Working time through the ages - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Working time through the ages - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Wikipedia delivers again, this time with a great overview of working time from the stone age to today. A few nuggets from the article: early hunter-gatherer societies enjoyed more leisure time than is permitted by capitalist and agrarian societies;[5][6] For instance, one camp of !Kung Bushmen was estimated to work two-and-a-half days per week, at around 6 hours a day.[7] Aggregated comparisons show that on average the working day was less than five hours.[5] The automobile manufacturer, Henry Ford, was an ardent proponent of shorter work hours, which he introduced unilaterally in his own factories. Recent studies[9][10] supporting a four-day week have shown that reduced work hours not only increase consumption and invigorate the economy Because of the pressure of working, time is increasingly viewed as a commodity.[26] This trend, as well as the amount of working time being found to affect gender roles, has been notably researched by Sociology professor Dr. Stephen C. Smith.[27] In 2006, the average man employed full-time worked 8.4 hours per work day, and the average woman employed full-time worked 7.7 hours per work day.[28] Good stuff. Theres loads more go read the whole thing. Related posts Bring back the 40-hour work week. Dont let The Cult of Overwork ruin your work life. The top 5 new rules of productivity. How to procrastinate effectively. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How To Get Ahead In Your Medical Career

How To Get Ahead In Your Medical Career Most people, when they choose a career, commit to it, work hard, and then they’re off; the progress takes care of itself. When it comes to the medical industry, however, these rules don’t really apply. That world is so large, so diverse, reasonably competitive, and challenging, that it’s difficult to know how you can get ahead. So we’re here to help. Below, we’ve put together some useful tips that’ll help you advance in your career. Think Ahead Now, we know that you’ve got a lot on your plate when it comes to your job. The medical industry is not the option for people who want a relaxed, easy-going job. If you’re going to enter this field, then you’re going to work! Still, though you’re going to be busy, it’s worth keeping one eye on the future, and where you might want to go. Even if you don’t have all of the answers right now, by at least beginning to ask these questions, you can begin to put the pieces in position to help you get there. Be The Best At What You Do There’s no substitute for hard work. The cream always rises to the top. If you want to be considered for promotions, then it’s imperative that you work hard, and try to be the very best at what you do. This is about more than just knowledge; it’s about passion and commitment. It’s about going the extra mile, making yourself available to work when it’s needed, and so on. If you make yourself indispensable to your organization, then you’re much more likely to be rewarded with promotions and advancement. While you should have one eye on the future, make sure you’re not dropping the ball when it comes to the here and now. Top Up Your Qualifications The medical industry is always advancing. And indeed, whether you’re a doctor or a nurse, much of what you learned during your formal schooling will be obsolete within a matter of years. As such, it’s important that you carry on learning. You can do this in two ways. One, by having a generally open attitude and picking things up as you go along; and two, by topping up your skills with more qualifications, such as studying for an online msn degree. You know that you’re suitable for more advanced positions, and with a qualification by your side, you’ll have the proof to back it up to your superiors, too. Network for New Opportunities Like any other industry, from time to time it’ll be less about what you know, more about who you know. If you’re able to successfully network with the movers and shakers who things happen, then you’ll be more likely to be aware of and ultimately offered the opportunities that they’re aware of. Assume The Role of Leader A confident person never stays at the bottom. Assume a leadership role, take on extra responsibility, and be involved with the decision making, and you’ll be primed to lead from the front one day.

Need a mentor How to find (and keep) one -

Need a mentor How to find (and keep) one - When you hear about someone looking for a mentor, you probably think about young people seeking an older and wiser, senior person to show them the ropes. Today, the definition of mentorship includes people at all ages and experience levels; mentors arent just for twenty-somethings anymore. If youre in your 40s, can a mentor help you? University of Georgia professor of industrial-organizational psychology, Lillian Eby, Ph.D, noted, Obtaining a mentor is an important career development experience for individuals. Research indicates that mentored individuals perform better on the job, advance more rapidly within the organization, and report more job and career satisfaction. No matter your age, it cant hurt to find someone who will encourage and you in your professional goals, help build your confidence, remind you what youre good at and suggest ways for you to improve. How can you find a mentor in mid-career? Unlike young interns, fresh out of school, youll probably need to do a little more work to identify the right mentor for you. Follow these tips to get on the right path to a positive mentoring relationship: 1. Identify your goals and mentoring needs. You dont want to be the lost soul seeking guidance and direction. At this stage of your career, youll want to narrow down your targets and decide what you want next. Until you wrap your mind about your goals, it will be difficult to identify a mentor who can successfully help you accomplish them. 2. Know what you offer. You should know a thing or two about what you offer. A mentoring relationship should be mutually productive, or even reciprocal. You have something to offer a mentor in return for his or her ideas; make sure to solidify this in your mind before you seek someone to partner with you. 3. Create a plan. Before you ask someone to meet with you on a regular basis, plan out some discussion topics. While people tend to enjoy talking about themselves and sharing their own expertise, be sure to make it clear you envision the meetings and relationship will be a two-way street, with each party learning and contributing. 4. Dont limit yourself to mentors inside your organization. While it would be great to learn from a mentor in your workplace, consider working with someone who is outside the four walls of your office. Be sure to cast a wide net for your ideal mentor. Try to find someone who will energize you with ideas and be able to help you realize your own potential. Dont forget to check with your alumni association. Sometimes colleges and universities have formal mentoring programs, and you may be able to sign up to be matched with a suitable contact. 5. Recognize that mentors come in all ages. When you identify topics where you need mentoring, you may realize that you will benefit from a mentoring relationship with someone younger than you. This type of mentorship has become very common. The Wall Street Journal reported that companies institute programs to pair their more senior workers with younger employees who understand technology, social media and the latest workplace trends. Spending time with younger workers may be just the thing to help energize you with new viewpoints and new skills. 6. Ramp up your networking. If finding a mentor isnt a slam dunk, be sure to increase your networking efforts, both in person and online. If you havent been attending professional meetings or mixers, now is the time to start. If youve been thinking of volunteering for a cause you believe in, get started! These opportunities to meet people in person could expand your pool of potential mentors. However, dont forget virtual networking is a great way to meet new people, too. Consider jumping into social networking if you havent already done so. You may be surprised by how generous your networking contacts who dont even know you in person can be when it comes to providing support, encouragement and mentoring. With Skype and online technology, your mentor can be halfway around the world, or in your own neighborhood. Remember, we are all busy. If you want to work with someone, you need to follow up. Its up to you to keep in touch, schedule (or re-schedule) meetings and make times to touch base to discuss topics of interest to both mentor and mentee. 7. Give back. Look for opportunities to serve as a mentor to other people. Its a great way to continue to learn and grow, and it is always nice to take a leadership role and to help someone else succeed. 8. Be appreciative. While most people who agree to advise you and boost your career are not looking for trinkets or gifts, it cant hurt to consider donating to your mentors favorite charity, sponsoring him or her if hes raising money for a cause, or agreeing to volunteer with him or her at a charitable event. Most people will appreciate these gestures.

The Upside to Technical Skills Resume

The Upside to Technical Skills Resume Understanding Technical Skills Resume Sure, there probably are some recruiters and hiring managers around who will discover that it's funny or charming. Below, you will discover more info about the kind of computer skills employers commonly start looking for in job applicants. Show the employer you have the skills the business requirements. Computer skills comprise the great majority of hard skills that companies desire away from their employees. Soft abilities, on the flip side, aren't simple to quantify. They are a bit more vague and open to interpretation. In the majority of instances, your soft skills can boost your hard skills. Job-specific skills vary dependent on the position. Where to Find Technical Skills Resume Below you'll discover lists of basic computer abilities. Accounting computer software skills are important if you're applying for positions in the finance or company sectors. Alongside basic understanding of spre adsheets, having data visualization skills might also be useful in a data-heavy function. A good way to ascertain the most essential software skills for a resume is to peruse the work description. So if you're an administrative assistant then you're probably doing multitasking in your day-to-day life. To begin with, if you're seeing a great deal of hard skills that you just don't have, it can be far better move on to the next position. Hard skills can be classified in various ways, depending upon your job title. A Key Skills section, on the flip side, is listed on top of a resume. Writing skills are also critical for many diverse jobs. Hardware skills permit you to physically operate a computer. If you don't have basic computer skills then it is going to be difficult for you to find work. You don't have the fundamental computer skills you will need to receive the job that you desire. In addition to the practical demand for developers in just about any company, programming skills demonstrate advanced problem solving skills that could donate to a well-rounded professional. That means you should specify telephonic skills as one of the significant skill set you need to acquire administrative assistant job in any organization.

The Best Advice For A Career Change - Work It Daily

The Best Advice For A Career Change - Work It Daily If you’ve been out of work for a while, you may decide what you need is a career change. The success of that approach depends on your answers to five important questions. Related: Resume Tips For A Career Change First, are you considering a change because you do not like your current work situation? It may make more sense to look for another work situation than to leave your career. The Best Advice For A Career Change As a Coach and Professional Resume Writer for more than 10 years, I have found many folks who confuse unhappiness with their current situation as unhappiness with their career choice. There is a difference. I can help you determine which change is right for you. Second, if you have any doubts about a career change, are you sure you have exhausted every avenue to advance in your current career? Third, if you are determined on a change, are you moving into a career you can feel passionate about? If you are depressed about the prospect of changeâ€"for example, if you are leaving behind the only work that gives you joyâ€"you cannot present yourself well at interviews. Your lack of passion shows. That type of career change makes your job search harder, not easier. Fourth are your skills transferrable? If you need help presenting your skills and achievements in their best light, get help from a professional. Fifth, if you do not have the current skills to make the final career change you want, do you know what steps to take to qualify for the career you want? A career change should be exciting and fulfilling... not stressful. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Related Posts 15 Questions To Ask Before Making A Career Change 3 Signs It’s Time For A Career Change 3 Very Real Reasons You Should Make A Career Shift Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today! The Best Advice For A Career Change - Work It Daily If you’ve been out of work for a while, you may decide what you need is a career change. The success of that approach depends on your answers to five important questions. Related: Resume Tips For A Career Change First, are you considering a change because you do not like your current work situation? It may make more sense to look for another work situation than to leave your career. The Best Advice For A Career Change As a Coach and Professional Resume Writer for more than 10 years, I have found many folks who confuse unhappiness with their current situation as unhappiness with their career choice. There is a difference. I can help you determine which change is right for you. Second, if you have any doubts about a career change, are you sure you have exhausted every avenue to advance in your current career? Third, if you are determined on a change, are you moving into a career you can feel passionate about? If you are depressed about the prospect of changeâ€"for example, if you are leaving behind the only work that gives you joyâ€"you cannot present yourself well at interviews. Your lack of passion shows. That type of career change makes your job search harder, not easier. Fourth are your skills transferable? If you need help presenting your skills and achievements in their best light, get help from a professional. Fifth, if you do not have the current skills to make the final career change you want, do you know what steps to take to qualify for the career you want? A career change should be exciting and fulfilling... not stressful. This post was originally published at an earlier date. Related Posts 15 Questions To Ask Before Making A Career Change 3 Signs It’s Time For A Career Change 3 Very Real Reasons You Should Make A Career Shift Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

How to Bring Your Resume into Focus

How to Bring Your Resume into FocusHaving trouble writing your resume? Not sure how to begin? The answer often lies in the fogginess of your objectives. If you arent sure of which jobs you want to target with your resume, it can easily become an exercise in listing everything you have ever done. Not only is this painful, but it is also supremely ineffective.FOCUS YOUR DIRECTIONBefore you even think about crafting your resume, a great starting point is researching and writing down your career goals as well as the specific positions you want to pursue.Having a focused direction will help you write your resume because resumes are all about direction You might think that they are about your background, but truly impactful resumes are laser-focused documents aligned with your target roles and industry.OBJECTIVE bewertung VS. BRANDING STATEMENTCase in point, the objective meinung vs. the career summary. Gone are the days of the objective statement, the short paragraph at the top of the res ume that reads something like thisAccomplished technology professional with 10 years of experience seeking an executive position overseeing hardware, software, and services portfolio development, revenue growth, and overall strategy.Instead, the career summary or branding statement has come into vogue. Rather than explaining what a job seeker wants, it explains what you offer a company (preferably in a powerful, non-generic, achievement-based approach.) For exampleAward-winning technology leader drives revenue growth of up to $200M through innovative strategies for hardware, software, and services portfolio. Accelerates business development by establishing streamlined client experience process, overhauling stagnant abverkauf culture, and inking deals with Fortune 500 companies.There are many differences between these two statements, but the main point is that the objective statement focuses on what you want from a job, and the branding statement emphasizes what you promise to delive r to meet the employers needs. Its a helpful way to view the entire resume writing processwhich is ultimately all about your audience.How can you even write a branding statement without knowing what the potential employers needs are?QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU STARTWhat are my career goals for next 5 years?What are my top 3 goals? (Making more money, moving into the executive level, better work-life balance?)What does my dream job look like?What is my target market?What position titles do I want?What other considerations are important to me in a new job?What is my brand/elevator pitch/area of expertise?ELIMINATE/MINIMIZE IRRELEVANT EXPERIENCEOnce you have a clear vision for the jobs you want, the companies you like, and your own brand, it will be easy to start writing, because the relevant experiences, skills, and achievements will be illuminated, and the irrelevant can now be eliminated or at least minimized.For example, our technology leader in the objective statement abo ve had a good deal of experience in sales as well as in weltweit coverage architecture. He was no longer interested in sales roles, so his early experiences as a Sales Rep could simply be removed, since they werent adding any value. Many of his positions in the past 10 years included sales or sales management, so it became a matter of limiting the emphasis on sales and re-weighting the experiences towards strategic planning and global systems integration.Keep in mind that this process of elimination might be difficult, because it can feel like you are removing important career achievements. But if those achievements are no longer relevant to your goals, the best thing to do is let them go.

Oprah, Bill Gates And Obama All Use This Rule For Success

Oprah, Bill Gates And Obama All Use This Rule For Success The 5-hour what? youre probably asking. Five-hour naps? Networking? Meditation? What exactly am I supposed to be doing for 5 hours?The answer may surprise you, but its simply this deliberate learning. For 5 hours per week. According to 5 hours per week? you might be wondering. Where do I find that kind of time?As a working mom of two little boys who also practices law and runs a business, my own answer is this in bits and pieces. And scheduled intentionally.Heres how I approach Simmons 3 buckets1. Reading No, I dont have a solid hour each day to sit and read a book. But I do have 10 minutes on the metro on the way to work, and another 10 minutes on the way home. I crawl into bed a good 10 minutes before I go to sleep, to curl up with a book, too. I focus my reading most intently on issues related to working parenthood (heres my 2017 list of inspiring reads for working moms), which helps both with my own personal life and with my business. So theres 30 minutes per day, already.2. Reflection My approach here is twofold. First, I am very deliberate about how I use my shower time in the morning. For the few minutes Im alone getting ready every morning, I set an intention for my day, stretch, savor that hot water, and enjoy some quiet thinking time. Second, I schedule days for reflection into my calendar because if something isnt on my calendar, it doesnt happen. Every year, for example, my husband and I schedule two retreat days per year to step back, reflect, and plan out the next 6 months or year. Im also a big fan of scheduled days for quiet reflection and meditation, and I do things like the Half-Day unterbrechung yoga and meditation retreat in D.C. at the change of seasons.3. Experimentation If Ive bothered to take the time to read or learn about something, Im then intentional about putting these learnings to good use. For example, I recently attended the Womens Power Conference in Maryland and attende d some fantastic, really informative sessions. One of the lectures I attended was on using storytelling to boost your presentation skills, and well-timed I had a presentation to give the following week. During my talk, I played around with the concepts I had just learned and tried them on for size. Reading and listening to lectures, podcasts, webinars, etc. are wonderful first steps. But all that knowledge does no good if you dont get out there and apply it.I know so many of us are short on time, and squeezing in 5 hours of anything seems like a stretch. But if you schedule it in first, and use the nooks and crannies of time you already have to be intentional about your learning, I promise youll see leaps in what youre able to accomplish.--Lori K. Mihalich-Levin, JD, is the founder ofMindful Return, author ofBack to Work After Baby How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave, and creator of theMindful Return E-Course. A partner in the health care practice of a g lobal law firm, she also is mama to two beautiful red-headed boys. Lori holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.