As we enter the holiday season, it is all too easy to lose momentum as we juggle personal obligations and professional responsibilities. The holiday schedule divides our work week into too-short-to-be-actually-productive fractions, and yet our to-do lists keep swelling in size. Between stress, enjoyment, and productivity, we sacrifice the latter. Instead of attempting to bulldoze through our multiplying commitments, it would be wiser to modify our approach altogether and adopt the holiday mindset to our advantage. Learn how to stay motivated during the holidays this year and get ready for the new year!
5 tips to stay motivated during the holidays
The holiday season often initiates and encourages self-reflection. Consider your accomplishments and setbacks for the year, both professionally and personally. Be sure to celebrate those wins and recall how you were able to achieve them. What was your mindset? What steps did you take? How did you handle obstacles, if any? Take those answers and apply them to your setbacks. By reflecting on how you navigated wins, losses, and ties, you can gain more insight and individualize your improvement.
In conjunction, you can set achievable, reasonable, and effective goals allowing small wins in the short-term. This will tee you up for a successful next year. Do not overcommit and do not undersell yourself. For help constructing this balance, we have an article on goal setting for you!
It’s not a secret that administrative tasks take up a disproportionate amount of time in many workloads. Taking the time to schedule out appointments, vacations, errands, and reservations ahead of time gives you the chance to visualize your upcoming week(s). You automatically make room to focus on your to-do list and even leave time for any necessary recuperation.
Set yourself up for success in the coming year by using the holiday schedule for personal and professional outreach. People love to reconnect during the holidays and typically feel more generous in spirit! Take this chance to reach out to friends, networks, colleagues, and companies and seek out opportunities for growth. Even if these conversations are held unofficially, they can still be goldmines for feedback and ideas. Check out our article about the best time to look for a job to fully arm yourself for the new year!
Change up your routine! The holiday season requires more from us: more tasks, more energy, more planning, more small-talk, more money, more reflection, more everything. Maximize time each day by waking up earlier to answer emails, using each night to plan or review the next day’s schedule, and shifting your obligations into an order governed by efficiency rather than convenience!
Enjoy Yourself
The main takeaway from this article is to remember the unparalleled benefit of the holidays. It is one of the best opportunities to truly leave work at work, mentally and physically. For some, it is spending our time laughing with family, and for others, it is spending alone time relaxing. No matter how you choose to celebrate the season, be sure to utilize it to your advantage at home and work. This is when you can clearly stay motivated during the holidays and be your most productive.
Are you looking for a long-lasting career in pharmaceuticals or biotechnology that will allow you to explore your true interests? There are 5 questions you can ask yourself that will help you decide if it’s time to switch jobs.
How do you feel about your current job? What’s your next move? These questions will help you make the call about whether it’s time to move on.
Am I inspired, have I done anything new?
Do you look forward to going to work on Monday? If your pharmaceutical work constantly drains you, you should look deeper into what’s making it so difficult. Perhaps you should change your schedule so you’re addressing tasks in a different order, or taking longer or more frequent breaks to recharge when the going gets tough. If that doesn’t help, it’s possible you’re not a good fit for the position and should consider something else.
For inspiration, think about the things outside of work that give you energy. What aspects of that could you seek out as you look for a new job or even career? If you want to grow in your biotech or pharmaceuticals career, that won’t happen if you are doing the same thing every day. Ways to help: Look over your resume—or update it if it’s been awhile—and see how many achievements have come in the past year. You may be getting to comfortable and stagnant in your position and it may be time for a change.
Have I gotten a raise lately?
Your pay can be a good indicator to help determine whether you should stay at your job. Ask yourself: do I make enough money to cover my cost of living? Typically, salary upticks are granted once a year, so if you haven’t had a raise or a promotion in that time or aren’t getting opportunities to earn one, it may be time to move on.
Can I make a change?
If it is possible for you to can change what you don’t like about your job – and what you are asking for is a realistic request, this could be a discussion to have with your manager to see if there’s something that can be done. If there is no room for flexibility, change, or future growth this is a sign that it’s time to move on.
Is the grass truly greener on the other side?
If you are unhappy in your current position, consider whether it’s job/company related or if it’s a personal dissatisfaction. Even if you do make a change, will your unhappiness follow you? Also, consider whether the things you don’t like about your job are unique to that job or workplace.
Many times people think the grass will be greener, but it’s not, To make sure you’re really moving to a better place, you first have to know for sure why you want to leave. If you can pinpoint something specific, you can research prospective companies by talking to current or past employees and checking business social media and ranking sites.
What is my future with this company?
If you can’t picture yourself at your current organization in a year or two, or if the track you’re on doesn’t lead to where you want to be, it’s time to seriously look at whether it’s the right place for you. Ask yourself whether the job aligns with your overall career goals. If it’s not a step on the path to your career dreams, it may be time to make a change.
Hope these questions can help you make the right decision in your future career planning goals!
In today’s world managing your time at work is extremely important. At the end of the day you may ask yourself “Where did the time go?” But one may over look the importance of a manager spending a certain percentage of their time with team members. Investing a small amount of time to build relationships has several benefits that pay off in the long run.
Building relationships and mentoring relationships needs to be encouraged to simply get to know your own team members.
With days and weeks crammed with scheduled meetings, impromptu meetings, and a never-ending inbox, it can be tempting to spend that time some other way. But as the 80/20 rule suggests, that small effort can have a huge ripple effect for the manager to, the employee, and the team as a whole. The importance of engaging with your co-workers has its benefits.
There is an opportunity in every encounter. With time as valuable as it is, looking for opportunities in a crazy schedule helps add a new perspective. It can simple for all of us to get into the “zone” and miss what’s going on with each other, so grabbing coffee or lunch and connecting with another human being to get away from the computer screen can be a welcome break from the daily grind.
Work becomes more efficient. A manager may already know an employee’s strengths, but learning what their passions are and what inspires them can add new meaning and drive and take that relationship to the next level. There’s a real purpose when someones strengths and passion are combined and pursued.
Greater level of awareness. Spending time together creates a bond… it creates a sense of trust. When you get to know each other on a personal level, mutual respect grows. Knowing someone’s triggers as well as their strengths can also improve communication and help with growing a successful and motivated team. Things and events that take place outside of work can help give you a better understanding of what goes on at work.
Your coaching skills increase. When you take the time to get to know your employees, you will understand how each individual receives feedback and praise. This will allow you to become a more effective coach and manager that will be respected and appreciated by the team.
Builds trust with your “boss”. Breaking downthat natural division of the manager/employee relationship helps build trust between you and your team member. When your employees can get to know the real you, they’ll feel more comfortable with you. By being yourself, you set the tone and encourage others to do the same. .
Finding ways to connect with employees can be as simple as grabbing lunch with them or taking a 15-minute walk together. Some companies promote this and encourage it more than others.
It’s important to find your own ways that you are comfortable with in order to engage with your co-workers.
Doing so removes some of that ‘boss wall’ and deference that can come with it.
Unfortunately, toxic workplaces are commonplace in today’s day and age. A toxic work environment can be characterized by a culture of dysfunctional dynamics. These dynamics can play out in a number of ways: inequity, unaddressed conflict, harassment, or even just general lack of communication. Usually organizational or corporate culture is driven from the top-down, and if the leadership inflicts toxic tactics, it can be very difficult for those not in charge to shift the culture.
There are a large number of people who work in offices or within organizations that have established toxic work cultures, practices and hostile co-workers. It’s easy to assume that things are just the way they are and there’s nothing you can do… but nobody should have to wake up every morning and dread going to work in a toxic workplace.
Below are some signs to watch out for so you can avoid the long-term problems that come with a bad work environment.
Favorites – Managers who play favorites don’t just reward good performance; they give undeserving employees perks just because they like them.
Having to protect yourself from hostile co-workers – It feels like co-workers are out to get you and you have to waste a lot of time ensuring you’ve cc’d the right people and are not going to be “caught” making a mistake. Following the chain of command within your company can help avoid any miscommunication or problems.
Office cliques – Even though they don’t outwardly and openly state their views, groups of negative and sneering employees undermine every company initiative. There always seems to be a group of negative Nancy’s in every company. The best way to avoid getting caught up in the negative clique is to avoid gossip and stay positive.
Hiring unqualified employees – When the newly hired staff is only there because they have friends high up, it shows immediately.
Inequality – Sometimes there’s an individual who is a star employee, so they get away with bad behavior. Other times it’s the bad behavior with one of the company leaders that sets a terrible example. Or there is simply a malicious employee who has the ear of management. The individual acts as though they don’t need to follow the rules, and management allows it.
Although a workplace may be toxic one can hope that it is repairable. The first step is identifying the problem, and then you have the option to work to make it better.
Here is an example of some steps you can put in place to help solve the toxicity.
Step 1. How can I contribute to changing my current situation?
Step 2. What is currently limiting you? What’s stoppingyou from making a change?
Step 3. Consider the possibilities. What options are open to you?
Step 4. Examine your values, beliefs, strengths and skills.
Step 5. Think about what steps you can take to improve your current workplace, or, begin to think about alternate places to work.
There are so many companies and countless opportunities in today’s world that being stuck in the wrong company might be toxic not only for your career but will also affect your personal. Put together a plan and a timeline to address the situation and if it is not resolved it’s time to move on!
