The Revolution Against Open-Office Plans Has Begun

The Revolution Against Open-Office Plans Has BegunThe Revolution Against Open-Office Plans Has BegunAlthough 70 percent of the American workforce now works shoulder-to-shoulder in football-field sized rooms without anything as much as an iPhone-thin wall separating their desks, studies continue to show that open-office plans are detrimental to employees concentration, productivity, creativity, stress level, and job satisfaction, not to mention their health.The following is an excerpt from a January 7, 2014 New Yorker article called The Open-Office Trap written by Maria KonnakovaIn 2011, the organizational psychologist Matthew Davis reviewed more than a hundred studies about office environments. He found that, though open offices often fostered a symbolic sense of organizational mission, making employees feel like part of a more laid-back, innovative enterprise, they were damaging to the workers attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction. Compared with standard offices, employees experienced more uncontrolled interactions, higher levels of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation. When David Craig surveyed some thirty-eight thousand workers, he found that interruptions by colleagues were detrimental to productivity, and that the more senior the employee, the worse she fared.The New Yorker piece followed on the high heels of several others from the likes of Fast Company, Inc., and Forbes, all of which cited the negative effects of open-office plans as well as the growing discontent among the nations workforce.Which brings me to the memo I received earlier this morning. The memo, which is more manifesto than memo, did not contain a return address. However, it did come signed- by The 70 Percent.And here, below, in its entirety, is said memoJanuary 16, 2014Dear Sirs and Madams and People who neither identity themselves as sirs nor madams,We, the 70 percent, have had it with your gum cracking, your hand waving, your loud talkin g, your loud laughing, your goat curry splashing onto our keyboards and smartphones.Weve had it with your loud good-mornings, your loud good-nights, your louder Hey dudes you gotta check out this sick goal by Messi, your even louder OMG did you catch the mess of a dress JLaw was sporting to the Globes?We cant take one more of your sneezes, your coughs, your flu germs, your cold germs, your complaints about your head and the weather and your mother and your brother, or your feeble attempts at a surreptitious nose pick and subsequent flick.Weve had it with the footballs, the volleyballs, the tennis balls, the Frisbees, the Rock Star, the having to come into the office at 5 a.m. in order to get any sort of productive work done.Weve had it with your attempts to make eye contact with us while we type, the attempts to engage us with idle morning, midday, and midnight conversation while we work.Weve had it with the amateur film reviews, the nonsensical book reviews, the Breaking schwimmbad spoilers, the Mad Men spoilers, the Downton Abbey spoilers, the Homeland spoilers.Weve had it with the questions about which IG filter is best, which profile picture the cutest.We dont want to symbolically belong to your team. Or, for that matter, any team with more than 11 players a side. Do you see a number on the back of our blazers? An ad on the front of our sweaters?Collaboration? Call a meeting. Fewer silos? Call the Farm Bureau.In short, we, the 70 percent, demand the followingOur offices back. A door we can close. A wall not made of glass. A place to hang a photograph. To listen to music and news and the odd podcast without earbuds jammed into our skulls. A little privacy. Peace and quiet. Time and space to think. An opportunity to quietly contemplate and quietly create. The ability to make a personal phone call outside the belastung stall in the womens room. A neighbor who has to first knock rather than stand over us and scream Hey man, you got a minute?In other words, we want what you want Increased efficiency. Better ideas. Higher profits.That is, four walls, two plants, and a tiny window to call our own.Respectfully yours,The 70 PercentFollow me VaultFinance.Read More The Open-Office Trap (The New Yorker) The 10 Worst Things About Working in an Open-Office Environment (Fast Company)Cube Life Is Killing Me (Vault)

7 Ways Youre Holding Yourself Back From Becoming a Huge Success

7 Ways Youre Holding Yourself Back From Becoming a Huge Success7 Ways Youre Holding Yourself Back From Becoming a Huge SuccessIts easy to identify all the external factors responsible for keeping you from achieving your goals. Maybe you chose a degree in an industry that has seen a recent decline. Maybe your boss doesnt appreciate your work. Maybe your business idea was leveraged by another entrepreneur before you had a chance to patent it. Most of us can list unterstellung types of factors if prompted, without much hesitation, but its much harder to identify the ways were keeping ourselves from success- and usually, these factors are much more significant.There are two main problems with self-sabotage that make it notoriously difficult to overcomeIdentification. Its hard to know when youre sabotaging yourself because it often happens subconsciously- and nobodys there to tell you when youre doing it.Improvement. Even if you can identify these sabotaging behaviors and habits, theyre h ard to fix because theyre usually a natural part of your personalityI dont claim to have all the answers, but I can help you with at least the identification obstacle. The following are some of the fruchtwein common ways people sabotage their own long-term potential1. You Give Up PrematurelyWhen faced with adversity, a fraction of people continue and a fraction of people give up this is true for any obstacle. Anyone who gives up instantly abandons hope of progression, while the people who persevere instantly find another chance for eventual success. This sounds simple on paper, so why do so many people give up prematurely? Sometimes its because the amount of effort required for the next l is intimidating. Sometimes its because they feel defeated and dont want to suffer that feeling again. Sometimes its because they secretly fear success. You owe it to yourself to find out why.2. You Dont Cut Your LossesTheres a psychological principle investment demonstrated by a creation known as t he dollar auction game. Heres the short version people are predisposed to escalate their investment in known unfavorable scenarios simply because theyve already invested in it. In the dollar auction game, this means staking more money in an effort to recoup previous losses, to a ridiculous degree. To you, this may be continuing to work at a lousy job youve already put eight years into. Its bad to give up prematurely, but its equally bad to keep subjecting yourself to compounding losses.3.You Refuse to AdaptThink of your goals as a destination and your plans as a konzept to get there. When traveling along these roads, you come to an obstacle. What do you do? A conventional traveler would simply re-route the path or choose a slightly different destination. However, in our own lives, were more likely to go back to our point of origin and never mention the incident again. Why is this? Because adapting is hard. People would rather give up than adapt, and that makes it nearly impossible t o succeed few goals can be met without obstacle.4.You Think Youre Good EnoughMost of these obstacles so far have been rooted in a lack of esteem, but too much esteem can also be a bad thing. For example, if you think youre already good enough for the job, you wont prepare for the interview. If you think your business idea is good enough to attract investors, you wont work to improve it. Inevitably, in these scenarios, youll hit a major barrier, and you wont be able to progress. What then, is the solution? Knowing that you always have room for improvement, and constantly striving to achieve it.5. You Fear FailureThe fear of failure is rampantly common and devastating in effect. Culturally, we see failure as both negative and permanent if you get an F in the class, youve disappointed everyone you know and youll never have a chance to take that class again. This fear haunts us throughout life if you start a business and fail, youll disappoint everyone and youll never have another chanc e to succeed. Of course, this isnt rational- most failures in real life arent permanent. Theyre temporary. They arent negative consequences of bad actions theyre lessons that turn our mistakes into achievements. If you stop fearing failure, youll take more educated risks and youll be more confident in your decisions.6. You Choose ComfortMost of us prefer comfort to discomfort this is why weve created these terms in the first place. Unfortunately, most forms of success require discomfort you have to try new things, go unfamiliar places, do things youre bad at, and meet intimidating people to challenge ourselves to grow. This doesnt mean you should always choose the uncomfortable option. Instead, this is meant to illustrate the idea that uncomfortable often means challenging under the surface, and challenging things help us to grow.7. You Wait for the Perfect MomentWhether you want to start your own business, quit your job, or invest in a new venture, most of us are crippled by waitin g for the perfect time to pull the trigger. We wait for a little more money, a little more stability, or a little more information. The problem is, the perfect time never comes. Every moment is riddled with imperfections and no matter how long you wait, there will always be a risk associated with your decision. Stop waiting for the perfect moment and just do what you want to do.Throughout this article, Ive highlighted some of the most common and most significant forms of self-sabotage, along with some introductory strategies for how to deal with them. The rest is up to you. It takes confidence, determination, and willpower to successfully overcome these internal mental hurdles, but that doesnt mean its impossible. Know your weaknesses, stick to your goals, and most importantly, dont give up on yourself.More From Inc.The Simple Daily Habit that Can Catapult Your SuccessGratitude Physically Changes Your Brain, New Study Says10 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself Every Day

7 Ways to Make Extra Money Moonlighting From Home

7 Ways to Make Extra Money Moonlighting From Home7 Ways to Make Extra Money Moonlighting From HomeWhile there are some legitimate ways to make extra money quickly, keep in mind that you wont get rich quickly, and anything promising that you will is almost certainly awork-at-home scam. These seven money-making ideas require little, if any, monetary investment.With most of them, if you gradually expand your time commitment, youll see your monetary reward expand as well. 01Let Your Cell Phone Pay Its Own WayRagnar Schmuck / Getty ImagesMystery shopping can be a way to earn a little money moonlighting close to home. Also known as secret shopping, it involves pretending to be a regular customer at a business and then providing feedback on your experience to the company that hires you. That company then aggregates the feedback of multiple mystery shoppers to let the business know how it can improve. However, these types of jobs can also bethe bait for work-at-home scams, so you have to be very careful and know the signs of mystery shopping scams.