5 Easy Ways You Can Avoid Job Burnout

5 Easy Ways You Can Avoid Job Burnout What are some signs job burnout is sneaking up behind you? They might not be what you’d expect†¦ and they may not even happen at work. If you’re sleeping more than usual on weekends, feeling extra distracted or forgetful when it comes to everyday tasks, snapping at family and friends, or fantasizing about ditching your life for a quiet beach somewhere, you might be coming close to your breaking point at work. After all, you probably spend most of your week in the workplace; it makes sense that any pressure you feel would start bleeding into other parts of your life as well. Once you’ve realized that you’re in the danger zone, there are small actions you can take before you explode.1. Put your calendar on a diet.Are you booked solid for the next five work days, breakfast to dinner? Are all of those meetings or appointments truly essential this week? Look at your work calendar for the next month. Try to find obligations you can move out a week or two, o r even skip altogether. Whenever possible, slip in some blocks of time for yourself, even if it’s just an hour or two to clear your head and work on specific projects without interruption. When someone sends you a new meeting invite, ask yourself, â€Å"Is this really necessary? Could a quick phone call or email resolve this instead?†2. Restructure your to-do list.Time to take a hard look at what you do every day. How many of those tasks are absolutely necessary? How many are directly related to your work goals? What would happen if you changed some weekly tasks to every two weeks? Try to create some flexibility for yourself so that you have time for absolutely essential tasks.It’s okay to say no to new requests and meetings if they would push you over the edge. Negotiate with your colleagues as necessary: â€Å"I don’t have the bandwidth to handle this on Monday, but how about we revisit this on Thursday afternoon?†3. Speak up.Be honest with your manager if you’re feeling crunched. Maybe he or she can help you come up with a game plan for easing your immediate workload or help you prioritize tasks. It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help- it’s a sign that you’re seizing control of your work life and reorganizing before things start to slip too much. It’s so much better to stop and honestly re-evaluate early on, before deadlines have been missed or you’ve put in much less effort than you should have.]4. Treat Yourself.Maybe don’t run out and buy that gold Rolex (unless your budget allows for that, in which case go for it), but find small ways to reward yourself and distract your brain from what’s been going on at work. Have you been meaning to see that new movie before it leaves theaters? Take a night off and go†¦ and don’t forget the popcorn. Feel three weeks of tension and poor sleep building up in your shoulders? Get a massage or take that yoga class y ou’ve been skipping because you’re so busy.via [giphy.com]It doesn’t have to be a physical or costly treat- it can be as simple as scheduling time with family or friends to decompress. Laughter may not beat antibiotics when it comes to medicine, but it can work wonders for a frazzled state of mind.5. Get out of town.It can be so easy to get caught in the cycle of not taking vacation or personal days because things are too busy at work. In that mindset you may feel like you need to be there to get everything done, and then you can’t leave until the timing is right.Sad secret: the timing will probably never be perfect. In most jobs, there’s never going to be a magic lull where everything will stand still for a few days. So pick a time to take off, and commit to it. Figure out what you can reschedule while you’re out, and work with your colleagues to get coverage for the things you can’t budge. Then flee to that beach/cabin/backyard loun ge chair- and instead of running away permanently, come back refreshed and ready to start over.I promise you that your workplace will survive without you during your brief absence, and your coworkers be jazzed to have a renewed, enthusiastic colleague back on Monday morning.Some TLC is absolutely essential to keeping your work self sane and engaged. If you let stress get the best of you, you run the risk of damaging your professional life and even your personal life. It’s just not worth the risk, when you can take small (but effective!) steps to stop overwhelm before it happens.

Acing your behavioral job interview

Acing your behavioral job interview If you’ve been on the job hunt for a while, you’ve probably been exposed to a wide variety of interview styles and scenarios, all designed to try and get the most accurate reflection of what you’d be like as a potential employee and gauge your value if hired. And chances are you’ve been exposed to- in one form or another- a type of approach known as the behavioral interview. So, what exactly is a behavioral interview, and how does it differ from other types of interviewing approaches? True to its name, a behavioral interview aims to find out how you responded to different types of work situations in the past. Instead of asking you about yourself, interviewers will ask how you tackled specific scenarios, both stressful and not. The point is to see if your personality and skillset within a work environment matches who they hope to hire for their open position.The truth is, a behavioral interview will look and feel much like any other traditional interview yo u’ve been on, with the key difference being the types of questions you’ll be asked during the process.A recent post on The Balance highlights some of the typical questions you might encounter while on a behavioral interview:â€Å"Behavioral interview questions will be more pointed, more probing and more specific than traditional interview questions:Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.Describe a decision you made that was unpopular and how you handled implementing it.Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? If so, how?What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle it.Have you had to convince a team to work on a project they weren’t thrilled about? How did you do it?Have you handled a difficult situation with a co-worker? How?Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure.Follow-up questions will also be det ailed. You may be asked what you did, what you said, how you reacted or how you felt during the situation you shared with the hiring manager.†So, now that you have a good handle on what a behavioral interview is and how to recognize when you’re in the middle of one, what’s the best way to approach and handle it?The first step is to realize that you won’t know when you’re on a behavioral interview until you’re in the middle of one- unless you can predict the future, you won’t be alerted in advance to the types of questions you’ll be asked. Therefore, when prepping for an interview you should prep for every possible scenario, question, and contingency.That said, there are some proven strategies for effectively tackling behavioral questions and setting yourself up for a successful interview. Consider the following tips to make a strong and lasting impression on your next interview.Do your homework.When preparing for an interview- w hether behavioral or traditional or something else altogether- make sure you thoroughly research the company and job description provided and search for helpful cues regarding things the company may value and the attributes they are likely looking for in an ideal candidate. Try and get a good sense of what the company’s culture and mission is- all of these elements will help you gauge what sorts of questions you might encounter and the sorts of answers hiring managers and company representatives will likely be looking for.What types of problems normally come up in the industry you hope to join? How have you handled situations in the past in an impressive way in order to tackle these problems? How do your actions and reactions to work issues in the past show that you are well-suited for the open position? Have these answers ready to go.Be prepared to tell your story.When you’re in a behavioral interview, be prepared to â€Å"tell your story†- these should be hone st and favorable expressions of how past experiences in your life have shaped your ways of thinking and modes of behavior, making you the capable and effective professional you are today. According to Ladders, your stories should be specific, and should always include the following three parts: a description of a specific, real-life situation or challenge you encountered, a description of the specific tasks and actions you took to overcome that challenge, and a  summary of the results of those actions.If handled correctly, including stories in your responses that demonstrate instances of how you successfully solved problems or displayed exemplary behavior will always make you look good.Address past behaviors in an orderly way.The Balance advocates using the following four-step technique for answering questions about past behaviors at work, which they refer to as the STAR interview response technique:Situation.  Describe the situation or set the scene. Explain the place you were working for or the task you were given. Paint a clear picture of what went on so you can then elaborate on how your stellar skills saved the day.Task.  Describe the issue or problem you were confronted with. Make this as clear as possible- don’t get too bogged down in details. Prepare 1-2 sentences to explain the task at hand.Action.  Describe the action you took to intervene in the situation or solve the problem. This should introduce the key asset you would like to illustrate. Here is where you pull key words from the job posting. What skills are the hiring manager looking for? How you can demonstrate that you possess those skills in your answer?Results.  Describe the results  your action generated. Explain how you helped solve the problem or improve the company in some way.Okay job hunters, take advantage of the strategies and tips provided here and you’ll be ready to handle even the toughest behavioral interview that you might come across. The key, as it is most of the time with interviews, is to enter prepared and confident. Now that you know what to expect, start prepping!