Nine things youll understand if youve ever had a workplace crush

Nine things you’ll understand if you’ve ever had a workplace crush by Amber Rolfe Ah, the inevitable workplace crush… The awkward small talk. The glancing lovingly into their eyes at every opportunity. The unreciprocated love reminiscent of a 1990s rom-com. Chances are, you’ve experienced at least one of these things at some point in your working life.To help you relate (and to reassure you that you’re not alone), here are nine things you’ll understand if you’ve ever had a crush at work:You find excuses to be near them You definitely need a stapler right now. No, the one a metre away won’t do. It must be the red one, directly opposite said crush’s desk. That one totally staples better anyway.Once you’ve justified the logic of walking up three sets of stairs, you’ll wave enthusiastically, say hello, and awkwardly fumble whilst leaning against the wall (in some vague attempt to look cool).It does not look cool.  You’ll do anything to make after-work-drinks happen Ideally with them. And only with them. But of course, you’l l have to invite the entire office for it to not seem shamelessly obvious.Then the day will come, they’ll bail last minute, and you’ll be stuck at the pub talking to Sharon from office management about whether or not she should change paper suppliers. In. Your. Best. Outfit.You find menial work-based tasks mildly terrifying That team meeting. The weekly presentation. Just making a cup of tea. No matter what it is, if it’s in close proximity of your crush, clumsiness (and/or a failed attempt at flirting) will ensue.‘Yeah so, how about that tea, huh? It’s umm…really refreshing, isn’t it? Oh no, I dropped the spoon. LOL. Oh, there’s hot water everywhere. Hahaha it’s OK, I’m fine. Just your run-of-the-mill third degree burns. OK, bye.’  You analyse their every move Yesterday, they smiled at you. That probably means they’ve fallen hopelessly in love with you, right? And, just the other day, they tapped your arm. OK, so maybe they were just trying to get past. But what if they weren’t?You then give your friends a step-by-step play of every moment in the hope that they’ll reassure you that all of these signs are in fact an indication of love and not just general politeness. Yep, it’s final. You will wed in the spring.You become the world’s worst detective Are they married? Do they have a partner? Are they ‘it’s complicated’? You need to know.You can’t ask, obviously. Instead, you search the depths of social media whilst also trying your best to give them every opportunity to talk about their significant other (see also: break your heart).‘So that festival you’re going to, is that with friends, or…?’  You’re glued to your email/IM/work-based messaging service all day The weather, office news, or you know, literally anything, becomes an opportunity to extend the conversation electronically.‘Could that meeting have been any longer? That rain really is coming down out there. Did you see the new kettle?’You’re pretty sure this is classed as work. You NEED to send that GIF. On four separate occasions throughout the day. You peer over your screen and see them giggling. Yes, you think. This is it. The moment you develop inside jokes GIFs is the moment you both realise you’re made for each other.You laugh at everything they say It could be that you genuinely find them funny, or it could be that you just really want them to notice your existence. And what better way than to exhibit your loveable, and somewhat irritating, cackle 17 times a day? In the end, you do it so much that it happens when they aren’t even joking.Crush: “I’m just gonna make a drink, does anyone want anythi…”You: “AHAHAHAHA, good one. You. Are. Hilarious.”  You actually care about your appearance That mildly dishevelled ‘rolled out of bed look’ won’t cut it anymore â€" not if you want to get noticed by you-know-who. You actually have to try.So not only do you have to get up at an ungodly hour, you also have to endure and overcome a minor panic about what to wear. The blue t-shirt? The black shoes? Do they even like blue?You pause and make a mental note of another topic to discuss over your inevitably pointless daily IM chat.  You worry about them leaving at least once a day Everyone gets a new job eventually, but it obviously won’t be your crush. At least not before you’ve carefully crafted a plan to make them realise you are in fact a very cool person (which may or may not be true).And even if it is them whos next in line to send an awkward goodbye email â€" that’s fine. You’ll definitely keep in touch. Whether its email, phone, fax, carrier pigeoneveryone sticks to their word, right?right?Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our se rvice and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Features Life At Work

Top Five Anti Aging Facial Treatments

Top Five Anti Aging Facial Treatments As we age, fine lines, dark circles and wrinkles start appearing and makes our face look dull. However, there are some really effective treatments which can make our face look young once again. The top five anti aging facial treatments are: Vitamin C Facial: Vitamin C is extremely important for our skin. It protects us from the harmful UV rays. Long term exposure to Ultra Violet rays can result in serious diseases, like skin cancer. The antioxidants present inside Vitamin C makes sure that the UV rays does not cause any damage to our skin. Vitamin C also improves our skin elasticity. It helps us in the fast recovery from damaged tissues or wounds. Apart from that, Vitamin C also produces collagen which improves our skin texture. It makes sure that the blood vessels in our skin are getting sufficient amount of nutrients, so that our skin stays healthy. Hence, Vitamin C Facial is extremely effective for our skin. It protects our skin from discoloration and redness and also fights the signs of ageing. Not many people know this, but Vitamin C is actually most effective wrinkle treatment on the market, other than sunscreen and Botox. The problem is that creams and lotions can’t have a high Vitamin C content as it oxidises too quickly. The facial is the perfect answer for this problem. Microdermabrasion: This is one of the most popular and effective skin treatment. Especially, if you spend a lot of time outdoors, then you need it even more. It can give you a glowing skin. With the help of micro crystals, this process will get rid of the dead skin cells from your skin. As a result, your skin will appear more smooth and healthy, and will also produce more collagen. The best thing about Microdermabrasion, is that you will get instant results. The moment you walk out of the clinic, your skin will feel better. The process is also very quick. It will get over in an hour and it is also painless. The girls at Espa Beauty recommend pairing microdermabrasion with a slight peel and then a thorough moisturising treatment, to get the best results. Chemical Peel Treatments: As you age, because of the accumulation of dead skin cells, the pores will get blocked which will make your skin look dull. However, chemical peel treatment can have a drastic effect on your skin. It will get rid of all the wrinkles and spots, and will make your skin look much more young. In the beginning of this treatment, a non toxic and completely safe chemical solution will be applied to your skin. It will get rid of the top layers of your skin, and will also help in new cell growth. Thermage: It is a skin lightening treatment. It will lighten your dark spots, sun spots and will also get rid of your wrinkles. It will make your skin look much more fresh and young. Apart from that, it is also just a one time treatment. You dont have to keep on visiting the clinic. It will also not interfere with your schedule in any way. After this treatment, you can directly go back to work. Injectable fillers: It is also a very effective treatment. The injection will soften your wrinkles and will improve your facial features. You will get immediate results after this treatment. It is also a very quick procedure. There might be a very minor swelling at the site of the injection, but it will be gone in a few hours. Images:  Main       Before After

Warning Im promoting my friends book

Warning Im promoting my friends book This is another post about a book. Two days in a row. But before you get all giddy and think you should send your book to me so Ill write about it, forget it. First of all, I get five to ten books every week. And I throw most of them away. Second, honestly, for the most part, you have to be my friend for me to write a whole post about your book. Sure, there are exceptions. For example, Tim Ferriss is not my friend but I wrote about his book anyway. But the exceptions are mostly for academic books with research that blew me away. So stop thinking that I am going to write about your book if you simply send it to me. But really, if you want to promote a book, the best thing to do is make a lot of friends before the book comes out. Just like you dont want to wait to build a job search network until you need a job, you dont want to build a book promotion network when you need press. So, Ramit has put up with a lot from me, including me being an hour late to have coffee with him. More than once. He has earned a post. Also, hes earned it because hes an incredibly hard worker when it comes to promotion. The other person I know who works this hard is Tim Ferriss, but Tim tells you that he doesnt. Ramit admits to hard work, so I like him better. And Ramit tells me all the stuff he is doing, like convincing people to listen to MP3s where he is selling stuff, which I told him I would never link to on my blog because Id feel like a used car salesman, but still I admire how many avenues Ramit will travel to sell stuff. I am not a great seller. Which you can tell on my blog, actually. I mean, I have a company and no one even knows what it does. I could be selling the shit out of it on this blog, but instead, I am writing about requiring my dates to bake cookies with me. Ramit does not have posts about having sex in his apartment. But he does have posts about his friends trying to get laid and I enjoy that. So I told Ramit that while I am sure that he is the direct-mail genius of Web 2.0, I cannot help without having to go to a mikvah afterward. And since I dont do mikvah, I cant do all his upsell, upsell, upsell stuff. He replied, How about a free plane ticket? But not for me. And that is why I love Ramit. So Ramit wants you to buy the book. Im pretty sure he wants you to buy it today. Because Ramit is a Svengali of Amazon ranking and somehow Ramits book was number one on Amazon yesterday. And if you buy the book, you can send him the receipt and you might win a plane ticket. Heres how: If you order the book and email your receipt to penelope@iwillteachyoutoberich.com within the next 48 hours, you will be entered to win a free plane ticket to anywhere in the US. If I write a crappy enough post about the booklike this one, where I manage to write about the book but never tell you one little thing about itthen maybe no one but you will send a receipt and then youll win. So before you leave a comment complaining that this is just about Ramit and me and Ramit making money, remember that the plane ticket is all about you. But I do want to say something about his book. I am very bad with finances. I have known this for a while but recently, two things have really bothered me. First, I read that ENTJs are very good with finances, so this makes me think that I am underperforming there. Second, I noticed that every guy I date is amazed at how much money I have coming in (a lot) and how much I have going out (more than a lot) and how crappy a car I drive. (Actually, its not just the car, its the consistently odd choices, like no living room furniture because it costs too much.) The first thing I tell those guys is to shut up. And then I tell them that they dont understand because my financial issues are different than everyone elses. But you know what? I dont believe that. I dont believe peoples problems are special. Still, I wasnt making much headway until Ramits book came. The book is geared toward people in their 20s who still have a lot to learn and Ramit is teaching them (hence the title: I Will Teach You to Be Rich), but I am not in my 20s and I learned a lot anyway. I always have a book in the kitchen that I read to distract myself from two young boys who are always turning harmless stuff into guns and killing each other. So for the past couple of months, while my kids have been shooting each other, I have been reading Ramits book, one or two pages at a time. And what it did was make me realize that there are tons of small things I can do to make big improvements. And also, knowing what to do feels empowering, even if I still have a financial mess on my hands. I actually think this is the way career advice works as well. First, you need to know your problems are not unique. Then you need to know what people do to solve those common problems. The action of actually making change is the last step, but the first two are harder.

Should You Read this Later When Procrastination is Good - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Should You Read this Later When Procrastination is Good - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career There’s a National Association for just about anything you can think of including The Procrastination Association. As they say on their website, ‘Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after. If it weren’t for the last-minute, nothing would ever get done. Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off NOW.’   We all seem to have an opinion about procrastination and usually that it’s harmful. The truth is that there are times when procrastinating wreaks havoc in our lives and then there are other times when delaying some actions and decisions may be appropriate and even beneficial. Dan Ariely, behavioral economist, professor and best-selling author of The Upside of Irrationality, talks about the problem of procrastinating. Ariely maintains it would be good to procrastinate less when it comes to saving more and consuming less, having regular health check-ups, resisting the temptation to indulge in unhealthy foods, and putting off regular exercise. He offers a strategy to stop your procrastination suggesting you pair something you love with something that’s good for you but that you dislike. This results in developing a positive association with doing something that you prefer putting off but that’s good for you. Having a new positive association with the distasteful activity could cause you to stop procrastinating. Although many times procrastinating can hurt your reputation and your business, there are times when holding off could prevent you from making a huge mistake? For instance, growing your business too quickly before there’s enough demand for your product or service, choosing a business partner based on outside pressure or without knowing that person well, engaging in a questionable business deal that could make you a lot of money fast, and reacting harshly criticizing someone due to losing your temper could result in damaging your reputation, your business and lead to misery. It’s important to be able to discern when procrastinating could hurt you and when it actually could benefit you. When Can Procrastinating Be a Good Thing? Scaling your Business Scale your business slowly and steadily to allow demand to grow. Hire new employees and add more technology only once there’s sufficient demand. Invest time in training and enrichment programs for employees to help engage and motivate them.  Consider offering flextime and other perks like free meals in a top restaurant and winning a vacation for a certain level of performance.   In the short-term this could boost morale and in the long run it could cultivate loyal relationships between management and employees. Better to have more demand and lower supply than the other way around. Choosing a Partner Choosing the right partner could make or break your business. Try working with this person on a project prior to forging a partnership. See if you balance each other off in terms of skill sets, vision, values and your personalities. Better to go with it alone if youre not sure you both compliment each other. A partnership is like marriage, once youre in it the stakes are high for making it work and breaking up is costly. Questionable Deals If something sounds too good to be true it probably is! Trust your gut and avoid the temptation for quick, easy money. Resist the temptation to associate with people who promise more than your good sense says is realistic. Do your research on the management of a firm you’re investing in to be sure he has a good reputation and that he has a track record for good performance. Acting Impulsively Don’t confuse taking a calculated risk and behaving impulsively. The first requires courage and some good insights about a niche that has yet to be exploited. The second is more often equated with poor judgment and a lack of good intuition about the market. Making rash decisions in general isnt a good thing but when it comes to starting a new business, impulsivity could lead to making costly mistakes. (Growing your business too fast, buying too much inventory, hiring too many employees before there’s sufficient demand, criticizing a supplier or employee when you’re in an enraged state) are examples of over zealousness about business prospects that come from impulsivity and often lead to failure). Criticizing Others Think carefully before you criticize to be sure your agenda is purely for the sake of improving the situation and the relationship. Soften your approach by starting with noting something positive about that person so you don’t force him to become defensive. People tend to be more receptive to hearing criticism from someone they like and respect versus someone they consider to be dictatorial. Also, resist the temptation to criticize your competition. If youre not tactful it could lower your reputation rather than improve it. Loosing your Temper Once you lose control and speak from a place of anger its very hard to retract your words. Better to pre-empt those people and situations that provoke your anger and avoid confrontation. If you don’t think your interaction will be constructive, keep your thoughts to yourself. Checking your E-mails Constant and obsessive e-mail checking can lower your actual productivity. Set aside a few times per day to check your inbox. Thats usually sufficient to stay abreast of notifications and other communications. Limiting yourself from constant checking could save you several hours per month, time that could be better spent doing something productive. Entrepreneurship can become an all-consuming endeavor. While your success as an entrepreneur will require you to invest long hard hours at work, it’s essential to keep some balance in your life.   You’ll need to be discriminating in how you spend your personal time: Prioritize certain friends and family whom you couldn’t live without and take care of your physical health. Both will be important for staying focused and for your endurance in business. Carve Out Time for Friends and Family Those who procrastinate in caring for their loved ones often lose them.  Don’t underestimate the value of having close intimate relationships in your life. Make time for the people who matter to you most outside of your work and who make up your support system. These are the people you’ll need when things are tough as well as to celebrate when things go well. Making time for those you love is a key investment for success as an entrepreneur and will help you stay balanced over time. Eat Right and Exercise Make a commitment to eating healthfully and maintaining a regular exercise regimen. It’s well known that staying physically fit and eating right improves one’s mood and increases energy level. This will obviously bode well for an entrepreneur who needs to work long hours and deals with multiple setbacks and loads of stress. Following Ariely’s suggestion for creating a positive association with exercise, you could pick a movie or playlist of music you love to watch or listen to while you exercise thereby changing the association you have with exercise to something positive. You could do the same thing with refraining from eating your favorite chocolate cake. Next time you’re tempted to splurge, promise to do something you enjoy in its place. Every entrepreneur could benefit from reflecting on how he makes decisions particularly when it comes to procrastinating and using self-control. Being able to distinguish healthy procrastination from when its inhibiting you from getting what you want in life could lead to greater success. You can improve your decision-making when you are more aware of how and why you make certain choices; While sometimes it pays to be flexible and open to experiences, other times it’s best to make decisions based on logic. Knowing yourself and understanding the motivation behind people’s behaviors can put you in the drivers seat when running your business.  There’s a fine line between knowing when to use intuition and when to use logic in decision-making. Knowing the difference and sensing when to use one over the other could make the difference between running a good business and a great one. One thing for sure, don’t put off tuning into the dynamics learned from behavioral economics.

How to amp up your personal statement - Debut university

How to amp up your personal statement - Debut university This post was written by an external contributor.  Millie Pritchard discusses the ways in which you can improve your personal statement for university applications.   At this time of year, many sixth-form students will be preparing to apply to universities. But knowing how to sell yourself to your dream institution can be tricky. So why not use this Autumn as an opportunity to get ahead of the game and look at your personal statement? It can be hard to think about  specialised things that relate to your chosen course. Perhaps you even feel like you have nothing to write about? Its not too late at all to amp up your skill set in relevance to your degree of choice. So here are a few suggestions to get you started. List your accomplishments Firstly, it’s important to have a look at what you’ve already managed to accomplish both inside and outside of school. From theatre plays to sports teams, buddy schemes to student council â€" write it all down. Then, you can start to make links between your desired university course and the skills they have given you which, in turn, could be applied to this course. For example, if you are applying to study Politics, consider what activities you have done which are relevant to the subject. This may include being a part of your student council, or the fact that you’re a huge fan of ‘Question Time.’ Prove that the university should want you for this course by demonstrating the fact that you have a true passion for the subject. MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses, (also known as ‘MOOCs’) can give you extra knowledge on your desired subject. Sites like  Future Learn  offer free courses that are hosted by unis from all over. For example, if you are applying for History, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are currently offering a course on Public Health in Post-war Britain. They have so many courses on their website, which range from Law to Coding, from Business to Languages. Most of the courses are only 2-4 hours a week of your time, over the period of a few weeks. Volunteering Volunteering is an essential factor to go on your personal statement. You can volunteer practically anywhere â€" local schools, charity shops, care homes. It illustrates that you have the drive to do something without monetary gain, and also have a desire to give back. And if you manage to get volunteer work that somehow relates to what you want to study, then even better! I initially applied to university to study History. So I organised some volunteer work at a local small museum inputting files into their databases which related to WW2 and the Cold War. Perhaps if you’re applying to study English, get involved in your library’s summer reading schemes! Educational trips This will help give you a new outlook on your desired university course, which is much better than just turning up to your lessons each week. Actively getting out there to visit places which relate to your chosen subject is a great way to prove this. If you wish to study Law, maybe try and sit in on a court-case. For History, trips to different historical sites (depending on what your period of interest is) is also recommended. Be on the ball, and sort this out asap so you can focus on the more important stuff in your personal statement. Good luck! Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Work less achieve more - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Work less achieve more - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog The idea that working more does not necessarily mean achieving more, and that we need to end the cult of overwork, seems to be cropping up all over the place these days. Here are a few great, recent sightings. Fred Gratzon lists the Top 10 signs youre made to be an entrepreneur, including You are unemployable and You have the uncanny ability to get other people to do all the work. In Spend less time working, get more done Adam Wiggins follows up on my post on why seat time does not equal productivity. Excellent! Impact of overtime on productivity is on overwork in software development, but applies to all fields. A common effect of putting teams under pressure is that they will reduce their concentration on quality and focus instead on just banging out code. Theyll hunker down, stop helping each other so much, reduce testing, reduce refactoring, and generally revert to just coding. Interview with vacation advocate Joe Robinson What is a gross national product when you dont have a life? A few years ago, the Norwegians found that they were 14 percent more productive than we [Americans] are. So they elected to take more time off. Tom Hodgkinson tears apart some recent bad business books The books under review recommend all sorts of immoral actions. In the old days, greed and covetousness were seen as sinful; now they are encouraged. Jack Welchs Winning sets the tone. The author grins manically from the cover despite the silver hair, manicured nails and perfect teeth, he looks like Beelzebub incarnate. 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

Why Using a Formatting Guide to Customize Your Resume is Important

Why Using a Formatting Guide to Customize Your Resume is ImportantIf you have been out of work for quite some time, and you are still wondering what to do to make a resume stand out among the others, you will want to consider the possibility of using a formatting guide to customize your resume. A resume is a written document that lists your skills, accomplishments, and education. It can be extremely useful in guiding potential employers toward your experiences and skills, which can make your resume much more appealing.However, it can be very frustrating when you receive a resume from a potential employer with nothing but a handful of words attached to the end of each section. This is especially true if you have had a lot of experience and jobs, or you have a long list of accomplishments. Even though you may be very knowledgeable about a subject, it will likely be ignored because of its lack of individual information.A great way to avoid this is to use a resume template. These can hel p you customize your resume by including detailed information about your education, work history, education, and more, which you will not be able to find on other job sites.When using a template to create your resume, remember that the purpose is to make your resume more professional. You will want to focus on the most relevant information, including previous employers, job titles, previous positions, certifications, and more. Your resume can now include your strongest assets, which will certainly attract a great deal of attention. Your resume will also show an employer how well prepared you are for the position, and how you intend to succeed in the industry.Before you begin to format your resume, make sure you understand your options. Many websites offer templates that you can edit and customize to meet your needs, but there are also free programs you can download.If you are sure that you have the knowledge to put together a professional resume, then you should definitely invest in a resume guide. This can also help you find employers, who will greatly appreciate a professional looking resume.It is also important to remember that a resume can still be designed by a person. No matter how experienced you are in your field, you can still add your own unique touch to the resume. A formatting guide can be especially helpful if you are uncertain about how to format your resume, or if you simply do not know enough about job search tips.If you have been out of work for a long time, and you are still wondering what to do to make a resume stand out among the others, you will want to consider the possibility of using a formatting guide to customize your resume. A resume is a written document that lists your skills, accomplishments, and education.