up conflict among his co-workers. Once the situation reached a boiling point, he’d use his insider knowledge to solve the problem. At first, management thought this employee was very skilled at uniting people until they began to notice the pattern of workplace tension that followed him wherever he went. Once management removed him from the early stages of group projects they discovered the conflicts stopped occurring.

Thriving on action isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless it causes you to create tension where none previously existed. If you find that you love putting out fires more than you enjoy peace and quiet, take care that you don’t become a workplace fire starter.

When you feel your workplace is getting dull, instead of thinking of ways to stir the pot, brainstorm ideas for becoming more efficient and productive at your job. Not only will new challenges keep you excited, but your supervisors will also have a real reason to praise your efforts.

Do you find yourself looking for ways to become the office hero? What tactics have you used to add drama to your workplace? What have been the results?

Career Advancement Workplace Relationships

Bouncing Back from a Bad Review

By Jennifer Kenley on Monday, October 15, 2007

Have you ever had a bad performance review? Or, gone in for your yearly evaluation only to find that you haven’t been doing as well as you thought? If you have experienced a situation like this, you might have found it difficult to jump back into your job without having negativity or resentment toward your boss. To help you get through times like this, here are some tips to get you back in good graces with your boss.

Stay Open. No matter what, don’t close the lines of communication with your boss. Try talking to them so you can better understand your role in the company and what your primary goals are. Ask questions even if you understand the less-than-flattering review so you can see their side. Have your boss explain or give examples of what went wrong. Ask them to tell you how they would handle a similar situation in the future. By asking for examples for bad marks on your review, you’re not only allowing yourself the opportunity to explain the situation, but you’re also allowing your boss to see that you genuinely care to correct the problem.

Make Improvements. You may have not been proactive in your career before, but now is the perfect time to start. Schedule a monthly meeting with your boss to go over your objectives and your progress over the previous month. Show your boss that you’re taking an active role in improving your work quality. They will not only respect you for handling the situation well, they will value you for your hard work and determination to correct the issue.

Stay Positive. Negative comments can make anyone feel insecure, but remember, everyone has felt this way at one point. Like the old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Take this opportunity to learn from your mistakes, address them and improve. By allowing yourself the chance to improve your performance, you’re learning both what to do and what not to do to. This will help you grow within your position and develop professionally.

Have you ever had a bad review? If so, how did you handle the situation?

Career Advancement Career Options

Personal Discovery: Find a Job You’ll Love

By summer on Wednesday, October 10, 2007

What gets you excited? What are you best at? When do you really feel “in your element?” The answers to these questions can help you discover a lot about your strengths and what makes you happiest. Knowing what you enjoy and what you’re good at are two of the most important factors in finding a job you love.

To really feel fulfilled by what you do everyday, you must first examine your values, interests and talents. Once you’ve evaluated these areas of your life, compare them to what you’re doing now. If you discover that most of your working hours are spent on activities that conflict with who you are at your core, it’s time to find a new job. Life’s too short to spend hours working at a job that makes you feel bad about yourself.

To find a job you’ll love, think about what’s important to you. Are there particular causes that inspire and motivate you? If so, you might enjoy working at a non-profit or government agency that focuses on issues you feel strongly about.

Your hobbies are another place to look for clues about what jobs might suit you best. For example, if you enjoy scrapbooking, you might like working at a craft store or teaching scrapbooking classes.

Let’s say your passion is spending time with animals. While you probably can’t make a living by hanging out at home with your cat, more than likely you could find a job as a dog walker, pet sitter, animal shelter worker, veterinary technician, pet store clerk or groomer that would allow you to spend time working with animals.

Finally, think about what you naturally excel at, not necessarily what you’ve been trained to do well. These in-born strengths are your talents. If you’re not sure what your talents are, look back to a time when a task was particularly easy for you or you exceeded expectations on a project. Often times, your strengths and interests are connected. That’s because people usually enjoy things they’re good at – which is all the more reason you should try to find a job that utilizes your natural talents.

Do you work in a job you love? What do you love about it? Or, are you still looking for your dream job? What do you think it would take to make you love a job?

Career Advancement

Making a Name for Yourself

By Jennifer Kenley on Friday, September 28, 2007

Do you walk the halls of your workplace and feel invisible? Or, do you find yourself constantly struggling to climb the ladder within your organization? Trying to make a name for yourself can be a difficult journey, but by following these few tips, you just might be able to become the person that everyone says hello to in the hall and that co-workers come to for answers.

Be proactive in seeking success. Don’t wait for your boss to approach you to give you more work. Talk to your boss and let him or her know you want more responsibility. Schedule a one-on-one time with your supervisor to discuss career options and career development. Also, don’t wait for yearly reviews; try to meet with your boss several times throughout the year to discuss your progress.

Ask for a mentor. Mentors within the organization can help you better understand the culture in your workplace. They can assist you in your development and help you identify the areas where you have weaknesses. These individuals also know the inner workings of your organization and can help introduce you to the people that can help move you up within the company. To help you chose a mentor, check out So, You Want a Mentor.

Build a network with other departments. To help get you noticed within your organization, try developing personal relationships with other co-workers in different departments. Volunteer for special projects or extracurricular activities that your company sponsors to help you get to know other individuals in your company. You’re building your brand and if you can extend yourself beyond your department, you can develop relationships with others who can potentially push you further in your career.

Be prepared for performance reviews. Make sure you have your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed before you go in for your performance review. Your boss might not know all the intricate details of the projects you work on or how far you have come on your professional development. It’s your job to keep track of your progress and have documentation of everything that you have accomplished when asking for a raise or new title. For tips on how to prepare, check out Earn What You’re Worth.

Making a name for yourself and building your brand can help you stand out and show your boss the value you add to your organization.