Is Burnout a Real Thing or Just a Myth

Is Burnout a Real “Thing” or Just a Myth Looking after our employees mental health has become a priority for many companies and rightly so. While we want our staff to be as productive as possible, the last thing we want is presenteeism or even worse burnout. But is burnout an actual thing? Well, its been recognized by The World Health Organisation (WHO) as an “occupational phenomenon”. The findings represent online searches from January 2015 to May 2019 in the UK. In fact, “What is Burnout” was searched over 50% more since being recognized as an occupational phenomenon by the WHO. Over the last few years, millennials have been in the spotlight in relation to workplace issues. They are much more vocal about their concerns and needs in the workplace. This stems from reasons including being subject to social, technological and economic innovations which both increase the pressure and overwhelm the nervous system, but also serve as channels to share feelings and frustrations. Many believe the viral article by BuzzFeed on “How Millennials became the Burnout Generation” is what enraptured recognition and thoughtful reflection on “millennial burnout”. The reality is “millennial burnout” was most searched in 2019, but reached a peak in March (4,400 monthly average searches), as opposed to January when the BuzzFeed article was published (2,400 monthly average searches). And yet despite this, many remain unsure of what burnout is. Searches for “what is burnout?” increased by 55% on average from 2018 to 2019. Average monthly searches were 602 in 2018 and now 932 just in the last 7 months. What’s even more interesting, is searches for “burnout test” which most commonly link back to the Maslach Burnout inventory- have remained pretty steady (and high) over the last three years and currently stand at 44 searches on average monthly. What’s more, WHO has recognized burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” but online searches signal it’s not only linked to employment. Whilst “therapist burnout” was widely searched this year (48 average monthly), “university burnout” was searched more (52 average monthly) and “relationship burnout” (38 average monthly) or “compassionate burnout” (28 average monthly) on a similar scale. Hannah Sims, Product Manager at Perkbox Medical, says: “Regardless of what shape or form we want the definition of “burnout” to take be this as a “medical diagnosis” or just an “occupational phenomenon”, it’s important that we give it the attention it deserves. If your mind is frazzled like it is when you’re experiencing burnout, you’re missing out on opportunities, might not be able to deliver at work, or feel like yourself when meeting friends. All this impacts your quality of life. You’re not in the state of being happy inside and outside of work regardless of what incentives you’re given. You need separate support to get back to full speed. That’s what I think we should focus on the most when thinking “burnout” it’s a serious issue that needs dedicated attention”. So if you recognize that one of your employees is experiencing burnout or maybe you yourself are after putting in more hours than you should be or not taking your foot off the gas when you should be then its time to take a step back from the workplace About the author:  Perkbox  is a platform that provides a unique employee experience, enriching the personal and working life of employees. It offers a suite of products including a platform with access to best in class Perks,  Perkbox  Medical,  Perkbox  Recognition, and  Perkbox  Insights. It serves companies of all sizes from SMEs to large companies such as Whole Foods, Nando’s, Caffe Nero and Levi Strauss Co. Headquartered in London, with offices in Sheffield and Paris,  Perkbox  has raised over £11.0 million in funding from the leading European venture capital firm Draper Esprit.

How to Care for an Elderly Parent

How to Care for an Elderly Parent If you’ve decided to keep your aging parent at home, you know the responsibility it entails. Whether they’re living in your house or still at their own, keeping all of their needs met can be difficult and demanding. Read through these tips to reduce your caregiving load. Talk to your siblings If you have siblings, be sure to have a conversation with them about your parent’s healthcare. While it’s important that everyone works together to support each other, the primary caretaking will likely fall on one person. Deciding who will bear the responsibility can be complicated. In the past, a gender bias stipulated that women would most regularly help aging parents. However, with women in the workforce now, this concept is less universal. The caregiver might also be the executor of the will, or it could be the oldest sibling. Don’t arbitrarily select a caretaker based on age and gender, but choose who will be the overall best fit. Selective matching considers personalities, finances, and geography â€" simply who lives the closest â€" in determining caretakers among siblings. Regardless of whoever is selected as the primary caretaker, everyone in the family should be on board with your parent’s healthcare path. Accept that things have changed After you’ve been nominated to be your parent’s caretaker, dealing with the situation can be a challenge. The first step to take towards parental caregiving is to accept that the roles have reversed. Growing up, it was probably difficult to imagine a time when your parents relied on you and not vice versa. Don’t let this flip your world upside down. Chances are your parent feels pretty distraught over the need to rely on you, and dwelling on it won’t help anything for anyone. Expect their anger or frustration, and do your best to be patient and understanding. Understand the finances Talk to an advisor about the state of your parent’s finances. You’ll need a clear picture of their bank account in order to prepare for upcoming medical expenses. Reduce your own financial burden and caregiving costs by exploring ways to save money on bills and reduce the cost of prescription drugs. You might be able to use government programs that help offset caregiving costs. Also, when you talk to a financial planner, you should see if you qualify for tax relief. If you are paying for more than half of their well-being, such as rent or food, you may be able to claim them as a dependent on your tax return. Manage their prescriptions On average, people over 65 take 14-18 prescriptions a year. Multiple medications can be a challenge for seniors to manage on their own, so be sure to monitor their prescriptions to avoid potentially dangerous health and safety risks. Consider purchasing a pill organizer for good medication management. Steadily rising drug costs can create financial pressure, so check if you can save money by switching to generic solutions. Improve their quality of life Can you afford home modifications? If so, install grab bars for shower safety and fall prevention. If your elderly parent is in a wheelchair, installing a ramp will help improve their mobility and autonomy. Make changes where possible to increase their independence and improve their quality of life. Medical alert systems are great additions to give you peace of mind during times you can’t be there. Find support Support comes in many shapes and sizes. Consider reaching out for indirect support from your siblings, whether it’s by pitching in with paperwork, financial management, or in-person assistance. You can also turn to your community for help through county-wide respite-care programs, caregiver support programs, or estate-planning consultations. Try to automate as many errands as possible to help you save time and energy, and consider researching an adult day program â€" it’ll give you some rest and help them socialize. At a certain point, you might want to consider hiring a caregiver or placing your parent in a home for seniors. Until then, follow this guide for an easier experience to make the most of your time together.

How Buying a Kindle Helps You Build Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Buying a Kindle Helps You Build Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career One of the first steps anyone interested in building their personal brand by self-publishing an e-book should take is to purchase an Amazon.com Kindle e-book reader. Im not saying that from an Amazon affiliate point of view. Im simply recommending the Kindle based on the new perspective youll gain from living with a Kindle and familiarizing yourself with it it from one of your prospective readers point of view. Before you try to self-publish an e-book, you need hands-on experience with the Kindlesearching for   books and reading them in the Kindle format. Why the Kindle? Certainly theres e-book reader competition; the Barnes Noble Nook and Apple iPad come to mind. There were also numerous announcements of new e-book readers at the Consumer Electronics Show. However, from the practicality point of view, taking into account price, popularity/market share, plusmost importantthe Kindles integration with Amazon.coms marketing savvy, the Kindle seems to make the most sense. (You can always buy an iPad later, when your book royalties start rolling in.) What youll learn from your Kindle Here are a few of the reasons you just cant read about a Kindle, but need to gain first-hand experience reading with a Kindle: Searching and buying. When you live with a Kindle, and use your Kindle to search for books in your area of expertise, youll gain a better perspective about how your prospective readers will be searching for your book. Youll also gain time to explore the competition in the various Kindle categories. Reading on a small screen. Ive always been an advocate of short words, sentences, and paragraphs, but the Kindle has reinforced the importance of short as a writing philosophy. Reading on the Kindles screen is a joy, in terms of sharpness. But, the Kindle definitely rewards short paragraphs. My desire to read drops to zero when I encounter paragraphs that a full screenor, worse, more than one screen. Try before you buy. You can download a hefty sample of just about every Kindle book. Often, the download includes a table of contents as well as the Introduction and/or first chapter. This makes it easier to decide which competing books warrant deeper exploration. Blogs. I find it far easier to keep up to date with the blogs I want to follow when I can read them in the car or in bed. I prefer reading blogs on the Kindle because Im usually focused on book coaching or writing my own blog posts when Im at my computer. Once again, however, the Kindle reinforces the importance of inserting frequent subheads and keeping sentences and paragraphs as short as possible. Marketing and brand-building. One of the big lessons I have gained from my Kindle research is the importance of marketing with a series of short, inexpensive, and focused titles. In a search engine world, multiple short, affordable, topics are   preferable to larger, more expensive, tell everything titles. Multiple short reports and e-books can create a synergy that builds your brand faster than a single, more expensive, all-encompassing titleplus, you may have already written the needed content! Instead of reinventing the wheel, you may be able to create a brand-building marketing campaign based on compilations of existing articles, blog posts, and reports. Each title can build your online visibility and attract new prospects. Takeaway You can probably write and self-publish a Kindle e-book without actually owning a Kindle. And, I recognize the initial costs of ownership (although Im probably approaching the break-even point in savings over the costs of buying print books). I feel you cant be as effective writing and marketing your own Kindle book without day-to-day experience searching, downloading, and reading books and blogs by others. What do you think? Author: Roger C. Parkers blog offers weekday writing tips and help choosing article and book titles for personal branding success.

4 Business Building Tips for a Stronger Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

4 Business Building Tips for a Stronger Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Starting a new business is a challenge in the beginning for many brands who want and need to get noticed online; and, generate sales and leads. The key is to stay focused and not give up in order to attain your goals.   Having a passion for what you do is essential to success along with perseverance and a well planned business strategy. Here are 4 ways your personal brand can overcome obstacles and stay on track for years to come: 1. Build a solid foundation. If your brand is narrowly focused on just a couple of clients then it’s time to expand your horizons. As business shifts customers come and go and you will want to have a backup of resources available to tap into. Reach out to your LinkedIn network, current subscribers, and join professional groups in your industry on social media to attract more leads. 2. Delegate tasks. Running your company alone is not productive, and actually inhibits growth. In order to effectively build your brand consider using free online tools for productivity and if it is feasible for your budget outsource tasks such as social media management, sales, writing blog posts, ect. 3. Stay active in online marketing The largest part of your brand’s visibility will be on social media, and in the beginning stages of your business it’s important to be active on your networks and blog. Sharing remarkable content will not only build a great reputation for you, but will also establish your company much faster than networking offline. 4. Continuously learn to skills In today’s online education world it is easy to tap into free resources that will help build your knowledge in your industry. Take advantage of seminars, webinars and live streaming events, which is also a great way to network and attract more clients. Seek the advice of high influencer connections, and be open to adjust your sails as the direction of the wind changes. A highly visible and profitable personal brand understands the ups and downs of business and perseveres through the ups and downs. The process of building may take a few years, but once your roots are firmly planted you will have a much stronger chance for sustainable success.

You Have 6 Seconds to Impress - CareerMetis.com

You Have 6 Seconds to Impress Yes, it’s true, this comes from a report that revealed the average recruiter checks out a CV for just six seconds before either tossing it or putting it in a pile marked maybe.You need to make sure you get past that first elimination round because it won’t be until after that they start looking at you in more detail. They certainly won’t be reading everything about your career in that first glance. So, what exactly are they looking at?1. PresentationYou need to make sure that your CV is well presented. It should have a unique style without breaking the mold enough that it looks like you don’t know how to format a CV. Make sure that there aren’t too many blank spaces in your style. This suggests that you didn’t have enough information to fill a full resume.2. The PitchevalThe pitch, aim or goal is what you put at the top of a CV. You need to make sure that in two sentences or less you get across exactly what you want and what you can bring to the table. If it’s not inter esting or exciting, you can expect that rejection call to come sooner rather than later.3. Check It TwiceFinally, you need to make sure that there are absolutely no errors anywhere on your CV. It is crucial if you want to look professional, successful and as though you haven’t quickly pieced it together. If you’re interested in which is more important, proofreading or editing in this process, take a look at the infographic below. Infographic Designed By Scribendi Proofreading

My top 10 most popular articles ever - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

My top 10 most popular articles ever - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I started this blog on October 14 2002, almost exactly 10 years ago, and it may have been one of my smartest decisions ever. Not only has blogging taught me to enjoy writing (and led to me writing 3 books) but its also been a great way to spread the message of happiness at work to the world. Since 2002 the blog has had more than 10,000,000 page views from about 7,000,000 unique visitors. My most popular blog post alone, has over 1,000,000 page views. Not bad :o) Its been quite a ride and its still going strong, but heres a short stroll down memory lane with my top 10 most popular articles from the last 10 years. 10: Top 5 reasons why The Customer is Always Right is wrong The phrase ?The customer is always right? was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge?s department store in London in 1909. Ironically it often leads to unhappy employees and bad customer service. Here are the top five reasons why ?The customer is always right? is wrong. 9: Ten seeeeeeriously cool workplaces Physical space matters. It?s easier to be productive, creative and happy at work in a colourful, organic, playful environment than in a grey, linear, boring one. Take a tour of 10 really cool, beautiful workplaces. 8: How NOT to lead geeks The main reason IT people are unhappy at work is bad relations with management, often because geeks and managers have fundamentally different personalities, professional backgrounds and ambitions. See the top 10 mistakes IT managers make. 7: Secret salaries are a baaaaaad idea It?s a golden rule in most businesses that salaries must be kept secret. Except for a few heretics, it is almost universally accepted that mayhem would ensue in the workplace if people knew what their co-workers, their managers or ? gasp ? the CEO was making. Making salaries open inside a company instead seems like a wild idea sure, but it makes a lot of sense and brings advantages for both the workplace and for its people. 6: Top five business maxims that need to go Much well-known business advice is sadly obsolete but can still be found in articles, business books and, not least, in daily use in the workplace. The worst of these old maxims are not only wrong, they?re bad for people and bad for business. Here?s my pick of the top 5 business maxims in serious need of an update ? with a replacement for each. 5: Rewards dont motivate. No, really, they dont. Many people don?t feel motivated at work, and there?s a very simple explanation for this: The motivational techniques used by most managers don?t work. 4: Top ten bad excuses for staying in a job you hate If you?re unhappy at work, I?m sure that the thought ?Man, I really should quit!? crosses your mind occasionally. So why don?t you? Here are 10 of the most common bad excuses for staying in a crappy job. 3: 12 ways to pimp your office I?m not going to claim that a fancy desk or a weird chair is going to magically improve your creativity and productivity ? but I am damn sure, that all that sameness and eternal corporate grayness, does nothing good for your ability to come up with great new ideas. Here are some ways to spruce up a workplace that may actually inject some color and fun into your work environment. 2: Top ten signs youre unhappy at work How do you know that you?re unhappy at work? In my work, I talk to a lot of people who are not happy with their jobs. Here are the top ten symptoms of unhappiness at work that I?ve observed. How many apply to you? 1: Dont let The Cult of Overwork ruin your life I know it?s normal to view people working constant overtime as heroes of the organization. But still I think they would be more efficient and enjoy life more if they cut down their time at work. They may find that they become more open, less stressed, have more fun AND are better role models for their employees. This cult of overwork has got to stop. You can find more popular posts from the blog here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Where Can You Get Help With Resume Writing and Job Placement at Briscoe College?

Where Can You Get Help With Resume Writing and Job Placement at Briscoe College?For professionals who seek to improve their skills or career positions, it is worthwhile to consider the possibilities of an online education in how to make an effective resume. This piece of advice is especially pertinent to those who use resumes for a number of reasons. For example, some people with busy lives want to be able to reach their potential when they apply for a job that requires a great deal of responsibility and even more skill than a typical job.Regardless of the reason that you are considering using resumes, whether it is for one job or for many, it will be necessary to make sure that your resume has the best chance of reaching the person who is going to hire you. There are plenty of ways to do this, and some of them require minimal effort and time. They are called free online classes.A free online course is one of the best ways to improve your resume writing and job placement at Briscoe C ollege. You may be surprised to learn that there are so many classes out there that offer this very valuable service. The bottom line is that finding the right class is not all that difficult. It all boils down to doing a little research.One of the biggest advantages of free online courses is that they are easy to find. No matter where you live, there is bound to be at least one college that offers a course that provides this type of valuable assistance.One of the benefits of enrolling in a free online course is that you will have a set time to work on your resume. You will probably have to adhere to the schedules that are provided for this course. Also, you are likely to be asked to pay a nominal fee for this course. The course usually consists of several lessons that are given online.One of the most important components of a resume is the cover letter. These letters are where the resumes really shine. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with these letters is that it is diff icult to make any changes or improvements. With the help of a free online course, you will be able to alter and make the best changes possible.Another important component of a resume is the background information. In order to stand out from the crowd, it is important to provide relevant information that is relevant to the position you are applying for. Online courses are available that help you create your own resume.The use of a free online course is a good method of improving your resume writing and job placement at Briscoe College. When you enroll in a course that teaches you how to do this effectively, you will be able to focus on the information that is important to your success in life. Using these courses can give you a much higher chance of getting hired for your next position.