The Luck Project conducted by Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Herfordshire, found "that lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good." (From
The Luck Factor,
Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 2003, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp.26-30.)
Inspired by Dr. Weisman's findings and knowing how easy it is to be overwhelmed at work and feel like luck is working against you, here's some tips for increasing your luck in March:
1. Be Willing to Change. Ask yourself if you are ready to make even a small change in the way that you do things. It could be the first step in changing your luck.
2. Mix it Up. Being a workaholic or staying glued to the TV all weekend to decompress from being overwhelmed at work doesn't leave much of an opening for an opportunity to find you. Write three things you can do differently now to create opportunities. It could be as simple as getting out of work to take a walk at lunch time.
3. Meet Someone New. It's easy to get stuck in a rut doing the same thing, with the same people. Why minimize your chances? One way to expand opportunities is to expand your network. Make a plan to introduce yourself to someone new every week. By the end of the month you'll know four more people and by the end of the year - 40. Is there a new group, church or volunteer organization you could explore?
4. Take the Shot. At my niece's basketball practice the coach's incessant yelling got my attention. I asked my brother who that poor girl named "Allet" was because he seemed to be screaming her name the most. My brother thought a moment, grinned and we both laughed upon realizing he was shouting "outlet." What a great lesson for those girls to learn -- how to look for the outlet. If you do get an invitation to attend an event or go for a promotion view it as an opening and take the shot. The shear act of going for it confirms your willingness to create a change and at the very least you'll learn something.
5. Keep Creating Lucky Opportunities. With so many obligations calling for our attention at work and at home it's easy to forget to consciously create new opportunities. Watching the Olympics reminds us it isn't just luck that makes a winner - you've got to take action too.
Who knows, just making a few changes could lead to an opportunity and a stroke of luck that could make your day.
Linda Hardenstein, MPA, PCC helps busy people reclaim and re-energize their business and life by getting out of overwhelm and into greater productivity, profitability and peace of mind.
How have you created lucky opportunities? I'd love to hear your comments.
It's easy to be overwhelmed at work, caught up in the day-to-day grind, and to
lose sight of what you love to do - at work and in your personal life. Forgetting what you love means you haven't done it enough and not doing enough of what you love can easily lead to burn out.
When I asked professionals what made them love their work four themes emerged:
- Contribution. The ability to use your knowledge and skills and to continue to learn and grow
- Connection. Excellent leaders, getting along well with co-workers, and engaging in team activities
- Culture. A positive culture, ease of communications and humor
- Credit. Being rewarded and recognized for the value you bring
February is the perfect time to take a conscious break from the ra
t race to think about how you can weave into your workday some love and appreciation. Maybe you commit to put yourself first with a morning exercise routine, or work with someone like me to put in place a strategy for getting more credit for what you do. You may take a few extra minutes on your way to work to stop and take pictures of the breath taking and awe inspiring snow perilously perched on tree branches. There's always the opportunity to give to others what you need most by telling a co-worker how much you appreciate what they do. Taking time to weave in a little of what you love every day decreases stress and improves your creativity and productivity in the long run.
If you're overwhelmed at work and no long remember what you love, contact me today to get unburied and reconnected with what's most important to you.
Best wishes for a Happy Valentine's Day and continued fulfillment in work and life!
Thanks and appreciation to Lorna Shingleton for the beautiful photo of a snow-covered Washington Circle in Washington, DC.
Linda Hardenstein, MPA, PCC helps busy people get out of overwhelm and into greater productivity, profitability and peace of mind. She coaches people like you who are ready to find fulfillment in their careers.
What do you love and how do you weave it into your work day? Your comments are appreciated.
It's Friday so let's have a little fun. We know living in a perpetual state of overwhelm causes stress that affects our overall health and well-being and that being overwhelmed at work affects the bottom line (I've identified at least 10 ways). But, what else do you know? Take this short quiz to check your insights --
1. Who is most overwhelmed?
- You're in a fast-paced environment where colleagues have been laid off and you have to pick up the slack
- You're a business owner working 24/7 and you can't catch up
- You're a working mom with kids in school involved in sports and other activities
- All of the above
2. Is overwhelm solely the result of the amount of work you have to do?
a. Yes
b. No
3. The majority of folks in service professions spend what percentage of their work week in overwhelm?
a. 25 percent
b. 50 percent
c. 75 percent
d. 100 percent
4. What percentage of employees who report being overworked say they make a lot of mistakes at work?
a. 10 percent
b. 20 percent
c. 50 percent
5. The best way to conquer overwhelm at work is to
a. Ignore it and it will go away
b. Recognize when you're in it
c. Call up a friend and tell them how overwhelmed you are
How did you do?
The answers are: 1.d.; 2.b; 3.c.; 4.b.; 5.b.
Our survey shows the majority of folks know being overwhelmed is not solely because of the amount of work you have to do. It's how you manage what you have on your plate. The best way to conquer overwhelm at work is to recognize when you're in it so you can devise a strategy that works for you, maybe with the help of a coach or other professional. Making one shift in the way you handle something that brings relief can often have a huge impact, not only at work but in other areas of your life.
What questions would you like answered about being overwhelmed at work? Send me your questions/comments.
Linda Hardenstein, MPA, PCC helps busy people take work off their plates, get out of overwhelm and into greater productivity, profitability and peace of mind. She coaches people like you who are ready to achieve breakthroughs and find fulfillment in their careers.
I read with interest proposed solutions to the systems breakdowns that resulted in
the Christmas Day security breach when a Nigerian man in a database of possible terrorists flew into Detroit allegedly with concealed explosives and the intent to blow up a Delta airliner. I heard President Obama on national news last night say there was a failure to connect the dots and use the information they had. As someone who has worked in and studied bureaucracies I know system coordination, integration and streamlining isn't easy. And having designed systems I know doing the upfront, nitty-gritty analysis to identify and solve the
real problem isn't always fun.
When a problem occurs in any business it's natural to want a quick fix. Failure makes us all ill-at-ease and insecure and we don't like to feel that way. But a knee-jerk reaction may not be the best solution.
How many of us have worked in organizations where a co-worker violated a policy, like a Work at Home program, and the solution was to cancel the whole thing (maybe to the detriment of the organization because other workers' productivity was skyrocketing)? Or invoices buried on an accountant's desk impacted the company's bottom line so everyone had to adhere to a new processing procedure (one that messed things up for the majority of accountants who already had streamlined procedures in place).
Before full body scans at airports become a reality because someone on a plane tried to light their underwear on fire I hope the powers at be continue the heavy duty analysis to identify underlying problems so real solutions are implemented. And, unintended consequences are considered and kept at a minimum.
The first of the year is a good time to review your procedures to tweak and adjust your systems to find those out-of-the-box business streamlining solutions that make achievement of your goals simpler and your life much easier. See my Business Streamlining offer.
Have a comment or question about systems, breakdowns, improvements or a funny story about a crazy solution? I'd love to hear from you.
Linda Hardenstein, MPA, PCC gets busy people out of overwhelm and into greater productivity, profitability and balance. She designs innovative systems and solutions for individuals who are ready to achieve breakthroughs and find fulfillment in their careers, retirement and life.
A friend shared that 62% of people who are employed are very unhappy. Most of
us spend the majority of our time at work. Why not make finding happiness at work a goal for 2010? You could start by,
Celebrating Your Success. Lots of times we're so focused on what we didn't accomplish we forget to honor all we did. Review your 2009 goals and all you achieved. If you didn't have goals for 2009, reflect on what you learned, accomplished, who you met, and how you grew.
Zeroing in on What You Want. It's easy to go along, work day after day, and not think about what you want from the precious time you spend at work. But with no goals of your own defined it's easy to end up working according to everyone else's plan. Before you know it, another year has gone by. Most people who are successful in work and in life take time out for some soul searching to zero in on what they really want.
If you find yourself in that dry patch of not knowing what you want, go easy on yourself. A priest told me once that wandering in the desert is just as important as moving forward. With patience those empty spaces lead to the next big idea, plan, or commitment to change. If you'd rather not wait you can try listing what you don't want and deduce what you do want from your list.
Letting Go of What No Longer Serves You. Sometimes there are things, people, and stuff in our lives that drain our energy and we don't even realize it. Look around and evaluate what no longer serves you. Maybe it's an attitude; a habit, like getting to work late or procrastinating. Maybe it's a cluttered and disorganized office or a conflict with a co-worker that needs to be brought to peace. Maybe it's a dream that no longer fits who you've become, or something more literal - a suit or outfit that doesn't fit any more and needs to be given away to benefit someone else.
Writing Your Plan. Your plan for 2010 can be as simple as writing down two or three things, people, emotions, habits or qualities you want more of in your life. Take a few minutes to visualize and feel what life will be like with these new additions. Then, decide what you'll do differently - the steps you'll take, the support you'll seek, the timelines you'll set and the specific outcomes you'll achieve.
Celebrating your accomplishments, exploring what you want, letting go of anything that holds you back and writing a new plan of action are simple steps for finding happiness at work in 2010. All the best!
Linda Hardenstein, MPA, PCC gets busy people out of overwhelm and into greater productivity, profitability and balance. She designs innovative solutions for individuals who are ready to achieve personal breakthroughs and find fulfillment in their careers, retirement and life.
Did you see the article about a $1.26 billion default judgment against PepsiCo awarded because PepsiCo didn't respond to a lawsuit in time (posted at Yahoo Finance)? PepsiCo argued it was improperly served and asked the court to excuse a corporate bureaucratic mistake -- a secretary put the letter aside and didn't tell anyone about it because she was "so busy preparing for a board meeting."
If you've ever been overwhelmed at work you know how easy it is to put something aside thinking "I'll get to this later." How can you engage in better risk management to avoid a costly mistake like this?
- Use Your In Box as a Tool. It's very easy to focus on the task at hand and let everything else pile up. Keep an in box or other "inflow" system on your desk to keep track of new things that come in so they don't fall through the cracks.
- Stay Current. Establish a set time each day to review your in-box, no matter what you have going on. Early in the morning and before you go home are good times to review your inbox so you stay current.
- Organize New Items. Create file folders for new items that land in your inbox if they aren't part of an existing project or client file. That way all of the paper work related to one subject stays together.
- Prioritize. Even though it's easy to focus intently on one project it's just as important to readjust and re-prioritize as new things land on your plate. One way to prioritize is to number, in order of importance, the files you created for those items in you in box. Place the files on a stand up rack on your desk in order of priority to keep you from reviewing or handling more than once the materials you receive. Carve out time at the beginning, middle or end of your day to handle your new priorities.
- Know Your Limits. Know how much work you can handle and when you need to delegate or ask for help.
Dedicated to helping busy people get out of the overwhelm mode, for a limited time I'm offering complimentary reviews of your organizational systems to help you stay out of overwhelm, streamlined and risk free. Click here for more information and to book a complimentary Business Streamlining Consultation.
I welcome your comments.
What's Your Definition of Overwhelm? How you define it relates to how successful you'll be at getting out of the overwhelm mode. Webster's Dictionary defines overwhelm as: upset, overthrow, submerge, overpower in thought or feeling. If you were to take 5 minutes and write a sentence or paragraph that starts with "being overwhelmed means this to me ..." what would it say?
You're not Alone. At a conference an outgoing woman began her questions by saying "I'm overwhelmed." When participants nodded in agreement I wasn't surprised. My research shows a majority of professionals are in the overwhelm mode 50 to 75 percent of their work week.
Narrow it Down. "Overwhelmed" is such a broad term. You can be overwhelmed by a beautiful piece of music. You can be overwhelmed by having too much to do, or not enough. You can be going 90 miles an hour trying to keep up. Or stuck because you're so overwhelmed you can't see the next steps. Imagine the woman at the conference more clearly defining her situation by saying something like, "I am overwhelmed with too many things to do in a short period of time."
Solution Seeking. Changing your language from "I'm so overwhelmed" to "I have too many things to do in a short period of time" enables you to define the problem and begin seeking solutions. By asking "what do I need to do differently?" you may find a solution like re-negotiating a deadline or handing a task off to someone else to lighten your load.
By defining what being overwhelmed means to you, narrowing it down, and changing from a statement to a solution seeking question, you're on the path to successfully overcoming overwhelm.
I invite you to give these suggestions a try and welcome your comments.