9 to 5 Office Worker Will Become a Thing of the Past

In your personal life, when attending to business or working on side
projects, how often do you spend 8 consecutive hours in front of a
computer? It doesn’t make sense because we lose the ability to
concentrate effectively within a few hours.Everyone goes through
alternating periods of high and low mental acuity. There are days
when I work on personal projects for well over 8 hours, but the time
is always divided into multiple sessions. I might spend a few hours
coding a design, a few hours writing, and a few hours reading feeds,
moderating comments, and responding to email.

I work this way because it aligns with my mental energy cycle. Any
more than 3 hours in front of a computer and my eyes start hurting
and I become restless. I lose the ability to do my best work.
Instead of forcing myself to continue, I switch to an activity that
allows my mind to recharge. These breaks maximize productivity by
eliminating down periods. It’s counter productive to force work when
the mental energy isn’t there.

The Problem with an 8 Hour Work Day

A continuous 8 hour work day is a relic of the past. It makes sense
for physical labor and manufacturing work, but with information
workers it doesn’t account for the mental energy cycle. The ability
of a factory worker to think analytically is irrelevant, he’s either
cranking widgets or he isn’t.

In the case of the modern information worker, nearly all tasks
involve creative or strategic thinking. The way someone answers an
email or interprets a piece of information can differ drastically
depending on his or her energy level. Nobody does their best work
5:30 in the afternoon after they’ve been sucking down coffee all day
to stay awake.

What is work-life balance?

In the simplest explanation, balance in life means ‘time for everything’. Work-life balance means you undertake and enjoy the responsibilities and workloads of both, your work and your family life. Balance doesn’t necessarily mean having more free time. But it does mean that you utilize every moment in a way that is as pleasant and productive for your own living.

Restore the rhythm of your life

Tips to balance your WORK and LIFE

Life is more than a series of meetings- emails and presentations. But when you get a job in one of your dream companies, when you start working, when responsibilities haunt you from behind, you tend to miss life somewhere under a pile of tensions and deadlines.

Since no steps are taken to bring back that LIFE into your life, by the time small tensions grow up to big diseases and deadlines broaden to your lifetime.

Absence of a work-life balance is commonest in today’s professional lives. Responsibilities are the criminals here. When your work demands more responsibility from you, the other side of your life starts struggling. When life, importantly personal or family life, calls for more attention from your side, your professional focus sinks. This kind of an aimless, unbalanced life-flow offers you tensions and stress lavishly and you fall as an easy victim to the diseases every time. No wonder, very strange and rare diseases befall, as you struggle from all the spheres of your being, the physical, psychological as well as the spiritual being.

Managing Interpersonal Conflicts

Interpersonal conflicts occur from time to time in every organization. If left unresolved, they can result in lower productivity, employee turnover, morale problems and sometimes lawsuits. Early intervention and clear communication are two key factors in addressing interpersonal conflicts. It is also important to acknowledge emotional issues surrounding the conflict and to ensure that the way work duties are organized is not contributing to the problem.  

Anxiety at Work: Managing Your Boss

Q. How do you manage the prototypical “difficult boss?”

A. Successfully managing a difficult boss is a challenge but often
feasible. First, you should try to understand the reasons for your
boss’ difficult behavior. Assuming your boss generally behaves in a
fairly reasonable manner, and that his/her difficult behavior seems
to
be a result of stress overload rather than his/her character, chances
are good that the behavior can be modified. If your boss’ behavior
seems to reflect a chronically hostile, abusive style of interacting
regardless of the amount of stress in the worksite, the chances are
less positive that the behavior can change. In fact, you may want to
consider seeking counsel from a trusted mentor or human resources
professional to evaluate your options. Second, you have to manage
your
own negative emotions regarding his/her behavior so that you do not
engage in self-defeating behavior (e.g. stonewalling, or counter-
attacking your boss).Third, once you understand and have managed your
own negative reactions, you may work to communicate your issues/
concerns — but framed in a helpful positive manner — creating an
atmosphere for problem resolution.