Tis the season!

Its the holiday season almost and that would be a great time to be legally lazy right? I mean contracts to get signed before the boss leaves, assignments to finish or get done before mass leave at office. Oh the excitement!

So these last few weeks before the party season how do you find your work to be organized or is there no particular thought to it? Lets throw some brief ideas because believe me I'm already in the holiday mood!

For the OCD people

Get your work categorized according to priority. Let the important ones be finished first.

If you are going on holiday and your colleagues need something done, make sure that is finished.

or....

Chill dude!

For the rest of us

Happy Holidays.

Healthy Hacks at Work

Nobody likes being called spineless...so a healthy spine is good not just your self respect but also for a your retirement time to be able to walk,hop,cook,garden and generally enjoy the money you worked so so hard for your entire 'good years'.

Lets talk today about some healthy ways to a better worktime for you. These are a mix of ideas and with a wholesome approach and not just focused on either diet or 'ergonomic' chair...whatever that is.

Make your 8 hours work for you

Most of us sit and sit. Unless the hardworking ones who walk to the boss' office to nod some more. So make sure you stand,sit and move around alternately. Even if you have to necessarily input data for hours, understand that Carpal Tunnel and Repetitive Strain Injury are not things which happen after 70 but just around the corner....of your keyboard. So if there is a portion of work that can be done standing do that.
I divide my work in such a way that I walk when making calls(extendable cable! :) ) , stand when inputing data and figures which doesnt need concentration and only sit in times of meetings (ofcourse) and where I really need to focus. I am not sure of ergonomic chair but personally I feel its the equivalent of electronic cigarettes. Masquerading as healthy. Move more people!

Stretch

 Even taking out one min to relieve those taut muscles every half hour works wonders and rejuvenates you. So stretch.. hands,arms,neck etc.You don't need coffee!

I personally love FitnessBlender. They are a couple who do free workout videos on Youtube. They have a large and varied mix of workouts and have helped me and millions of people to a realistic approach to health. Watch this for a quick stretch. You can choose which particular stretch suits you according to your time.


Eat real food

Yes we are all busy and early wakers with families to take care. But pre-planning and food prepping is not that hard and trendy too. Buy that flashy food journal and note down the food you will be preparing for the next two days. This helps in  a clear approach to what you have to buy, when you will make it,what to make for your family and ofcourse helps to avoid buying that emergency expensive sandwich at 2 pm when the whole team at office is hungry.

Stop that coffee

It may give you a morning kick but do a tally of the cups you take in a day and you will  kick yourself at the number. Carry a bottle, refill with water and keep sipping. Get homemade lemonade or shake or juice.

Flexible timings

If its possible talk to your manager about convenient timings that is mutually beneficial. This helps you to save time which is generally wasted commuting. With advanced technology now, we can work and communicate from our homes. If this works for you use that time not just for that workout but also to get more office work done quicker leaving you with more time to relax.

Seek happy avenues

Be with people who calm you and not pull you down to stress. Choose work as much as possible that is realistic and doable. Strive for healthy relationships at work. Your work is your second home so make that time and place count. It doesn't have to be a monster house.

image courtesy - Google images,Katy Bowman

Sane Mondays

How do you keep your sanity for 40 hours a week? How do you deal with rudeness in office? How do you feel about ill mannered colleagues, nasty clients and demanding managers?

Most of us,the working class,want to make our workplace our second home(first home of those who, well, love their work).We spend a lot of time here (move over 8 hours. You are old fashioned). We wake up,sleep and eat here.We think,dream,pay our bills(to do list),connect with memories(Facebook) and keep aware of the news(dont tell me you havent bookmarked CNN site!). ALL in the cubicle.The place where both your ass and your egos get flat.

So this is your supposedly second home. So that would mean your colleagues and team members should be like your family? friends? so-called?... If nothing, you expect minimum courtesy of :
- acknowledgement
- equality
- replies to emails
- no Whatsapp groups

Yet that is all in an ideal Ryan Gosling world. Most of us get a raw deal when it comes to healthy relations in office.

Some very general tactics to keep your sanity will center around the same rules you may apply in your personal life. Your personality is not left behind in your closet when you arrive in office,its a part of you. So if you are a cheery,easy going, fun person it helps you in office too when you deal with bulls and jackals. That doesn't mean you have to be a sunflower everyday. I have learnt a few lessons along my way

Being on point with your work - so that no problems arise on the professional front. You will be miles away from the blame game if you know you have completed your assignments or in the process.

Responsive - being prompt and replying to questions sooner or later helps to reduce the ringing of your direct line!

Less drama - We have enough movies and now we also have selfie trend running full house everyday. Keep them for your instagrams and Friday gossip sessions. Talk,communicate and explain in crisp,simple terms. Be firm not a robot and definitely not Sarah Jessica Parker.

If stuck in mud - if you are unfortunately faced with bad behaviour, know that its a phase which will sink away soon. ( Sorry for the bad pun. ) Being angry yourself or 'giving back' will not help you. Remember you would like to be what you would like in others.

Frequent vacations...from your screen - when the going gets tough or when the coffee is being refilled, you know your blood is curdling with an impossible team member. Take frequent trips outside, just walk a little, look at some greenery, open Scottish wallpapers or dive in Bali beaches pictures. Anything to take your mind away from Outlook woes.

Ignore - its tempting to read down the mail trail to know 'who caused what' or to sneak a trip to the boring painting to know what's that fight on the other side of the wall is about.....but not your circus,not your monkey,so why do you want to lose money in buying a ticket?

Let (and not make) the right friends - not someone who is advantageous to you, not a Bruce Willis who will save you, not a Godfather and not a Gossip Girl. Just like life, let the natural friends happen to you.

And yes, there's always home waiting for you. :)

Man not Machines

Learning to work with different  kinds of people in office or workplace is the first step in the lifelong course of globalization.
Its not just about nation, geographic or cultural differences but also of the personalities. Religious, ethnic and linguistic differences are so passe. What one needs to understand is that when you come to office you not only bring your laptop,files,tie,suit and your business phone but also your thinking,reasoning and attitude. These of course may or may not be influenced by your geographic and ethnic backgrounds but  work attitude is a whole different dimension.

I personally have felt that no matter how much you insist that personal and professional life should be separate, it cannot be,practically. Eg. A mother who works has a different attitude to work compared to a single woman. Her notion of work priorities is not what a team leader or supervisor would expect in 'corporate' terms. Just because she wants flexible timings to take care of her child doesnt imply partial commitment.

Another instance is of new generation who come to corporate set up with notions of Why and Why nots. Why 9 to 5? Why not work from home? Why should I print this assignment and waste paper?Why Microsoft office? Why not just a fortnightly meeting to reduce traffic?

Changing times means changing notions of work and life. How much of this is wrong or right is debatable,but its a losing debate. This is part of worklife just like life itself. Its good to ponder  over this and accept the flow in your workplace. Accept your colleagues and your team with their diverse personalities and try to work around them instead of aligning them to your policies so that there's a bunch of walking copier machines.

Tinted View

Today I chose to see the cloud rather than the glass building.

I choose to see that I am working and using my skills rather than munching on chips as a couch potato. 

I choose to look at life as resourceful rather than hectic.

Life is an amalgamation of outlooks. How we look at it is what others see of us. Work ,your profession or your business is just one of these. Many of us treat work as the be-all of life and thus stress, Monday jokes, boss jokes and TGIF makes business. The moment we realize its not a ‘big deal’ it will stop being so. 

You can choose what you want to see. Or how you want it to look like.