10 Tips for Being Ultra Productive

June 27, 2012 4:45:20 PM

How to Be Ultra Productive — 10 Tips for Mastering Your Time Now | Psychology Today

www.psychologytoday.com

"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst." – William Penn
"Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose." – Thomas Edison
"It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it." – Marcia Wieder
Do you ever wish you had more time to do everything? Have you had days that were busy but inefficient? Would you like to be highly productive, feel accomplished at the end of each day, with even time to spare?
The following are ten tip to help master your time, interspersed with thoughtful quotes, many of which from well known, successful individuals who have (obviously) made good use of their time.
1. Do not confuse busyness with productivity . Highly productive people are often less busy than those who are overworked and overwhelmed.

"It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?" – Henry David Thoreau
2. Do not confuse the urgent with the important. Last-minute distractions from yourself and especially others are not necessarily priorities.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." – Steve Jobs
"If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." – Lee Iacocca
3. The key to time management is self-management.
"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." – Michael Altshuler
For tips on successful self-management, see my articles  Are You a Poor Communicator? How to Improve ,  Seven Ways to Say "No" and Keep Good Relations , and Eight Keys to Life Hardiness and Resiliency .
4. Remember the 80/20 rule of time management , which tells us that 80 percent of the importance of what we do in any given day lies in only twenty percent of the activities. Therefore, if you focus on accomplishing the top twenty percent of the most important tasks, you will feel more productive and satisfied at the end of the day.
"One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week." – Charles Richards
"I get paid not by how many hours I work, but by the importance of the problems I solve." – Anonymous

5. Use a good day planner. The best ones give you at least one full page (or screen) per day, with space allocated for each working hour of the day.
"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it." – Golda Meir
6. Separate obligatory time from discretionary time. In your day planner, block out all the times when you're committed to others to be at a certain place at a certain time, such as meetings, conferences and other appointments. What's not your obligatory time is your discretionary time. This is the time you can manage.
"Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what's real." – Sara Paddison
7. List: At the beginning of each day, write down a bullet-point list of everything you would like to accomplish this day.
"Make use of time, let not advantage slip." – William Shakespeare
"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. Prioritize: Next to each bullet-point item, assign an "A" if this is a "must do" item for today, a "B" for "should do" and a "C" for "could do." For large projects, break it down into small parts and prioritize. Divide-and-conquer.
"For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned." – Benjamin Franklin
"The key is in not spending time, but in investing it." – Stephen R. Covey
9. Implement: Focus on accomplishing your "A" list with your discretionary time. Check off each item as it's complete. With this system, even if you only accomplish twenty percent of your entire list for the day, you still would have accomplished eighty percent of the most important work.
"Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else." – Peter F. Drucker
10. What you don't finish today, transfer to your list for tomorrow and reprioritize.
In conclusion, when we manage our time wisely, we can be at our productive best, so we can enjoy life more and rest!
"Time equals life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life." – Alan Lakein
For more on personal success, download free excerpts of my publications "Communication Success with Four Personality Types ", " How to Communicate Effectively and Handle Difficult People ", and " Wealth Building Attitudes, Values, and Habits ".
If you find this article helpful, please share it with others.

Follow me on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn !
Preston Ni, M.S.B.A. is available as a presenter, workshop facilitator, and private coach. For more information, write to commsuccess@nipreston.com , or visitwww.nipreston.com .
© 2012 by Preston C. Ni. All rights reserved worldwide.
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6 Job Searching Tips Most People Skip

March 22, 2012 9:44:00 PM

6 Crucial Job Searching Steps Most People Skip | Wise Bread

www.wisebread.com

After making the decision to look for a new job, most job seekers put together a resumé and then start networking and marketing themselves to potential employers. Naturally, you hope to attract interest and win a job offer as soon as possible.
Fueled with the desire to take positive action quickly, however, you may skip important aspects of your job search. Even if unhurried, you may not realize that figuring out what you want in a job and an employer helps you increases your chances of getting hired.
Here are crucial steps that people often miss when conducting a job search. (See also:10 Outdated Job Search Techniques to Avoid )

1. Defining Your Ideal Job

You may jump into a search without considering what's best for you because you do not want to limit job possibilities. But even when unemployment stats are high, defining your ideal situation helps to focus your job search. 
Specific areas to consider include:

• Work content and day-to-day responsibilities
• Expertise you hope to contribute
• Duties you'd like to avoid
• Organization size, structure, and style

Using this information, communicate career goals to your network as well as human resources managers and hiring managers.

2. Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

Many job seekers focus on polishing their resumés and cleaning up their Facebook walls, but neglect their LinkedIn profiles. Remember to do the following:

• Upload a recent, professional image of yourself
• Freshen your experience to include projects and accountabilities relevant to your job search
• Build and expand your network 
• Request and offer recommendations 
• List stand-out stuff about yourself to infuse your personality and drive for excellence into your professional online presence

Your LinkedIn listing validates your professional experiences through connections with and recommendations from your bosses, colleagues, customers, vendors, and other relationships.

3. Researching Workplace Culture

Job seekers often fail to investigate the workplace style of potential employers. But having the right cultural fit is a key factor in your appeal as a job candidate.
Research organizational practices and ways of thinking in these and other areas:

• Encouragement of innovation and risk taking
• Expectations for workloads and extended workdays
• Commitment to employee development in terms of training, assignments, and promotions
• Decision-making styles, from empowering independent action to requiring multiple layers of approvals

Talk with friends and acquaintances about their experiences with the company. Read news accounts. Look at job descriptions on your connections' LinkedIn profiles. Check out employee reviews at career sites such as Glassdoor . 
Determine if a potential employer is a good match with your professional values and approach to getting things done. Then, use this information to articulate why you are a great candidate for the company during interviews with human resources staff, hiring managers, and potential colleagues.

4. Learning About Interviewers

In the excitement of winning an interview, job seekers often forget to gather pertinent information about those who are interviewing them. You may be reluctant, but asking questions often places you in a positive light with hiring decision-makers. Plus, you gather valuable information for interviews and follow-up activities.
Find out these tidbits about your interviewers:

• Names and titles
• Contact information, including email and mailing addresses
• Positions (if not clear by title), such as who represents human resources, who is the department head, and who are potential colleagues

Learn about each interviewer's background by looking at her bio on the company's website or reviewing her LinkedIn profile, noting career progression and special interests. This information can help you understand how to frame your responses, shape questions, and manage the flow of conversation during the interview. Plus, you'll have the details you need to send a thank-you note.

5. Uncovering the Difference Between Official and Working Job Titles

Many job seekers do not take the time to truly understand all the terms that companies use to describe openings within their organizations. Even the most discerning person may draw incorrect or incomplete conclusions about a position based on its title and job description. What's crucial is grasping that there is often a gap between your understanding as a job seeker and the intent of the employer, which may have an unusual organizational structure or quirky corporate lingo.
So don't rely on job titles to identify positions for which you are qualified and don't assume that you are ill-suited for a job based solely on the written description. Do your best to vet opportunities by researching a company, its culture, and its representatives with whom you are interviewing. When you meet with hiring decision-makers, ask clarifying questions about work content so that you can be sure you understand the requirements. Then, use this knowledge to reference professional experiences, skills, and accomplishments most relevant to the job opening.

6. Sending Thank-You Notes

Many job seekers forgo sending thank-you notes because they think that this step will not play a significant role in the hiring decision. While it's true that many companies call back candidates before a message can be composed and delivered, proper follow up contributes to success in a job search.
Differentiate yourself from other candidates by thanking your interviewers. Craft a thank-you note that conveys your appreciation and solidifies your position as a strong candidate. In your written communications, reinforce the value of your capabilities and let the hiring manager know that you are truly interested in the opportunity. These messages increase the likelihood that you will receive an offer.

How To: Decipher Keywords in Job Listings

March 3, 2012 9:16:00 PM

What's hiding behind the buzzwords in job ads? - Fortune Management

management.fortune.cnn.com

You've heard the job ad jargon so often, your eyes glaze over: detail-oriented, fast-paced work environment, team player. But these well-worn phrases can expose the dirty little secrets of your potential future employer.

 

FORTUNE — Read enough help-wanted advertisements, and you'll soon realize that they all basically sound the same. Jargon like "detail-oriented" and "self-starter" is so overused that the positions advertised begin to sound unremarkable: part of the expected landscape of hunting for a job.
But if you stop and think about what all of these buzzwords are signaling, you'll realize how much information you just might miss if you fail to read between the lines. First of all, when employers fall back on the same old jargon to advertise positions, it could very well be that they actually have no idea what they are looking for. They just know they have a spot to fill.
"Jargon is our way to grow lazier decision making in corporate cultures," says Kevin Fleming, owner of Grey Matters, a neuroscience-based executive development and coaching firm based in Jackson Hole and Tulsa. "We use these words to cover up something. It could also be a way to hide some ambivalence."
For instance, an employer may ask for two qualities that seem to conflict — such as "entrepreneurial" and "team player" — because the hiring manager and the human resources director have different ideas about what the position requires. Or, the employer may simply have unrealistic expectations of all the qualities that a single individual could possess.
"The hiring managers are thinking about the ideal person. 'If I could get everything I wanted on my Christmas wish list, what would I put on that list?'" says Kathryn Ullrich, a recruiter based in Silicon Valley and author of Getting to the Top: Strategies for Career Success . "They'll take the best attributes of the five best people they have."
Or perhaps, confusing jargon suggests that the company has an ill-defined mission or strategy. "Most people have no idea what the development plans really are; they don't know where they're going," says Fleming.
With that in mind, we've asked Fleming, Ullrich and other career experts to help us decode the most commonly used jargon in job ads, often the same buzzwords that fill up resumes. 
Detail-oriented. "Watch out for control freaks," Fleming warns. Unless the position involves detail at its core — like a forensic accountant or administrative assistant — this phrase hints that your every move will be scrutinized and second-guessed.
Team player. It may sound innocuous, but be wary that this innocuous phrase really means that you'll take whatever the bosses dish out, "for the team." "Team player is code phrase for someone who will allow us to do whatever we want to you," Fleming explains.

MORE:  6 networking mistakes job hunters make

Fast-paced work environment. This means that the employer wants high productivity at all costs and you'll be fielding a steady flow of emergencies. "Fast paced means you're going to work more hours than we're paying you," interprets Ullrich. Some industries, such as journalism or communications, are truly fast paced, but you should already know that going into those fields. "Fast-paced work environment means it's a little bit of a crazy office," says Kate Giannini, senior recruitment manager at Edelman Public Relations in San Francisco.
Multitask. Neuroscience tells us it's actually impossible for the human brain to multitask successfully. By trying simultaneously to complete different tasks, we reduce our performance and effectiveness at each individual job. "Multitasking is an utter violation of reality. What they're trying to say is, 'We may switch up your job description without telling you and we want you to be okay with it,' " Fleming says. You'll need to be able to quickly prioritize initiatives and figure out which competing task is the most important, Ullrich says.
Self-starter. "It's saying, 'When we don't give you any sense of direction, we want you to pull it out of thin air,'" interprets Fleming. "Self starter is a code phrase for, 'Can you make ambivalence and lack of direction work?' "
Results-oriented or self-motivated. "What this really means is that they want someone with incredible drive, often used to opaquely reference sales positions where you will have to work to make commission," says Shawn O'Connor, founder and chief executive officer of Stratus Careers, a career counseling and training firm based in New York.
Early-stage or venture-backed. While these phrases legitimately describe startups backed by venture capitalists, it's important to understand the subtext. "There aren't a lot of resources; you may not get paid a lot; and we hope you're going to work for that Holy Grail of going public or some successful exit," Ullrich translates.
Experience in an entrepreneurial setting. Similarly, any job ad that describes an "entrepreneurial position" will demand a willingness to do whatever task needs to be done from the person who takes the gig. "This job is definitely not the right fit for someone who wants clearly delineated responsibilities or doesn't want to have to take out his own trash from his desk," says O'Connor.

MORE:  The best cities for job hunting

Creativity for "out of the box" solutions. If you relish charting your own course, respond to the job ads that reference creativity, problem solving and "out of the box" thinking. "That's jargon for: we don't have it figured out yet," Ullrich says.
To be sure, any one of these phrases might appear in an ad for a position that you'd happily fill. But when you understand the hidden meaning, you'll be in a better position to decide whether the tradeoffs that come with this job make sense for you. And don't expect the jargon to disappear from help wanted ads any time soon.
"Job ads are full of jargon for the same reason sugar is part of good fattening food: it feels good," Fleming says. "There's a little bit of a high when you say the job you're looking for has impact and has a bandwidth that's powerful."

How To: Frozen Oatmeal at Home

March 3, 2012 9:07:28 PM

Recipe: How to make frozen oatmeal at home for .12 cents a serving.

cathiefilian.blogspot.com

DIY Frozen Oatmeal * .12 cents a serving!

Our mornings have been pretty rushed lately….so in an effort to make our mornings go a little smoother and our bellies happy with good food - I decided to make our own version of frozen oatmeal.

We have tried various brands of frozen oatmeal and they are pretty good, quick to make and pretty pricy.  I figured I would give a DIY version a whack and see how it tasted…..WOW - it is good and so inexpensive to make.  I figure 12 quick breakfasts cost us $1.50.  That is about .12 cents a serving.  Eddie loves them and it is just enough food to get him going.  We have been considering 1 frozen disk a serving - of course you could use two disks for a bigger bowl.
 We used Old Fashion Rolled Oats from Fresh and Easy .  Next time I am going to make steel cut oatmeal.  We cooked as per the package instructions.

To make 12 small servings:

3 cups dried Rolled Oats

5.5 Cups of Water

1 Teaspoon of Salt

Cook via Package Instructions for the brand you choose.

Place silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet or cutting board.  Fill the cups 1/2 way full with cooked oatmeal.

 You can add some mix-in prior to freezing.

Mix-ins For Freezing:

Brown Sugar

Rasins

Nuts

Dried Fruits

Mini Chocolate Chips

Honey

Agave

 We added a spoonful of brown sugar.

  Top off the cups, cover with cling wrap and place in freezer until the cups are frozen solid. Pop the frozen oatmeal from the cups and place in a zip-top baggie for storage. 

Place a frozen oatmeal disk in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir.  Microwave for an additional 30 seconds.  Top with milk, fruit, etc. and ENJOY!

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2012's Highest Paying College Majors

February 17, 2012 10:46:40 AM

Best College Majors by Salary

www.mint.com

While some go to college to expand their mind and cultivate themselves, others have a far more mercenary goal in mind: They just want to make money. There's nothing wrong with either choice. However, the reason you choose to go to college will impact what major you decide to take. If you're looking to make a lot of money right out of college, these are majors you should look into. All figures are from PayScale.com.

Engineering

The data is clear: When you want to make a pile of money, you go into engineering. Seven of the ten top-earning majors are engineering majors, with all of the top six being engineering majors. The best-paid engineering majors are petroleum, chemical, electrical, materials, aerospace and computer engineering. Petroleum engineers start at about $97,000 per year and are making $155,000 by mid-career. The lowest-paid engineers in the top ten are nuclear engineers, who start at a paltry $65,000 and only early what entry-level petroleum engineers make by mid-career. Still, engineering isn't for everyone: You'd better be very good at math if you decide to make this your vocation.

Physics

In seventh place overall is physics. Physicists come out of college earning a respectable $49,800 per year, and are making a handsome $101,000 per year by mid-career. This is another place where you're going to have to be good at applied mathematics to even get through college, let alone make a career at. Still, for the person interested in working with their mind and their hands, this can be a a great choice of major. It can also be a good choice for those who want to teach, though graduate study would be required to teach at the college level.

Applied Mathematics

It goes without saying that this is another major where you need to be good at math. Mathematicians work in a variety of fields, including alongside many of the engineers and physicists mentioned above. It's common for mathematicians to work for the federal government at places like the National Institute of Standards and Technology and NASA. Mathematicians start out making about $52,000 per year but are earning around $98,000 by mid-career.

Computer Science

Different from computer engineering which deals with hardware, computer science is the discipline dedicated to computer software. It's probably not too surprising that computer science majors are among the top earning majors in the United States, or that they are highly employable. As the world increasingly becomes plugged in at all times (think mobile technology and the apps boom), computer science majors might not even need employment in many cases — they might be able to get by just by freelancing or by making their own products and selling them directly to the public. Computer science majors start out earning just over $52,000 per year and are earning $98,000 per year by the time they move into mid-career.

Economics

You've probably noticed a pattern by now: Virtually all of the top paying college majors require a lot of math. Economics is no exception to this rule, but it's probably the closest thing to a humanity that we've seen on the list so far. You'll definitely be reading a lot of stuff that isn't math when you pursue an economics degree, but you're also going to be crunching a lot of numbers. Still, it doesn't take an economics major to figure out that making $47,000 a year once you get out of college isn't bad and earning $94,000 annually at mid-career is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Statistics

Statistically speaking, people who are good at math earn more money than people who aren't. Statistics is a fascinating area of study and, like economics, resembles a humanity in some ways, specifically philosophy. In statistics you'll learn not just how to create statistical projects, but also what different types of statistics actually mean. The discipline is about a lot more than math — it's about learning what numbers say about the world we live in. Entry-level statisticians earn $49,000, with mid-career professionals making $93,000.

Picking A Major

No one is suggesting that you do something you hate for the sake of earning money. However, if you have any interest in the above areas, they're worth considering as majors. It will certainly help you pay off your student loans faster.

February 13, 2012 3:00:32 PM

[INFOGRAPHIC] How Much Are Your Social Media Skills Worth?

www.readwriteweb.com

Employment agency OnWardSearch is kicking off Social Media Week by releasing an infographic that gives a snapshot of the state of salaries in the field.

The Salary Guide , which gives the top 20 markets as well as salary ranges for top job titles in each metro area, is coupled with a post on career advice from leading marketers. Not surprisingly, the left coast remains one of the better places to head to if you want to make a living blogging, tweeting or managing brands on social networks, but don't rule out the northeast — particularly New York (which tops the list) and Boston (which checks in at number five).
What will be interesting going forward is seeing how this list changes from year to year: not only are we interested in seeing if salaries for the different positions go up or down and if certain cities move onto or fall off of the list, but we'd be interested in getting a look at whether certain jobs start to make up a bigger percentage of social media employment in years to come.

BBC Reports on America's Homeless Tent Cities

February 13, 2012 2:56:16 PM

BBC News - Panorama - America's homeless resort to tent cities

news.bbc.co.uk

The world's longest running investigative TV show on BBC One

America's homeless resort to tent cities

'We don't have dinner at home'

Panorama's Hilary Andersson comes face to face with the reality of poverty in America and finds that, for some, the last resort has become life in a tented encampment.
Just off the side of a motorway on the fringes of the picturesque town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a mismatched collection of 30 tents tucked in the woods has become home - home to those who are either unemployed, or whose wages are so low that they can no longer afford to pay rent.
Conditions are unhygienic. There are no toilets and electricity is only available in the one communal tent where the campers huddle around a wood stove for warmth in the heart of winter.
Ice weighs down the roofs of tents, and rain regularly drips onto the sleeping campers' faces as they sleep.
Tent cities have sprung up in and around at least 55 American cities - they represent the bleak reality of America's poverty crisis.
Black mould
According to census data, 47 million Americans now live below the poverty line - the most in half a century - fuelled by several years of high unemployment.
One of the largest tented camps is in Florida and is now home to around 300 people. Others have sprung up in New Jersey and Portland.

Hilary Andersson presents Panorama: Poor America

BBC One, Monday, 13 February at 8.30pm

Then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

In the Ann Arbor camp, Alana Gehringer, 23, has had a hacking cough for the last four months.
"The black mould - it was on our pillows, it was on our blankets, we were literally rubbing our faces in it sleeping every night," she said of wintering in a tent.
The camp is run by the residents themselves, with the help of a local charity group. Calls have come in from the hospital emergency room, the local police and the local homeless shelter to see if they can send in more.
"Last night, for example, we got a call saying they had six that couldn't make it into the shelter and… they were hoping that we could place them… So we usually get calls, around nine or 10 a night," said Brian Durance, a camp organiser.
Michigan's Republican-controlled state government has been locked into a programme of severe budget cuts in an attempt to balance its books.
The cuts have included benefits for many of the state's poorest residents.
Between the cuts and the economic conditions pinching, there is increased pressure on homeless shelters.
Michigan's Lieutenant Governor, Brian Calley, was asked about the reality of public agencies in his state suggesting the homeless live in tents.
"That is absolutely not acceptable, and we have to take steps and policies in order to make sure that those people have the skills they need to be independent, and it won't happen overnight," he said.
Depression-type poverty
There are an estimated 5,000 people living in the dozens of camps that have sprung up across America.
The largest camp, Pinella's Hope in central Florida - a region better known for the glamour of Disneyworld - is made up of neat rows of tents spread out across a 13-acre plot.

America's middle under-class once again searches for work

The Catholic charity that runs it has made laundry available, as well as computers and phones.
Many of the camps are organised and hold regular meetings to divide up camp chores and agree on community rules. They have become semi-permanent homes for some residents, who see little prospect of getting jobs soon.
These tent cities - and this level of poverty - are images that many Americans associate with the Great Depression.
Unemployment in America today has not reached the astronomical levels of the 1930s, but barring a short spike in 1982, it has not been this high since the Depression era.
There are now 13 million unemployed Americans, which is three million more than when President Barack Obama was first elected.
The stark reality is that many of them are people who very recently lived comfortable middle-class lives.
For them, the economic downturn came too fast and many have been forced to trade their middle-class homes for lives in shelters, motels and at the far extreme, tented encampments.
Panorama: Poor America, BBC One, Monday, 13 February at 20:30 GMT then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.

February 13, 2012 2:54:08 PM

Burnout Is Real: How to Identify and Address Your Burnout Problem

lifehacker.com

Most demanding careers practically guarantee stress, but if you're feeling completely exhausted, unable to concentrate, or as though you're neglecting your own well-being, you may be suffering from burnout. It's a very real condition that's easy to ignore, but you can detect and fix the problem if you know what to do. Here's how.
We often use the term "burnout" as a vague label for an exhausting day or week of hard work, but actual burnout is quite a bit more serious. I experienced serious burnout at my first job out of college. I always knew something was wrong because of the long hours and high levels of stress, but I didn't really realize what it was doing to me until my parents came to visit, saw the disastrous state of my apartment, and made me aware of what I'd been trying to ignore. (I'm usually a very tidy person, so even a small mess indicates a problem.) After leaving that job I learned more about burnout, how my life was a perfect (and extreme) example, and what I needed to do to change it. Burnout can be bad, but it isn't insurmountable. You simply need to recognize the symptoms, identify the causes, and take action—both in the short and long term—to remedy the issues you uncover. In this post, we're going to look at how to do those three things.

How to Identify Burnout and Its Cause

Burnout isn't as simple as extreme exhaustion. When you're truly burnt out, there's very little you'll do that isn't necessary for survival. You won't find a regular vacation very refreshing. You not only lose interest in the work that burnt you out in the first place, but in nearly everything else that you do. Fun won't be fun, every little thing will bother you, and you'll be unhappy without fully understanding why. You'll feel this way on a regular basis, and you'll likely believe there isn't an alternative. Of course, many people describe the symptoms of burnout a little bit differently so I've compiled a list from a few sources (including my own experience) to provide a broad view of what burnout can look and feel like:

• A generally negative attitude, often paired with the feeling that nothing is going to work out.
• Inability to concentrate.
• General apathy towards your work, chores, and other tasks.
• Feelings of stagnation.
• A lack of interest in social activities and being with others.
• Difficulty with healthy habits like exercise, diet, and regular sleep.
• Feeling like you're never doing enough.
• Neglecting your own needs (and putting the needs of others ahead of your own).
• Personal values and beliefs lose their importance.
• Short temper.
• Constant exhaustion.
• Feelings of inefficacy.
• Feelings of detachment from people and things you care about.
• Frequent boredom.
• Psychosomatic complaints, such as headaches, lingering colds, and other issues with a cause that's difficult to identify.
• The denial of these feelings.

Sources: Tech Republic , Wikipedia , and Psychology Today .

Because you may not always be able to identify these issues in yourself, it helps to ask friends or family members that you trust for help. Not only can they provide a useful outside opinion, but they can often offer examples of why they believe you are burnt out. When you're having trouble seeing the problem yourself, these examples can help you realize it's really there. Chances are they will tell you that you're working so much that they never see you anymore. Especially honest friends and family members will tell you that you seem disconnected and aren't as fun to be around as you once were. Be prepared to hear that you're currently not at your best and why.

Once you've identified that you are burnt out, you need to figure out why . For the most people, this should be fairly simple because it will be the primary source of your frustration and will take up the majority of your time. When I was burnt out because of a previous job, I found that I rarely had the ability to concentrate on much else. Even when someone was talking to me, I'd often be thinking about problems at my job or worrying about work I needed to finish. I finally decided I needed to quit when a friend was telling me about an important issue in his life, he asked me what I thought, and my response was "I hate my job." I gave notice the following Monday. Jobs aren't the only source of burnout, however, but how you find that source is generally the same. Pay attention to what's consuming your thoughts and you should have your answer.

How to Undo the Effects of Burnout

Once you've identified and accepted that you're truly burnt out, you need to change it. It takes awhile for burnout to manifest and so it can take awhile to undo as well. You'll need to be ready to make serious changes and stick with them for awhile. The good news is that once you start making these changes, you should start to feel more motivated again. Often times change is the necessary catalyst to make you feel like things are going to get better. By taking these changes slowly and rolling them out over a long period of time (e.g. a year or more), you can keep yourself on track.

Cut Off the Source of the Burnout

Before you can make any changes, you have to figure out which ones are relevant. That will, for the most part, depend on the source of your burnout. Whatever is at the source, you need to cut it off. If your source of burnout is job-related, figure out what the problem is and do everything you can to change it. If you change isn't an option within your job, it may be time to quit. That's a scary prospect regardless of the current unemployment rate, so be sure to have enough savings in place to survive for at least a few months or have another job lined up.

When considering your next job, you'll want to concentrate on two things: a comfortable schedule and control. Your schedule is important because you don't want to be overworked. For many people, burnout originates from too many hours on the job and too little time for oneself. Also, having more control over your work is also relevant because you're coming from a situation where you had very little control over your own life. If you move into a job that provides more responsibility, it'll help you feel like things are getting back on track. This also means that you don't want to rule out jobs you wouldn't have considered previously. Apply for jobs that you think you're unqualified to get—because you might be surprised and actually get one of them—and also apply for a job or two that you think you're too qualified to want—because that kind of job might offer the flexibility and control you need. If you can afford to take a large chunk of time off (e.g. a month or more) before heading back to the working world, however, you should. While a vacation won't solve the problem, it will at least help you generate a little more energy before you take your next steps.
Not every source of burnout can be swapped for something better. If for whatever reason there is no way for you to cut off the source of burnout entirely, you need to get as much help as possible to lighten your load. Ask your friends and family to assist where they can so you have more personal time to figure out a long-term solution to your problem.

Be Unusual

Chances are you have a daily routine, and that's in part because you're unmotivated to do a whole lot beyond what you're used to doing every day when you're burnt out. Simply doing something completely out of the ordinary can make a huge difference. If you sit on your butt all day, go take a walk in the park. If you're constantly connecting with technology, try playing cards or board game. If you always wake up early, sleep in. If you like to sleep in, trying getting up early. Reversing your routine is a simple way to feel refreshed and it takes very little work.

Be Healthy

Your health is exceptionally important, but burnout makes it harder to maintain. It can be particularly difficult to overcome unhealthy behavior because the symptoms of burnout encourages you to overlook your own needs. When you have absolutely no emotional desire to exercise and eat better, the best thing you can do is as little as possible. It's easy to say no to 30 minutes of exercise that requires a gym, but it's much harder to procrastinate when your daily exercise only takes five to 15 minutes and you can do it at home. We've previously outlinedmany ways you can get a complete workout with nothing but your body , so just pick a few exercises you like and do them for a short amount of time during the day. So long as you do some kind of exercise each day, you'll be improving your health little by little. Also, just move around as often as you can. A sedentary lifestyle is harmful to your health , but it can be overcome with regular movement each day .

Getting on a better diet will take a little more willpower, as you'll have to forgo a lot of the unhealthy foods you've used to eke out a little bit of joy in your burnt out life. Just like with the exercise, take it easy and work your way up slowly. Consider everything you like to eat on a regular basis and isolate the top five healthiest choices on that list. Concentrate on eating those more often and be diligent about portion control. This won't involve any dramatic changes in your diet, but will refocus what you already eat so you're eating healthier. When you're feeling up to it, start cooking more often. When you make the food, you have greater control over what's going into your body.

Finally, sleep better (and more if you need to). Burnout's primary symptom is long-term exhaustion, so you need to improve the quality of your sleep if you want things to get better. I found technology to be helpful when diagnosing my sleep problems and figuring out a better routine. If your sleep problems are more specific, however, check out these common solutions .

Be Patient

As previously mentioned, undoing burnout takes time. While you may start to feel better quickly, overriding your previous descent into exhaustion is a long-term process and you can't expect to fix it all in a snap. As you work your way back to feeling better, more energized, and generally happier with your work and personal lives, set both long and short term goals to help you remember that this is a process. Seeing yourself achieve these goals over time will help you know that progress is being made even when it feels like nothing is happening at all. Burnout is difficult to overcome, but you'll get there if you're dedicated.
Images by Leremy (Shutterstock) and Roman Sigaev (Shutterstock) .