Stand Out at Your New Job With These 5 Easy Tips

/in , /by

When you start a new job, you probably want to stand out. You worked hard to land the work and it’s natural you’d want a reward for doing if. The first 90 days in a new job is a time of excitement and learning, as you make new friends and learn new workflows. The last thing you need is to stand out for the wrong things. To start your job off on the right note, here are some things you should do in the first 90 days.

1. Fake It Till You Make It

It’s normal to be nervous in a new job, but no one needs to know it. Go in confident in your abilities to do the job, even if you feel, deep down, you’re not prepared to pull it off. The last thing you want to do is let your managers know you don’t have confidence in your own abilities. Faking it till you feel more comfortable is a good idea, because you don’t want your boss to start to regret their decision to hire you. So, go into the role having faith in the abilities that brought you this far.

2. Allow Enough Time

Go into a new job recognizing it will take some time before you feel like you have mastered the position. Think about what led you to this job and why you left your last position. You are going to have a learning curve, so cut yourself some slack and allow enough time to adapt, learn, and thrive in your new role.

3. Get to Know the Culture

Culture is everything in a new job. It’s probably at least partially why you went after the role to begin with. But you know how people are let go from jobs because they “just didn’t fit in”? The idea that fitting into a culture is just as important as being able to do the work is an important one. Understanding the cultural norms in the job is important. So, make sure you make the effort to go out to lunch with your co-workers and get to know them. Talk to people and get to know them. Make sure you spend more time listening than talking so you can learn the ins and outs of the organization and what cultural norms you should conform to.

4. Be Positive but Realistic

When you start a new job, it’s easy to promise everything to everyone. But don’t over promise and despite your enthusiasm for the job, be realistic about what you can deliver in your new job.

5. Be Proactive and Meet With Your Manager

Don’t wait for your annual review to find out how you’re doing. Set the standard when you walk in, that an environment of back-and-forth feedback is important. Ask your manager how you’re doing after the first week, first month, and certainly at 90 days. That way you can adjust your behaviors based on real-time feedback instead of waiting for a long-term review.

Finding your next job is just a phone call away. Contact the team at Top Stack to get started.

 

3 Ways to Turn Stress into Productivity

/in , /by

Stress is a strange emotion. It’s a psychological trigger that can lead to increased anxiety, but also more activity. On one hand, the studies show that stress can cause all kinds of health problems, like depression, heart disease, and insomnia. Chronic stress can wreck your health.

On the other hand, stress can inspire some of us to produce our best work. Which is it for you? Since everyone experiences stress, perhaps there’s a way to turn this negative emotion into a positive. Here’s how to turn something stressful into higher efficiency and productivity.

Harness Your Stress by Recognizing

An article in the Harvard Business Review suggests the first step toward conquering stress is to simply acknowledge its existence. It suggests that stress has several positive attributes we can benefit from. Being stressed reminds us of the cliché, “if it doesn’t kill you it’ll make you stronger,” and that is certainly true. But to reap the benefits of being stressed out, we must acknowledge the impact it is having on our lives. The Harvard article says that stress causes the human response of fight or flight; our heart rate and blood pressure can increase along with other visceral reactions. Understanding that what’s making you anxious is the dopamine being released in your body is just one way to use those feelings as a motivator. But recognizing these reactions can stop these physical responses. This allows you to take a more deliberate approach to your reaction to the stress you’re under.

Change Your Approach

Once you recognize your stress, you can take steps to master it. Taking steps to use stress as a challenge to help you achieve more is a good way to manage it. One study found that people who view their stress as a challenge instead of a negative problem hampering them were able to maintain their energy and focus without getting sick or emotionally exhausted. Taking stress and using it to help you overcome hurdles will give you control over your feelings of being overwhelmed by negative emotions. Instead of viewing stress as a negative, use it as the impetus to help you increase your performance and productivity.

Now Get Motivated

If you’re not experiencing stress, the body will not trigger the heightened energy that comes from stress. That’s why the final step toward conquering stress and using it to your advantage is to leverage it to get motivated. Could stress push you to meet a deadline or prepare for a last-minute meeting? The energy that comes from being stressed implies activity – which is exactly what stress can spur you on to. Stress can cause you to take action, completing tasks in record time. If you are a procrastinator, you’ll instinctively understand how the stress that comes from a deadline can motivate you to get it done.

So, use your stress, don’t let it paralyze you. By acknowledging your stress and recognizing it for the tool that it can be, you could increase your productivity and turn a negative into a positive.

To learn more about how you can turn stress into productivity, contact Top Stack. We can help you take control of your career.

4 Ways to Turn a Setback at Work Into an Opportunity

/in , /by

Whether you’re in management or a lower position, a setback at work can be frustrating, depressing, and can even make you want to quit. The setback could be a raise or promotion you didn’t get or a maybe a project that went wrong. Maybe a personal emergency forces you to take some time off. All these things can force a loss of confidence and dampen your enthusiasm for the job.

How can you cope with these or other job setbacks? How can you get back on track?

Feeling Down? Exercise

Daily on-the-job challenges can leave you feeling overwhelmed. But something as simple as taking a walk can improve your perspective and even help you problem solve. If you have a desk job, taking a 10-minute walk after lunch will improve your mood. Remaining active is always the best way to cope with any stress. It will also keep you moving ahead in the job, no matter the problem or setback that’s getting you down.

Rethink the Problem

A landmark study showed the power of positive thinking on the brain and our emotions. Positive thinking can help you persevere through a problem and even improve your health. Scientists say that avoiding negativity may help people avoid the physical damage that comes from stress. From a mental perspective, staying positive helps people make better life decisions while focusing on long-term goals. If you’ve had a setback at work taking the time to find your perspective, reframing the problem in a new way may be exactly what you need to keep moving forward. While today didn’t work out, what long-term goal are you hoping to achieve and what do you need to do to still get there?

Sit Down and Take Stock

Your self-confidence can take a big hit when something goes wrong at work. You can lessen the impact by sitting down and taking stock of how far you’ve come. What is it that you’ve done so far to accomplish your goal? Instead of wallowing in the loss, focus on what you’ve gained to date. No one is infallible, and if you pat yourself on the back for the wins you’ve accomplished, maybe the setback won’t seem so insurmountable. Let’s face it; life is hard and it has its ups and downs. It’s how you fight through the adversity that builds the most character.

Try Something New

Say you’ve been trying to solve a problem and it just isn’t happening. It may be a struggle with a staff member you’re managing or trouble with a difficult boss or a less human-centered problem related to the tools you use. What happens if you stop flailing away at the issue and take stock for a second. Get creative and try to think outside the box. Do you have a peer network you can share the problem with? Sometimes stepping outside accepted practices or seeking the help of a mentor is all you need to jump-start a new, fresh approach to solving the problem. Mix things up and get back on track!

Sometimes the setback is insurmountable, and you know it’s time to find a new job. When that happens, contact Top Stack. We can keep you moving forward.

4 Daily Habits To Help Make You More Successful

/in , /by

Have you ever noticed how some people just get more done? These high producers seem to be at the top of their game, which seems to be multitasking and checking things off their to-do list.

If you’re not one of the most highly productive people, you might be envious of these task jocks, which make life look a lot easier than it may feel to you. What is their secret? Are they doing something every day to make them more efficient? What daily tasks can you do to improve your success in your job and life?

  1. Make a list and check it twice – or 20 times.
    Hyper efficient people almost always write down a list of things they want to accomplish that day. Sitting quietly with a cup of coffee while road mapping the day helps most people stay more efficient in accomplishing their goals. For anal-retentive types, crossing things off your list is also kind of addictive. It shows you’re making progress on your day when others may have stalled. For those of you that are technology-inclined, you can also make notes on your phone or download an app to help you list and accomplish tasks throughout the day.
  2. Work out before work.
    If you’re not a morning person, you may hate this suggestion, but seriously, if you work up a good sweat before you go to work, you will get your frustrations out and be calmer in the office. You will also think more clearly. Also, working out naturally produces adrenaline, so you’ll feel more energized. Like sitting quietly and making notes and task lists, a workout before work is something you have control over. When you get to work that may be a different story.
  3. Practice mindfulness and the art of singular focus.
    When you get to work, it may be easy to get overwhelmed with the chaos of having so many tasks, people interrupting your train of thought, angry customers or whatever you have to deal with as part of your job. The practice of mindfulness requires the person focus only on the task in front of them. Instead of stressing over all the things coming up, what is the one thing you’re supposed to work on now? If you’ve made a task list, you should know what’s next, right? Mindfulness fosters a sense of clarity, organization, and calmness in your mind. While most of us multitask, using the practice of mindfulness will keep you from being overwhelmed with how much you have to do. The most successful people only check these communication tools a few times a day to minimize their distractions. This helps them focus on the task at hand, which can be completed more quickly if your train of thought isn’t interrupted. Being responsive is one thing, but it can destroy your attention span and slow down your primary tasks.
  4. Limit access to communication platforms.
    If you’re trying to focus on the task at hand, having a Slack or IM pop up, an email or even having someone stick their head in your doors is distraction that will make you less efficient.

Contact Top Stack about ways to improve your performance on the job. We’re here to help!