A few weeks ago, Wired magazine featured some of the worst cubes ever. Now they’re coming full circle by suggesting some great solutions for cramped/ugly/badly lit work spaces. Since your boss is probably on vacation in Cabo and you have nothing to do, this is an optimal time to reorganize your desk, toss old papers you don’t need, and hang up some Christmas cards as decoration. You can get tips here.
Tag Archive for 'coping with stress'
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Remember in school how you used to get a “stomach ache” or some other vague malady when you just didn’t feel like going? You could sit around in your pajamas and watch bad daytime TV, eat crappy food, nap all you wanted… ah, to be young and not an adult with a job.
The good news is that even if you’re an adult with a job, you can still play hooky. The difference is that now instead of a “stomach ache” you can take something much more adulty – a mental health day. We recommend using them when you’re at peak stress levels, when your boss is being particularly horrid, when it’s sunny or raining, or even when you just want to say, “feh – screw this job” for a day. And if you take them on a Monday or a Friday, voila! Mini-holiday.
Are you guilty of “dining al desko”? Translation: are you guilty of eating your lunch at your desk, while continuing to work? If you say yes, you’re far from alone. The blog Embrace Your Heart covers the world of heart disease, and they’ve cited dining al desko as not just damaging to your morale but damaging to your body.
Staying chained to your desk is not healthy. The second assistant may not love you for asking her to cover the phones for fifteen minutes, but you deserve time to get up, walk around, and go outside. Even if you pack your lunch, eat it somewhere other than your desk–if you can get outside, do that. If not, try an empty conference room, and invite one or two of your coworkers to join you. The point is that you get a physical and mental boost from taking a break. You can rest your eyes from the harsh light of a computer. You can flip through a magazine and enjoy not stressing about work for a second. It’s allowed. We promise.
For more tips, click here.
No one wants to spend all their time outside of work talking about work, and yet we do it so often. Who hasn’t gone out for a happy hour with the coworkers, promising to talk about other stuff, and ended up rehashing the latest office gossip? It happens to the best of us. After all, we like a good horror story as much as anyone else.
So here’s a solution for when you want to blow off some steam, but then move on with your life: The Minivent.
Only got five minutes for a smoke break? Perfect. Grab your favorite work buddy and rant your guts out. Then when you’re done, use a few more minutes to talk about Grey’s Anatomy, your plans for the weekend, this hilarious thing your roommate said the other day…basically, anything but the office.
Because if you spend all your time talking about work, then the bosses have won.
We’ve just come across a really cool site sponsored by Neutrogena. It may seem strange that a skincare company is sponsoring a site about lowering your stress level, but it makes perfect sense to us. When you’re stressed out, it shows up on your face–and your hair, and your eyes. We also know “the glow” that comes from quitting your job and getting your life back.
There are lots of fun things to do on this site, but we highly recommend the Virtual Zen Garden. There are also some great soothing meditations you can do at your desk. The trick is to make it look like you’re crying at your keyboard when you have your eyes closed and are visualizing positive energy. Trust us–No one will bother you.
Spring is in the air. That can only mean… spa week.
Spa week is a gorgeous invention that lets poor people (that’s us) go to fancy spas and get major discounts on massages, facials, mani/pedis, and the rest. They have deals in a host of cities (not just NY/LA), including Dallas, Seattle, and Minneapolis.
So take a look at the offerings. You deserve it.
