It is a known fact that all of us experienced stress at some points in our life, and judges, lawyers, or other legally trained professionals are certainly not an exception. Stressful events differ greatly in severity. Also, these circumstances activate a series of behavioral and biological responses, which help an individual cope with the situation. While short-term stress can be adaptive, prolonged stress can cause mental and physical illness. Compared with other demanding professional careers like business and medicine, the legal profession is known to be the most stressful. It places high levels of stress on judges, lawyers, and other legally trained professionals. Why is this so? Read on and uncover why law is a stressful profession. Time Pressure Time pressure, which includes work overload and insufficient time for their family and self, is one of the primary complaints that legal professionals cited as a contributing factor to their stress. Statistics show that typical lawyers … [Read more...] about Why is Law Such a Stressful Profession?
Archives for February 2013
Using Your Commute to Improve Your Work
Commuting to work is a necessity for anyone not fortunate enough to work from home. Commuting can often be stressful and tiring start and end to the working day and might feel like a waste of valuable time that could be used in better ways. However, there are things you can do to make the most of this part of your day that can have a positive impact on your work.Get on Your Bike Cycling is a great way of changing your commute to improve your work. Not only will you save money and improve your health, you will arrive invigorated and alive, shrugging off the sleepiness, with your brain being fed with pumping oxygenated blood. And as your fitness and health improve, so will your confidence and see esteem, which you will carry with you into the workplace. Cycling home will also help remove the stresses of the day, making for a more relaxed evening and a better sleep,leading to another great start to the next day. Cycling will also save on the cost of commuting, taking off a significant … [Read more...] about Using Your Commute to Improve Your Work
7 Ways to Become More Popular at Work
Maybe you want to be more popular at work to get ahead in your career, or maybe you want to enjoy your working day more? You might see that you could have more rewarding relationships with your work colleagues by being more popular. For some people, being popular comes easy, for others a little work is needed to make the changes. These are some ideas that can increase your popularity:1. Don't Try Too Hard. If you are overly fake not only will you find being this way unsustainable but people will read through you. Aim for a more popular version of yourself.2. Like Yourself. Being comfortable with who you are makes you more confident, which is an attractive quality. Negativity from having a low opinion of yourself can rub of onto others, which can tend to cause them to avoid you. Some self-deprecation can be a good thing in moderation and when done in a humorous manner. Taking yourself too seriously is not an attractive quality and can stop you being fun to be around.3. Be Generous. … [Read more...] about 7 Ways to Become More Popular at Work
Reducing Your Stress Levels in the Workplace
When work becomes overwhelming and the tasks are piling up, stress can kick in. A little stress can be a good thing, making you focus more clearly and reducing the chances of being bored. However, when stress persists long term or increases to higher levels it can become detrimental to your work. Rather than helping, the increased level of stress then makes the tasks even more difficult to manage. Here are some easy tips to try when the stress gets too much:Write things down. This helps to keep you organised, freeing your mind to concentrate on one task at a time without the worry of forgetting something. Visualizing your outstanding jobs on paper helps put them in context, making them appear more manageable.Keep your work area tidy and clutter free. A mess around you will not make for a calm environment. The clutter can be distracting, make it more difficult to find things, and reduce the amount of calming space you have around you.Have a stretch. Stress leads to tense muscles and … [Read more...] about Reducing Your Stress Levels in the Workplace
80-20 Marketing, Redefined
Marketing has always been about rules/principles. Because at the end of the day, how smart your marketing is depends on how well your understand some of its basic rules. Now, when we talk about rules, one rule that stands out today in the marketing world is the 80/20 rule or the Pareto’s principle. Before you get confused, the 80/20 rule is nothing new and businesses have been applying it in their marketing knowingly or unknowingly. So what does the rule say? It’s simple: 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your efforts. In marketing terms this means that 80 percent of your sales result from 20 percent of your marketing/advertising efforts. Or 80 percent of your business is generated from 20 percent of your customers. Applying the 80/20 rule can take our online or offline business places. It can not only save you money but also help you increase your profits in the long run by giving your business more leverage and your marketing a more focused direction. Begin by … [Read more...] about 80-20 Marketing, Redefined
How to Save Money To Go Part-Time
Working part time is a way many people achieve a better work/life balance, allowing time to walk the children to school, spend more time with loved ones, pursue hobbies/ interests or do volunteer work. It's also a great way to get more from your job. Reducing your hours can mean enjoying the job more when you are there. Work will be less tiring, there will be less exposure to office politics, and pursuing others things in your free time should make you a happier person, which you will carry with you when you are at your job. Having a job that's part time, gives you the freedom to pursue other choices which helps you to value the job more, compared to one where you spend much of your weekly life there.So what steps can be taken to make a move to part time hours possible?At Work:If part time is a viable option where you work, ask for a pay rise. The increased income may in itself make reducing your hours financially viable. If not, maybe look for a new job that offers part time … [Read more...] about How to Save Money To Go Part-Time
Soft Skills for Hard Times
What Are Soft Skills? A little over a decade ago, social psychologist Dr. Daniel Goleman wrote a bestselling book that turned how organizations evaluated their employees upside down. "Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ" established an entirely new means of evaluation and became a popular psychology bestseller. Now, in addition to IQ, standardized tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and school grades, individuals could be evaluated for their emotional intelligence. "Soft skills" is a casual reference to the bulky term "emotional intelligence," often shortened to simply EI. Divided into two types—ability emotional intelligence and trait emotional intelligence—emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to identify, assess and control the emotions of oneself, others and groups. Are Soft Skills Important to Business? According to Arlene Sota's article, "Soft Skills Are Key to All Success," "Studies have shown [that] individuals who scored … [Read more...] about Soft Skills for Hard Times
Graduation: “What do I do now?”
Graduation can be a time of mixed emotions for students. On one hand, you’ve graduating after years of hard work and the world of work seems like a welcoming prospect after living on a student loan, but on the other hand, graduation signals the end of an era in your life which can bring up some troubling uncertainties. But it’s important to remember that every graduate’s path is different and that the road to that dream job is never going to be comparable to the paths which other graduates take towards getting their first employed role. If you’ve just graduated or if you’re currently studying towards graduation, here are some tips to stay focused and motivated towards that dream job goal: Don’t be afraid of part-time work Most graduates don’t walk straight into work. It’s a fact of life that you’re going to have to work hard to be employed and this starts the minute you graduate. But don’t be afraid of a part-time or full-time job to keep you going while you search for a job. One … [Read more...] about Graduation: “What do I do now?”
A Leap Into the Real World: What to Do Once You Graduate
For a number of years, you forget everything else. All that is not related to college and your syllabus becomes trivial. Nothing is more important than what you study and nothing has more priority than getting that degree. Well, when the whole journey comes to an end, you gladly take home the degree, proud and satisfied. You think the hard part is finally over. Maybe it is. But the real world’s challenges are just beginning. They are two-fold harder than what a college graduate can imagine and they are definitely more complicated. Irrespective of how good one’s marks are or how well he or she has fared in every challenge put before them, things certainly will change. Life becomes much more compulsive. It becomes much tougher. But there is a silver lining to all this! Once a good job is found, everything will revolve back into normalcy. How to ensure that you get the dream job you want without any convenience and with the maximum benefits possible? Here are a few tips to help you … [Read more...] about A Leap Into the Real World: What to Do Once You Graduate
5 Career-Change Options For 2013
Are you looking to change your career this year? Have you had enough of being an accountant, a lawyer, or a personal assistant? Why not consider one of the five careers below as a great way to break out of the mold: Writer -- Do you have a passion for writing that you haven't been able to explore until now? If so, it may be time to become a writer. There are millions of websites floating around the Internet, and all of them need quality written content. You will find that there are many websites looking to hire writers, and you can turn your skill with the written word into an income. As a trained professional, you have knowledge of a career that you can use to help others that read your writings. Freelance Professional --Do you have a passion to work as a truck accident attorney an accountant, or a paralegal, but it's just your current job that's driving you nuts? If so, why not consider starting your own career as a freelancer? You can market your skills on online job … [Read more...] about 5 Career-Change Options For 2013