myStarjob.com, Saturday 10 January 2015
5
THE 10 NEW YEAR
OFFICE RESOLUTIONS
WHATEVER YOUR MOTIVATION IS, IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE
By JONATHAN YABUT
[email protected]
I
T’S that time of the year when
we reflect on kicking bad habits
and start on the positive ones.
Making new year resolutions
for your working life should be
worth your time since you spend at
least eight hours on it, five times a
week.
What will 2015 be for you? Is it
going to be your year of ruthless
execution? The year that you will
move to greener pastures? The year
that you get promoted?
Whatever your goal is, here are 10
office resolutions worth considering.
1 GET TO WORK EARLIER
Do you notice that most
chief executive officers and leaders are the earliest to arrive at the
office?
Most people think this has to do
with role modelling but there is a
more functional reason behind it:
they simply get more things done.
Studies show that you’re at your
best cognitive capacity within your
first two waking hours.
These are also the best hours to
be “in the zone” while everyone else
is still hitting the road.
YOUR
2 TAKE
VACATION LEAVES
There was a time in the early 2000s
when bragging your unused leave
days to your officemates was cool.
These days we can only feel sorry
for a colleague who can’t take personal time for himself or herself.
This 2015, you should appreciate
that life really happens when you exit
the office doors. Take time off to travel
so you can be inspired.
Take a strategic Friday leave to settle your expired driver’s licence, passport and bank accounts.
Let go of your messianic complex
and stop being paranoid that the
world will stop because you’re not in
the office.
If there is an emergency, someone
will likely call you.
SHORTER
3 SEND
E-MAILS
Successful people get more things
done because they keep everything
short and concise, including e-mails.
E-mails are documented impressions of how a person thinks and
organises his or her thoughts, so write
e-mails that are clear and straight to
the point.
Whenever possible, use bullet
points, tables, and known acronyms.
Not only do you save time from writing less, your colleagues will also
thank you for making them read less.
Finally, don’t discuss ideas over
e-mails like ping pong. Go to the person directly, or make a quick phone
call to settle things immediately.
CUT THE PAINFUL
4
COMMUTE – MOVE
CLOSER TO WORK
It’s normal for city folks in SouthEast Asia to travel an average of two
to four hours to work because of
traffic congestion.
Remember that the amount of
energy you put into your work and
the good mood you bring home to
your family are inversely proportional to the amount of stress you
absorb along the road.
Long commutes destroy happiness. People who have better jobs or
bigger houses but live far away from
work are less happy than those who
enjoy shorter commutes.
If it is true that every factor to
success matters, you might want to
consider moving closer to work.
You get bonus points for more
sleeping time too.
5
CHALLENGE THE
STATUS QUO ONCE IN
A WHILE
In 1993, Delta Airlines followed a
suggestion of a cabin crew to take
out the lettuce as base for salads
because passengers rarely ate it.
In one year, the airline saved a
whopping US$1.4mil just by weeding out those leaves. Indeed, small
ideas can deliver big things.
This 2015, think of all your projects
and reports, and ask yourself: how
many of these really bring in money
for the business, and how many of
these are done just because “we’ve
been doing it for years”?
It’s time for you to speak up and
share your ideas that may be equally
as good as your boss’s (or even better).
It’s time for you to challenge the
status quo, and for you to learn how
to say no.
EATING
6 STOP
LUNCH AT YOUR DESK
I always tell my colleagues that
food eaten in front of the computer
screen is not as delicious as food you
eat outside.
Lunch time is a sacred time that
you should use for re-energising and
rebooting your brain for work in the
afternoon.
There are more benefits to eating outside your cubicle:
l you’re likely to choose healthier food (versus the convenient fast
food)
l your networking opportunity
increases by sharing a seat with
someone at the cafeteria, and
l eating is arguably the best
way to bond personally and professionally with your teammates.
This 2015, be conscious of the
number of times you eat lunch at
your desk – you’re likely missing a
lot!
EXERCISE,
7 EXERCISE,
EXERCISE
LESS TIME
10 SPEND
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
FIND A CAREER
8
MENTOR BESIDES
YOUR BOSS
ONWARDS TO A
SUCCESSFUL 2015
More than just wiping out your
love handles, exercise also does wonders for the brain.
Take note that your body feels
“stressed” whenever you exercise
and as a defence mechanism, it
releases hormones that have reparative and resetting functions.
Do you notice that you feel happier and able to think better after
exercising?
Hormones such as endorphins
cause that, which is probably the
reason why your energetic colleague
beats you at work even if he or she
spends more time on the treadmill.
You have no excuse this 2015:
10 minutes of exercise a day is just
about okay, the experts say.
There are many senior managers
out there who are genuinely passionate in grooming their own protégés.
It feels rewarding to have one, and
because great leaders are never insecure to share what they know.
This 2015, find a mentor outside
your department who can share
career advice from time to time.
Look for someone who can improve
your negotiation skills, for example.
Request the person to introduce you
to more people in the company.
Ask about the failures and mistakes
as the person climbed up the corporate ladder.
Think of your mentor as your sponsor in the Hunger Games: they come
and go as they please, but they’re
necessary for your survival in the
competition.
POWER DRESS
9
WHEN THE OCCASION
CALLS FOR IT
The saying that “form follows content” is dead in 2015.
I’ve always believed that the world
is all about packaging, whether we
like it or not.
Looks significantly matter.
We choose products based
on their wrappers and
more attractive people
are promoted over
their less aesthetic
counterparts.
So invest in
clothes that can nail
down that critical
presentation for the
VIPs.
Sell yourself like a
brand. Be consistent
with an ensemble that
projects a confident you.
Your clothes don’t need to
stand out (it’s not about dressing for a catwalk), but it should
say: “I’m ready for a bigger
task”.
The numbers don’t lie. We are
tempted to check our Facebook about
14 times a day and yet it takes us
around 20 minutes to get back to work
and finish a task after being disrupted.
Seriously, how much are you
really missing out if you don’t check
Instagram for three hours?
This 2015, be more self-aware that
social media are the ultimate productivity killers that can make or break
your promotion.
Try coldturkey.com or anti-social.cc
which can help you temporarily block
social media sites and achieve lasersharp focus with your work.
Take Muhammed Ali’s advice when
it comes to social media starvation:
“Suffer now and live the rest of your
life as a champion.”
The key to all the resolutions is discipline and grit. It will depend on how
badly you want change.
Some will be effectively motivated
by fear, some by rewards, and some
by the mere wanting of a fresh start.
Whatever your motivation is, I wish
you the best in 2015. May you have a
successful new year!
n Jonathan Yabut is the winner of
The Apprentice Asia, and is currently
based in Kuala Lumpur with a leading
airline. He also engages in motivational
talks about youth and leadership
across South East Asia. Jonathan
recently launched his book, From Grit
to Great, which recalls his inspiring
journey in winning the show. Follow
him on Twitter @JonathanYabut. For
more information,
email editor@
leaderonomics.
com
THE KEY
TO ALL THE
RESOLUTIONS
IS DISCIPLINE
AND GRIT.
IT WILL
DEPEND ON
HOW BADLY
YOU WANT
CHANGE.