Ways to Show Gratitude to Your Employer

“Today, I’m grateful for…”

This time of year, it’s important to feel some gratitude and not just for your mom’s amazing pecan pie. When I was a counselor in an alcohol and drug treatment program, one of the first things patients focused on in early recovery was the “gratitude list.” It’s easy - at the end of every day, list at least 5 things (10 is better) for which you are grateful. It became a habit for me. Some really bad days, maybe all I came up with was “I’m grateful I have a garage so I don’t have to hack 10 inches of snow off my car.” But doing it reminded me to pay attention to the good stuff.

How about showing a little love to your employer? What?! The same people who gave you a .05 salary increase this year and laid off your buddies?

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Making Common Workplace Fears More Manageable

You’re probably thinking that I'm going to talk about the fear of public speaking, which is often identified as our #1 fear. But I’m thinking of more subtle fears that people don’t always discuss that make the workplace extremely difficult for some workers.

As a therapist, I’ve treated people with diagnosed anxiety disorders, but also milder anxiety symptoms and signs. Worry over finances, health issues, parenting, school and relationships fall into that category. These fears fall somewhere between the two. What kinds of fears do people struggle with at work?

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6 Annoying Things Millennials Do @ the Office

I have always preached that too much is made about Gen X vs. Gen Y in the world of work.  Generalizing an entire generation, regardless of when they were born, is totally unfair.  One can easily sit back and accuse Gen X of being a bunch of anxiety-ridden control freaks who spend too much time sulking and complaining about work at Happy Hour. Or that Baby Boomers are technologically irrelevant and should be forced into early retirement (or at least coerced to take some social media classes!).  It might not be right, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to write about.

Here are some annoying traits that many Millenials seem to share.

- "Did you get my e-mail?" - As a member of society who has grown up with computers and the Internet, you know damn well that there's a 99.9% that I received your e-mail.  The question is, have I had time to read it yet?  The answer is no.  So cool your jets and go back to your desk and read TechCrunch until I'm ready for you.

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Tapping Into Creativity at Work

Embrace Your Right-Brain

I don’t often think of “creativity” and “business” in the same sentence. Of course there are businesses in the creative sector, but I’m talking about jobs in which most people toil day to day. These folks are rewarded for analytical thinking, decisive actions and level-headedness. Too much creativity might get you marginalized.

But as an artist, business owner and corporate-world survivor, I think there’s a place for being creative in business. My feeling is that thinking creatively can unblock those stuck points. You know what I’m talking about - you have a presentation to give, a report to write and you’re drawing a blank. Here’s where you summon up that “right brain” stuff.

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Working Podcast #93: Too Many Cooks In the Kitchen

Join the Jobacle campaign to help restore linear communication at work!  Who is hiring for the holiday season in 2009?  Find out how much umpires make a year and hear a solution to Major League Baseball's major problem.  Job Song.

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Playing a Game of Telephone at Work

The invention of the middle manager created a buffer that effectively keeps a company's 'elite' segregated from the 'clerical riff raff.'  It also falsely empowers those who strive for success by placating them with a promotion.  It's the illusion of more control.  And I am that middle manager.

I'm not sure about your world at work, but in my experience, simple job tasks have become games of connect the dots.  There are 17 people involved when there should be two.  This leads to too many opinions, a lot of static noise and a hyper-connectivity, which in this blogger's humble opinion, leads to work of a lesser quality.

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The Season’s Changing: What If Your Job Status Isn’t?

Yesterday, it was 49˚ with high winds and on top of that, it was overcast. Fortunately, I have an elderly cat whose second favorite word (after “ham”) is “nap.” He and I could have easily made that nap last all day. I’m not a fan of fall or winter and admittedly have a touch of SAD - seasonal affective disorder. As a therapist, I also begin to see it in my patients this time of year.

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How to Disconnect During Downtime

Just Step Away from the Netbook, Ma’am

Last weekend I took a three-day vacation from connectivity. Not even a peek at my email. It helped that I was in the middle of 180 acres of wilderness with nary a Wi-Fi in the breeze. Admittedly, I was a little twitchy at first. After all, I had made it to Level 130 in “Babylonia” - the procrastinating writer’s friend.

There’s been much written lately on the emotional/mental and even physical effects of being in constant contact with everyone electronically. As a psychotherapist, I constantly stress the need for downtime. I wrote an article about it in 2007 (which sounds almost quaint now and predates Twitter); Disconnect Doesn’t Have to Be a Bad Thing. But as someone who also makes a living writing and glued to a computer, I realize that disconnecting is not easy. So maybe baby steps are indicated. Here are a few to try...

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How Not to Act Old (Especially in the Workplace)

My part-time job as a therapist allows me inside the minds of adolescents and young adults. When I gain their trust, I get a peek into their “culture.” As a result, I find I’m less likely to jump on the current “youth-bashing” bandwagon. I’m growing weary of articles lamenting Gen X or Y (or whomever) workers inability to get with the program.

That’s why Pamela Redmond Satran’s new book, “How Not to Act Old” is so refreshing. It shifts the burden of responsibility for keeping up to us older folks. Satran identifies behaviors and beliefs that mark us as old. For instance, we need to stop emailing; younger people are IM-ing, texting and Facebook-ing (it is SO a verb) to communicate. And as she points out, quit using your index fingers to type, it’s all about the thumbs.

I was particularly interested in Satran’s take on “how not to work old.” Some of her suggestions for not skewing into that demographic are:

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Conference Call Do’s and Don’ts

Choosing to be self-employed for the past 13 years, I don’t get to partake in much corporate-world fun anymore. But I’m fascinated by it - in an anthropologic sort of way.

Recently, I became interested in conference call protocol when my husband began working from home one day a week. (a whole other post topic…) He often participates in calls with up to 50 people. Firsthand I learned that building a fort for the cat and yelling from my office to tell him about it while he’s on a call is verboten. Additional do’s and don’ts he shared with me are below.

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