Life Hackery

It’s official: the economy is in a recession. Things are not looking good any time soon, and the only recourse for some companies is to let go of their employees. Companies have used various terms to lessen the blow for employees: cutbacks, downsizing, right-sizing, re-engineering, optimization, and streamlining. Yet once you get that notice or e-mail that you’re out of a job, your whole world seems to have crumbled around you.

Burnout, stemmed by stress and over-exhaustion, is one of the dreaded conditions of all office workers. Once afflicted, you won’t feel any endearment from your job, which will reflect on your performance. Focusing on anything work-related will not be an easy task. Your mind will freeze whenever you try to come up with ideas and you’d be easily agitated by trivial matters.

Let’s face it, work sucks. Supervisors and managers prowl about the office floor, on the hunt for slackers and people who don’t put in their hours of work. As much as you’d like to be Employee of the Month and contribute your share to office productivity, there are just those days that you simply can’t work. Either you didn’t get your eight hours of sleep because of an all-night party, or you’ve just burned out.

The good news is that you don’t have to do actual work to be a productive member of the working class. You just have to pretend that you’re very busy at work. All you need is to give the higher-ups an impression that you’re a hard worker, and those bonuses and perks will all be yours… without ever doing actual work for the day.
1. Turn Your Workplace Into A Living Space
Ever wondered why many cubicle workers look like zombies at the end of the day? Cubicles are coffins for the living office worker, finished in drab and dull colors that don’t do much to increase productivity. Most companies don’t have rules regarding decorations on office space, although you may need to check again with your company’s employee manual if your company does have a rule. Here are some ideas to liven up your cubicle:

There are plenty of web lists out there that will tell you how to do very specific things. You can learn all about shampooing your cat, organizing your pantry, and making intricate stained-glass VW Beetle ornaments…but how many resources are there to remind you how to be a decent person? These are the things we really need to know.

Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us lie at some time. Whether it’s something innocent like “No, of course you don’t look fat in that!” or something a little more sinister, there are probably no adults who can claim to be entirely free of lies.

Knowing that, it’s easy to understand why spotting a lie that someone else is telling is so important. How do you know if your significant other is fibbing about the way your rear end looks in your favorite outfit? How do you know if your boss is stretching the truth about not wanting to replace you? Learn to recognize when someone is telling you slightly less than the whole truth.

1. They avoid eye contact. Most people have a subconscious fear of facing the person to whom they are lying. The average person makes eye contact during about half of the conversation. If the person you’re talking to continually looks away or refuses to meet your eyes at all, there may be a reason to question their honesty.

2. Their body language changes. People who are in the midst of a lie may turn away from you or fidget excessively. It’s also been said that touching one’s face or covering one’s mouth are telltale signs of a lie in progress.

3. They stall or appear confused. Some liars are able to learn to think quickly, but most will become momentarily flustered when you ask them a question or request an explanation for their story. If they repeat the question back to you or utter “ummm…” then you’ll want to investigate just how much of their story is true.

4. They appear stressed or uncomfortable. An honest person may very well be uncomfortable in a conversation, but a liar will seem eager to change the subject or end the conversation. If you think someone is lying, try changing the subject for a moment. A person who is lying will often seem relieved and start acting more natural.

5. A liar may act defensive. If you ask a question about the other person’s story, do they act like you have accused them? A person who is telling the truth most likely will not be offended, but a person who is lying will go on the defense and try to defend their position before they are accused.

6. They are inconsistent or get confused. When you suspect someone is lying, asking them to repeat their story can give you some insight into whether they are telling you a tall tale. A liar will often change details on the second telling or get turned around and forget large parts altogether.

Once you discover that someone is lying to you, in most cases you’ll want to confront them. Whether you confront them with the purpose of finding out the truth, putting them in their place, or giving them a reason for severing your ties, there is a right way and a wrong way to do the confronting. Staying calm and presenting the truth to the liar will be much more effective than shouting and accusing them. Always remember that the person being confronted is likely to feel ashamed of their actions, so try to be sensitive if you have any hope of salvaging a relationship with them.