Posts Tagged ‘Work’
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
As students’ summer classes and work schedules fill their days to the brim, many may feel that the time crunch requires them to neglect their social life.
But not spending enough time with family and friends can compromise human health, UCLA researchers have found.
“(Social contact with others) has effects on the body that are more powerful than cigarette smoking and your cholesterol level,” said Shelley Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology. “The magnitude is very strong.”
Click here for the full article.
Do you hear that, all you fellow college students who take too many hours of classes and participate in too many extracurriculars and run around being busy busy busy OMG SO BUSY?
You (and I) need a break.
Grab some friends, sit down (prefereably outside in the bright Indian summer sunshine) and relax. Talk. Play around, even.
You’ll be glad you did – much more glad, in the long run, than you would be if you stayed in and studied. I assure you, with few exceptions, your grades are not that important, in the grand scheme of things.
Tags: Cholesterol, Cigarette Smoking, Cigarettes, Class, College, Family, Friends, Health, Psychology, Smoking, Social Contact, Social Life, Students, Time, UCLA, University, Work
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Friday, May 23rd, 2008
If employers want to increase job satisfaction, a little shrubbery apparently goes a long way. Workers are happier when offices have plants and windows, a new study found.
American office workers spend an average of 52 hours a week at their desks, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.
Some might argue that not all that time is spent working, but still, all those hours in windowless offices with artificial light can take their toll.
A few green additions could have a large effect on worker happiness, according to the study led by Tina Cade, an associate professor of horticulture at Texas State University, and Andrea Dravigne of the San Marcos Nature Center.
“We pretty much found out that if you had windows and plants, or even if you just had plants in your office, you were more satisfied with your job,” Cade told LiveScience. “We thought it was important for offices because a lot of times people are looking for ways to keep employees happy and do all these expensive things like put in a daycare or a workout room. Maybe for less investment they could put in a few plants in strategic places.”
Click here for the full article.
Tags: , Daycare, Employees, Happier, Happines, happy, Horticulture, LiveScience, Offices, Plants, San Marcos Nature Center, Texas State University, Work, Worker Happiness, Working Out
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Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
Wealth may be playing less of a role in Americans’ pursuit of happiness, according to results from a Pew Research Center survey.
Thirteen percent of 2,413 respondents in a survey earlier this year said being wealthy was “very important” to them, according to a survey posted Wednesday on the Pew Research Center’s Web site. Other opinion choices were “somewhat important” or “not very important.” It ranked last among seven statements of priority such as living a religious life, doing volunteer work, donating to charity or being married.
Nearly 70% of respondents said “hav[ing] enough free time to do things you want to do” was very important, the Web site said. This received the largest amount of very important votes. Having children and being successful in a career ranked second with 61% of respondents saying these were very important to them.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Americans, Career, Children, Free Time, Happiness, Marriage, Money, Parenthood, Pew Research Center, Pursuit of Happiness, Religion, Volunteering, Wealth, Work
Posted in Americans, Career, Children, Free Time, Happiness, Marriage, Money, Parenthood, Pew Research Center, Pursuit of Happiness, Religion, Volunteering, Wealth, Work | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
“Happiness gets trashed. It’s considered too pink and fluffy for the workplace,” Alex Linley, founder of the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) in Coventry, England, told attendees at the 2008 World Federation of Personnel Management Associations World Congress here April 15. Linley, a psychologist and management consultant, founded the nonprofit CAPP to help companies find the happy, positive sides of employees in order to attract, retain and develop them.
“Neurological research shows that when people are happy, they learn things better, are more receptive to [manager direction] and are more engaged,” Linley said.
A positive, or “strengths-based,” organization seeks to buoy what is right in people rather than correct what is wrong. It’s an ingredient that is missing in the workplace, Linley said, noting that only 17 percent of U.S. workers use their strengths at work, according to Gallup Poll research that was first compiled in Marcus Buckingham’s bestselling book, First, Break All the Rules (Simon & Schuster, 1999.)
Click here for the full article.
Tags: 2008 World Federation of Personnel Management Associati, Centre for Applied Positive Psychology, Coventry, England, Happiness, happy, Positive, Postitivity, Work, Workplace
Posted in 2008 World Federation of Personnel Management Associati, Centre for Applied Positive Psychology, Coventry, England, Happiness, Positive, Postitivity, Work, Workplace, happy | No Comments »
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Although some people may spend part of the Labor Day weekend complaining about their bosses or about job burnout, most Americans are satisfied with their jobs, a new University of Chicago study shows.
The survey found that job satisfaction increases with age, with workers over 65 among the most satisfied. The study shows that 86 percent of the people interviewed between 1972 and 2006 said they were satisfied at their jobs, with 48 percent saying they were very satisfied. Only four percent reported being very dissatisfied.
In addition to older workers, those with more education, those earning more money, and workers in the South Central states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississipi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee were the most satisfied. Blacks, Hispanics and people doing unskilled labor were the least happy, according to the report “Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demographic Correlates” by Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Center at the University of Chicago.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Alabama, Americans, Arkansas, Blacks, Bosses, Burnout, Education, General Social Survey, happy, Hispanics, Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demograph, Jobs, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississipi, Money, National Opinion Center, Oklahoma, Salary, Satisfaction, Tennessee, Texas, University of Chicago, Unskilled Labor, Work
Posted in Alabama, Americans, Arkansas, Blacks, Bosses, Burnout, Education, General Social Survey, Hispanics, Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demograph, Jobs, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississipi, Money, National Opinion Center, Oklahoma, Salary, Satisfaction, Tennessee, Texas, University of Chicago, Unskilled Labor, Work, happy | No Comments »
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
People looking for jobs that bring satisfaction and happiness should concentrate on professions that focus primarily on serving other people, according to a new report from the University of Chicago, which found clergy to be the happiest and most satisfied of American workers.
“The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching, and protecting others and creative pursuits,” said Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The survey is the most comprehensive of its kind to explore satisfaction and happiness among American workers. The GSS asks a large variety of questions of a representative sample of Americans in face-to-face interviews. In the 1988 to 2006 GSS surveys, interviewers asked people how satisfied they were with their jobs. The interviewers also asked them about their general level of happiness and Smith correlated those general happiness findings with the jobs people held. People’s feelings about their work usually have a significant impact on their happiness, he said.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: , American Workers, Caring, Clergy, Creativity, General Social Survey, Happiest, Happiness, Jobs, National Opinion Research Center, Professions, Satisfaction, Teaching, University of Chicago, Work
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Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Tips…for being happy at work.
Of course, being happy at work depends mostly on how much you like your job. But there are also smaller steps that can boost your happiness, as well.
Your work space:
-Check for eyestrain: put your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your space is too bright.
-Get a good desk chair and take the time to adjust it properly. (A friend works at Goldman Sachs, where they have a person who specializes in this, zoikes!)
-Sit up straight—every time I do, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier…
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Happiness, Tips, Work
Posted in Happiness, Tips, Work | No Comments »
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Maryann is a nurse manager who supervises 30 staff members. She describes her job as akin to playing the game whack-a-mole. No sooner does she get one problem solved when another rears its ugly head.
The constant stress was taking its toll on her emotionally until she learned a three-step process for effectively resolving issues with people: express empathy, establish a win-win outcome and identify the person’s strengths.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Conflict Management, Empathy, Happiness, Nurses, Stress Management, Work
Posted in Conflict Management, Empathy, Happiness, Nurses, Stress Management, Work | No Comments »
