Office

You Can’t Over Prepare for a Presentation…

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Writing a speech or presentation is challenging, and memorizing it takes even more time and effort. But whether you’re speaking at a conference, setting a direction for your team, or persuading upper management to greenlight an idea, it’s important to know your presentation cold.

Transitions can be especially tricky, so break your talk into sections and rehearse the shifts between the sections. Note any troublesome segues and practice them repeatedly. Then, spend time each day memorizing your speech. You might consider recording and listening to it whenever you’re driving, exercising, or running errands. Or you can rehearse a portion of your script right before bedtime or multitask as you brush your teeth.

Finally, have a plan for any slip-ups. Prepare two or three go-to phrases, such as, “Let me refer to my notes,” or “I’m struggling to remember my next point. Let me take a moment and step back.” The lapse will be less awkward for everyone when you don’t panic and do what you need to move on.

Keep Writing Simple…

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When you’re writing for work, it can be tempting to rely on industry jargon or big words to puff up your ideas. But overblown language doesn’t make you sound smart, and it can be off-putting to readers.

Most people are drawn to a more conversational tone. So, choose shorter, more familiar words and explain things in a way that anyone could understand. For example, write “things that could affect the merger” instead of “issues potentially impacting the successful completion of the merger.”

Also, whether you’re writing an email or a formal proposal, make sure that your content is glanceable since it probably will be read on a screen — and these days, often a phone.
Assume that your readers will be distracted, busy, and on-the-go.

Formatting can help: Try using subheads, bullet points, diagrams, and tables to highlight your key takeaways. Short sentences and short paragraphs help too.

A good rule of thumb is “one thought per sentence.” If there are too many linked ideas in one sentence, your readers may get lost and just give up.

How to Leave Work at Work

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Some jobs have very clear lines between when you’re “on” and when you’re “off.” But when you work in a role where the lines are blurred — or potentially nonexistent — it’s important to protect your non-work time.

If you feel like work is taking over most of your waking hours, start by clearly defining what “after hours” means for you. Take into account the number of hours you’re expected to work each week, as well as personal commitments like taking your kids to school, making a certain train, or attending an exercise class you really enjoy.

When do you need to start and stop to put in the appropriate amount of work time? Then, develop mental clarity about what needs to get done and when you will do it. Keep track of your tasks and plan them out. Make sure you block off time for an end-of-workday wrap-up, where you review and make sure you did everything you needed to do for the day. Lastly, communicate with your colleagues about how (or if) you want to be contacted during your off-hours. Really guard your time.

If you don’t, you won’t get the mental break that everyone needs.

Don’t Let “Perfect” Be the Enemy of “Good”

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We should all strive to do our best, but if we always aim for perfection, we may blow deadlines, annoy colleagues, and miss out on opportunities.

Instead of never being satisfied with “good enough,” talk to others about their standards. What does a good job look like to boss, peers, or client? Let’s seek their feedback on expected results, costs, and timelines rather than trying to meet extremely high standards. Then check in regularly with these colleagues. Don’t wait until the project is finished, build in checkpoints where you share your progress at 50% or 80% done. Your boss or client just might tell you that the work is good enough at that point.

You can also try small experiments where you relax your standards slightly. What happened? Were your worst fears realized? Finally, consider how perfectionism impacts your relationships. Are you setting unrealistic standards for those around you? The need to have it “perfect” will often annoy others, and in extreme cases, drive them away. For their sake — and yours — let’s learn to be satisfied with good enough.

Criticism or Praise…

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If you have to criticize someone, then don’t criticize the person, criticize the general approach or criticize that class of activities.

If you have to praise someone, then always try and find the person who is the best example of what you’re praising and then praise that person, specifically.

That way people’s egos and identities, which we all have, don’t work against you, they work for you.

Anger & Resentment eats human energy bar…

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Life Energy Bar

A day without anger (resentment) is the most productive day. We accomplish most on that day in comparison and are more energetic at the end of the day.

All the talk about focus and increasing productivity is thrown away the moment we meet anger or resentment.

Observe a day and notice that the more we feel angry or resented about things or people, the day becomes more exhausting.

It’s like a video (computer) game, you have an energy bar when you start and anger keeps eating the bar till you bleed out at the end.

So…

If its chronic anger (resentment) start taking baby steps to solve it.

If its instant anger, ignore the triggers or control it. check – Different ways to control anger.

Hence to win a day one at a time, start by resolving to be less angry and resenting that day.

Still, Stewing About That Mistake?

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Rumination

When we make a mistake at work, we replay it in our head for days or even weeks? This kind of overthinking is called rumination, and it can lead to serious anxiety.

To break out of the cycle, there are a few things we can do. For one, identify the rumination triggers. Do certain types of people, projects, or decisions make us second-guess ourselves? Notice when (and why) a situation is causing to start overthinking things. And try avoiding it for some time till we are back to normal.

It can also be useful to distance from negative thoughts by labeling them as thoughts or feelings. For example, instead of saying “I’m inadequate,” we can say “I’m feeling like I’m inadequate.” These labels can help us distinguish what we’re experiencing from who we truly are as a person and an employee.

Another way to short-circuit rumination is to distract ourselves. When our brain won’t stop spinning, try taking a walk, meditate, workout or fill out an expense report — do any simple activity to focus on for a few minutes.

With practice, we can overcome the rumination and get back to our productive selves.

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