Office

What to Say When Someone Is Rude to You at Work…

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When someone is rude to you at work, whether it’s a customer, colleague, or even your boss, it can be hard to know if—and how—to respond. In some cases, it might feel too risky to speak up. Other times, it might feel too risky not to. Whether or not to respond is your decision. If you’ve decided that you should, here are three diplomatic ways to do it.


Use “I” statements. For example, I felt dismissed by your comment; while that may not have been your intention, that’s how it landed with me. I’m hurt by what you just said. I imagine it wasn’t your intent, but that made me uncomfortable. I understand why you’re frustrated.

Use “It/That” statements. For example:
It’s disrespectful to tell people their ideas don’t have merit. That comment isn’t helpful to either of us.It would be easier for me to help you if we took the heat down in this conversation.

Ask strategic questions. For example:
Did I hear you correctly? I think you said…Can we take a step back for a moment?I know we both care about getting this done. Can we do that together? I have some ideas

Long hours == Success

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Long hours == Success is a fallacy. Moreover, it often leads to burnout. If the priority is right you can become successful both professionally and personally. Here’s how to prioritize your personal well-being without compromising your professional growth:

Find time to do nothing. One way to build in a moment of genuine disconnection from work is to take some time at the beginning or end of each day to journal or doodle your thoughts. Think of this as a daily reflection or brain dump to release the pressure of your work life.

Become more intentional about space. Dedicate specific places to your work and reserve others for relaxation and relationships. Drawing clear lines between your professional and personal lives will help you thrive in both.

Learn to say no. To get better at declining requests without feeling guilty, reframe saying no as setting boundaries. Ask yourself: Who am I willing (or not willing) to give time to? What do I want (or not want) to do or achieve? When do I need to protect time, and when do I want to make myself available? What kind of work will help me achieve my long-term goals?

Don’t Hire a Friend?

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Try and avoid hiring a friend into your company: Can a personal relationship coexist alongside a professional one? If you approach the situation carefully, it’s possible to work with each other while preserving the friendship. 

First, set their expectations about whether they’re likely to get the job. Say something like, “I want to explore the possibility of our working together — but I want to be clear that it might not be a good idea.” 

Next, make sure you’re comfortable saying no to the person. If you do become your friend’s boss, you’ll need to have confidence that their emotional maturity can make the dynamic work. 

Last, think together about how you’d deal with difficult situations that may arise on the job. This will help both of you set the psychological boundaries you’ll need if you’re going to be coworkers in addition to friends.

I have a Negative Relationship with My Boss…

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Everyone wants to feel respected by their manager, but over half of the employees say they don’t. What to do if you’re in that unfortunate majority? Try these three things:

Manage your energy. 

Sleep, exercise, good nutrition, and stress management can help to ward off the harmful effects of being disrespected by your boss.

Thrive outside work. 

If you’re happy in your non-work life, you’re more likely to thrive at the office, no matter what your boss thinks of you. This is because enjoying outside work increases your emotional reserves and gives you a sense of growth and learning. Think about what will make you happier outside the office, and start doing it.

Seek positive relationships. 

Negative, draining relationships affect your sense of thriving which is four to seven times the effect of energizing, positive ones. To offset the drain of people who pull you down, surround yourself with a small group of energizers — the people in your life who make you smile and laugh and lift your spirit.

Input Metrics vs Output Metrics…

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Our end goal metrics are output metrics, for example – Revenue, Cash inflow, Traffic, or No. of Active users are output metrics.

Input metrics are controllable metrics that drive these Output metrics.

If traffic is your output metrics then input metrics can be “no. of quality content posted in regular intervals”. 

For revenue, “no. of qualified lead calls per day” can be input metrics.

There can be different input metrics to achieve the same output metric. 

Also, we have control over output metrics only thru input metrics. To control output, we must understand how inputs affect the outputs of the system. And which one to use for achieving our output metrics.

Moreover, it’s not just “no. of content” posted per day. We identified no. of quality content posted per day. The “Qualifier” is critical because we don’t want any “content” we want “quality content” that can engage users and also in regular intervals daily, weekly, monthly, etc. So both the qualifier and interval are critical parts of the input metrics.

In general, our plans be it for external or internal teams are for output metrics; revenue, users, etc. But unless we break it into controllable input metrics and put targets for input metrics, we will not be able to achieve our output metrics.

Identifying Input metrics is hard because what seems obvious can lead to different output metrics or may not even achieve it. It takes time, analysis, and hard work to really understand and identify the core input metrics. And that’s what creates a big differentiator between successful and unsuccessful companies.

A successful company has more clarity on input metrics and how it drives output metrics.

Monday blues…

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When I was in working as an employee, I use to always envy entrepreneurs, business owners & promotors. They never seem to have Monday blues, I use to hate Mondays. 

I am sure most of us who work in job or are employed hate Monday’s. 

So what is “Monday blues”? 

It’s a sad and melancholy feeling, starting from Sunday evening, that the next day is very stressful. Meetings, expectations, status reports, team confrontations, and never sure what kind of surprise waiting for you on Monday. In-fact sometimes we dread this feeling so much that we find reasons to skip work that day if possible. But can’t!

So how did I got rid of Monday blues? 

I came out of these Monday blues, I am running my own startup for the last couple of years. And sometimes when I remember how I got rid of Monday blues, I laugh at myself.

A simple answer is I made every day Monday, :(. Sorry to disappoint u! But there seems to be no other way. 

As a Co-Founder, every day is a Monday with lots of stress. Days are not so different now, be it Sunday or Monday or Tuesday, every next day is going to be a blue day. Yes once in a while you have golden days but those are few counted once.

It’s like to kill fear, be with fear, and u will get use to the fear.

Unfortunately, there is no other way to kill Monday blues, unless you run off and live the life of a saint alone in forests.

So enjoy your Monday blues, and be grateful you got only one blue day in a week :). 

Tips to Reduce Screen Time While You’re WFH…

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It’s exhausting to look at a screen all day. And yet, if we’re working remotely, it may feel unavoidable. To maintain our energy throughout the workday, let’s try to proactively disconnect from screens whenever you can.

Here are a few tips that can help:

Avoid Video calls if possible – Remember that video calls aren’t necessary for every meeting: Let’s try a regular phone call every once in a while to mix things up. Also, choose physical over digital whenever possible.

Use Pen/Paper if possible – Brainstorming ideas for an article? Write out your thoughts on paper or post-it notes. Creating a road map for a big project? Sketch the initial draft on a whiteboard or butcher paper instead of typing in a laptop.

Move around as much as possible, even if it’s just standing up and rolling your shoulders or grabbing a glass of water between meetings, take frequent breaks.

Take tech-free breaks over lunch, tea time, and find activities that don’t involve a screen to wind down.

Taking these steps will help us reduce our digital fatigue and feel more energized at the end of each day.

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