Here is some written a few yearsw ago..

Some days, it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You may feel like you will never get anything done. While the occasional overloaded day is one thing, if every day at work feels like you have too much on your plate, then you may need to analyze your workload to determine where you can lighten it up. Many times, a workload analysis will reveal that you are actually spending way too much time doing things that you really do not need to devote a lot of time to.

Here are some tips for analyzing your workload:

Keep a daily timeline
For a week, write down the time increments that you work each day. Chart not only the jobs you planned to do during a period of time, but also the things that you ended up doing, including things that might have distracted you or additional chores that you did during that time. This will help you determine how you are spending your time and show you where there are potential distractions that can be eliminated.
 

Tally the number of times you check your email
Some experts estimate that it takes nearly 20 minutes to recover from the “break” of checking email. If you check once an hour, that is a third of the hour lost – and most people check their email far more frequently. Try to schedule your email checks so that they happen on a regular schedule, and resist the temptation to check in the intervening periods of time.
 

Watch out for social networking
Even if Facebook is part of your job, it can quickly eat away at your day. Social network at the end of your day, not the beginning, and unless you need to check your profile for work, let it slide off the list completely unless you have free time later. Resist the urge to post the cute thing your dog did or the annoying thing your boss did; after all, if you’re posting, then everyone can see that you’re not working!

 

A cover letter – or a cover email – is vital to your success when you apply for a job. Even jobs and employers who claim not to require a cover letter will give you more attention and are more likely to contact you for an actual interview (where you can truly shine and blow them away with your abilities) if your cover letter clearly states what they stand to gain by getting in touch with you.

As electronic communications dominate all aspects of the hiring world to an increasing degree, more and more employers are actually admitting that in many cases, they do not even read applicant’s resumes in the initial round if the potential employee has a good cover letter. So not only will a good cover letter get you through the door, but it can also help your future employer start out with a good feeling about you (not only because you’re great, but because you saved them time and hassle before they even brought you on).

To achieve this type of cover letter, the traditional “form letter” in which you describe your achievements and maybe fill in a few blanks for the title of the job and the employer’s name will not cut it. Your cover letter needs to be targeted directly at your potential employer, showing him or her exactly how you will fit the bill. Now, this can mean rewriting a cover letter over from scratch, but do not be alarmed. Worst-case scenario, you spend an hour in order to dramatically up your odds of getting the job you want. However, in most cases, you can still use the best parts of old cover letters as long as you clearly involve the new employer in the letter.

A targeted cover letter still shows exactly why you are the best. It should give a good summary of your history and your accomplishments. However, as soon as you are done with that history, draw a clear line for your future employer from your job history to their new job. For example, if you were applying for a job as a PR consultant for an internet marketer, but your background is largely in technical writing, then you might, for example, need to say clearly to your reader, “My background in technical writing will enable me to promote your company to potential clients in a way that not only shows them how they can benefit from your products and services, but also makes it clear that you are with them every step of the way.” While this type of thing may seem obvious to you, you cannot rely on your reader to see everything that you see. Spelling out how you will benefit a company in unique ways is critical to targeted cover letters and to getting the jobs and attention from employers that you want and deserve.

 

If you have ever seen the movie Mean Girls, then you have heard the term “word vomit.” In the movie, the teen heroine uses the term to describe what happens when she spills the beans about her manipulative actions in trying to get a guy to like her to said guy. She talks about how she knows she should stop talking, but she just can’t. Not surprisingly, the guy is disgusted by all the information and takes off.

Some of us have a word vomit problem at the office. This can be a severe professional handicap since people who talk too much are generally perceived as not capable of maintaining company discretion and may also be looked at as gossips. Here are some tips on how to know when to stop talking so that you do not develop a word vomit habit of your own:

1. Evaluate your information’s value
   If you are not contributing to a positive atmosphere or conveying business-related information, then think twice about talking. It may be that your information does not actually need to be disseminated.
    
2. Eliminate negative personal observations
   There is no reason to make public your personal opinion about another individual unless you are praising their efforts. All negativity does is make you look bad and hurt other people’s feelings. It also can hurt your credibility because people may perceive you as a gossip and be less likely to trust you.
    
3. Don’t air your dirty laundry
   At some point in your professional career, you are likely to have an issue with someone that you work with. Don’t tell people about it! Not only will they get sick of hearing it, but they may actually think you are requiring them to get involved. This can create all sorts of unnecessary “office drama” that you will be better off without.

Your ability to keep your tongue in check will prove valuable to you personally and professionally. Don’t be a victim of “word vomit!”

 

You probably have noticed that you tend to “slow down” after lunch, but did you know that most people get the majority of the work that they are going to accomplish in a day done before they head out for their lunch break? If you work at home, then this lunch-pitfall can be an even bigger issue since you may not have a set lunch break or may have a variety of other factors that interrupt your morning work time so that your productivity levels are even further lowered.

Fortunately, the after-lunch lag is not inevitable; it’s a habit. And habits can be broken. Here are some ways to get the most out of your mornings, then keep on getting results all afternoon if you wish or need to do so:

Get right to work
Whether you stumble out of bed and straight to your computer or drive into work, once you arrive you need to be on task. This gives you more morning hours and lowers the likelihood of distraction. This means that while you need to be pleasant to co-workers, you need to avoid the morning coffee-room chatter and any more than a basic exchange with adjacent colleagues.
 

Set up a routine
A routine that helps you get started in the morning can be used after lunch – or after other interruptions – to jump-start you back into productivity. If you are at home (or you have a private office) then stretching is one of the best ways to focus and relax. Five to ten minutes of stretching is a great way to limber up and focus on your mind on the tasks ahead of you. Do it in the morning before you sit down to work, then repeat the exercises after lunch. As you continue this habit, your body and mind will begin to respond to the stretching by being ready and open for work once you finish the stretches. This will enable you to use your stretching routine any time you start to feel fuzzy, lazy or lose focus.
 

Keep your electronic communications limited
Each time you check your email, that is an interruption. Keep the window closed except for certain times during the day that you designate to check and respond to emails. Like it or not, most employees multitask (even if they do not mean to and do not realize it) by checking email, IMing, Facebooking or reading news feeds throughout the day while they are working. Keeping these windows closed except for designated times will dramatically up your productivity level immediately. And if you need to always be accessible by email, that is fine. Just check it every 15 minutes. Even giving yourself 15 minutes where that little “mail” icon is not popping up to let you know that you have made contact will dramatically increase your focus during that 15 minutes.

One of the biggest advantages that you can give yourself in both your personal life and your professional life is positivity. You probably know someone who is always positive. They may appear to waltz through life without ever encountering any problems. You may even be jealous of them because things always seem to “go their way.” Even when things are bad, these people tend to find a solution and remain upbeat throughout the process.

So do you have to be born with that kind of energy to be that kind of person? Absolutely not. While some people are born with naturally sunny dispositions, most people who use the power of positive thinking to their advantage have done at least a little self-training in the past to help them stay positive in the face of adversity. You, too, can develop habits to help you remain positive and think good, creative thoughts when you would rather be banging your head against a wall so that your every action is pro-active and positive, netting you a positive outcome even in the worst situations.

One of the easiest types of training that you can do when it comes to cultivating a positive outlook is to practice the art of the compliment. This does not mean that you have to walk around telling everyone you like their ugly shirt or their tacky hat, but it does involve silencing some of your inner criticisms to help you look for something positive.

For example, if you have someone on your team that is chronically late, instead of berating them for their tardiness, try to turn it to your advantage. Find out if you can help. This will usually result in your getting an explanation for the tardiness. Based on this explanation, you can turn the tables on the person, who is probably feeling defensive because technically they know that they are not supposed to be late, and get the result you want: their on-time arrival.

For example, if the person explains that they are late because they never have time to prepare ahead of time, compliment them on how much they do each day for the company or the project. Then offer to send out notes the night before so that they can just grab them and go without having to develop their own outline. By complimenting and then offering a positive, thoughtful solution, you have placed the person in a position where they will feel that they really should try harder to arrive on time because you are putting effort into helping them achieve that goal.

 

One of the best and easiest ways to simultaneously improve your job qualifications, make yourself more marketable and boost your professional reputation with your employer is to cultivate a basic, directed thirst for knowledge.
 

You can add to your knowledge base in a variety of ways:
 

• Read
Look online for free resources that will give you an idea about the options out there for organizing and communicating online. Check out advertising and promotional options and strategies as well, since many internet marketers use one or more way to help keep themselves informed. There are many tips and tricks out there that can quickly render you invaluable. For example, you might be able to suggest a way for your employer to get more emails through to people with Yahoo! accounts. Even if he or she does not end up using the tip, it adds to your knowledge base and shows that you are actively focused on helping out the company.  Linkedin, Twitter and other social media platforms can keep you up to date on a wide variety of topics just by browsing groups and a few key hashtags.

• Direct your research
Look at the things that your employer is trying to accomplish, then research in these areas. For example, while reading about giraffes may be fun and add to your knowledge base, an exhaustive repertoire of giraffe facts will not do much for your professional reputation if your field is engineering. However, do try to streamline your research efforts along the lines of things that you find interesting so that you will enjoy the work.

• Keep up with the news in your arena
A daily news feed is easy to sign up for can help keep you abreast of things important to your job and your employer. Simply having a passing acquaintance with daily events will show your employer that you are aware and concerned about your position and your company’s position in the marketplace.