CareerMysteries

 How would you like to work here?  Summer is the time to dream about what you really want to do most with your life.  For me, writing is one thing I have always dreamed of doing and my dreams have come true.  While I don’t live or work in a castle (just yet anyway) I feel like a big success because I love each day of my life, I work whenever I want and I play as much as I can.

Take the time now to evaluate where you are in your career.  Is this what you really want to be doing?  Are you working toward a larger and better goal for the future?  If you can do something you love to do and make enough money doing it to pay the bills and such, you are a success.

Balancing the work, the play and all the facets of your life and family is really the key to a happy successful life.  Find your happiness and don’t waste another minute doing something you don’t enjoy.

 Sometimes it is better to ease off on the workplace throttle and let yourself go with the flow…

Avoid procrastination on projects and deadlines. If you wait until the last minute to get things done, you will have a longer time to fret about the deadline and your stress level will increase. Working at a steady pace instead of in fits and starts will relieve your anxiety.

Keep distractions under your control. Shut off the telphone and close the office door if you need time to concentrate. If you only have a cubicle, borrow an empty conference room if you need quiet to do your best work.

Use email on a schedule. If you tend to check your email more than two or three times per day, you are wasting your time in busy work. If something is truly critical, you will get word of it in time. Also, if you can use voice mail to your advantage, send all calls to the machine when you need to focus on other things.

Use toys to increase your creative impulses. Desk toys like squeeze balls and plastic puzzles can be relaxing and stimulating at the same time. It is good for you to take frequent breaks from the computer use and use a squeeze ball to exercise your hands.

Most important of all, take a deep breath and repeat after me, until you believe it, “It’s only a job, it’s only a job….”. 

Try to relax when assuming new duties. It is hard to be promoted and then work with the same people, and become the leader of the existing group. Give everyone some breathing room before even considering making any changes.

Find a Mentor

Many companies now have formal mentoring programs for new supervisors that will give resources to bounce ideas off someone who has been there before. Even if there is no formal program, find an experienced manager who can help you.

Keep in mind that one need not take every bit of advice from a mentor, but at least consider his opinion on situations brought to the table. As long as there is mutual trust, a mentor will provide an objective perspective.

Maintain the Status Quo

A common rookie mistake is to try to change everything that is wrong within the department in a very short time frame to try to look like good. Forget about it. Get everyone on board with the new arrangement in the first couple of months.

Meet with the crew and discuss the promotion. Ask for input and help in getting things in order and functioning at a higher level. If people feel their opinions are valued, they will be much more likely to support change efforts.

Being a good boss is not too different than being a good employee.  Earn respect from others by doing the right stuff yourself and help them along with training, support services and advice.  You will do just fine.

Let’s face it, who doesn’t want to make more money these days.  Be careful, though not to get caught up in one of these on line schemes.  They are running rampant on every corner of the internet.

If you really want to make some money, hard work is needed.  Build your own website and acquire advertising.  It won’t happen overnight, but if you are ambitious and stick with it, it will happen for you.

Thanks for visiting my career blog and hope to see you stop by my Suite 101 website.  I am building a big bank of articles there and you may just like them.  Lots of career stuff and so much more.  Have a great week!