More Money in Tough Times

More Money in Tough TimesMore Money in Tough TimesMore Money in Tough Times There are creative ways to make your package bigger without necessarily stretching the salary past the breaking point.Bill got a 20 percent raise during a salary freeze. He was wellJeff, in finance, noticed that the 10-ounce jars of a soup cousine were overfilled by a half-ounce or more. Why? The FDA fines for underfilling a jar were substantial, so they added an extra half-ounce to be on the safe side. Armed with an idea, Jeff created a BEB.He found digital scales that could replace the less accurate analog scales currently in use eliminating the need to overfill. The half-ounce savings per jar, over a years production of 1.75 million jars, came to 54,427 pounds of stock, valued at $10,000 in annual savings.Doing the MathTen thousand dollars probably wouldnt even hit the radar for a cost accountant in a large food processing company, but whats peanuts to them is significant money to you. And if you figure th at at a 5 percent profit margin it requires $200,000 of sales to generate $10,000 profits, thats not chump change Neither was the $5,000 zugabe Jeff negotiated.TimingThe key to making a BEB pay off is timing. If you ask after youve succeeded, top brass will say, Hey, thats part of your job. If you askbefore youve brought home the bacon, theyre all eager to tell you to go out and win one for the Gipper and sure, theyll be glad to give you a spiff.Going Outside Normal ChannelsA client of mine had a smart but difficult boss who had high turnover in his division. Management put the boss on notice Clear it up. High turnover wreaked havoc on profitability, since the organization was constantly training new people and cleaning up messes from people who dropped the ball when they left in the middle of a project.Because my client knew this mattered to the boss personally, not just as a company goal, my client was able to get a bonus for lowered turnover. She got to go to a seminar on employe e zurckhalten and turned it into three days of work and four days of vacation. And all this occurred when the board had declared that the top raise would be 3 percent that year.So, when looking to increase your compensation, consider taking extra value in terms of time and bonuses. Both can enrich you outside the parameters of a traditional raise.Bonne chance

6 ways to curb your social media addiction during these uncertain times.

6 ways to curb your social media addiction during these uncertain times.6 ways to curb your social media addiction during these uncertain times.If youve spent the last couple weeks glued to the internet in anticipation of what part of the world will signal trouble next, youre not alone. Uncertainty is making Americans all kinds of queasy.Yet, while the breaking berichterstattung continues to be more distracting, we cant seem to tear ourselves away from it - especially on our social media platforms, where 62% of Americans get their news.Herein lies the problem for anyone trying to be a productive member of society right now the decision between connecting with friends and family and talking about news on social media, and keeping your sanity.Of course, social media was already a hindrance to productivity long before any governmental upheaval. According to a recent study conducted at the University of Bergen, social media use during work hours can negatively impact overall performance .Now that many of us are obsessively watching Twitter for updates, or going down deep news wormholes on Facebook, that impact can only grow.So how do we break the cycle and still remain informed citizens? Here are 6 tips that have worked for fellow sufferers.1. Make social media harder to access.A food-based analogy - if you want to keep yourself from eating an entire jar of Nutella (because you know youll feel terrible if you do), put it out of arms reach. In social media terms, this means delete all your social media app from your devices. Youll also want to logout to give yourself another step to getting back on. Boston writer Jenni Gritters managed to stay off for a week thanks to this method - although, she notes, it was really hard2.If you have to stay connected, give yourself limits.Remember when your parents platzdeckchen limits on TV watching when you were a kid? Whelp, now youve got to set your own. An hour a day after work is a safe parameter - but if you find that dif ficult to adhere to, try setting stretches of time where you dont check, but make sure theyre specific - like no social media before 11am and after 5pm on weekdays.Keeping your phone/computer far away, like in another room, definitely helps in keeping these resolutions.3.Replace one addiction with a less harmful one.If scrolling withdrawal is getting to you, turn to an app that wont suck you into an anxiety hole, like Instagram, Pinterest or YouTube. Afraid youll see scary, politically-related comments on YouTube videos? Writer Heather Libby swears by Herp Derp - a plugin that effectively blocks them for you.4.Separate yourself from your screens.This is perhaps the most effective (and healthy) way Ive found to quell the gnawing need to constantly check in with the state of the world.Take a walk outside while leaving your phone behind hang out with friends exercise read an actual, physical book or even fire up your Kindle without the wireless access and check out that new book youv e been putting off reading. Its about redirecting that almost instinctive impulse to open social media at work into an activity that will replenish you rather than drain you.5. Cant do it on your own? Enlist outside help.Make a pact with your friends and co-workers to be each others social media watchdogs. If thats not enough, there are several apps you can download that will lock you out of specified websites for a stipulated period of time including Self Control and Freedom. One app called Offtime even lets you customize do not disturb mode so youre still reachable in case of emergencies.6. Keep up with the news - on your termsCurtailing social media doesnt mean you have to stay uninformed, or if youre politically active, give up on your involvement. Once you sign back on, try curating your feeds with more specific news groups or action-oriented groups and lists - anything from your local soup kitchen to parents groups in your local school district. More often than not, theyll b e posting about the difference theyre making rather than distributing alarming headlines. Wouldnt you rather be inspired by social change during your workday, rather than beaten down by an endless cycle of news that hurts your motivation?It may sound counterintuitive, but unplugging occasionally is the only way you can effectively move forward during these uncertaintimes. Its known as self-care. The important news will still get to you, but youll be much more equipped to handle it.

Quitting your job without notice is it ever okay

Quitting your job without notice … is it ever okay Quitting your job without notice … is it ever okay When quitting a job, giving two weeks’ notice to your current employer is a customary and widely known standard that most people default to (or at least, feel obligated to follow).It not only gives your current company a reasonable heads up that you’re leaving and therefore the opportunity to begin recruiting for your replacement if necessary, it also allows you to ease out of your current role and move on to your next opportunity in professional way. Yet, circumstances sometimes arise where you may wonder whether you really  have  to give those two weeks notice.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!Learn when quitting without giving notice is acceptable (hint: only in rare circumstances) and when you’re better off sticking to the standard.The rules around giving notice when quittingAlthough most might think so, the two weeks notice rule doesn’t come from a law   â€" ther e are  no federal or state laws  that require an employee to provide two weeks’ notice to his or her employer before quitting â€" but instead, it’s more based on professionalism, courtesy and individual company policies.Some employment contracts may stipulate that you must give two weeks notice or even longer before terminating your employment, with the penalty of losing unused vacation days or other benefits if you don’t comply.  So if you’re thinking about leaving your job, it’s smart to dig up the employment contract you signed at your current company to see what rules are in place.In any case, remember that in most states, most employment contracts are “at-will”, which means you can quit at any time, for any reason. The same goes the other way around though - your employer can fire you at any time, for any reason. In either scenario, giving some sort of notice is indeed just a courtesy, but for you to quit without giving two weeks notice means inviting some potent ial negative backlash on your career.The perils of quitting without noticeThe primary consequence of not giving notice when you’re quitting is the likelihood that you will very likely burn some bridges or otherwise leave a very negative impression â€" with the company itself, your boss or manager, your clients (if you have any), and your co-workers who are still at the company.Even if the circumstances of your quitting weren’t great and things at your current company actually drove you to quit, it’s always smart to stay on good terms with an employer. Life is long, and you may need a reference or run into people from your old company in the future at a business function or other professional situation. Leaving your job with grace and tact can go a long way to maintain your professional reputation.It’s also important to remember that no matter how much you want to “stick it” to your company, your coworkers are the ones most likely to suffer from you quitting. Your work wi ll likely fall on your colleagues or subordinates until a replacement can be found, meanwhile, any clients may be caught by surprise by the sudden shift. This means that a whole network of people in your industry may be left with bad feelings about you if you quit unexpectedly and those negative feelings can follow you for the rest of your career.Scenarios in where it actually might be okay to quit without noticeNo matter your best intentions, there are still some rare circumstances where a decision to quit without notice might actually make a whole lot of sense. Some examples include: Your manager fires anyone who gives notice. Some managers are unreasonable, and if past performance tells you that your boss will fire you immediately if you give notice, don’t waste your time. Go ahead and secure another position and quit without giving notice. You’re being emotionally abused. If your manager or coworkers terrorize you at work or your mental health is in jeopardy the more time you spend at your current workplace, your professional relationships have likely already been ruptured beyond repair and staying for another two weeks is more damaging than beneficial. In this case, quitting without notice may be best for your own sanity, especially if the emotionally abuse might worsen after you’ve given notice. You’re asked to do something unethical. If you’re asked to do something unethical, your own professional reputation is at stake. Attempt to resolve the problem first. If that goes nowhere, quitting without notice may be your only choice. You feel unsafe.  No job is worth your physical or mental safety. If you don’t feel safe at work, quit immediately. Any negative repercussions are worth your continued health and safety. Unless you find yourself in one of these rare circumstances, giving notice is the most professional and respectful way to leave your job. Spending an extra two weeks in an uncomfortable position may be worth preserving your professional reputation.This article first appeared on Kununu.You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people