New Year Resolutions

2007 went Pete Tong for the first six months (no job, no money, no motivation) and improved in the last six months (job, some money, some motivation). However there are still many things that need to be addressed including:

• Cessation of bad habits - smoking, wasting time downloading porn, unhealthy eating and over sleeping, watching TV, and other bad influences
• Better control of my temper and keeping calm in mundance and tricky situations
  
• Life improvement - better diet, make friends, going out (socialising), exercise, lose weight, meditation
• Second income - eBay, Web Design and selling own art/creative work online
• New skills - Web design, music production, scripting, art, creative writing

Besides this there are many specific things such as monthly projects (trying out new things), finding a compatible partner and striking an optimal work/life balance.

Work in 2008

Like many people who have spent a lot of time in university and unemployed, I still need to work on the following:

1) Resilience, such as handling criticism and set backs

2) Confidence, in group situations

3) Communicating with colleagues

4) Taking things in their stride and being calm and relaxed

Of course this may take some time but the more I achieve and the more I improve my social life the better my confidence will get. There have been occasions where I have forgotten what I have been doing, and others where I have become very annoyed about the slightest of things. Also, I need to dress smarter and be more prepared for the unexpected.

Laughing at work

Laughing is good at relieving stress - both my own and that of people around me. However, laughing at someone is not good as they may be offended (as I was when I was a kid in school) . Once this week I thought someone at work was laughing at me but I was mistaken. It is nice to laught with people or at jokes.

It has been very busy this week. I am in general coping better but I still need to reduce my stress levels. I cannot afford any more outbursts or 'flapping' scenarios. It can be difficult to control my temper in certain situations but I am getting better. Then I can concentrate on the other aspects of the job and build better rapport with my colleagues.

Multi - Tasking

Multi-tasking

Spend 5 minutes first thing in the morning and after lunch to list things as follows (things to do list):

· Important and urgent calls, emails and admin work that has to be done today

· Important work that needs to be done as soon as possible but can wait to be completed tomorrow

· Anything else that needs to be progressed if time is available

· Plan ahead so that as little as possible is done in the last minute

Also:

· Take time and double check things without rushing (bookings, quotes, joining instructions etc)

· Do one task at a time

· Only having one folder open at a time and return any that I'm not using thus utilizing space

· Report progress and issues that arise regularly to my managers

· Prepare computer at start with Outlook, Business Manager, Website and the consultant database running

Try to keep 3 hours in the morning for training and 3 in the afternoon for marketing activities. If this is not possible, for example if a training course is on, then re-dress the balance the next day. Get anything urgent done in the first part of the session.

Dealing with interruptions

Get in the habit of learning how to control interruptions. Examples include:

· Answering some incoming calls (this also helps with learning and knowing who can deal with the enquiries).

· Having two copies of business manager running - one for interruptions and one for the work I am processing.

Don't be afraid of asking for a few seconds to get my thoughts together - for example asking someone to wait whilst looking for information or when noting where I am with a task or a previous interruption that needs action to be taken.

Life Update

I am working in a moderate to hectic working environment with many small but important things to be done each day. My time is split between training and marketing.

I am finding problems with keeping my cool under pressure and dealing with interruptions. Quite often my planned workload gets delayed by extra things that happen throughout the day. To deal with this requires flexibility with time management, keeping a level head and prioritizing on the fly so that the urgent things still get done on time.

Also I am sometimes irritated by the hot environment in the afternoon, dehydration and a lack of physical and mental stamina. This will improve with increased exercise for the body and mind.

New job tips

Things are going well. I think I just need to think about a new task for a minute ot two before doing it and look for simple solutions to problems before asking for help. Some general tips:-

· Active listening - acknowledging, responding slowly and clearly, and showing attention when someone is explaining something to me (letting them finish talking and eye contact)

· If I need to ask a question wait until the other person is ready for my attention

· Taking quick 2 minute breaks for drink or toilet at mid morning (about 10:30am) and mid afternoon (about 3pm) or when things are starting to get on top of me

· If things are buzzing around in my head try 2 minute breathing meditations (not at my seat!)

· Avoid hurting myself doing physical tasks by taking my time and using correct posture