From Energise - The Talent Liberation Company

You are here: Home / Archives for work stress

work stress

Are you at the end of your tether?

By //  by 

We are finding stress on the up with people at work, and with the heat and pressure of uncertainty, it can be wise to make a move elsewhere.

There are many reasons for changing career for something better; here is a compilation from the various people we have worked with.

  1. Redundancy
  2. Early retirement
  3. Need to fund retirement
  4. Dislike of politics
  5. No career progression prospects
  6. Fed up of doing more for less
  7. Desire for variety
  8. Partner moves job/location
  9. Shrinking prospects
  10. Sacked
  11. Hunger for broader/more diverse role
  12. Boss staying put so prospects blocked
  13. Kid on the way – need more money
  14. Young family – need a pay rise to support
  15. Increased competition
  16. Fancy a change
  17. Desire to focus work on what enjoy
  18. Want to line own pockets from effort put in
  19. Changing values over time
  20. Need more money
  21. Want more satisfaction from work
  22. Burning ambition to have own business
  23. Feel bored
  24. A merger
  25. Divorce
  26. Partner made redundant – need the money
  27. A big birthday – catalyst for change
  28. A change of boss
  29. Your role changes without you having a say
  30. You need/want more flexible work
  31. Having kids – need more flexibility
  32. Company moves their office base too far away from your home e.g. BBC
  33. You see someone making a successful career change so think that you can too
  34. Someone dies who you are close to and it makes you revaluate
  35. You inherit some money which gives you choice
  36. Your children leave home freeing you up

Which can you relate to? If you are at a career crossroads or know someone who is, our Energise bulletins provide free insights and tips to help you when changing career:

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

What do our clients think?

http://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/energise-client-testimonials/

The Beauty Of Deadlines

By //  by 

The 6 week timeframe to sort out the debt crisis has got me thinking about deadlines. They can be a pain but they are also very useful to focus the mind.  Work deadlines under pressure imposed by someone else can get you enraged, renewal deadlines like car insurance or the end of a fixed mortgage force you to think about it/explore other options rather than ignore or forget about the issue. Forced deadlines like redundancy or early retirement give you short or long timescales to get your act together and plan.

Without deadlines procrastination can be king and “I didn’t get around to it” Queen.

For many people being made redundant, while not nice, can be a push to do something different rather than drift/cruise at work. I have found that people who hate their career can take years, even decades to take action. That is a lot of time being fed up of work and having a sinking feeling on Monday mornings. The reason? No deadline and it feeling like a huge overwhelming decision. 

I find that the tipping point to people finally deciding to come to me about career change is often a birth, death, birthday or sometimes the straw that broke the camel’s back – e.g. a colleague getting a promotion or the umpteenth time they have worked late and their boss taken the credit.

What deadline could you set for yourself in 6 weeks time to achieve something important but not urgent?  E mail me and I will hold you accountable – click on the link. 

http://careerstrategies.co.uk/careercoaching/what-next/

 

 

 

 

 

Examined Your Navel Recently?

By //  by 

I took myself on an away day this week. It was horrible. I sat in the sun in 21 degrees in a beautiful garden in the Cotswolds thinking and reflecting. The fluff is pink and green since you asked. We often don’t make time for reflection and contemplation, when it is one of those ‘important but not urgent’ tasks that make all the difference to success and happiness. 

The catalyst for my reflection was a new business year. The last 12 months has been so full-on, I felt like my head was spinning off my neck at times. I had an enjoyable and productive day and did about 3 days work in 1. Next is an away day to think about all the non-work areas, but I am leaving that until the school holidays are over as one of my values is peace. Shhh!  

What do you need or want to reflect about that would make all the difference to you? How to improve a relationship; how to murder your boss painlessly and without being caught; how to achieve more in less time; how to change career in a time of uncertainty? 

Our bulletins might be useful for your reflection. Click on this link to read historical ones on Smart living and working; Career strategies and Self-promotion topics:   

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

Here is one example on How to manage difficult emotion: 

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1104576359789.html

If you want to opt in to receive our free monthly bulletins, click on this link:

http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1102862873131&p=oi

From Fixed Grin To Wry Smile?

By //  by 

Is your face aching from that fixed grin? That expression that says ‘I am happy to have a job, but I am sick of doing 3 jobs, having no pay rise, little feedback or praise and I would like to stuff it where the sun don’t shine?’

If so, smiling at these work signs will change your facial expression and give those face muscles a workout. Enjoy! 

“If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t people happy?”

“I don’t look busy because I did it right first time.”

“Work is like taking a sledge across the Arctic. Only the lead dog has a pleasant view”

“We believe in give and take here. I give my time and effort. They take my freedom and dignity.”

“Who says that nothing is impossible? There are people here who do it every day.”

“If at first you don’t succeed, delegate the job to someone else.”

“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”

If you designed your own work sign, what would be the caption? Do share.

Have you downloaded your free ‘Pain free career change report’ yet?

Click on this link to download it and look busy: http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Have a laugh at our video on YouTube too – more free tips for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b8CFaOq6GY

What Gets Your Goat?

By //  by 

I caught myself being a very grumpy arse this morning. Steam was coming out of my ears faster than a train and Puff the magic dragon for anyone old enough to remember got a run for his money. The cause? Poor communication.

Communication isn’t rocket science. You don’t need a PHD to know that people like to understand what is going on, be kept informed and not caught on the hop with things taken away that they are used to having. My London office base has an event today, so the usual facilities including desktop computers are not available and members feel like battery hens squeezed into a cupboard.

Whenever people get mad, usually their values i.e. what is important to them are being trodden on. In this case thoughtfulness, peace, space, manners and communication to name a few have been stamped upon. Not only do values help us design our lives and work for more fulfilment, they also act as a check for managing difficult emotions.

Are you good at saying how you feel, in conflict situations to resolve things? Read this bulletin to find out.

 http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1104576359789.html

Career Change Dreams Up In Smoke?

By //  by 

Suffering from that ‘going back to work feeling’? Reality after the festive season reminds many people of going back to school at the start of a new term. A feeling of dread; shining those shoes; buying a new fluffy pencil case; the who got the best Christmas gift parade, but mainly the sinking feeling.

Life can be so superspeed at work that it feels like being on a giant human hamster wheel. The break spits you off the corporate rat race so you catch up yourself before you go completely bonkers and think about what you really want. Mulled wine fuelled dreams of career change, when back at work, often crumble faster than a digestive biscuit.

If this is you, here are some free resources to keep your resolve with your career change full even if your bank account feels empty: 

5 free tips you can do while in employment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b8CFaOq6GY

Free report ‘Pain free career change’

http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk/

Energise ‘Career strategies’, ‘Self promotion’ bulletins and more  

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

Hope they are useful. Happy new year!

Rachel

Are You Addicted to Busyness?

By //  by 

What is it with our society that it is so good to be busy? “Are you busy?” is almost as popular a question in our country as “What do you do?” To reply, “no I’m not” or “I am busy doing nothing” or “I have been luxuriating in daydreaming activities ” sounds like a faux pas.

Yet research consistently shows that we need time to think and that insights, clarity and creativity pop in when we allow ourselves that time.  So far, I refuse to have e mails/Internet on the move because I believe that it would gazump my thinking/reading time.  I get all the benefits to fans of this service, but I think I would live in a state or permanent stress and fiddling with the device! If that makes me a fossil with technology, then so be it.

What’s your view? Do you get enough time to think? Do you consciously plan thinking time in your diary and go to a different place to do this? RSVP I have been creating an e course about career change over the last few weeks and I have spent about 9 days holed away, e mail free. Without this, it would have taken a great deal longer.

Are you in the right career for you? Download the FREE report “Pain free career change” to find out. http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk

Is Your Work Like A Carpet?

By //  by 

Work can be wall to wall, can’t it? If you find yourself staring out of the window, it is more likely to be because your neck is stiff from sitting at the computer for a long time than you chose to daydream for half an hour.

I had a wall-to-wall day yesterday, I was flat out from early until late and I am not talking sleeping. I barely had a chance to catch my breath and there was no space or time to think.  I am very good at protecting time and as someone who thinks the best place to store a Blackberry is under the wheels of a just-about-to-reverse car, it was a bit of a shock for me to experience the full alert permanent fight or flight feeling.

This is how most people’s days are – wall to wall meetings and no time to do the work. When I need to create something, I go away from my normal environment, switch off phone, e mail, twitter etc and focus 100%. Even prison feels quite appealing for this very reason! I have just given birth to a 250 page career change e course and am in the recovery room. Gas, air and forceps were needed and a caesarean section without the hard labour was quite an appealing prospect. It was a natural birth in the end, and if you’d like a peek at what the baby might look like, download this FREE report:

 http://www.careerstrategies.co.uk

Are You Sleeping On The Job?

By //  by 

Apparently 3 out of 4 workers get less than the recommended eight hours of sleep a night, with worries about job security being a factor (Source Travelodge research). If I was an inventor, I would invent an off button or dimmer switch for the brain. 

Civil servants get just under 6 hours a night, which is less than bankers and factory workers came in third. As someone who spent a couple of days as part of my university placement working on a production line injecting gelatine into pork pies, I can say that I used to snooze on the job hypnotised, as the work was quite repetitive.  I’d imagine that farmers were too busy to fill in the questionnaire as they were harvesting and creatives didn’t sleep at all as they were too busy working on a pitch. 

In Buenos Aires, there is a dedicated sleep centre offering clients a choice of soothing colours, aromas and music and they claim that a siesta helps beat work related stress. As someone who naturally wakes at 5 and has been having an afternoon snooze since I was about 15, I agree with them!  Open plan office, no thanks!

Tip – before you go to sleep, think of an open incisive question to help your unconscious mind solve a challenge you have been grappling with.

For some tips on emotional resilience, click on this link:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1103319741569.html

Do you have any ‘sleeping on the job’ stories to share. Go on….!

Have you seen our Linkedin profile? Click on the link below to view it:  http://uk.linkedin.com/in/energiseliberateyourtalent

Ever Wake Up Like A Bear With A Sore Head?

By //  by 

Waking up feeling grumpy isn’t the best start to the day, especially before you disappear into the bowels of public transport or the long commute. The good news is that you can manage your grumpy bear – as if by magic. Yes really.

We don’t get taught at school or college how to deal with difficult emotions, so they can fester and then we give them to someone else, a bit like throwing a cow pat – nice gift! It’s called projection and often we don’t realise we are doing this. So next time someone gives you a dressing down out of context, get curious not mad.

Try this tool to banish your grumpy bear:

Step 1: Name the negative feeling and acknowledge it e.g. sad

Step 2: Name how you’d like to feel e.g. buoyant

Step 3: Recall a memory when you had the positive feeling of buoyant

Step 4: Recall the good memory in 3D and superb technicolour with the best sound system there is and bingo, the grumpy bear has retreated back to his cave Have a good day and please me know how you find the tool – after the grumpy bear has gone back into his cave, naturally!

PS saying yes when we want to say no can cause big grumpy bears, so click on this link if you want to read more. Saying No: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1103218836146.html

Post a comment about how the tool works for you – but only after your grumpy bear has retreated into his cave!

Are you following us on Twitter? Why not tweet this post and follow us too. Click on the link below to go to our Twitter profile now:

http://twitter.com/talentliberator