Texting and Dating: Best Practices

On the back of one of his albums, Bob Dylan reportedly wrote, “I accept chaos, but does chaos accept me?” In most areas of life, rules and procedures govern everything. However, when it comes to texting and dating, people tend to accept chaos. Should this be the case? Consider whether the following texting and dating guidelines would improve your chances of finding love.

1 Introduce yourself in your first text and use the name of the recipient: “Hi, Kirsten. It’s Brad from the party last night. How’s your day going so far?”

Why it’s effective: How many guys did Kirsten meet at the party last night? Don’t assume that you were the only one! If she’s too embarrassed to ask who you are because you didn’t identify yourself, she might decide not to reply. You’ll have ended your relationship before it starts. By the way, make sure you save the right number with the right name in your phone if you were a social butterfly at the gathering.

2 Text right away.

Why it’s effective: Remember the “wait three days before contact” rule? Yes, you should have some dating codes of conduct. But as standards go, this one should be thrown out the window. According to a website that gives advice to eHarmony users , it’s a good idea to contact a love interest right away. Otherwise, they might lose interest because they think you are playing games or because they found someone else in the meantime.

3 Use proper spelling and grammar. Be careful of text acronyms and shorthand; both you and your recipient need to understand what they mean for them to be worthwhile.

Why it’s effective: The way you write reflects on how intelligent you are perceived to be, especially by someone you haven’t met in person. Good grammar gives the impression of education, eloquence, and good breeding. AskMen.com reports that bad grammar can impede your chances of attracting a mate. In online dating, men who use “whom” correctly are contacted 30 percent more often than men who confuse it with “who”!

4 Don’t keep sending texts if the person hasn’t responded. “Hi, Bill! Do you want to go out again?” (minutes later) “Hi, Bill. I was wondering if you got my text about a second date.” (the next morning) “Hi, Bill. I sent you a text. Did you get it?”

Why multiple texts aren’t effective: Modern communication is pretty reliable. If you sent a text, it probably arrived. If you are in a relationship with someone, call or visit them at home to make sure everything is okay. If you are just getting to know the person, a lack of response might indicate that they have decided not to pursue a relationship with you. If they are interested and have telephone issues, they will likely reconnect with you as soon as they can. Resist the urge to send text after unreturned text; you run the risk of appearing desperate. And if there really is a problem with their phone, they won’t be getting your texts anyway.

Texting is a tool for communication. You shouldn’t send texts haphazardly. The simple guidelines above are easy to implement. Don’t be content with chaos like Bob Dylan; it’s unlikely to result in a healthy relationship. Take time to think about what and how you text. Your well-crafted messages may be the very things that attract the attention of your perfect match.

Five Mistakes To Avoid in Your NaNoWriMo Novel

It’s National Novel Writing Month, and that means that writers around the world are working hard to write an entire book during the month of November. Congratulations to everyone who has taken on this challenge—it’s no easy task!

To help you with your masterpiece-in-progress, we compiled a list of the most frequent writing mistakes we encountered as we edited our 2014 NaNoWriMo project, a crowdsourced novel called Frozen by Fire. When it’s time to proofread and revise your manuscript, make sure to watch out for these common pitfalls.

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Proofreading your novel may not be as glamorous as composing it, but it’s an essential part of the writing process. After all, you put a lot of work into your book. Isn’t it worth spending the time it takes to polish your prose until it shines? Plus, you don’t have to do it on your own. Writing apps like Grammarly can help you spot mistakes you missed and can even suggest stylistic improvements.

What mistakes do you find yourself making, and how do you fix them? Let us know in the comment section or via our Facebook or Twitter feeds.

Improve Your Email Writing with These 9 Helpful Posts

Looking for email writing tips?

You’ve come to the right place.

Grammarly’s blog has featured several recent posts on all things email writing. Our aim is to provide readers with valuable insights on how to craft the perfect email for any occasion. We’ve talked about proper email etiquette. We’ve covered ways to maximize your productivity. And we’ve shown you how to step out of office for vacation and avoid a flood of emails upon your return.

Below you’ll find some of the key takeaways from our email-writing topics. Keep in mind, Grammarly’s editor is a great way to improve your copy and ensure the quality of your email messages. Now let’s get to our top email tips of 2017.

1. Properly starting an email is essential in the writing process.

Pro tip: There are several ways to address your intended recipient. Sometimes simplicity can save the day.

Hi [Name], In all but the most formal settings, this email greeting is the clear winner. It’s simple, friendly, and direct. If you want a slightly more formal tone, consider replacing hi with hello.

Source: How to Start an Email: 6 Never-Fail Introductions and 6 to Avoid

2. Keep your subject line short and clear.

Pro tip: You might never get a response to your perfectly worded email if your subject line is not easy to follow.

Keep your subject line short (under thirty characters) so it’s legible on mobile devices. Be specific and intriguing. Never write in all caps or use a generic line such as “Hi” (this may be mistaken for spam). To create a great subject line you can…

Source: This Is How to Properly Introduce Yourself in an Email

3. That opening line in the email is always tricky. Don’t rely on a shortcut.

Pro tip: We know you hope someone is doing well, but there are other ways to write an icebreaker and get down to the business of your email correspondence.

If you’re writing a high-stakes email that needs to get results, it never hurts to do your homework. You don’t have to stalk someone on social media, but doing a little research can go a long way. Include a sentence or two at the opening of your email to show you’re familiar with the recipient’s work.

Source: 5 Other Ways to Write “I Hope You Are Doing Well” in Your Email

4. Mastering the art of writing emails is essential in today’s business world. You’ll also have to become a pro at crafting out-of-office messages.

Pro tip: You’ve worked long hours and deserve a well-timed vacation. Setting yourself up for success upon return involves extra planning on the email front.

Your out-of-office message can be simple. Just let people know you’re unavailable, when you’ll return, and who they should contact with any urgent needs while you’re gone. If you’d like to have a little more fun with your message, here are some options.

Source: 6 Wonderful Tips on How to Catch Up on Emails After a Vacation

5. Some emails require a delicate balance of personality and professionalism. Knowing the rules of email etiquette will go a long way toward helping you avoid a blunder.

Pro tip: Think of how you’d speak conversationally as you review your written emails.

Lay off the exclamation points I know you’re excited! Seriously!!! But you can convey excitement without exclamation points. (Golly gee! Save those for when you’re really exclaiming.) Exclamation point mania is another spam filter trigger, so use them sparingly and never, ever use two or more at the end of a sentence. Unless you’re a preteen. Then have at it.

Source: 17 Email Etiquette Rules to Know and Practice

6. If your goal for writing an email is to get a response, you have to compose your message with that goal in mind.

Pro tip: You want a response? Don’t be generic.

Add a personal touch to your emails whenever you can. If you met the recipient at a conference, say so. If you read an article they’ve written, mention your favorite takeaway. If you’ve interviewed with them for a job, reference a highlight from the interview.

Source: How to Write a Follow-up Email That Gets a Response: 7 Action Tips

7. Email writing can get trickier when you factor in cultural norms and protocols.

Pro tip: Do your research when crafting a professional message to a specific audience. For example, if you’re a non-native English speaker, there are ways to make the email-writing experience less daunting.

Professional emails shouldn’t be epic in length. Be respectful of your readers’ time, because if they feel your message is unduly long, they’ll likely start to skim.

If a weighty subject requires lengthy discussion, look for better ways to communicate about it than email. Use your message as a way to set up a meeting or discussion, rather than a venue for a dense treatise on the subject.

Source: 7 Useful Tips on How to Write a Perfect Professional Email in English

8. More and more emails include emojis these days. There’s a good explanation for how and when to use them if you’re so inclined.

Pro tip: There’s a time and place to engage in a conversational email thread. If you’re looking to use shorthand language, slang or emojis, consider the audience and topic at hand.

If there’s controversy around emojis in business communication, then why do we feel compelled to use them? Why not forego them altogether? The simple answer: we want to be better understood. Email communication is notoriously problematic in that it lacks the emotional cues we rely on with face-to-face or phone conversations. Without tone of voice or facial expressions to guide us, there’s a lot of room for misunderstanding when we read an email. Messages meant to be positive are often interpreted as neutral, and neutral messages are interpreted as negative.

Source: Can You Actually Use Emojis in Work Emails?

9. Finish crafting your email with a memorable sign-off and not a generic throwaway line.

Pro tip: If you’ve successfully addressed your email recipient, kept them engaged with actionable text, and avoided unnecessary distractions, finish your copy with a well-placed conclusion. Don’t overlook the value in signing off your emails. Leaving the letter blank could be a major pitfall.

We live in a world where people frequently email from mobile devices, so excluding a signature certainly isn’t a no-no as an email chain progresses, particularly if your recipient also drops the more formal sign-off. But not signing an initial email or using only the formal signature you’ve created to append to your outgoing emails comes off as impersonal.

Source: How to End an Email: 9 Never-Fail Sign-Offs and 9 to Avoid

This Is How to Be More Productive at Everything You Do

There are days when it all comes together for you, but this might not happen to be one of them.

Some days you’re able to just crank through one task after another. Your “sent” folder brims with solid work before noon, your contribution to the afternoon meeting is well received, and you even manage to wrap up with enough time and energy to hit the gym before dinner. If only someone could bottle up days like this, you muse. Alas.

Many factors of productivity are beyond your control. Sometimes your train is late, or your building’s fire alarm goes off, or a key collaborator whose input you depend on comes down with a dire case of plane tickets to Hawaii. In such circumstances, there’s only so much you can do.

But what about the rest of the time? Amid the many variables at work (and everywhere else), what little things can you do to optimize each day? There are some constants worth keeping in mind—and perhaps a few habits to address. With diligence, the tactics we’ve gathered here might make you more productive at, well, just about everything.

Care for yourself, and be equipped for the task at hand.

Here’s one recurring challenge you should prepare to keep dealing with: you are an alive person. (If not, stop reading and seek assistance.) In other words, you’re going to need food, rest, and an occasional change of scenery—and maybe also fresh socks. Failing to address these concerns can undermine your sanity, to say nothing of your productivity.

1Avoid going hungry.

It’s hard to stay on task when you’re hangry, so plan accordingly. If you have a desk drawer, keep a few snacks in it. If you carry any kind of bag, a pouch of trail mix will have future-you thanking current-you for being so thoughtful.

2Know how much rest you need. Same goes for caffeine.

It’s not uncommon for workers to plow ahead even when they’re exhausted—and for their efficiency to plummet as a result. One solution may be to quit binge-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer before bed and actually go to sleep. Another is a legal, affordable, performance-enhancing drug known as caffeine, which many offices just give away for free to anyone willing to brave the befuddling machinations of the break-room coffeemaker.

Just be careful not to overdo it, lest you get jittery after that third cup.

3Keep a backup of the essentials handy.

People make mistakes, like casually throwing away their own passport two days into an overseas trip. Devices you rely on can crash, break, or disappear. You can’t always prevent such fiascos, but with preparation, you can limit the fallout for your productivity. While you can’t realistically pack a duplicate of everything, it’s worth making copies of key documents and backing up crucial files.

As for equipment, your Plan B needn’t be identical to your Plan A. For instance, when a reporter’s field recorder runs out of space during a run-and-gun interview, she might not have time to dig out a fresh memory card—but if she turns quickly to the voice memos app on her smartphone, she might just get the quote she needs anyway.

Manage your time.

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion,” the saying goes. Being productive means budgeting your time and staying focused. Start by writing down what you need to get done, and in what order. Set priorities and give yourself deadlines. Set a timer if you have to—anything to keep small tasks from sprawling endlessly.

Also, if your typical day involves a steady churn of notifications, you might turn away from the screen and resort to a pen and paper for parts of this process. While some degree of distraction or interruption may be inevitable, be judicious about what you let alter your timeframe.

4Say no occasionally.

This isn’t always an option, but when you’re already spread thin and someone brings you a last-minute project on top of other deadlines you’re facing, sometimes you have to be realistic about how much you can take on. (That’s true in social contexts, as well: don’t let fear of missing out keep you from taking a needed night in to recharge.)

If you can’t—say, if an important client insists it’s urgent, and “no can do” isn’t an option—then consider seeking an extension on your other deadlines. Having to pull an all-nighter—pretty much the antithesis of a productivity booster—should be a last resort.

5Log off sometimes. The mute button is a friend.

Part of budgeting your day is not allowing diversions like social media to continually siphon off small increments of your attention. Seriously, those cat GIFs, political rants, and wedding pictures can all wait. If your roommate from college and twenty other people are all in a thread debating who will bring salads and dessert to next weekend’s cookout, it’s a fine time to turn off notifications and actually, you know, work.

Don’t just think about what you should do—do it.

Sometimes your productivity is hindered by knowing what you want to make happen but not feeling certain you can pull it off. But the surest way to accomplish less is to attempt less—so if you want to be more productive, you have to surmount those doubts.

6Ask for what you want.

Maybe you’d like a promotion and more money. Or maybe you have an idea for a cool project, if only your boss would give you the go-ahead. Asking can be scary, but the idea of not asking—and potentially wondering how different things might be, months later, if you had—should be scarier.

Take it from Lisa Chow, host of the podcast StartUp: “I went through most of my career never negotiating anything. And then suddenly when I did I was like ‘oh wow—this works!’” she says. “I think in our heads, you think, ‘oh if I ask and if they don’t say yes then I might actually lose the job or I might lose the job offer. And I think that is very rarely true.”

One final note to improve your productivity: don’t beat yourself up in the event things don’t go as expected. It happens. Finding ways to learn from such experiences, adapt, and move on will make you a lot more productive in the long run.

10 Ways to Be More Confident at Work

Whether a bad day’s got you down, you don’t love speaking up, or you’re constantly playing the comparison game, chances are good that you could use an added dose of confidence at work.

In some cases, decision-makers in any job setting put more stock in confidence than competence when they’re making picks for a promotion or filling out a performance review. Don’t get overlooked or undervalued because you’re not projecting your best.

Try these ten bits of advice on how to effectively communicate, counter negativity, and generally how to gain confidence in the office and beyond.

1 Don’t let your case of imposter syndrome go untreated.

You know that nagging sense that you’re not as good as the people around you and you got to where you are through luck or timing? Hopefully you don’t. But if you do, it’s called imposter syndrome and it’s extremely detrimental. It’s especially common for women and minorities in largely male- and white-dominated industries, but no matter who you are, giving in to the feeling that you’re not good enough is a surefire way to hold yourself back.

To nip the terrible disease of imposter syndrome in the bud, catch yourself when you think those damaging thoughts, and counter each one with a compliment to yourself. When people give you praise, accept it politely, and don’t doubt whether you deserve it. Act confident, and be confident.

2 Act like you’re in a good mood, even if you aren’t.

Demonstrating a positive attitude—even if your pet just died—and showing resilience—even if you just got yelled at—are two ways to come across well among people you work with. And here’s a secret: projecting positivity and showing that nothing gets to you are great ways to become more positive and actually not let anything get to you.

3 Pretend you’re a movie and watch yourself act.

Pay attention to how you’re coming across in interactions with coworkers and especially bosses. Try to control your facial expressions, body language, the words you use, even your tone of voice. Some blend of polite, engaged, motivated, willing to help, and interested in the conversation should add up to a strong vibe of confidence.

If you mentally take a step back from time to time and observe your behavior, you can make adjustments to make sure you’re coming across just how you want to.

4 Think about what you say and how you say it.

Speak in a clear and level voice and choose your words deliberately. Company buzzwords are a good bet, but avoid irritating workplace no-nos. Body language is important, too: posture, polite head nods, and other ways of showing you’re engaged.

We think eliminating “like”s and “um”s goes without saying, but there, we just said it. Now you have no excuse.

5 Think assertive, not pushy.

When you’re trying to boost your confidence game, if you take it a step too far, you could wind up in cocky territory. Shades of difference are key here: when you get praise, respond with a humble “thank you; the team worked really hard,” not “I knew my ideas would pay off.” The difference between confidence and arrogance can be a fine line, but once you see someone doing the latter, you’ll know it’s not a good look.

6 Make lists obsessively.

A daily to-do list can help you keep track of what you accomplish on an everyday basis. A list of big projects (and even minor wins) can remind you of those successes—which, incidentally, will also come in handy if you need to update your resume or apply for a new job.

7 Figure out what you’re good at.

If you identify your strengths, it’s harder to get bogged down thinking about your weaknesses. Having an extra dismal day? List the skills you know set you apart (or better yet, make the list on a day when everything’s going your way so you can return to it when things aren’t so bright). After all, even if the project you’re working on seems like it can’t be solved by those abilities, or if you’re in a really low state of mind, reminding yourself of your past accomplishments and top skills should both boost your mindset and get you on track.

8 Figure out what you’re bad at.

Yeah, we just said to focus on your strengths and not get bogged down thinking about your weaknesses. However, if you identify areas for improvement, you can be aware of potential issues and areas where you might need to ask for help. Work to get better in those areas so that you can turn them into strengths.

9 Keep a stash of confidence boosters.

Build on the strengths list from tip No. 7. Use it for a reminder of the big projects you’ve completed. Create a file (some call it a “kudos doc”) of emails, performance reviews, and emails or notes from others referring to things you achieved.

Or, create tactics to cheer yourself up, like a favorite song, animal picture, or music video of Christopher Walken dancing like a maniac (and occasionally flying). Hey, he’s not the best dancer, but you can’t deny he’s got confidence. Channel that.

10 Let the little things get to you.

The good little things, that is. If you let a passive aggressive email ruin your day, well, you clearly need to go back and read this from the beginning. But if someone passes you in the hall and says “nice presentation yesterday,” hold onto the good feeling you get from that all day. If you allow the little bits of positive feedback—whether from others or your own sense of a job well done—to grow into something big, then you’ll gain the confidence you deserve bit by bit.

And in the end, the more you act confident, the more you’ll be confident. So go out, paste on a smile, fix your posture, kill any negative thought that pops into your head, and constantly tell yourself that you’ve got this. Try it out: by the end of the day, you’ll realize that you really do.

9 Perfect Ways to Improve Your Proofreading Skills

We all know that proofreading is important—it doesn’t matter if you’re a native speaker or just learning English. Nothing is worse than turning in a project you worked hard on, only to discover that it’s full of typos, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes. But proofreading your own writing is tough. Sometimes your brain sees what you meant to write instead of what’s actually on the page.

Luckily, there are tactics you can use to make proofreading easier. Give these nine proofreading techniques a try and catch your writing mistakes before your readers do.

1 Give it a rest

When you have to edit your own work, it’s a good idea to take a break after you finish writing. Do something else for a little while. Your brain needs some time to forget a little bit about what you wrote. When you come back and start proofreading, it will be easier to look at your work from the perspective of your readers. If English isn’t your native language, this is especially important. You’ll spot mistakes you missed before because you’ll be reading what’s actually on the page instead of just remembering what you meant to write.

2 Print it out or change the font

Make your document look less familiar by changing the format. Try printing it out, changing the margins, or changing the font. When the text looks different from what you’re used to seeing, you’ll pay more attention to it and you’ll be less likely to start skimming.

3 Read your work aloud

Reading your writing aloud will help you find sentences that are hard to understand. Did you need to stop and breathe in the middle of a sentence? That’s a good indication that the sentence is too long. Are there places where you stumbled over your words? Your readers will get confused in those spots too, so it’s a good idea to rewrite them.

Added bonus: this is always a great trick for improving your English pronunciation!

4 Read backward

Start at the last word of your document and work your way to the beginning, one word at a time. This is a great way to spot misspellings and repeated words. Reading backward helps you concentrate on individual words without getting distracted by the topic of the sentence.

5 Use your finger

The best proofreaders have one thing in common. When they are proofreading, they read very, very slowly. If you’re naturally a fast reader, it can be surprisingly difficult to slow down and really examine your writing. Try using your finger to point at each word as you’re reading. It’s a good way to force yourself to stop and really look at everything you’ve written.

6 Keep a list of mistakes you make often

Nobody likes being reminded about past mistakes, but in this case, a list of them can help you avoid making the same mistake twice. Maybe you tend to mix up “there” and “their,” or maybe apostrophes and possessive nouns give you trouble. Write down your most common mistakes and make a note about the correct usage. Keep the list near your computer so you can easily refer to it while you’re writing. Having the answer handy will save you time in looking it up. Over time, you’ll probably find that you need the list less and less.

7 Pay special attention to titles, headings, and lists

Titles and headings are the first things people look at, but it’s surprisingly easy to overlook mistakes in them. Double-check every title and heading in your document. If your document contains a numbered list, make sure the numbers are in the right order.

8 Double check prepositions you aren’t sure about

English prepositions (words like in, on, to, from, by, about) are tricky. Often, they don’t follow a logical pattern. Do you comply with a request? Or do you comply to a request? A tool like Google Ngram Viewer can show you which phrase is more common in English. It’s a helpful starting point, but remember that the tool won’t define the phrases for you. You’ll still need to check a dictionary if you aren’t sure about the meaning of the preposition.

9 Check your writing with Grammarly

Grammarly’s online writing app not only checks your spelling and grammar but also suggests style and vocabulary improvements. You can create a free account and upload a document, or you can download the free Grammarly browser extension, which will correct your spelling and grammar whenever you write something online.

Grammarly’s AI-powered products help people communicate more effectively. Millions of users rely on Grammarly every day to make their messages, documents and social media posts clear, mistake-free, and effective.

A version of this post originally appeared on Kaplan International’s blog.

This Is Why Managing Stress Will Make You Successful

Workplace stress touches most of us at one time or another. In fact, according to the American Institute of Stress, 80 percent of us feel stressed at work. Deadlines loom. Bosses make unrealistic demands. Restructuring means anxiety over job security. Although stressors may be an inherent part of work life, buckling under the pressure doesn’t have to be.

There are plenty of reasons to manage your workplace stress rather than accepting it as part and parcel of having a busy career. For starters, stress takes a heavy physical toll. It can cause headaches, stomach upset, irritability, depression, and even elevated blood pressure.

Along with its emotional toll, prolonged job-related stress can drastically affect your physical health. Constant preoccupation with job responsibilities often leads to erratic eating habits and not enough exercise, resulting in weight problems, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels.

—American Psychological Association

Stress doesn’t exactly make you more productive on the job, either. It can strip away your ability to concentrate and process complex thoughts. Stress can make it difficult to find the motivation to complete tasks, which creates a negative feedback loop when you’re under pressure to perform.

6 Ways to Manage Stress at Work

1 Know what stresses you out.

Sure, you’re stressed. But do you actually know why? Many of us walk around on edge without ever taking a moment to uncover the source of our stress on a deep level.

Let’s say you often struggle to meet deadlines. Being behind the curve at work can be anxiety-inducing. Can you identify the underlying problems? Maybe a chatty coworker distracts you more frequently than you thought, or you’re lured away from your tasks by social media. Now that you’ve identified the root of the issue, you can work on regaining your focus.

2 Respond to stress in positive ways.

If you respond to stress by coming home, opening a bag of chips, and flinging yourself at the couch where you’ll binge-watch Netflix until you crawl off to bed, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

via GIPHY

Here are some better ways to combat stress:

• Get plenty of exercise
• Eat a healthy diet
• Make time to get plenty of rest
• Schedule social time and connect with people regularly
• Make time for your creative pursuits
• Meditate or practice yoga daily

3 Don’t skip vacation.

It’s tempting, especially when job stress is high, to push onward and be a martyr. We all like to come across as committed to our work. But is your commitment really shining through if you’re stressed out all the time and less productive as a result?

Trust us. You need a vacation. Taking time off to rejuvenate ultimately makes workers more productive. It can also reduce symptoms of stress like sleeplessness, fatigue, and headaches. Return to work relaxed and refreshed and you’ll be better equipped to get things done.

4 Act on what you can control, accept what you can’t.

How often do you find yourself thinking, Ugh! I should be getting my act together!

All those “shoulds” tend to pile up on a person, creating stress. But learning to tune in to that interior monologue allows you to focus your thoughts. Mindfulness, and a practice called radical acceptance, can help.

Radical acceptance encourages you to look at distressing events as though you’re a casual observer with no stakes in the game. You begin by simply describing what happened, and your role in it, in the most objective terms possible. Then you assess what you had control over in that particular situation, and what you didn’t.

Mindfulness challenges you to accept the things outside of your control. Why stress over things you’re powerless to change? It also helps you shift your emotional response from negative to neutral, or even productive, by teaching you to channel your energies toward acting (taking ownership of the things you do have control over) rather than simply reacting.

5 Ask for help when you need it.

Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re in the weeds. Everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time, and there’s no shame in asking for help when you truly need it.

We tend to view asking for help as admitting defeat. But put yourself in your manager’s shoes. Would you rather an employee make excuses for not completing a project on time or to your satisfaction, or have that employee ask for help before disaster strikes?

There are a few caveats to asking for help. First, make certain you’ve put in your best effort before you seek out assistance. Second, prepare any questions you have in advance. If you simply go to your boss with a complaint without offering any solutions, you’ll sound like you’re whining rather than being proactive about solving a problem. Most of all, be sure you know the answer to the question your boss is likely to ask: What do you need from me?

6 Remember what you love about your job.

When you’re stressed out, it helps to take a few deep breaths and remember what you love about your job. Maybe the work is fulfilling, or you have great coworkers, or you’re actually living the dream of being what you always wanted to be when you grew up. It’s impossible to feel both grateful and fearful or angry at the same time, so remind yourself from time to time that there are good things about your job even when the stressors are mounting.

Of course, if there’s nothing to love anymore, it may be time to consider moving on. Work stress is a fact of life, but if coping strategies aren’t working and you don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, it may be time to hit the job boards in search of a better fit before stress takes a serious physical or emotional toll.