First Comment

Exactly two weeks ago we had a great guest post on not letting bad weather keep you down and today we have another guest post on what to do when you get overworked at work. As February winds down, the work is certainly going to ramp up. Think about it: December was the holidays, January is broken up by MLK Day and snow days, February you can enjoy the freezing weather with President's Day and Valentines Day, but the nitty gritty always seems to start as the shortest month of the year ends. Well then it's great timing once again to have this guest contribution submitted by Lauren Bailey, who specializes in writing about online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: blauren99 @gmail.com. Without further ado, here is Lauren's guest post:
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You begin your countdown to the weekend the minute you clock in at work. You find yourself unable to focus on any of the tasks assigned to you. You feel lost, confused, frustrated, and also entirely apathetic. All of these are signs that you may be feeling burnt out from your job. This is something that nearly every full-time working individual goes through at some point or another in their career. Luckily, the feeling of dread and unhappiness does not have to be permanent there are a few ways that you can combat feeling burnt out at work so that you can get back to enjoying your weekdays as well as your weekends.

Take a Break

When you're feeling overwrought and run over by your job, the best thing you can do is give yourself some space from it. Those who do not take regular vacation days tend to burn out faster than those who do, so consider using some of your vacation days and taking a break from the workday routine. Even if you only leave for a four-day weekend, it could be enough time for you to regroup and recharge. Take a trip somewhere new to give yourself a break from your usual routine. Even if you stay home, do something different during your time off, such as going to a new restaurant or visiting a friend you normally do not see. After getting some space from your job, you may be able to go back to it with some more clarity.

Plan a Future Break

Even if you cannot take a break at the moment, simply planning a future one can do wonders in lifting your spirits and giving you focus again. The promise of an upcoming vacation can add renewed energy into your work because now you have something exciting to look forward to other than just the weekend. Make it a point to plan at least one vacation each year even in-town vacations can be beneficial to your mental health.

Look for New Things to Do at Work

Your burnout may be a result of simply being stuck in a rut. Ask around for new responsibilities that you can take on, such as joining a new project or working in something not directly related to your field or department. A change in duties could be a much-needed breath of fresh air in the workplace, allowing you to reach outside of your comfort zone and try something different. If you are successful in all of your new projects and catch the attention of your supervisor, you may even change careers within the company, allowing you to shake off your last job and take on a new one without having to leave.

Look for New People at Work

Just as being stuck with the same job title and responsibilities can leave you feeling like you're stuck in a rut, being stuck with the same coworkers can have a similar effect. While you may not necessarily want to ignore your old coworkers completely, it could help you feel more lively and energetic to seek out new cohorts to socialize with. Explore the other departments in your company, or even talk to the other people in your building. New social connections can instantly make your work experience much more interesting and engaging.

Look for a New Place to Work

If nothing else works and you know that you need for your situation to change, consider looking for a new place to work. You can either ask for a transfer of location from your current employer, such as volunteering to transfer to another location, or seek new employment opportunities altogether. This way, you will gain the opportunity to start fresh again.

We're back for some more links and we're starting with the New York Times which is reporting that there are big obstacles for the anonymous tips of misdeeds: "A study published in The Journal of Management Studies has found that corporate audit committee members attributed lower credibility and allocated fewer resources for investigations when reports of malfeasance were received through anonymous tips, compared with nonanonymous reports. The study also found that the audit committee members were more concerned with protecting themselves than shareholders if they faced considerable damage to their reputations as a result of a tip, a clear violation of their fiduciary duties."

Now we head to onwallstreet which talks about the retirement "Catch-22": too young to retire and too old to get hired. Age discrimination is hard to prove but is pretty prevalent in this economy.

Lastly, for everyone looking for a job right now, they probably agree with this FINS article which says that job hunting is often one step forward...and two steps back.

BusinessWeek looks at the Worst Jobs for the Best Pay. Ever.

It harks me back to one summer, when I had trouble finding a summer internship, I got offered an intern position at a local branch of a well-known, national real estate firm. The pay was pretty good and the job was about a 10 minute drive from my parent's place. The experience seemed like a great way to learn more about real estate and maybe segue into that market. They had my sister as a part-time administrative assistant and they liked her. It seemed perfect.

It wasn't.

A little background: I had just graduated from my undergraduate studies from a top 35 University. I was in the middle of a 5 year BA/MA program getting a Masters in International Economics and Finance. I had interned for 3 summers at Deutsche Bank in Private Wealth Management. I was hungry to get my hands on something new and try it out.

Here were my tasks my first two days there: copy, staple, create binders, empty folders, fill folders, answer phones...and the best of all: fix stuff. This was a pretty successful operation in the heart of Scarsdale, NY at the top of the real estate bubble and they had the cheapest office equipment around. Everything broke. The worst of which was the copy machine, which my boss told me repeatedly was my fault because "everyone knows you shouldn't copy more than 25 pages at a time in a copier". I wanted to kill myself.

In the middle of my third day, I got a call from Jennifer at Astron Solutions. We had the best interview of my entire life (to date) and I was hoping to get an offer from Astron. It finally came. Jennifer asked me if I had already gotten a job. I told her I had, but that I'd quit by the afternoon and be in first thing on Monday.

And I've been working, in some capacity, with Astron ever since.

Despite good pay was the worst job I ever had, but it also led to the best job ;)

Making Staff Decisions in a Recession from the Wall Street Journal

Job losses and pay cuts are mounting as the U.S. economy struggles. Ravin Jesuthasan of Towers Perrin says that health care and energy look like the safest industries in these tough times.

Laid Off and Looking from the Wall Street Journal

In this video blog entry, Dawn Jordan talks about her job search and the importance of networking.

It's certainly a buzzword according to the New York Times (click here) and, well, the Washington Post has been using it since 2005 (click here)...but what does it mean?

The Washington Times has some answers here (click here), but the Orlando Business Journal just reported that fewer than 1 in 10 Americans actually plan staycations (click here)

It's one way of offsetting the high gas prices, and the Arizona Republic has some other ways that employers can help in that process: click here

And, lastly, Thomson Reuters came out with some job data today which says that the job market is softening like the polar ice caps (they left out the part about the polar ice caps, however): click here

:)

We got some great articles today from the Wall Street Journal as we again go from Wall Street to Main Street

First, an article about a new type of downsizing occurring, further obscuring the precarious job hunt--either by the combination of junior and senior positions in a job description and giving it a junior pay or by hiring new senior level employees but also giving them the work that was once done by their subordinates: click here

This is a tricky tightrope for Human Resources to walk...you don't want to be seen as "tricking" someone (as the article seems to suggest).

Next, the Relocation Blues from the Journal's "90 Days" column tells you how to cope with forced relocation (or, as HR, a nice way you can provide suggestions and work along your employees when this occurs for them): click here

Also from the Journal's Career Journal column "Pay Grade", tackling sustainability-related projects: click here

Lastly, from the Johns Hopkins University Gazette, rethinking the future of HR: click here