Work Environment

Learning to Love Loss May Hold the Secret to Success

Want to succeed in business? Lose your fear of loss, experts say. Small financial incentives make people perform better, but larger incentives actually make people less productive and perform worse, new research from the California Institute of Technology indicates. The reason has to do with the way people tend to “choke” when the stakes are high, [...]

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Employee Perks Aid Employers’ Bottom Line

Companies that offer a generous array of perks and benefits to workers can save money in the long run due to lower turnover and improved workplace performance, according to executives at companies that provide such benefits. MSNBC reported May 9 that officials at firms that increased their employee benefits in recent years cited an array of [...]

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Lengthy Work Commute May Make You Fat

Past studies show that a long commute to and from work is bad for your mental well-being — it may even jeopardize your marriage — and a new study suggests that commuting may also be bad for your waistline. People who drive longer distances to work get less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity — presumably because they [...]

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Take a Vacation from Your Email

Taking a break from your email may make you less stressed and more productive at work, researchers from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) and the U.S. Army say. Frequently checking your email puts you in a “high alert” state and changes your heart rate, the study shows. But a brief break from email [...]

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Unemployed? Focus and Positivity Can See You Through to a New Job

Unemployment is depressing, even for healthy people. But if you can keep your spirits up and persist in your job search it may help you find work faster, HealthDay News reported May 3. People who are able to maintain an upbeat outlook, seek outside support, and stick to a routine while unemployed put in the [...]

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Finding a Work-Life Balance that Works

Last month, Sheryl Sandberg touched off a far-reaching discussion about work-life balance. The ambitious COO of Facebook appeared in a video and revealed that she typically leaves the office at 5:30p.m. so that she will be home by 6:00 to spend time with her family. Comments on this oddly newsworthy disclosure were all over the [...]

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Working Long Hours is Counterproductive

Working more than 40 hours a week? Those extra hours at your desk probably aren’t especially productive — and your boss should know it. Time magazine reported April 26 that research conducted by the Ford Motor Co. at the turn of the century — that is, the turn of the 20th century — concluded that [...]

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Annual Cost of Obesity in U.S. Tops $190 Billion

Obesity weighs much more heavily on U.S. businesses, government and individuals than previously believed, adding an estimated $190 million in healthcare and other costs, Reuters reported April 30. Medical spending alone is twice what was estimated just a few years ago, and obesity-related healthcare costs now outpace even medical costs associated with smoking, according to [...]

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Google’s ‘Search Inside Yourself’ Program Built on Mindfulness

Employees at Google’s hard-charging headquarters are offered a course on mindfulness to help ease workplace stress and improve happiness and cooperation, the New York Times reported April 29. The Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program focuses on attention training, self-knowledge and self-mastery, and developing useful mental habits. Class topics include motivation, defining success, and dealing with failure. [...]

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Short Term Failure Can Help You Learn, Study Suggests

Learning how to “fail productively” may make you a better learner, a new study suggests. The key may be — and this will sound counterintuitive to teachers everywhere — not giving students a lot of instructional support or feedback (or accepting it, if you’re a student), researchers from the Learning Sciences Lab at the National [...]

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