James Lavino’s first big break came by way of Winnie the Pooh. Spending his 20s in New York (circa the late 1990s), Lavino found himself composing scores for his friends’ documentary films and dipping his hand in whatever creative endeavors came his way—including editing at the literary magazine “The Paris…
Work can often feel overwhelming, with stress taking a toll on our lives and leaving us feeling perpetually drained. Beyond emotional fatigue, stress can contribute to serious health conditions including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and arthritis. While it’s not always possible to control stressors in your workload…
What’s more taboo in your workplace: Clocking out a few minutes early, stealing someone’s food from the common fridge, or asking your coworkers how much money they make? I’d venture to guess that most people would sooner risk taking a colleague’s cookie than asking their manager for the figure on…
What do employers usually expect from a job candidate? Of course, skills, experience, and education play a significant part in landing the job of your dreams. But there are situations (and you’ve probably gone through them yourself) when a company chooses a person with almost no qualifications for the job,…
We all have those days where you get next to nothing done at work—fortunately, we all also have the power to ensure the days that ensue are more productive. First, you should eliminate all detectable distractions: your phone, email or social media notifications, and noise in the office. Also, prioritize…
Work is a common cause of stress, for a number of reasons, including: fear of losing one’s job, gossip, and a long commute. You can take control of these stressors and ultimately improve your mental health by working for yourself. It’s important to note that self-employment doesn’t come without stress—the…
When life becomes overwhelming, it helps to consult your personal value system, which outlines your priorities and guides your actions. Your personal values also help to determine what kind of people you keep around, what purpose you seek, and how you treat others. To create a healthy personal value system,…
A lot of factors work together to breed the right job for you—these include passion, enjoyment, location, work/life balance, and workplace culture. When it comes to personal fulfillment, it’s important that you’re passionate about your job and truly enjoy what you’re doing: if you don’t find passion and enjoyment in…
The pursuit of happiness is not an easy quest: it takes the fulfillment of multiple elements, as detailed in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The first level of his pyramid involves one’s physiological needs, which include food, water, and rest; the second level’s needs pertain to safety, such as security and…
Just this past weekend, I was playing the classic game of “Would You Rather” with a few close friends when an ever-popular question was proposed: would you rather have a low-paying job that you love or a high-paying job that you hate? Some of us declared our answers immediately, while…
For the last few days, you’ve lived on the pages of Indeed, scrolling through the many job postings and clicking on promising leads. You’ve recrafted your cover letter more times than you can remember and sent your resume to an abundance of companies (fingers crossed that this is finally the…
Running a business means setting an example. A healthy lifestyle can contribute to a productive workplace, for you and your employees. True productivity includes much more than the three-hour block of caffeine-infused frenzy you experience after your morning coffee. The reason is largely because quick fixes like these don’t last…
