High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Ask for a Promotion

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Ask for a Promotion: "How do you prepare for that conversation with your boss? What information should you have at the ready? And how exactly do you make your case?"

• 6 Tiny Habits That Will Make You Smarter, Confident, and More Productive: "When you're mentally sharp, you're not only growing and evolving at a faster pace in life, but you're also operating with more confidence."

• How to Make Money as a Stay-at-Home Mom: "While the majority of these ideas require computer and internet access, the majority of these suggestions have low to zero startup costs and require little to no additional schooling."

• 3 Valuable Strategies for Practicing Self-Respect: "A sense of self-worth built by and dependent upon the opinions of other people—conditional self-esteem—is a house of cards, liable to collapse at any moment."
• 9 Must-Watch TED Talks That Will Make You a Better Entrepreneur: "If you’re striving for business and personal success, check out these nine popular TED Talks. They’ll provide you with insights and strategies that can help you become a better entrepreneur."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 3 Rules for Turning Stress into Success

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 3 Rules for Turning Stress into Success: "Always be on the alert for negative situations that can be dangerous to your health, personal safety, financial speculation and emotional relationships."

• How to Handle Conflict at Your Business: "Don’t shy away from conflict. Tackle it as soon as possible before it escalates. Avoiding conflict can be a bad thing. Tension might increase and the conflict can become worse."

• 3 Simple Steps to Boost Productivity Now: "Productivity starts with accountability. The simplest yet most effective way to boost your productivity is to create a to-do list. However, this list has to be treated as a set of attainable goals."

• 11 Productivity Hacks for Work-from-Home Newbies: "The secret to working from home is knowing the best time of day to work. This will ensure that you’re not only productive, but that you can do more quality work."
• A Millennials Guide to Asking for a Promotion: "Understanding the timing, what to present to your supervisor, and creating a plan if it doesn’t pan out is essential."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Ways to Advance Your Career Over the Holidays

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 4 Ways to Advance Your Career Over the Holidays: "The holiday season is a major time people reconnect, and see each other socially at everyone's holiday parties. Ask them to open up their Rolodex, and when they see people who can help you, they'll ask."

• 9 Ways to Say No to Negativity: "We collected the best negativity reduction tips from psychologists, coaches and authors to help you identify your look-on-the-gray-side habits and begin to chip away at them."

• Why You Should Always Say Yes to New Opportunities: "Jordan Taylor Wright explains how his passion and personality have propelled him to the success he enjoys today."

• 17 Of the Best Business Books to Give as Gifts This Holiday Season: "This book would make a great gift for anyone, but it's especially helpful for those who have expressed feelings of boredom or disdain towards their career."
• How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Work From Home: "More and more people are working remotely, and many say it improves their productivity and satisfaction — while also saving them time and money."

5 Advantages (and Disadvantages) to Working from Home

Many companies are wising up to the advantages of offering their employees opportunities for alternative working arrangements and so many workers are taking advantage of this and working from home on a regular basis.

This type of arrangement has many advantages for employees but those advantages can also come with problems to watch out for.

No commute. One of the initial benefits to working from home is the elimination of a morning drive to work. This can save you time, money, and the stress of dealing with road construction and other drivers. Reducing the number of cars on the road is also good for the earth.

A drawback to eliminating your commute is that you might be one of those who enjoys using the commute to prepare for the work day, or unwind following a stressful day; maybe you like to listen to sports radio or a podcast. Of course, you can now do those from the comfort of your home.

Set your own schedule. Maybe you’re not a morning person and you could benefit from some extra sleep; or maybe you’re at your best at 7:00 am. Working from home allows you to work a flexible schedule and work at times when you are at your peak energy levels and have time to focus.

However, your employer might require you to be available at specific times during the day so you might not get as much flexibility here as you might like.

Avoid noisy or distracting colleagues. Working from home eliminates the distractions that come from talkative colleagues or impromptu meetings that come up and distract you from the task at hand.

But working from home is lonely. The only voice you’ll hear is the one in your head and you can’t easily consult with a coworker on a quick question that comes up.

No one is looking over your shoulder. When you’re at home you don’t have to worry about that micromanaging boss keeping close tabs on you. You might feel more relaxed and enjoy your work day a little more.

But you might also struggle with focus, knowing that you can more easily get away with slacking off a little.

Take a nap or longer break if needed. When you’re at home you might be able enjoy a power nap in the comfort of your own home or enjoy a walk around the house when you need a break.

However, you might find the softness of your pillow a temptation to nap too long or find yourself distracted by the TV in the corner.

Working from home is great and provides many benefits but it also provides opportunities to avoid work, too, so you’ll only want to try this arrangement if you have the discipline necessary to stay self-motivated and focused.

4 Keys to Work Productively from Home

Many companies now allow employees the flexibility to work from home at least part-time, or occasionally. In addition, many people leave the work force and start businesses from their homes.

So how does one stay productive and focused with the distraction of home?

Here are four keys to manage your work at home situation and to maximize your productivity:

1. Set aside a dedicated space. You'll want to have a space to work that is located in a comfortable part of your house or apartment, and that you can use every day you are working. It is distracting and unproductive to change work spaces every time you're at home. Set up a dedicated place for you to work and ensure that you have everything necessary to do your job within arms reach.

2. Disconnect. Turn off the TV and put your mobile phone on mute. If you like a little background music feel free to have the radio on but for many the radio will be another distraction. Check your phone at designated times but otherwise leave it alone so you can focus on the task at hand. Speaking of focus ...

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To be most productive you want to give 

your attention to one thing at a time.

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3. Focus on one thing. Get rid of the multi-tasking mindset. To be most productive you want to give your attention to one thing at a time. Set yourself up for 45-50 minutes of uninterrupted time to focus on tackling one specific task before moving on to something else.

4. Move around. It's important to your energy levels and to aid in creativity to move around. If you have stairs go up and down a few times. Or take a walk around the block. A good way to manage this it to schedule time (5-10 minutes) to move after each working session described above. You'll find yourself energized and focused to move on to the next task.