The World of Work

Farewell to My Taurus Yesterday was rather an emotional day for me. I had to say goodbye to my old friend Roswell . I mean Roswell in the sense of my car. About 10 years ago I named my 1997 white Ford Taurus, Roswell . I found the name Roswell rather fitting for this car considering it resembles a spaceship. I was in love with this car from the first time I saw it in the parking lot. Fortunately, I was successful in talking my wife into buying it. Our first year with Roswell however, was a rather rocky one. It its first year under our ownership, Roswell must've spent 40% of its time in the mechanic’s garage. I was almost on the point of giving up on Roswell and getting rid of it. Fortunately, after its first turbulent year, Roswell began to settle down. From then on it and it was a really good car. I love the power of its engine and its smoothness in handling. The cool appearance of the car was what first attracted me to it. However, all good things must come to an end. Abou...

Faulty Perception I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. While we have a job and diligently try to do our best work day in and day out we come to think of ourselves as indispensable to our organizations. We go to work even when we’re sick because we don’t want to let the team down. We stay past our regular hours to help out a co-worker, We work overtime and don’t charge the organization for it. We think that because we do these things there should be little chance of us losing our jobs. Then things start to change. The company wants to go in a different direction. They want to cut costs in every possible way available to them. So you wake up one morning and realize that you don’t have to go about your usual routines to get ready for work. You no longer have a job. The organization has been a good part of your life for as long as you can remember. To add insult to injury it is not long before anyone even remembers you. Time moves on. You now know that you have to reinvent yourself. ...

Recovery From Depression In my experience I have found that depression is a condition that cannot be cured but can be managed. I will now list some of the things that I have found help full in maintaining my recovery. 1 getting enough sleep. 2 eating a healthy diet 3 getting regular exercise 4 trying to moderate stress levels 5 trying to find work situations that are not excessively stressful 6 having a counselor to discuss your issues with 7 having a relaxed attitude towards life 8 getting in lots of leisure time 9 trying not to put a lot of pressure on yourself 10 trying to get along with others as best I can 11 having plenty of time to do the things I like to do 12 trying not to rush when working on a project 13 having faith in a Higher Power that is looking after me at all times 14 having pets 15 recognizing my limitations

Living With Depression If anyone finds that they have a significant number of the symptoms I wrote about my advice from one who has been there is to get help. As debilitating as the disease of depression can be, it is treatable in most cases. You do not need to continue suffering on your own. My experience is that few if any actually beat this illness solely on their own efforts. Some form of assistance is usually needed and this is nothing to feel bad about. I have read and heard some say that suffering is good for the soul, but I for the life of me cannot see what it is good for. There probably is only one exception. After you have suffered you can relate to what others are going through. All the same the idea is to stop the suffering. If you have all or most of the symptoms listed in my previous post you should make an appointment with your family doctor. He or she will be able to advise you if you tell them about your symptoms. Medication can be very helpful when it comes to tre...

Preparing for Retirement I was inspired to write this column by a fellow blogger. This blogger is looking for suggestions as to what he should do during his retirement years. One's retirement years can potentially be the best years of your life. First thing you are going to need is enough money to be comfortable. You will also need enough money for your hobbies. If you constantly have to worry about money it will be difficult to enjoy your retirement. If this is an issue you may have to look for part time work on temporary work. It will be good if you could still have approximately half the week for your leisure activities. I would also recommend getting a job that will not be very stressful. Retirement is to be enjoyed and is to be as stress-free as possible. The next thing you are going to need for a successful retirement is good health. If you have been taking care of yourself right up to retirement hopefully this will not be much of a problem. If you have health issues you m...

The Symptoms of Depression Depression is the common cold of mental illness. It can be very debilitating and one may never know that they suffer with this condition. Here are some of the symptoms of this mood disorder: 1)       a persistent feeling of sadness that you can’t seem to shake. 2)       Having trouble sleeping on most nights. 3)       Finding that you are sleeping excessively but do not wake up feeling rested. 4)       Having trouble concentrating and remembering details. 5)       Having very low energy. Feeling exhausted for a good portion of your day. 6)       Thinking excessively pessimistic thoughts about the future. 7)       Often thinking, “What’s the Use?” 8)       Finding your work to be drudgery even if you recall enjoying it in the past. 9)     ...

Leadership I have recently been reading and listening to The Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill. On one of his CD disks Mr. Hill talks about the key qualities of a great leader. The world will always need great leaders and there are never enough of them around. If you have been working for any length of time you have probably worked for some bad supervisors, good supervisors, average supervisors and downright bad supervisors. The scary part is how much power these managers have over those employees that they supervise. Many who are promoted to the level of manager or supervisor are not leaders. They may know how to boss people around and how to send in the correct paperwork to their superiors. They may hold their positions for many years but once again they are not leaders. Their department’s performance may be adequate or satisfactory but it will rarely be great. A leader has the ability to create a positive, enthusiastic working environment for their employees. Some supervisors are s...

What Is Success? This week I have started reading a book titled The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill. I have also been listening to the audio book version. As I get older I find that my eyes get tired more easily. For this reason audio books have been a Godsend for me. This book started me thinking about how one may define success. The answer to this question will vary depending on the individual. What follows is some of the things that I would include in my perception of the concept of success: 1)       Enough money to live comfortably and to be able to afford a few luxuries. 2)       Being able to live at peace with one self. 3)       Being in optimum physical and mental health. 4)       The ability to calmly and reasonably deal with adversity. 5)       Having people in your life who love you. 6)       Having a close and peaceful relati...

Depression has been called the common cold of mental illness. This speaks of how prevalent this medical condition is in our general population. I have noticed some parallels between the common cold and influenza and a major depressive disorder. I have experienced a bout of depression making itself manifest in much the same way as a virus that is attacking your body. You may wake up one morning and notice that you don’t quite feel yourself. You feel tired with no apparent reason. Your thinking may be foggy. You feel down and aren’t sure why. You may feel irritable and don’t want people talking to you. You just want to be left alone. If you have a bunch of responsibilities that you need to carry out that day you don’t know where you’re going to find the energy to do them. You may also notice that your body hurts. You may experience aches and pains throughout your body. Theses are some of the common symptoms of a major depressive disorder. (to be continued).

Why Do People Get Crazy When They Go to Work? Most people seem to undergo some kind of strange and sometimes evil metamorphosis when they leave their homes and enter their workplace. Your life at home and you life at work are often like living in two alternate universes. Your home situation may be calm and peaceful or it may be very stressful.   However, once you enter the workplace it is often highly stressful but produces a totally different form of stress to what you experience at home. Every work site contains both common work viruses and viruses that are unique to that particular setting.

The World of Work: An Introduction to the World of Work : "Being semi retired during the last few months I have had some time to ponder the world of work as it compares to the state of retirement. Af..."

Being semi retired during the last few months I have had some time to ponder the world of work as it compares to the state of retirement. After I short while the most obvious observation that I made was that retirement is great. I have great difficulty understanding people who say that if they were retired they would be bored. Broke,yes; bored, not a chance. One of the major disadvantages of working is that it takes up so much of your time and energy. This fact may not seem so obvious if you are still in your twenties and thirties and you still have plenty of energy left after putting in your eight to ten hours per day at the salt mine. Once you hit your fifties and beyond, however, energy is now at a premium and you start to realize that time is not on your side no matter what the Rolling Stones may try to tell you.