Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108Try this productivity booster: Draw a timeline and identify when you experience your high- and low-energy periods during the day. These normal cycles are based upon diet, exercise, and other factors. Do you experience an en- ergy peak about two hours after arrival at work? What about a slowdown after lunch? How about a small peak in the afternoon? This is valuable data. Divide your work tasks according to these en- ergy levels. Perform difficult tasks when energy is high and less-difficult tasks when energy is low. These are A, B, and C activities. Assign them to the right energy slots and you will work more efficiently and get more done! Here’s a fun tool to help everyone have a more productive, fast-moving meeting. It’s a free download of quick-loading software called “The Meeting Calculator.” Place it on a laptop, set the screen for all to see, and hit the start button after insert- ing the number of participants in the meeting and their combined average salary. The meeting calculator runs like a stopwatch, adding up the cost of your meeting. Get it free at http://effectivemeetings.com/diver- sions/meetingcost.asp. Is a senior citizen in your life a bit too sedentary but still able to walk and stroll? Consider striking up a conversation about dog ownership. New research shows seniors who own dogs have more positive health outcomes. They include less frailty, better mobility, and lower risk for coronary heart disease. In the first study of its kind, these seniors re- port less social isolation. They also get closer to the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week. Senior dog owners must walk Fido—even in colder months, so they naturally maintain an exercise regimen year round. http://gerontologist.oxford- journals.org [search: “dog walking”] Information in Work•Life•Excel® is not intended to replace the counsel or advice of a qualified health professional. For help with personal concerns or for a referral to community resources for specific problems, consult with a physician, a qualified healthcare provider, or an employee assistance professional. ©2016 DFA Publishing & Consulting, LLC, P.O. Box 2006, Mount Pleasant, SC 29465. By now you have probably heard about emotional intelligence, or EI. EI is your aptitude for perceiving other emotions accurately, responding to your emotions in a reasoned way, under- standing what other people’s emotions mean, and controlling how you will respond to emotions as you interact with others. People who do these things well are said to have “people skills.” Many social scientists believe EI is at least as important as, and perhaps more important than IQ as a predictor of success. Be careful about online tests to grade your EI. Many are not author- ity-based, and others seek to market products to web visitors. The most rigorous research-orient- ed EI organization is the Emotional Intelligence Research Consortium. The most prominent EI experts are members of it. Source: www.eiconsortium.org/ The Mindful Awareness Research Center has opened at UCLA. It shows how mindfulness as an approach to health and wellness is quickly mov- ing into health care. Mindful awareness is paying attention to the present moment, staying centered, and improving self-awareness to manage stress by stopping, breathing, observing, and connecting with one’s inner experience. It’s a powerful concept largely influenced by meditation and the research supporting meditation’s health benefits. Adding energy to the mindfulness movement is the need to manage stress in our modern age. Mastering this stress is not simply about taking a pill to manage anxiety and tension, it’s about learning to use the body’s and the mind’s abilities to intervene and heal. Mindfulness is finding its way into cancer and addiction treatments and programs for disease treatment that can benefit from a whole-person approach. Learn more at http://marc.ucla.edu. Learn how to argue fairly with a friend or coworker by using a quick anger management exercise that will help you fight fair. It’s called the five-second rule, and it challenges you to wait five seconds in any argu- ment before commenting on what’s been said. Tips to make it work: 1) Use a 3 x 5 card to keep score of your progress. 2) Stick to the issue at hand. 3) Talk only about the pres- ent point of disagreement. 4) Never attack a person’s self-esteem.