Seven Ways to Reduce Your Stress at Work
By Tag and Catherine Goulet, co-CEOs, FabJob.com
Imagine working only four hours a day, nine months a year and earning all the money you need to do exactly what you want with all your free time. Does that sound like your life?
That's the life a futurist of the early 20th century predicted the average worker would be living by the 21st century.
Despite the introduction of many labor-saving devices, Harvard University Economist Juliet Schor found by the 1990s people were working the equivalent of one month a year more than they did at the end of World War II.
It seems that whenever a significant new "labor saving" product or service is developed we use it so much our workload actually increases. After all, wasn't our work supposed to be made easier by voice mail, faxes, cell phones and e-mail?
Instead, many of us find we are constantly on-call, frequently interrupted and overwhelmed with communications that people expect to receive immediate responses to. That's on top of the already heavy workload existing in most organizations. For some workers, the best way to deal with the overload is to take an extended stress leave.
If switching from double lattes to decaf isn't enough to reduce your stress at work, here are seven ways you can get your workload under control:
1. Work on things that are important.
This may sound obvious, but many of us are tempted to work on easy tasks first so we can have a sense of accomplishment. Time spent on those "easy" tasks can quickly add up, creating even more stress when there does not appear to be enough time left for the important work.
2. Keep an "activity log".
This will help you figure out what your time is being spent on. Every time you start and end a new activity, including taking a break, make note of the time. Most workers who charge by the hour have learned to do this automatically. If you are not used to tracking your time it may be a bit of an adjustment, but within a few days you should be able to notice any time-wasters you might not have been aware of.
3. Set daily goals.
When scheduling your time, assume that something unexpected will come up and build in a cushion of time to deal with it. To minimize the stress of meeting self-imposed deadlines, avoid making promises about when tasks will be completed. If you must commit to a date, be conservative. If you consistently underpromise and overdeliver you could earn a great reputation while reducing your stress.
4. Be gentle with yourself.
Aim to meet or even exceed expectations, but don't try to achieve perfection. Wherever possible, delegate routine tasks, even if you think you can do them better than someone else.
5. Avoid interruptions.
Unless you are expected to be on call, select a time of day when you will return phone calls and e-mails. During other times, let your voice mail take messages for you. You can also create an auto reply for your e-mail to let people know their message has been received. If your e-mail says you will respond within 24 hours if a reply is required, it may deter someone from repeatedly trying to contact you in the meantime.
6. Don't let other people's problems become yours.
As Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, says "If someone throws you the ball you don't have to catch it." When someone comes to you with a problem that isn't yours, try limiting your contribution to advice instead of taking on the task yourself.
7. When you are feeling overwhelmed, say so.
Companies want to keep good employees, so most bosses will want to know when you are having difficulty. However, instead of saying "I can't do it," offer some possible solutions. For example, if you won't be able to get a major report completed by a particular deadline, you might tell the boss you can either: (1) complete a condensed version by the deadline, (2) complete the entire report by a later date, or (3) meet the deadline if you get some help from co-workers or temporary staff.
These techniques probably won't help you enjoy the life of leisure envisioned by those early futurists. But they can make your work more manageable, and might even reduce your stress enough to let you go back to drinking double lattes.
Tag and Catherine Goulet, "The Breaking In Experts," are co-CEOs of FabJob.com, a leading publisher of career guides offering step-by-step advice for breaking into a variety of dream careers. Visit www.FabJob.com.
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Handy Windows Keyboard Shortcuts You Never Knew About
April 24, 2006
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
To me, the one thing Microsoft did that slammed Apple way back when was making everything in Windows accessible by a simple keyboard shortcut. True, it doesn’t help most mouse junkies, but for techies who grew up on the command line, the handy keyboard shortcut has saved many an ugly situation especially when the mouse failed.
Here are some goodies to try:
CTRL and A Selects all the items in the active window.
CTRL and C Copies the item or items to the Clipboard and can be pasted using CTRL and V.
CTRL and F Displays the Find all files dialog box.
CTRL and G Displays the Go to folder dialog box.
CTRL and N Displays the New dialog box.
CTRL and O Displays the Open dialog box.
CTRL and P Displays the Print dialog box.
CTRL and S Displays the Save dialog box.
CTRL and V Pastes the copied item or items from the Clipboard.
CTRL and X Cuts the item or items selected to the Clipboard.
CTRL and Z Undoes the last action.
CTRL and F4 Closes the active document window.
CTRL while dragging an item Copy the selected item
CTRL+SHIFT with arrow keys Highlight a block of text
CTRL+F4 Close the active document
CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu
CTRL and F6 Opens the next document window in the active application.
ALT+ENTER View the properties for the selected item
ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program
ALT+SPACEBAR Open the shortcut menu for the active window
ALT+TAB Switch between the open items
ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened
F1 key Gives help on the active window or selected item.
F2 key Rename the selected item
F3 key Search for a file or a folder
F4 key Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
F5 key Update the active window
F6 key Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F10 key Activate the menu bar in the active program
Windows Logo Display or hide the Start menu
Windows Logo+BREAK Display the System Properties dialog box
Windows Logo+D Display the desktop
Windows Logo+M Minimize all of the windows
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M Restore the minimized windows
Windows Logo+E Open My Computer
Windows Logo+F Search for a file or a folder
CTRL+Windows Logo+F Search for computers
Windows Logo+F1 Display Windows Help
Windows Logo+ L Lock the keyboard
Windows Logo+R Open the Run dialog box
Windows Logo+U Open Utility Manager
TAB Move forward through the options
SHIFT+TAB Move backward through the options
CTRL+TAB Move forward through the tabs
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB Move backward through the tabs
ALT+Underlined letter Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option
ENTER Perform the command for the active option or button
SPACEBAR Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
F1 key Display Help
F4 key Display the items in the active list
Arrow keys Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
BACKSPACE Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box
END Display the bottom of the active window
HOME Display the top of the active window
NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder
NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) Display the contents of the selected folder
NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) Collapse the selected folder
LEFT ARROW Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder
RIGHT ARROW Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder
Source: Intelladmin
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