Six signs youre working too hard

Six signs youre working too hard by Amber Rolfe Finding it difficult to switch off?Working hard at your job is a great way to get ahead in your career and earn bonus points at work. But if you overdo it, you could start to notice some negative effects â€" both in your quality of work, and in your health and wellbeing.To make sure you’re not burning yourself out, here are six signs you’re working too hard:You have no social life  You haven’t just lost your work/life balance. You’ve lost it so badly, you’ve fallen down, and you can’t get back up.It can be all too easy to overlook how often you’re turning down social invites. But when you always seem to put off personal plans because of work, it’s probably time to seriously evaluate your situation.Always try and take a break from work when you’re invited to do something social â€" even if it’s only a quick after-work drink. At the very least it will stop your housemates wondering whether you’re still alive because they haven’t seen you in a week.Let’s face it, no one wants to be the person that always says no.No one can keep up with you There’s being admired for what you do, and there’s being avoided at all costs because of it.If you notice your colleagues don’t want to work with you on group projects â€" it might be time to take a step back and ask yourself why. Is your full-on work ethic too much pressure for them? Would they rather go home at 5pm instead of working all night?Not everyone can handle a 24/7 work timetable, so it might be time to scale it back, set some boundaries, and keep your colleagues’ feelings in mind.Especially if you’re working on collaborative tasks and team assignments.Your body is starting to rebel If you’re working too hard, your body will tell you.People react to stress in a number of different ways, and whether you’re losing or gaining weight, suffering from mysterious migraines, or having trouble sleeping, it usually comes down to the same thing you’re not giving yourself enough of a break.Instead of ignoring your body’s signals to slow down, consider that your excessive workload could be the cause. You’d be surprised at what adopting a healthier lifestyle, adjusting your behaviour, and focusing on something other than work can do for your wellbeing.Your productivity is dropping A lack of productivity is often a clear sign of overworking.Whether you’re starting to slack with the quality of your work, you’ve developed a negative attitude, or you’re just no longer feeling motivated to do a good job â€" it could all indicate a burnout. Other clues include tiredness, irritability, and apathy.And the only way to get back on track is to take a break. Not only will you be able to recharge and feel better, you’ll also come back to your work with a more proactive mindset.You’re always in a bad mood Your job has a big impact on your mood â€" even when you’re not actually working.So although it might seem like you’re genuinely angry a bout a queue of traffic, or an overly small portion of food you got at a restaurant (you definitely ordered large fries), minor inconveniences might not be the real root of your problem.If you feel the need to complain more often than not, ask yourself why. Putting too much energy into your work might mean that you don’t have any tolerance left to actually enjoy your free time.You can’t switch off Can’t get the grind off your mind? It might be time to tone down the hard work…You might feel like you have to refresh your emails while you’re watching TV, make business calls at dinner, or find taking your laptop on holiday is an absolute necessity, just so you can update that all-important spreadsheet at the beach. Even ‘dream you’ can’t catch a break.To combat work calling you 24/7, start scheduling in some space to unwind. In other words, completely clear your head of work, and take a genuine rest from it. No emails. No calls. Just ‘me time’.Because too much of any thing is never a good idea (even if you really love your job).  Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs now  Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Life At Work Work-life balance

Tweak Your Response to Improve Business - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Tweak Your Response to Improve Business - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career One of the more critical areas for getting to ‘yes’ is in our response style. A response may be an answer to a question, providing insight, or getting to the closing stage of pending business. Our communication affects all stages of the sales cycle and also includes the final stage for getting hired. Communication Reminders: Ask the reason for the inquiry so that you may fully understand and answer. Eliminate any sense of blame knowing that no one person knows everything. Speak to all learning styles wherever possible. The way in which we communicate in any situation such as networking, meetings, and online, will affect business development, outcomes, and future sales. Always speak peer to peer rather than coming across as knowing more than the other person. And when it comes to team morale, coach to lead and encourage versus speaking down to team members. When sales representatives feel respect from management and confident in their ability, their sales performance exceeds expectations. Team morale on a high will reduce the revolving door syndrome and further improve the company bottom-line. Most everyone experiences frustration in communicating with another. Examination of recent or past experiences will give you a good indication of what not to do yourself. Determine if there are areas in which you may improve. Here are three examples of salespeople erroneously communicating with prospective clients: Argue with prospects that their thinking is wrong. Competitive conversation with prospects instead of applauding them on their achievements Assume too much to try to make a quick sale instead of  asking questions for improved understanding Only after agreements are in process should a salesperson focus on the numbers and how they relate to quota plus potential bonuses. Up until this point, concentrate on gaining an understanding of the client well along with their company, industry, and clientele. The give and take of a friendly conversation while striving to understand the big picture plus the details will lead to far greater possibilities on all levels. Upon seeing a representative work in this manner has clientele impressed. The reward for communicating in a more thoughtful and relaxed style becomes that of earning a loyal clientele. Your personal brand is held in admiration.  The side benefit is reduced stress when having to report expected quota to management.  As an entrepreneur, its a sigh of relief to be able to pay bills and have money for enjoying the weekend, too. Sales Tips Listen and then politely respond. Ask questions, listen to answers, and ask to clarify anything not completely understood. Treat everyone as an equal. Include all insights to narrow down the more pertinent. Provide a preliminary proposal as a working document that recaps everything previously shared. Make adjustments in the working document with your prospective client. Refrain from playing the blame game or pointing fingers. Willingly make adjustments to the proposal. Agree upon the timeline for getting everything in order. Celebrate Success! Following these guidelines lead to the Smooth Sale!

5 Steps to a Successful Book Launch - Classy Career Girl

5 Steps to a Successful Book Launch In 2014, I launched a book. A lot of work went into writing the book and I learned a lot. Even more work went into promoting the book launch. Little did I know that even though I had a publisher, the responsibility for promotion to launch the book was all mine. I am so glad I didnt rely on the publisher to get the word out because the book climbed to #36 on Amazon for Women Business which was one of the proudest  moments of my life.until I gave birth 3 months later ?? Since I prepared for this book launch myself and planned it ahead, I wanted to share with you some of the secrets behind what made it so successful. Keep in mind that my staff at the time was myself and a virtual assistant in the Philippines. Thats it. No big PR team. No interns. Not even an assistant in my own country that could help with phone calls. It was me. Also,  I did not do this book launch full time. I still had a part-time job and I was 6 months pregnant during my launch party. (I couldnt even celebrate with champagnebummer). Overall, the launch took about 6 months to plan and execute. That might sound like a lot but how long are you spending writing the book. Why would you spend so long writing your book and then have no one read it? I did over 15 speaking events during that time and countless interviews and blog posts. I was determined to get my book out to as many people as possible because to be honest, at the time it was my very best writing I had ever done to date. It had been reviewed countless times by editors (and my mom) and I knew it could change every womans life that read it. So I put everything into launching the book and heres everything I learned: Here are the 5 steps to a successful book launch: 1)  Build Excitement Get feedback from people who are excited for you. Survey them. Let them pick the cover. Give them sneak peeks to get them excited. Start a free private Facebook group and start getting them excited about the book. What I realized was that people who had followed me for so long were thrilled to support this next step in my journey.  I blogged the day that I signed the contract with the publisher and let them in on my journey to become an author. That day we had over 100 comments on social media and on our site. It was extremely encouraging and I knew I had the support I needed to make my dream a reality. 2) Gather a Book Launch Team You will have to market yourself no matter what. If you get a publisher,  you will have to market yourself. That’s why you definitely want to take control of your marketing by gathering a book launch team. The best time time investment I made when I published my book was gathering together a group of readers, friends and family members for a book launch team to help get the word out. I put together an application form in survey monkey and emailed every woman I knew. I was shocked to have 75 applications apply to be on my book launch team! I offered them a  digital copy of the book, a special one hour group QA phone session with me, and all my free bonuses from the launch in exchange for an Amazon review and spreading the word  to  their friends and colleagues about the book. Later, I did a post featuring all the members of the book launch team on CCG too. You can read about my book launch team members here. 3) Add Bonuses I created  book bonuses for people who purchased the book or joined my book launch team. I created a  book club kit so that readers  could go through the book with their  co-workers and friends. I also gave a bonus with my productivity and time management guide for female leaders, 3 recorded interviews with leadership experts, a live Classy Career Girl Book Club Virtual Party with me AND the 6th chapter of my book that included everything that didn’t fit in the final, published version. Make this good and people will buy for the bonuses, not the book. [RELATED: 10 Things I Learned Writing My Book] 4) Create an Online Media Kit This is one page on your website. Heres my example of my online media kit. This is a one stop shop for bloggers, your book launch team and even your publisher to grab your bio, photos and information about the book on your website. Make it easy and only have this one page that you update through the launch and then send people back to it. 5) Secure Endorsements Secure endorsements and a writer for the Foreword. Reach out to everyone you know who could write an endorsement for you. This is not a time to be timid. Just do it. You will get nos. People are busy. Who cares. Delete the email and move on to the people who want to support your dreams and goals. Heres an example email: Hi  (first name), It was so great to see you at the (name of event) last month. Hopefully I will see you at upcoming events over the year. Make sure you mark your calendar for the February CWI event because it is all about working with men! (Make this personal). As we discussed, I have a new book out in February called, The Professional Woman’s Guide to Managing Men, (Amazon link: http://bit.ly/managingmenbook) published by ImPackt Publishing. Because I admire you, your career path and your advice so much, I am reaching out to you for your endorsement. Emily Bennington, author of Who Say’s It’s a Man’s World: The Girl’s Guide to Corporate Domination, has this to say about my book, If you want to lead big, you have to know how to lead men â€" and that ain’t easy. Good thing you found this book because in these pages you will learn how to earn respect by focusing on what matters, leveraging your strengths, and being professional without being a robot in heels. You also have the benefit of a guide as sharp as Anna. Indeed, as we watch the number of women leaders slowly but steadily rise and stand on remarkable platforms of accomplishment in business, we owe a collective hat tip to women like her and books like this. My new book is a practical step-by-step guidebook for professional women to successfully learn how to work with and manage men at work. It covers the most effective ways to communicate with men and takes the reader through exercises to help her conquer perfectionism. The reader will also learn how to assert and promote herself and establish trust and respect with the men that she works with. I have attached the preface for your review and I am happy to provide you with the entire digital book as well. Just let me know and I can get you the download instructions ASAP. What am I looking for: A brief 2-3 sentence endorsement by January 10th would be fabulous. Please reach out if you have any questions and thanks so much for your time! Thanks, Anna Runyan So are you ready to launch? What step are you taking first?

Engineering Students Learn by Doing

Engineering Students Learn by Doing (This article originally appeared in The Florida Times-Union at www.jacksonville.com.) Engineer Bill Kane helps a student with load bearing formulas. It was March, so it wasn’t surprising to see a group of young men discussing brackets. But these weren’t the usual March brackets. The young men in question are engineering students at Palatka High School and they were double checking the math on load-bearing formulas. Bill Kane, maintenance and reliability manager at Georgia-Pacific, was helping the group see that the current formula included misplaced brackets, changing the mathematical order of operations and providing the wrong answer. This is what education should look like. When teacher Jan Boland recruited engineers from the local Georgia-Pacific plant to mentor students, neither she nor the GP staff knew what the mentors would actually do. When Kane, a mechanical engineer, suggested that the students design a monorail to move huge motors within a storage facility, the students jumped at the chance. “We’ve needed this system for a long time, but our engineers just didn’t have time to design it,” says Kane. “The monorail will cost us about $15,000 (the students did the material and cost estimating) and save us about $20,000 a year.” The students have been working on the project since December 2015, meeting weekly with Kane. Their work is being checked and approved by the lead engineer at GP; in this session, the students discussed the merits of a stronger steel alloy he has recommended. They also spent time making sure they had the correct measurements of the wheel spans and had accounted for stress on the system from the side to side movement of the engines as they were loaded. Teacher Jan Boland says that the students are part of Project Lead the Way, a national program that certifies teachers in STEM curricula such as engineering. Students take engineering and design courses over four years and must pass a national exam on engineering competencies. Boland is also assigning students to create a slide show about their project, which they’ll present to other classes in the hopes of recruiting more students. The current class started with 18 students; only four will finish this year. Only a handful of females students have participated in the program, something Boland would like to change. Most of the young men plan to pursue engineering as a career. Avery will probably enroll in aerospace engineering at Iowa State, whose Ames, Iowa, campus felt warm and welcoming to the Palatka native. Jordan will pursue chemical engineering; Austin plans to get his associate degree from St. Johns River State College and go on to Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. Ron is undecided, but Daniel will head to the Recruit Training Program at Great Lakes near Chicago, after which he’ll enter the U.S. Navy’s nuclear operations program, one of the most academically rigorous in the armed services. Terry Hadaway, GP’s public affairs manager, says that the company is working with the Putnam County Chamber to bring career mentoring into elementary and junior high schools. “Eighth grade, for example, is critical,” he says. “Students need to take rigorous courses earlier to prepare for programs like this when they enter high school.” GP has a vested interest in creating a pipeline of talent in the local community, he says. Finding talented engineers who are also connected and committed to Putnam County helps the company thrive in the long run. The students I observed were engaged and confident about solving tough problems; they’ll be an asset to any company lucky enough to hire them. Find more information at pltw.org/engineering.

Hiring Resume Writing Services - Create Your Perfect Resume

Hiring Resume Writing Services - Create Your Perfect ResumeIf you are looking for a perfect place to put your time and efforts, then make sure that you choose resume writing services Bothell WA. A lot of people have the idea that the easiest way to get a job is to create a resume. But, do you know that it is not easy to present such a document that will effectively catch the attention of the employer?So, the trick here is to find the right resume writing services. The market today is full of hundreds of these companies which can help you with your resume writing needs. However, before hiring a company, make sure that you read their samples to determine whether the kind of materials they offer meet your expectations. In addition, it is essential to take into account their experience, qualifications, skill level and other factors which would affect the final outcome of your resume.Once you have found a writing services, ask them to create a sample for you. This way, you can get an idea on what your intended material should look like. It would be wise to ask for some sample topics from them too.Of course, when you talk about your resume, you would like it to be short and concise. And, if possible, the resume writing services should be able to make it short and to the point. You can, however, get a sample in such formats as Microsoft Word, PDF, LaTeX, plain text and HTML.If you are not familiar with these file formats, it would be best to bring your sample in a format of your choice so that your resume writing services can edit it for you. One thing you should note is that your sample should be a true reflection of you and how you usually write your own resume. A sample submitted to a company could reflect badly on you.In addition, one thing you should remember is that you must submit your resume to a company that has a proper format for your sample. If they use the Adobe Acrobat format for example, your sample would not be of much use to them. The company would ex pect you to be working in the same format, so they would not need your sample to come in a different format.In the corporate world, there are times when it would be impossible to get things done the way you want to. In such a case, you can hire a professional resume writing service to take care of all your needs. These services come at a very reasonable price and you can be sure that all your requirements are met.Make sure that you understand all the things associated with the quality of writing services that you hire. The way they present your samples and the terms and conditions that they demand are the best ways to make sure that you get your money's worth and get your work done.

Find and Follow- New on LinkedIn

Find and Follow- New on LinkedIn Well, based on changes at LinkedIn, this feature is no longer availablehowever, you can find instructions on how to follow your LinkedIn connections on Twitter by reading this post by Andy Headworth on Sirona Says: How To Easily Find Your LinkedIn Connections on Twitter. Finding who you are looking for is generally the toughest part of the battle.   LinkedIn has just made this incredibly easy, well, for Twitter users at least. Here is the most recent post from the LinkedIn Blog (which I hope you all are reading for updates and news on this networking tool) Find and Follow Your LinkedIn Connections on  Twitter I just added 14 people to the Twitter followers who were part of my LinkedIn network, but who I didnt know were playing on Twitter.   Twitter users are always looking for new people (or old friends) to follow. In order to take advantage of this Twitter sync, you need to install the Tweets application.   The link to do this is in the blog post above.   And in case you are wondering, it is free. The benefits of using Twitter continue to mount, so what are you waiting for?   Come engage and connect on Twitter (@careersherpa)

LinkedIn Groups- What is the purpose

LinkedIn Groups- What is the purpose Are you a member of a LinkedIn group that you benefit from?   Lets define benefit from. In other words, are you learning, sharing, engaging in conversation, meeting great thinkers?   In my opinion, that is what LinkedIn groups are supposed to foster.   You hear the term virtual community used to describe some groups.   Are they really functioning like that? Tims Strategy Ideas For Job Search, Career And Life does this better than most.   If you are a job seeker, you will find other job seekers introducing themselves and sharing content (articles theyve read, etc).   Tim Tyrell-Smith, the manager, will chime in too. You can belong to as many as 50 groups.   Thats nice, but it may be difficult to regularly engage in that many. My belief is that it is quality not quantity, though others disagree. As you select groups to join, consider how you would benefit. As a job seeker, youve heard that recruiters/employers are using LinkedIn to source and evaluate talent/candidates.   This is one reason you want to evaluate the groups you belong to.   If you were a recruiter looking for a really good marketing candidate, would you search a group of job seekers or a group of talented marketing professionals? As a recruiter, you would be looking for demonstration of key marketing skills.   What constitutes demonstration? Perhaps these are some:   discussions around cutting edge marketing trends, presentations, papers, articles written or discussed, participation in events. OK, you may think that recruiters would go to job seeker groups, though I dont think so.   But if that is what you believe, then the same logic applies.   How are you demonstrating your talent? In order for you to see value in a group, sometimes youll have to put yourself out there.   Social media is about giving and engaging, not hanging on the fringes or being an innocent by stander.   ENGAGE.   Ask questions. I think engaging is very hard for most of us.   We are not used to engaging.   We are used to taking in information and not giving back.   Remember the cardinal rule of networking is to give. To select the groups you will want to participate in you can see what groups others belong to on their LinkedIn profiles.   Also consider how many members are in the group.   More isnt always better, but it means something. Growing Your Personal Brand Using LinkedIn Groups by Meg Guiseppi from Job-Hunt.org 3 Ways to Use LinkedIn Groups LinkedIn Tips- Groups Their Benefits by Greg Taylor LinkedIn How to Effectively Use LinkedIns Group Feature to Grow Your Network   by Andy Robinson Be a good groupie!   Participate!   Learn!   Connect!