Tag: Job

The “Boredom” Test…

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yawnBrainpickings.com shared a post on the Anatomy of Boredom.  I’m drawn to personality self-tests like a moth to flame.  This test boosted the ole’ psyche this morning: My Score – 79. (Naturally that led me to think that there is something wrong with me if I’m such an outlier with my great score.)  Check out the entire post to find what researchers say a high or medium boredom score means for you.

The statements to follow can be answered using a 7-point scale — from ’1′ (highly disagree), to ’4′ (neutral), to ’7′ (highly agree).

  • It is easy for me to concentrate on my activities.
  • Frequently when I am working I find myself worrying about other things.
  • Time always seems to be passing slowly.
  • I often find myself at “loose ends”, not knowing what to do.
  • I am often trapped in situations where I have to do meaningless things.
  • Having to look at someone’s home movies or travel slides bores me tremendously.
  • I have projects in mind all the time, things to do.
  • I find it easy to entertain myself.
  • Many things I have to do are repetitive and monotonous.
  • It takes more stimulation to get me going than most people.
  • I get a kick out of most things I do.
  • I am seldom excited about my work.
  • In any situation I can usually find something to do or see to keep me interested.
  • Much of the time I just sit around doing nothing.
  • I am good at waiting patiently.
  • I often find myself with nothing to do, time on my hands.
  • In situations where I have to wait, such as in line, I get very restless.
  • I often wake up with a new idea.
  • It would be very hard for me to find a job that is exciting enough.
  • I would like more challenging things to do in life.
  • I feel that I am working below my abilities most of the time.
  • Many people would say that I am a creative or imaginative person.
  • I have so many interests, I don’t have time to do everything.
  • Among my friends, I am the one who keeps doing something the longest.
  • Unless I am doing something exciting, even dangerous, I feel half-dead and dull.
  • It takes a lot of change and variety to keep me really happy.
  • It seems that the same things are on television or the movies all the time; it’s getting old.
  • When I was young, I was often in monotonous and tiresome situations.

To find out your own proneness to boredom, add up the total of the scores you gave each question and see results below:

Continue reading “The “Boredom” Test…” →

Gender shouldn’t matter, but apparently it still does…

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HBR Network – Gender Shouldn’t Matter, But Apparently It Still Does

Guess who comes out on top (again)!

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Why you will fail to have a great career…

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Larry Smith is a professor of economics at University of Waterloo. He coaches his students to find the careers that they will truly love. The most notable start-up he advised in its infancy is Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry. (No commentary please from the audience on how his advise is working for RIM now…Smile)

While I didn’t find any earthshattering revelations here, I did find Smith to be an engaging and inspirational storyteller in his presentation of the excuses we invent in failing to pursue our passions – – excuses including:

  • “There are no more great jobs, all the good jobs are disappearing”
  • “Great careers are a matter of luck”
  • “People who have great careers are geniuses, special one-of-kind”
  • “In 1950’s, competency would land you a good job. Today, not so much given how competitive it is…”
  • “I would do this (pursue my passion) but I’m not weird or obsessive…there is a fine line between great, weird and madness…and this is why normal people don’t have great careers”
  • “If you work hard, you can have a good career. But you need to work really really hard to have a great career and you are not prepared to sacrifice _____ (family, children, friends, etc.)
  • “I value my relationships more than my accomplishments. I will not sacrifice them in pursuit of my passion or a great career.”

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Is your job killing you?

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Nice way to start off our Monday Morning, huh? A few nuggets pulled from the info graphic below:

  • Middle-aged workers who have poor relationships with their colleagues were 2.4x more likely to die sooner.
  • Women who reported having control/power in the workplace were 70% more likely to die than those who did not feel in control.  (Really?)
  • Surprisingly, relationships with Bosses had no ties to increased death, even though it was the top cause of leaving a job. (Really?  Now I’m wondering about sample size)
  • Top 10 Most stressful jobs.  (Oh oh)
  • 44% say that their job is excessively stressful.
  • In the UK, stress is now the #1 cause for leave of absences.
  • Stress has been called the 21st century’s equivalent of Black Death.
  • Prolonged stress is equivalent to carrying an additional 40 pounds.

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Career Planning in 60 Seconds

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Source: Simon Kemp: Career planning in 60 seconds – a recreation of +Bud Caddell’s “How to be happy in business” diagram