Online Career Tips

By J. Mason
Online Career Tips Staff

Not everyone is in their dream job, but a lot of employed people are happy or complacent where they currently are. To maintain a certain level of contentment it’s good to know when you’re at your max for work. If its the end of the day and your task list is still several blocks long, and you don’t have the resources to get them done on time, it may be time to tap out. While your manager is aware of your workload, they may not realize the actual scope of what’s involved.

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By: J. Mason
Online Career Tips Staff

How do you know if you’re unhappy with your job? Some people have a hard time separating personal from professional, and the spill over can cause negative feelings towards the work you do. If you’re unable to gauge your happiness level at work there’s a tool you can use, and it graphs your moods!

[related: Do Your Emotions Runneth Over at Work?]

It’s called Moodscope. This site is a great way to actually see how your moods range at work, and if the stress in your life is generated in the workplace. It asks you 20 questions, and you answer on a scale of 1 – 4 how you feel about it. To gear your feelings toward work I would add, “At work I feel” to the beginning of the questions. The daily questions asks you about your anxiety, nervousness, inspiration level, and more. Once you’ve filled out a few days, or weeks, worth of moods you have a tangible graph to show. Just like looking at analytics for a website, you’ll be able to see trends in your moods. If you notice a majority of your time is spent in the “sad face” range then maybe it’s time to speak to your manager. Print out your chart, and fill in details for the days that have the lowest lows.

It’s normal to get frustrated and tense at work. Some take a coffee break and walk around the office, while others blast music to ease the tension. Another great release is through talking. Venting may be a bit much, especially if you’re talking about another co-worker, but chatting about something else can be just as therapeutic.

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by N. Cooper
Online Career Tips Staff

I logged into LinkedIn the other day to check my inbox, and glanced over the headlines displayed at the top of the page.  One caught my eye.

“Are Your Co-Workers Killing You?”

Well, if that’s not a loaded title, I’m not quite sure what is.  Regardless, curious and totally intrigued I clicked it and it too me to this article over on Wired.com.

The article discusses a study led by Arie Shirom at Tel Aviv University that reveals the powerful impact of one’s workplace on one’s longevity.  A scary thing… but still curious and totally intrigued, I kept reading.

While we may go to the gym after work, or go to bootcamp or hot yoga in the mornings before coming in; Wired is right, we spend the majority of our time seated in our chair, staring at a computer, plugging away whilst surrounded by co-workers.

The study featured subjects from various professions who were interviewed regularly about conditions at their places of work — ranging from how they get along with colleagues, what the environment at the office is like all the way to the behavior of their superiors.  Over a course of many years, their health was closely monitored (scientists were looking for things like high blood pressure, depressing, and smoking).

Well, apparently researchers discovered that office conditions do matter when it comes to your health.  Health and “risk of death” were apparently correlated with the perceived niceness of co-workers (crazy, right!?).

The article goes on to point out (and I’m glad they did) that this is no surprise; as friendly individuals help relieve stress and make work a better place… therefore nice colleagues = less stress (most of the time, at least).

The worst part? The study found that people with little or no “peer social support” at work were 2.4 times more likely to die during the study (sorry for being Debbie Downer, just reporting the results, folks!).

What’s interesting is that the niceness of the subjects’ superiors had little impact whatsoever.

[Read: Do Your Emotions Runneth Over at Work?]

So, the moral of the story? Try to get along with the people you work with.  While it may or may not help you live longer, it will definitely make for a more positive environment at work, it’ll stress you out less, and who knows? You may just make some great friends while you’re at it!

Read the rest of Jonah Lehrer’s article on Wired.com here.