39 Tweets to Improve Your Worklife

May 11, 2017 0 Comments A+ a-


Sometimes, bits of advice can be the most time-effective.

Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain
Source: Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain
 
Especially in the how-to realm, concision sometimes trumps comprehensiveness. In that spirit, here are what I believe are my most helpful tweets on work.
Thinking or meeting while walking boosts brainpower.

A problem may have both a rational and an irrational component. It may help to try to solve those separately.

Society having replaced the "No and here's why" rejection letter with no response is rude, dispirits the would-be recipient, and deprives society of feedback.

Talking too much is a career killer. Keep utterances to less than 45 seconds and in dialogue, speak a bit less than half the time.

A desire to “give back” needn’t imply helping the neediest. It could mean helping those with the most potential to benefit.

Those who charge a fortune are often not worth it. Many of the best and most ethical charge moderately and are quiet, not big self-promoters.

In refining an idea, it helps to describe it to people. The idea iterates each time.

Most people learn too little at conferences to justify going. The payoff is in relationships you build...if you're good at networking.

Many people don't burn out from long work weeks. They burn out from doing work they're bad at or from working with the wrong people.

Successful people compartmentalize. While working, they refuse to let personal worries intrude.
If your self-esteem is low, perhaps focus on finding work you can succeed at. Real self-esteem comes from accomplishment.

I wonder how true it is that people feel empty if they have a soulless but remunerative occupation such as bond trader.

A resume is usually is too filled with chemistry-inhibiting clichés. Instead, write and tell the resume that reveals your true story and self.

There’s cost and benefit each time you criticize or suggest. Only sometimes is it worth the price. Make the choice consciously.

Key to being liked: While retaining integrity, do more agreeing, amplifying, and empathizing. Do less arguing, one-upping, and yes-butting.

It’s fairly easy to be liked: listen more than talk, praise often, and disagree rarely. The question is, is it worth the loss of integrity?

Deifying "do what you love" demeans the millions who do unlovable work. Indeed, they may be more worthy of respect.

Do what you love and the money too rarely follows. Instead, get good at something marketable. Then you'll at least like it, and then the money will more likely follow.

 
 
If there were San Francisco Bay Area motto, it might be "Do what you love and it doesn't matter if the money follows.The taxpayer will support me."

I lament the large and increasing emphasis on networking. It leads to hiring based on connections rather than competence.

Success mainly reduces to just four words: intelligence, discipline, luck, and alas, networking.
With the oversupply of job applicants, sadly,  unless you're a star, it tends to be schmooze or lose.
It's politically correct to imply that effort trumps ability. Often not true.

If your communication tends to be unclear, pretend you're talking to a bright 12-year-old.

No matter how brilliant you are, if your style is too intense, many people will dismiss you.
In managing, praise when you can, and when you can’t, try invoking guilt, for example, “I know you’re better than this.”

When writing an employment ad, don't list all the skills required, only the key difficult work the employee will be doing.

Today, teamwork is extolled, but don’t forget individualism’s pluses: speed, more motivation, bolder/less compromised solutions.

Many successful, people fuel themselves with their work and accomplishment, many unsuccessful people through recreation.
 
 
I used to think most people are intrinsically motivated to work hard, but I’ve learned that many if not most people need monitoring.

We dun perfectionism as causing procrastination. Yet many people’s perfectionist efforts have yielded the most good and satisfaction.

The key to a life well-led is maximizing your contribution. Happiness, less key, is most likely found in simple pleasures.

The pendulum from individualism has swung too far. Now everything is "the community." Bold individualism has yielded great accomplishment.

From ancient Greece to today's pulpit, the message is: moderation. But is that not a formula for mediocrity?

There are always those who denigrate great people.
"Dream it and you can do it" is overbroad advice, even if you add "ff you work hard."
If possible, slightly under-schedule yourself. That gives you the time to make your work higher-quality.

Become a go-to guy/gal at something. It's excellence and accomplishment that makes you like your job, not whether it's in a cool field.
Status is the enemy of contentment.