Will You Join Us for March MADness?

Yesterday, Selection Sunday marked the start of the frenetic sports season many like to call March Madness. Today, we’re launching a bracket like the one you may have filled out yesterday, but our March MADness tournament contains only the most infuriating, enraging work communication pet peeves. These annoying office habits keep you from understanding—or, sometimes, liking—your coworkers, and we’re trying to find the worst habit you can form at work. Over the next month, we’ll be asking our community to vote for the worst habit, ultimately crowning the March MADness Champion on _____.

Below are descriptions of the four “conferences” for March MADness, as well as a list of all the “teams.” Have a pet peeve we missed? Comment below with your work communication pet peeve.

Work Chat Woes

These are the Slack, Google Hangouts, HipChat, and other work chat program sins we all commit. While many of the office instant messenger programs have made work life easier, they have their dissenters. Those folks probably hate these chat behaviors.

1 Gifs that keep on giffing

2 Emoji overload

3 The one-word line

4 The never-ending message

5 Early-morning chatters

6 Late-night chatters

7 Giant group chat

8 Blowing up the group chat

Email Fails

Ah, email. As the default business communication method, email has been used, overused, and abused for decades. Every professional tries to escape “email jail” (the constant state of reading and responding to emails), with varying degrees of success. Even if your inbox has been tamed, these obnoxious email habits make email jail into email hell.

9 CC overcrowding

10 Boss CC sneak attack

11 Over-forwarding

12 The “+1” response

13 Email scheduling hell

14 Email autonotification hell

15 Should’ve messaged

16 No subject line

Call Catastrophes

Interruptions, introductions, dropped calls. We all know the perils of conference calls and video chats. Even if they’re necessary for connecting with remote team members and other offices, calls can strain even the best work relationships. And if you experience these call habits, you’ll probably feel more than strained.

17 Background noise nuisances

18 Call distractions

19 Should’ve emailed

20 Should’ve spoken IRL

21 Eternal introductions

22 Total tardiness

23 The long talker

24 The interrupter

IRL Irritations

Of course, sometimes your coworkers will irritate you in real life. These smaller, more subtle bad habits may not ruin your day, but they can add up to something more enraging over time. Even if you work with angels, you’ve probably experienced one of these horrible office habits.

25 Passive-aggressive notes

26 Whiteboard woes

27 Temperature wars

28 Loud music

29 Early morning chatters

30 Close talkers

31 “But . . .”

32 “Well, actually . . .”

Want to start participating now? The polls for the first matchup between X CC overcrowding and the boss CC sneak attack, as well as the second matchup between gifs that keep on gifing and emoji overload are live. Vote for your least favorite!

10 Ways to Save Time Every Day That Most People Ignore

Would you like more time for family, recreation, and rest? It’s easier than you think to find time to do the things you enjoy most. Let’s talk about ten oft-ignored ways to save time every single day.

1 Keep track of your time.

“What gets measured gets done.” Though experts debate who wrote this old adage, few disagree with its wisdom. By measuring your time, you can evaluate whether you’re spending it wisely. Otherwise, how could you identify areas that need adjustment? Focus on your time-wasters one by one. Once you get over the shock of how many minutes you waste, you can reappropriate where it will do more good. As you check your progress regularly, your steady improvement will motivate you to eliminate even more time-wasting practices. According to bestselling author Kevin Daum, you will benefit from measuring your time for as short a period as a week or a day.

2 Amp up your downtime.

Do you commute on a form of public transportation? Do you find waiting rooms boring? If you have a smartphone, you can use this unoccupied time to your advantage. Think of your shortest daily tasks. When you have a long wait ahead of you, such as a doctor’s appointment, come prepared. Take what you need to work while you wait, and you will be free for other activities later.

3 Dedicate a distraction-free zone.

One super-productive overseas plane ride inspired Bryan Guido Hassin, CEO of a global technology startup, to incorporate “plane days” into his schedule. He puts his phone and laptop on airplane mode, disabling the network connections. He lets his coworkers know that he will be as unavailable as if he were out of the office. Then, he tackles his highest priority work. You may not have the luxury to make each day a “plane day,” but surely you can turn off your phone and shut your office door to gain a few uninterrupted moments.

4 Do one thing at a time.

Multitasking will cost you 40 percent of your productivity, according to behavioral psychologist Susan Weinschenk. The problem is, you think you’re doing two activities simultaneously, but you’re actually switching rapidly from one activity to another. Switches last a fraction of a second, but over the course of a day, those seconds add up to a significant loss of time. You also make more errors and inhibit your creativity when you multitask. Instead, block off an hour or two to concentrate on your most important task. Can’t sit still for an hour? Set a timer for fifteen minutes, then force yourself to focus until it sounds.

5 Learn from the best (and the worst).

Experience is a great teacher, but you can learn from other people’s successes and failures as well as our own. Rather than lose hours in research, ask friends for the pros and cons of services or products that they’ve bought. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel or the flying saucer camera. It’s simple; copy the methods of successful people and avoid the ways of the unsuccessful.

6 Avoid unnecessary meetings.

Meetings are responsible for a lot of wasted hours. First, let’s address the meeting setters. Is a conference necessary? Would an email serve the same purpose? Does the entire team need to attend (because they play significant roles) or only certain members? If you are an employee, it might be difficult to avoid meetings, but your boss might understand if you point out a potential conflict of priorities. You might say something like, “The meeting today about the dress code falls during the time I scheduled for Project Urgent. Since we are on a tight deadline, would you prefer me to work through the meeting and review the notes later?”

7 Hire someone to do it for you.

Are you the only one who can do this job well? If you’re in a leadership position, delegate some duties to other responsible employees. Even if your work is not managerial, you can still explore the possibility of hiring a virtual assistant or a freelancer. If the undertaking doesn’t require a personal touch, you can save time by hiring someone else to do it while you prioritize other duties. Or, you can always use the time to relax. Such a step might even make you feel happy. As a Harvard researcher reported to The New York Times, “People who spent money to buy themselves time, such as by outsourcing disliked tasks, reported greater overall life satisfaction.”

8 Finish what’s almost done.

To continue an ongoing project, you must review what you already accomplished, get out all your tools, and decide what you will do next. If a project is almost complete, why not finish immediately? Sure, you might stay a half-hour overtime, but you will complete it in less time than if you put everything away to start again tomorrow. Set aside time at the end of the day to wrap up short assignments. The more things you conclude, the less time you’ll spend worrying about them.

9 Buy helpful gadgets.

Some tools are time-wasters in disguise, but others will increase your productivity. Imagine life without cell phones, microwaves, or other modern conveniences. A vintage typewriter may look cool in your apartment, but would you write faster and more accurately with a laptop?

10 Say no.

It’s difficult to tell colleagues that you don’t have time to help them, but it’s necessary. Once they realize that you respectfully decline requests that cut into your personal or work time, they’ll soon stop asking.

Resume Objective: Valuable to Have or Thing of the Past?

The average recruiter spends about six seconds looking at your resume, and you’ve got to make every one of them count. Do resume objectives help or hurt you?

A resume objective is a short statement that outlines your career direction. Objective statements were once the standard on every job-seeker’s resume. A decade or so ago, you wouldn’t have sent out a resume without one. But times change, and what recruiters look for in a standard CV has changed, too.

Are resume objectives old-fashioned?

It’s important not to waste space on a resume. Since keeping your resume to one page should be your goal, everything you include needs to work for you. In many cases, an objective is nonessential, which makes it little more than filler.

Many career experts argue that resume objectives are outdated, and some suggest that they should never be used. Think of it this way—besides you, who really cares about your career goals? Busy recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you can do for the company, not what you’re looking to get out of your next job.

A hiring manager is looking at your resume and thinking What’s in it for this company?. Objective statements are at odds with that, because they’re essentially saying “Here’s what I hope is in it for me.”

What should you use instead of a resume objective?

Although you’ll get different answers from different resume experts, the consensus seems to be that resume objectives are out of style. What should you use instead?

A Summary Statement

Rather than using valuable space on your resume to declare what sort of work you’re looking for, try summarizing yourself. Think of your summary statement (sometimes called Competencies or a Summary of Qualifications) as something similar to a LinkedIn summary, but with one exception—it needs to be short.

The goal of your summary statement is to answer the hiring manager’s “What’s in it for this company” question. It needs to be brief (about fifteen words or so) and carefully written for maximum impact. You should make every word count in your summary. Avoid filler words and phrases. Use strong verbs.

Writer known as being a good content creator with fifteen years of experience in writing feature articles.

What an abysmal example! It’s redundant. (A writer with “experience in writing”? Who knew?) It uses a filler phrase (“as being”). It includes a weak, overused adjective (“good”). And, finally, other than listing years of experience, it doesn’t say what sets the candidate apart from all the other writers who may be applying for the same job.

Let’s give it another try.

Expert content creator with fifteen years’ experience writing top-performing feature articles.

Much better. Now, our candidate isn’t saying she’s a “good content creator”; she’s confident that her fifteen years on the job make her an expert. She’s demonstrated her communication chops by making sure that her statement uses powerful language, with nary a weak verb in sight. And she’s included an important insight—the content she’s written has been top-performing.

Nothing At All

Even though summary statements are almost always better than resume objectives, both types of statements take up valuable space. And much of the time, the work experience you outline will do the talking. If you’re an experienced professional who needs to tie years of experiences together with a common thread, then a summary statement may be helpful. Otherwise, save the space and add some extra bullet points under the key roles you outline in the experience section of your resume.

Are there times when you should you use a resume objective?

There is one case to be made for objective statements—they’re useful when you’re making a major career change. According to the experts at The Muse:

If you have, say, five years of experience in business development and you’re now interested in marketing, your resume probably isn’t selling you as the best candidate for the gigs you’re applying to.

In this case, you could definitely benefit from having an objective statement to clearly explain that you’re making the switch and show how your skill set aligns with this new career path.

According to Monster.com, objective statements are also helpful for those seeking targeted entry-level positions. Keep in mind, though, that often your objectives are laid out in a cover letter.

Recruiters and hiring managers are more likely to focus on your education and relevant experience than anything else on your resume. If space is at a premium, it’s almost always safe to forego the objective statement and make sure your relevant work experience shines instead.

Celebrate Mom with Proper Punctuation!

Happy Mother’s Day! How are you celebrating? Breakfast in bed? A handmade card? For many people, an even bigger question than what to do for Mother’s Day is where to place the apostrophe in Mother’s Day.

Some people write “Mothers’ Day,” based on the logic that it is the day to celebrate all mothers. Others simply write “Mothers Day,” leaving out the apostrophe altogether, possibly because they’re unsure of where to place it.

The correct placement of the apostrophe is this: Mother’s Day.

Anna Jarvis, who first celebrated Mother’s Day in 1908, specifically wanted Mother’s to be a singular possessive. According to Jarvis’s logic, each family ought to celebrate its own mother, instead of having the whole world celebrate mothers collectively.

Even if your Mother’s Day card has a misplaced apostrophe, chances are that Mom will understand. Take some time today to thank and celebrate the mothers in your life. Happy Mother’s Day, Moms!

Principle vs. Principal

• A principle is a rule, a law, a guideline, or a fact.
• A principal is the headmaster of a school or a person who’s in charge of certain things in a company.
• Principal is also an adjective that means original, first, or most important.

Words with shared roots often end up with similar meanings in modern use. Principle and principal are two such words. Both of them entered English through Old French. Both have Latin roots—principium, which means “source” is the root of principle, and principalis, Latin for “first,” is the root of principal. If we were to dig a little bit deeper, we would see that the Latin roots can be traced to the same word—princeps, princip, which means “first”, or “chief.” Principle and principal are also pronounced the same way (PRIN-suh-pul), but that only adds to the confusion because the two words have different meanings.

Principle Definition and Examples

Principle is a word that’s always used as a noun, and it has a couple of meanings:

A fundamental truth upon which systems of beliefs and morals are formed:

I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

A guiding rule that explains how something works:

When we asked Bill Nye the Science Guy if he thinks we are living in a computer-generated simulation, he turned to some basic scientific principles to justify his answer. —Big Think

The program consists of a year of monthly classroom-style lectures and workshops that put to use legal skills and enhance attorneys’ business principles. —The Charlotte Observer

A scientific rule or law:

Water, following the principle of gravity, will run downhill thus forming new channels. —Northern California News

Principal Definition and Examples

Principal can be used both as an adjective and a noun. When used as an adjective, principal has two main meanings.

The first in order of importance:

The company pointed me to the words of Andrew Chatham, a principal engineer. —CNet

Red Sox principal owner John Henry also owns England’s Liverpool Football Club, a Premier League team. —Boston Herald

The originally invested amount of money:

Hit hard by the retrospective tax, Cairn Energy Plc of the UK has offered to pay 15 per cent of the Rs 10,247-crore principal amount in return for the government lifting its freeze on the 9.8 per cent shares it holds in its erstwhile subsidiary, Cairn India. —Business Standard

When used as a noun, principal also has a couple of meanings.

The head of an educational institution:

The principal of the troubled Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn said on Thursday that he is leaving the post. —The Wall Street Journal

In the business world, a principal is the person who owns a company, is a partner in a company, or is the person or entity who engages another person or entity to act as an agent:

Quantum Financial Principal Claire Mackay says changes to concessional caps mean “people need to be thinking about their super earlier.” —NEWS.com.au

The most important or highest ranked members of a troupe, a ballet company, or the headliners of an event:

With this year’s “Nutcracker,” Alexander says, the school hopes to “encourage our students that you don’t need to be 27 or the principal of a company to do those (second-act) roles. —Chicago Tribune

Learned or Learnt?

There are many perks to speaking the lingua franca of your time, but one of the downsides is that you’ll always doubt whether you’re using it right. English has almost as many variants as there are countries that use it as their official language. A great example of that is the past tense of the verb learn—is it learnt? Or is it learned?

Learnt and learned are both used as the past participle and past tense of the verb to learn. Learned is the generally accepted spelling in the United States and Canada, while the rest of the English-speaking world seems to prefer learnt.

Learn more about the details of this difference below.

The Difference between Learned and Learnt

Whether you’re saying you learned something or learnt something, you’re talking about the same thing—the process of finding out, acquiring, or retaining knowledge or information. The only difference is that the way you spell it says something about where you’re from. Learnt and learned are both used as the past participle and past tense of the verb to learn. Learned is the generally accepted way of spelling it in the United States and Canada, while the rest of the English-speaking world seems to prefer learnt for now.

Why for now? The American English tendency toward making irregular verbs into regular ones has started influencing British English, which is why the -ed variant is becoming increasingly used around the world. Soon learned might be the most common form everywhere.

Examples

Here are some examples of learned and learnt from around the world:

“Ackerman has learned from user feedback that many of his listeners fall asleep during the twenty-minute introduction, and I’m usually one of them.” —The New Yorker

“CBC News has also learned a number of Conservative MPs will be called to testify by the Crown.” —CBC

“But, sometimes, these ‘agents’ learn to override this, they say, giving an example of a 2013 AI taught to play Tetris that learnt to pause a game forever to avoid losing.” —BBC

The Exception: When Learned Is the Only Option

No matter where you live, sometimes learned is the only correct form to use—it’s when you’re writing the adjective learned. In that case, you can’t use learnt and you have to pronounce the word as two syllables: LER-ned. Use this adjective when you want to say that someone has a lot of knowledge or education: “The girl with the very ordinary education became, in the words of her daughter, Sue, a ‘very learned’ woman.” —The Sydney Morning Herald “You’re welcome, Most learned reverend sir, into our kingdom: Use us and it.” —William Shakespeare, Henry VIII In American English, learned is the prevalent past tense form of learn. In other varieties of English, learnt is dominant. Because of the strong influence of American English, learned is increasing in popularity. Do you think that learnt will disappear completely one day?

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