Your New Years’ resolution was to find a new job. And, well, that ain’t gonna happen. Everybody’s hiring, but they’re not hiring you. And it’s looking like you may have to stay right where you are, work-wise. Yippee, you’ll have to learn to cope for the next several months.
So start with one of these great books:
First of all, experts say working is hard if you have to do it in a messy area, that it’s difficult to concentrate with clutter around. Tame the debris pile and make working from home easier with “Nifty, Clean & Organized” (Adams Media, $17.99).
Starting with the kitchen, this book takes you around the house from room to room with ideas that are great for small areas, DIY tips to make the most of your space, solutions to kid clutter, cleaning tips and ideas for making jingle from junk.
There’s even a chapter on home offices and workspaces, and one for those extra areas you need de-cluttered. Lots of pictures and an easy-to-browse format make this book a cinch to use.
Would you believe that you can find happiness at your current job? Yep, and in “Find Your Happy at Work” by Beverly E. Jones (Career Press, $16.95), you’ll find what you need to stay where you are through 2022 and beyond.
You have to take care of you before you take care of business, and that’s part of what you’ll learn here: find a way to preserve your well-being, spend time outdoors, create better habits, cultivate a sense of gratitude, reach for support and seize it wherever you find it.
And that’s just what you can do, personally.
On the job, learn to find and capture the “small victories.” Work to align your work patterns with your energy ebb and flow. Find a network that makes you feel comfortable, and hang out with those people (even online) to avoid burn-out.
Learn to squash boredom and tedium. Find out how to manage your attention and when to throw in the towel and start a job search.
And finally, if you’re the one at the helm, you know that people who are happy at work stay at work and they’re more productive. So read “Beyond Happiness” by Jenn Lim (Grand Central, $28) and make your job easier by making theirs more enjoyable.
Through science, by using a program she calls “delivering happiness” and by presenting case studies from well-known corporations, Lim shows readers how to boost their employees’ sense of purpose at work. There are exercises to do, questions to ask yourself, and plenty of things to think about and incorporate in your office or workplace, starting in the new year.
Because it’s never too late, right?
If these happy books are not quite what you’re looking for, be sure to ask your favorite bookseller or librarian. They’ve got a plethora of information available, and it’s just an arm’s length away. Now really, wouldn’t reading a helpful new book be a great new year’s resolution?
Terri Schlichenmeyer’s reviews of business books are read in more than 260 publications in the U.S. and Canada.