Disqus - Latest Comments for drewtarvin

Re: HA! | Guests: Patrice Turner + Ashwin Chugh | Ep. 33

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 16:41:30 -0000

Great podcast on humor and great suggestions! You might also enjoy my TEDx talk on the value of humor at work: http://youtu.be/6iFCm5ZokBI

Re: A Productivity Trick That Will Make You Feel Happier About What You Accomplish

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 07 May 2014 10:17:08 -0000

One reason I don't always feel productive is that I get caught being busy without actually being productive. A "done" list would help encourage working on things that matter more since they're going to get written down. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Are your Fun-at-Work activities a flop?

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 07 May 2014 10:08:15 -0000

Great post. As you mentioned, there are a number of great reasons to incorporate fun at work and not just "soft" reasons. One study showed that 84% of employees believed a fun workplace would make them more productive! Find out more benefits of humor at work.

Re: Want to Get Hired? Stop Fighting the Clone Wars and Show How You’re Different

Andrew Tarvin — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:02:54 -0000

Another way to showcase your humanity is to show your personality. We don't work with robots, we work with humans. And yet many people are a shell of themselves at work.

Having personal conversations with people (not just work ones) can build those relationships. I've worked with people who race cars for fun, build furniture, compete in social dance, and much more... Connecting with people's interest is a great way to share humanity at work.

Re: Turn It Up: How the Right Amount of Ambient Noise Increases Creativity

Andrew Tarvin — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 11:30:31 -0000

Great post David. It also reminds me of "creative pause" (the explanation given to the having great shots in the shower). Ambient noise (such as the water in a shower) is key to helping the brain think.

Re: 5 Things You Absolutely Must Know About Finding a Career You Love

Andrew Tarvin — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 11:27:37 -0000

I think #1 is the most important point. Many people assume that finding your passion means you'll know your passion the first time you ever try it. Passion for something is built over time, often directly influenced by how much time and energy you put into it. I'm with Cal: create your passion, don't find it.

Re: Humor In The Workplace

Andrew Tarvin — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 11:10:32 -0000

Great points Sister Mary! Bob's suggestion that joy brings profits is true; there is a mutual fund consisting only of companies that create positive work environments and it has outpaced the S&P by 4 points over the last few years.

Re: Strategic Humor: Cartoons from the October 2013 Issue

Andrew Tarvin — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:02:11 -0000

"And now for the finale, it's the Always Be Closing number."

Re: How to Find an Extra Hour Every Day to Advance Your Career

Andrew Tarvin — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 15:38:35 -0000

And if you're struggling to wake up in the morning: http://blog.brazencareerist...

Re: The Young Professional’s Guide to Getting Ahead in Your Career

Andrew Tarvin — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 15:32:52 -0000

Great list. For #2, the real key to promotion is to do the job description of the role you want to be promoted into it. If you show you can do the next-level work, it's easy to promote you because there's no concern of "if" you can handle it--you've already been doing the job.

Re: The Value of Taking a Productive Pause

Andrew Tarvin — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:34:37 -0000

My "productive pause" is stripping down naked (hear me out) and stepping into the shower. It's a of "creative pause": http://www.cameronmoll.com/...

Re: Not Too Hard, Not Too Easy: Finding Flow In Your Work

Andrew Tarvin — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:31:12 -0000

Great advice on gamifying boring tasks. I sometimes think of Mario Kart when I'm doing repetitive tasks: particularly the part where you would race against your previous time and it would show ghost Mario driving as you went (so you knew how well you were doing). I imagine competing against "Ghost Me" as a way to kick it into gear.

Re: Wait, What's That? The Science Behind Why Your Mind Keeps Wandering

Andrew Tarvin — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 14:16:57 -0000

Great tips on dealing with focus. Attacking the problem through analogy can be a great to come up with more creative solutions. One of my favorites is to try solving the problem as if I were a certain character or person. How would this problem be solved by Einstein? Steve Jobs? Bugs Bunny? The Hulk?

Re: 4 Steps to Creating the Life You Want and Deserve

Andrew Tarvin — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:06:56 -0000

For many people the biggest problem is in having too much that they could do, so they don't do anything. I found success when I just picked one and adjusted along the way.

Re: The Best-Kept Career Secrets

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 07:55:50 -0000

I'd add this to #5 -- it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. In some cases (like getting a raise) yes you need to ask for it, but if it's something like "can I do this for my project," it's often better to just do it and then get feedback from your manager later. At least that's what has helped me in my corporate career.

Re: Why Humor Makes You More Creative

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:39:44 -0000

Studies also show that using humor helps with problem solving. One famous example involved showing kids either a funny video, a serious video, or no video at all. Kids who watched the funny video were more likely to solve The Candle Problem than either of the other groups.

Re: You Deserve Happiness, So Stop Settling for Less

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:39:38 -0000

I understand some of the pushback from other commenters about happiness and work. What I took away from Krista is to bias your decisions towards happiness where possible. We often take things like money and status into account when deciding on a job, but another thing to include (without ignoring the others) is our happiness.

Re: The Truth About How Much Workaholics Actually Work

Andrew Tarvin — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:46:31 -0000

I've seen the same benefits from tracking my time--just knowing where it goes will help change behavior. One related idea is "Parkinson's Law" which states that work expands for the amount of time allotted for it. So those "80 hour weeks" won't necessarily be more productive than those 60 hour ones.

Re: 6 Tips for Incorporating Multiple Interests Into One Career

Andrew Tarvin — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:40:44 -0000

#4 is a great point for people already in a job they like (or can tolerate). Once you've shown you've done great work you can start to bring in your outside passion to not only make your work more enjoyable but also stand out from your peers.

Re: Career Advice for Young Professionals from Successful Go-Getters

Andrew Tarvin — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:33:46 -0000

A nice boost of inspiration from inspiration-worthy people! I'll add this: "have fun."

Re: 4 Ways to Use Your Day Job to Move Toward Your Dream Job

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:36:33 -0000

I'd add that if you're really struggling to stay motivated in your day job while setting up your dream job, set specific criteria of when you can leave. E.g. say you'll leave after you have X dollars saved up or you have Y clients. Knowing that the end is in sight and not feeling like "I might be doing this day job for forever" can help keep you motivated.

Re: The Efficiency Trap: Are You Working Too Fast for Your Own Good?

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:57:59 -0000

I experienced this an intern when I was in college. My boss told me "you know you can take a little more time between projects." After that, I still worked fast, I just filled the extra time with my own projects.

Re: How to Run Wildly Unproductive Meetings and Waste Everyone’s Time

Andrew Tarvin — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:05:30 -0000

Don't forget that all presenters should read all of their slides and you should schedule a fire drill in the middle of your meeting if possible.

Re: The Real Secret to Career Success: Confidence

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:06:40 -0000

One of the best ways to improve confidence is to fake it. How do you fake something like confidence? Trick your mind by changing your body: use body language and paralanguage that suggests confidence (shoulders back, head up, sustaining eye contact, deeper voice, and assured tone).

Studies show that by changing your body language you can actually change your mood. In this case it can also boost confidence.

Re: The Best Ways to Sell Yourself and Get the Job You Want

Andrew Tarvin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:16:17 -0000

In addition to keeping body language in mind, also remember paralanguage (tone of voice, pitch, rate, etc) as it also helps communicate confidence (or lack thereof).

The oft-cited UCLA study suggests that 93% of communication in 1on1, emotional conversations is nonverbal (55% body language, 38% paralanguage, 7% verbal).