Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Ann Wilkinson

 

The news is grim these days.  It’s not pleasant to watch under normal circumstances, but during most of last year it became harder and harder to watch the news without taking it all to heart.

 

Many of us are just plain scared that our jobs won’t last much longer.  Corporate America is wrecking havoc with our psyche in general as they make the permanent mistake to lay off their employees – a one-time only cost savings at the very best.  It’s increasingly difficult to maintain a positive attitude when you witness friends and family and co-workers lose their jobs.  And those who are left at their jobs now have to work harder rather than smarter.  Morale is low and advice to work harder rather than smarter seems like a slap in the face.

 

So what can we do? 

 

How can we stay positive in this current economic climate?  We have probably not seen the bottom of this disgraceful disaster yet, and recovery will most likely be incremental.

 

I don’t pretend to have the answers.  However in thinking about the entire situation on a macro level and how it relates to each of us personally, I’ve come up with a six of ideas that may begin a constructive dialogue for positive change. 

 

This very short list of suggestions is an invitation for you to give some input and some ideas of your own.  There is power in collective thinking – look how we’ve already begun the impetus for change in the USA with the newly-arriving Presidential administration – we’ve got so much to give to each other.

 

One:    Use Your Time to YOUR Advantage.  You may be grateful to just have a job right now, but this may also be your time to think about and make plans to create the career you’ve always wanted.  Many companies are having their employees work fewer hours for less pay.  If you are in this forced situation, you could use this time to work on the job of your dreams. 

 

This is the time to network, to research the job you have always wanted, and the time to find an apprenticeship or internship in your desired industry.

 

Take a long and hard look at your finances.  Can your financial situation allow you to volunteer to work fewer hours in order to keep your job while you use that time constructively to achieve your career goals?

 

Two:    Keep Track of What You Accomplish.  It may be impossible to work smarter when you’ve been forced to take on the responsibilities and job descriptions of others.  The reality is that you are working so much harder than ever before, and it’s just plain exhausting.  You are only one person, and there are only so many hours in the day. 

 

Instead of making to-do lists that you just cannot fulfill and only serve to discourage you, keep a log of exactly everything you are able to accomplish.  Call it your “done list” and keep a pad next to your keyboard and write down every task you accomplish - every message you write, every phone call you make, every problem you solve.  This may seem like a huge time-suck, but it will get easier as the days go on.  Not only does this boost your sense of accomplishment, you are also creating a vehicle to prove how important you are at your workplace.

 

Three: Tackle the Miserable First.  As you undertake your workday, do the task you hate the most FIRST.  If you can, work on it for five minutes only, but do it for five minutes every day or for five minutes of every hour until the job is done.  We can do anything for five minutes, anything that doesn’t involve oxygen deprivation or searing flames, that is.  Do it first thing, when you are freshest and before all the days’ distractions get in the way.  Before you know it, that nasty task is done, and you can breathe a bit easier.  It’s over, and that feeling can be very powerful.

 

Four:   Look Your Best to Feel Your Best.  This may sound completely crazy right now, but if you take an extra moment to make yourself look your very best every morning, you will go a long way toward feeling generally better about yourself and about your job.  Plan what you are going to wear to work the night before.  Press your shirt to make it look extra fresh and crisp.  Fix the hem of your dress and remove the staples or tape that normally holds you together.  Take a bit of extra time as you put on your makeup.  Clean and polish your boots.  Tighten the buttons on your coat.  This may seem insignificant, but it isn’t at all.  We perform better when we look as good as we can, and scientific studies back this up. 

 

Five:    Giving to Others.  You can usually break your own bad-mood cycle by simply being of service to others.  Guess what?  Everyone is struggling.  Everyone is worried.  You do not have the market on those feelings of gloom and doom.  So do something nice for someone else.  It doesn’t have to be big, and it doesn’t have to be one of those random kindnesses, either.  Do something simple – give someone a genuine compliment, go out of your way to hold a door open for a delivery-person, make dinner for your tired partner.  Just do something that extends beyond your own self.  You will feel a difference.  Promise.

 

Six:      Turn Off the TV News.  That’s right – just don’t watch it.  The news channels exist to sell advertising space, and they do not have your best interests at heart when they repeat the same stories over and over again, and hype the story of their choice to grab your attention.  Those news channels function to satisfy their advertisers, and their only goal is to garner your attention with tantalizing and sensational headlines.  For the sake of your sanity, please just don’t watch.  You will inevitably find out what’s really important anyway.

 

What ideas do you have?  Maybe in thinking outside the box, you will come up with some excellent ideas and start the cycle of positivity rolling again.  Let us know!

 

“We must nurture our dreams like we would a child.  They are God-given and just as precious.  Without ambition how would a child learn to ride a bicycle, play an instrument or whistle?  We deny the spirit of God when we as adults settle for less than our dreams!”

-Conway Stone

 

“If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.”

-Hal Borland

 

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