New research reveals some new ways to buy happiness, sort of

New research reveals some new ways to buy happiness, sort of It turns out that money actually can buy happiness, but not a lot of it. At some point, well under $100,000, the happiness value of a dollar starts to plummet, according to Richard Easterlin, economics professor at University of Southern California. This is because social interactions impact happiness more than money does. But heres a new way to look at the money and happiness equation, from a new study by Nattavudh Powdthavee of the University of London: If you make sure to see a friend or relative in person almost every day, that is like increasing your salary by $180,000 a year. However buying incremental happiness with a six-figure income is very costly. For example, Powdthavee says if you are going to relocate from a city where your family and friends live to a city where you have no family or friends, you would need to earn $133,000 just to make up for the lack of happiness you feel from being far from those people. Powdthavee drives home the importance of making a conscious choice about your time when he writes, Since it normally requires both time and effort to achieve either higher income or a stable social relationship with someone, the weight attached to each individuals investment decision thus depends upon the type of possession â€" money or friendship â€" that he or she believes will yield a larger impact on happiness than the other. Its great that Powdthavee does the money vs. relationship math for us, because as humans we are absolutely terrible at predicting what will make us happy and maybe shouldnt even bother. For one thing, we are all likely to tell ourselves were happy, whatever we are doing, in order to justify what were doing. This is a fine predisposition for maintaining our sanity, but its not a great attitude to have if you are trying to figure out how to change your life to be happier. Our judgment about our own happiness is so bad that Andrew Oswald, economist at the Warwick University has written a paper that to calls for researchers to stop drawing conclusions based on asking people if they are happy. So I recommend believing that the research is right and your personal predictions are wrong. But the caveat with all this money research is that when we ditch our relatives to take a high paying job, were not actually interested in the money, per se. Its something else. In a study where people make decisions about sharing money, Harvard University economist Terry Bernham showed that when it comes to money, we dont strive for some idea we have of what is enough but rather to have a little more than our friends. The Economist describes Burnhams study and reports, What people really strive for is relative rather than absolute prosperity. And this is likely to be particularly true in individuals with high testosterone levels. The Economist concludes that this is totally rational behavior, because while more money has not been shown to get more sex, more money does buy the social status to have more choices for sex partners. So money isnt an end in itself, but social status is, whether we like it our not, because it has been our means to preserve our DNA. This explains the study that blogger Gautam Ghosh quotes showing that someone who is a gatekeeper for a hospital can be happier in their work than a doctor based on their perceived contribution to the community. And it also explains the drive to forgo a big salary to make art: If your art hangs in the Guggenheim, you get your choice of girls to go home with, even if your home is sort of shoddy. So what can we do? 1. Recognize that you should make relationships your top priority. Really. Most of us say we do this, but many of us could not actually point to a time when we took a big hit in the money department just so we could preserve regular date night with our significant other. 2.Admit its an uphill battle to care less about social standing. But its worth it. The more you care about where you stand in relation to others, the less happy youll be. Social standing can take so many forms. Instead of patting yourself on the back for not buying a McMansion, be honest about the fact that you didnt want one anyway. Understand how you measure your social rank, and try to tame it. For my part, I tell myself that if I check compete.com fewer times a week, Ill be a happier person. (Maybe true. But look, I still linked to it.) 3. Trust the research when you are faced with a tough decision. Yes, all research is like diet research one decade cheese is bad, next decade cheese is good. But just because the research is not perfect doesnt mean you should go off and do whatever your gut tells you. Your gut tells you pizza is great and so is grilled cheese. But duh, it isnt. And your gut tells you that you will be happier with a little more money, and you could relocate from family if you make sure to visit a lot. But you know what? Duh. You know the truth. Hat tip: Senia Maymin

Why You Should Get a Genius App

Why You Should Get a Genius AppEveryone should get a Genius App. There are several great reasons why this will help you. If you really want to build a better life, this is the way to go. This eBook is about the smart thing you can do to make your life better.Most people only think about the obstacles in their life and how they can overcome them. This is a problem. You need to think about how you can make your life better and find ways to do so.The real problems in life usually aren't problems at all. You may not know exactly what they are but you will know they are there. That is where the Genius App can help you.You need to know exactly what is going on in your life. That's where you need to use the Genius App. When you have the App open, you will get all of the information that you need.There are many different types of problems and needs that you can encounter. This eBook is for everyone. You will learn all about what it takes to get through your life and get where you want to be. Using the Genius App can help you solve all sorts of problems. It will help you with your money and health care. You will also learn about financial success and all that comes with it. Everything you need to succeed in life will be laid out for you.This eBook will help you make it. You will see the results in no time. When you are ready to start taking back control of your life, you will learn how to get started now.When you really want to use the Genius App, you will see all of the time and energy you need to do so. This eBook will give you the tools to build a better life. You will be able to move past all of the obstacles in your life and get to where you want to be.

Is It The Right Time To Get Into Nursing - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Is It The Right Time To Get Into Nursing When we think of starting a career, or switching into a new line of work, there are always a key number of considerations to take on board. For instance, we need to think about if the line of work we want to get into is realistic for us (if youre unfit, you wont get into the military, for example), we need to think about the finances available, and our route throughout the career. Its not as easy as choosing some food off the menu (and that can be quite difficult on occasion). Choosing a career is a big choice, and there is always a lot to consider. Sometimes, you need to take on board some political considerations. The National Health Service has long been used as a political football in the political landscape in the United Kingdom. Some parties are fighting for it and increased funding; others accuse it of being bloated and in need of mass privatisation. The real truth lies somewhere in between, but because of the to-and-fro between parties about the NHS, it has led to a lot being put off of healthcare work. Under the current government, it certainly doesnt look like the NHS isnt getting the help it needs. If you look around, youll find a lot of news about underpaid and fed-up healthcare workers. This is unfortunate. However, it should not be enough to put you off nursing as a career path. Being a nurse doesnt just limit you to one role in one place and the time put in gaining experience in the nursing line of work can be helpful to your future While the NHS is in a poor state according to some, a nursing job isnt just based in the National Health Service. Nurses can find work in care homes and in the military. Check out some of the best nursing jobs available to get you started. If you want to be a nurse, you are sure to find some work if you put your time into learning the trade. Whats more, it is a line of work that could enable you to move abroad and work in different countries. Is it the right time to get into Nursing? In a sense, yes. There are still clear routes into work as a nurse, and if you dont make your decision now, these routes could close. If the current Government stays in power, it does look like those routes might be closed off for good in favour of other options, which changes things up. Is the work hard? Yes, it is, but its a good public service that is needed and nurses are needed, with plenty of open roles waiting to be snapped up. However, the experience gained as a nurse is invaluable and can be used in roles across the globe. This is not a pigeon-holed and limited career path, but one with huge options, however, youll need to earn your stripes, and if you do not get involved in nursing, you wont be able to do that.

The top 5 new rules of productivity - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

The top 5 new rules of productivity - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog We all want to increase productivity and get more done with our working hours. Theres just one problem: Most peoples view of productivity comes from the?industrial age. This leads to some fundamental misconceptions about work, including these: If you work more hours, you get more work done. Adding more people to a project?means you can finish sooner. Productivity is more or less constant and can be reliably predicted and?scheduled. For knowledge workers, i.e. anyone who works with information rather than physically producing stuff, these beliefs?are not only wrong, theyre actively harmful. So here is my suggestion for 5 new rules of productivity for knowledge workers. 1: Productivity varies wildly from day to day. This is normal. In an industrial setting, production and output can be planned in advance barring accidents or equipment failure. Basically you know that if the plant operates for X hours tomorrow youll produce Y widgets. For knowledge workers you cant possibly know in advance whether tomorrow will be a day where you: Reach a brilliant insight that saves you and your team weeks of work. Work tirelessly and productively for 12 hours. Or the day where you: Spend 8 hours gazing dejectedly into your screen. Introduce a mistake that will take days to find and fix. This variation is normal if a little frustrating. It also means that you shouldnt judge your productivity by the output on any given day but rather by your average productivity over many days. I have never seen this more clearly than when I was writing my first book. Some days Id sit myself down in front of my laptop and find myself unable to string two words together. Some mornings I banged out most of a chapter in a few hours. Writing is a creative process. I can do it when I?m in the mood. Trying to write when I?m not, is a frustrating exercise in futility. On the days where I couldnt write, Id go do something else. Probably wakeboarding :) The result: I wrote the book in record time (a couple of months all told), the book turned out really well AND I enjoyed the writing process immensely. Three things you can do about this: Dont make project plans based only on your maximum productivity days. Not every day will be like that. Base your schedules on your average productivity. Dont beat yourself up on the low-productivity days. Its normal, its part of the flow and these days have value too. I like to think that on these days, my subconscious mind is working on some really hairy complicated problem for which the solution will suddenly appear fully formed in my mind. If you do have a day where you get very little done, why not go home early and relax or get some private chores done? 2: Working more hours means getting less done Whenever we fall behind, its tempting to start working overtime to catch up. Dont! Instead, commit this graph to memory: It comes from this excellent presentation on productivity. Read it! Heres another data point: In 1991, a client asked me to conduct a study on the effects of work hours on productivity and errors? My findings were quite simply that mistakes and errors rose by about 10% after an eight-hour day and 28% after a 10-hour day? I also found that productivity decreased by half after the eighth hour of work. In other words, half of all overtime costs were wasted since it was taking twice as long to complete projects. After the study was done, a concerted effort was made to increase staffing. (Source) This may be counter-intuitive but its important to grasp: For knowledge workers there is no simple relationship between hours worked and output! Three things you can do about this: Dont work permanent overtime. In fact, some studies indicate that knowledge workers are the most productive when they work 35 hours a week. Take breaks during the work day and make sure to take vacations. Experiment to find out what schedule works best for you. Five eight-hour days? Four longer days and a long weekend? 3: Working harder means getting less done In an industrial environment, you can most often work harder and get more done. An increase in effort means an increase in productivity. For knowledge workers, the opposite is true. You cant force creativity, eloquence, good writing, clear thinking or fast learning in fact, working harder tends to create the opposite effect and you achieve much less. Three things you can do about this: Take the pressure off yourself and your team. Even if you make a mistake or miss?a deadline the world probably isnt going to end. Less pressure means higher productivity. Schedule a work load equivalent to only 80% of your work week. Trust me, you wont be wasting your remaining 20% but you will be more relaxed and more creative. In the words of Fred Gratzon: If it feels like work, youre doing it wrong. If you find that most of what you do is a struggle, this is a sure sign that you are not at your most creative and productive. 4: Procrastination can be good for you In an industrial setting, any time away from the production line is unproductive time therefore all procrastination is bad. Search for procrastination on google and you?ll find a massive number of articles on how to stop procrastinating and get stuff done. They will tell you that there is only one reliable way to get stuff done: Check todo-list for next item Complete item no matter what it is Go to step 1 They?ll tell you that if only you had enough willpower, backbone, self-control and discipline, this is how you would work too. Well guess what: Knowledge workers don?t work that way. Sometimes you?re in the mood for task X and doing X is ridiculously easy and a lot of fun. Sometimes doing X feels worse than walking barefoot over burning-hot, acid-covered, broken glass and forcing yourself to do it anyway is a frustrating exercise in futility. Sometimes procrastinating is exactly the right thing to do at a particular moment. This is largely ignored by the procrastination-is-a-sign-of-weakness, the-devil-finds-work-for-idle-hands crowd. Three things you can do about this: Procrastinate without guilt. Do not beat yourself up for procrastinating. Everybody does it once in a while. It doesn?t make you a lazy bastard or a bad person. If you leave a task for later, but spend all your time obsessing about the task you?re not doing, it does nothing good for you. Take responsibility, so that when you choose to procrastinate, you make sure to update your deadlines and commitments. Let people know, that your project will not be finished on time and give them a new deadline. Remember that Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted (according to John Lennon). 5: Happiness is the ultimate productivity enhancer The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work. I?m not knocking all the traditional productivity advice out there ? it?s not that it?s bad or deficient. It?s just that when you apply it in a job that basically doesn?t make you happy, you?re trying to fix something at a surface level when the problem goes much deeper. Three things you can do about this: Get happy in the job you have. There are many things you can do to improve your work situation ? provided you choose to do something, rather than wait for someone else to come along and do it for you. Remember to appreciate what is already good about your job. Often we forget, and overfocus on all the annoyances, problems and jerks. This is a natural tendency called negativity bias, but it also tends to keep us unhappy because we forget what works. If all else fails, find a new job where you can be happy. If your current job is not fixable, don?t wait ? move on now! The upshot The industrial age view of productivity has serious limitations when applied to knowledge workers but it remains the dominant view and still informs much of our thinking and many of our choices at work. Lets change this! This is not without its challenges. The old view of productivity may no longer apply, but it does give managers an illusion of control and predictability. The new rules are messy. Less predictable. They rely less on charts and graphs and more on how people feel on any given day. It ultimately comes down to this: Do we want to stick with a model that is comforting and predictable but wrong or are we ready to face what REALLY works? Your take What about you? When are you the most productive? What is your optimal number of working hours per week? What stimulates or destroys your productivity? Please write a comment, Id love to know your take. Related posts How to procrastinate effectively. Dont let The Cult of Overwork ruin your work life. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

The Fundamentals of Job Searching

The Fundamentals of Job Searching It can be tough to find a job even when the economy is thriving, but during down times it seems almost impossible to find a position that fits. Recessions take their toll on just about every job sector. But, that doesnt mean you have to be discouraged by the lull in the market. Now is a great time to show your resiliency, improve your skill-set and prove how qualified you are. So how do you begin your job search? Prepare Yourself Education is key. Its a perfect time to take additional courses or go for accreditation in your field. Subscribe to your industries newsletter, find out about upcoming projects, look at what firms are hiring, which market segments are experiencing growth, so that you can target your job search appropriately. Connect yourself. Join online groups like Facebook, LinkedIn or Fastpitch.com. Now is the time to make the internet work for you, make yourself the authority in your field online and you will see the job market expand. Its imperative to keep up with the changing landscape, so do what you can to stay abreast of trends. Reach Out and Connect Your network is the most valuable asset you have, but its only strong when you utilize it. Make a list of business associates, friends, owners, coworkers and anyone else that youve ever known or done business with. Get yourself out there and let these people know that you are available and looking for work. You may just be the missing piece that their company has been looking for. Until you have one, networking should be your full-time job. Contact friends, family, old school roommates, vendors or anyone else that might allow you to find a job. Time to be Flexible Flexibility will help you find a job no matter the economy. However, in a down market, you have to be open to trying different things. Maybe your full-time job will get its start through a small contract position. Some firms are reluctant to hire a full-time position due to fears of failing financially â€" so getting a contract position could give you an in that you need. Just get your foot in the door and be open to positions that are not related to your work experience. Always be Prepared Remember, everywhere you go, no matter if its dinner with friends, a social gathering or networking event â€" it could lead to job opportunities. Finding a job is your job now, so you have to do everything in your power to find a job. There are so many opportunities to work with people who will help you find a job. Who knows, maybe the next person you strike up a conversation with will know of an open position. You dont know, so you should always be prepared to showcase what you can do. Try to leave a lasting impression with the people you meet. Many people have found a job just by talking to people they meet at parties or through friends. Keep those eyes open.

Resumed Working From Home Entrepreneur

Resumed Working From Home EntrepreneurResumed working from home entrepreneur have one important thing to keep in mind. You can make as much money as you can from the internet, but if you expect to be rich overnight, you are going to be disappointed.So many of you guys started your internet business after you heard about the success stories of successful internet marketers. After hearing these stories, a lot of you started looking for ways to make more money. You probably thought you could do the same as these people, so you started searching on the internet for information on how to do this. Well, it sounds good, doesn't it?However, don't let yourself get overconfident, just because you read some of these tips and learn some of the secrets of how to make more money online. If you want to succeed, you need to learn some common sense first. Do not expect to start making more money in a day, next week or next month.Now, if you are one of those people who keep looking for information on how to do this, one way to fix that would be to start learning to do things yourself. There are a lot of ways to learn this kind of thing. First, you could do some research about what has worked for others and learn from those people. These are only the beginning steps, but they are the most important.Second, you need to learn how to identify and grab the knowledge that you want. This is because people who have mastered the internet know exactly how to do certain things. That is why they make millions of dollars, and you don't want to know how. In other words, once you have the knowledge, it is up to you to learn how to use it.Third, you need to remember that the internet is an enormous space where you can find out information all around you. All you need to do is to read and search through this vast ocean of information and learn how to do it. By the time you hit the edge of your expertise, you will already have the knowledge to make more money online.So that is it. The important t hing is to remember that you don't need to know everything about internet marketing. Just learn the basics and learn how to do it yourself.

The Appeal of New England Conservatory Resume Writing

The Appeal of New England Conservatory Resume Writing Introducing New England Conservatory Resume Writing If you're still not sure about what to do with your Musical Theatre degree after graduating, perchance a triple-threat program is perfect for you. My experience for an audio theater major at the Boston Conservatory is not anywhere near the normal college experience. Music and other careers An audio education is great for you in lots of ways! The full team consists of college students. A great guideline is simply list audition experience for some other orchestras as big as the one you're auditioning for. Today, a conservatory can be seen in the majority of continents. The house I'm in now is a fantastic house for it. The subteam is searching for members and a lead. Each play stipulates the next opportunities. Because there are several techniques to trade, and to put money into the stock market, getting started is an unbelievably daunting undertaking. The aim of your resume is to secure you a job interview with your intended employer. Under the latest role, type your preceding function. The Three Sisters appears to be a fantastic option for female scenes until you realize the vast majority of the female only scenes are of 3 or more characters at any certain moment. If you've completed some good gigs and some undesirable gigs, leave the terrible ones off. Possibly solely 5 works are ordinarily not really enough for making the comprehensive impression. From the extent the customer requires depends the last worth for paper. Even though it isn't unlawful to take advantage of them, the typical speedy paper of the job can get you into troubles. You need to be careful with the essays you receive from that point. In the event you accomplish that, you might put you prone to getting a much less-than-passable essay submitted underneath your name. If you are able to get past that point and begin trading, then you're going to end up like 90% of t raders who wind up losing money and quitting. Bear in mind, in addition, there are discounts available when purchasing all 3 e-books and free shipping when purchasing all three text books. If you're asking for a job, any job, make the very first information which you provide the most relevant to the job that you want. In america alone, there are lots of fine options a prospective student can select from, several of which shall be discussed briefly below. All transcripts have to be in English. Made for exceptional musicians interested in a wide range of artistic careers in addition to an elite liberal arts education, the dual degree will enable the 2 institutions to supply the best of their unique strengths. International students whose transcripts aren't issued in English must also supply official translations.