Morale

Sometimes morale is a tough sell in the workplace. With budget cuts, lay offs, increased productivity in the form of more to do with less people.  Everyone is under the gun at work.  It gets really tiring, and frankly demoralizing.

At the end of the day we should be able to walk out the door each day and leave the job behind, satisfied we've done our best.  And that should be enough.

But it's not.

How do we take control of our work environment, making it healthy?  The answers are simple, the implementation, not so much:

1. Say 'NO'.  If people have a habit of dumping part of their job on you, enforce your boundaries and push back.  
2. Prioritize what comes across your desk. - When there are conflicting priorities, communicate with the parties involved and find a solution that won't send you over the edge.
3. Don't take work home.  
4. Just Breathe.  Take a moment and breathe.  Don't let the stress build.  A little stress is normal, it comes and goes.  Stress that doesn't go away is deadly.  Take the time to breathe, work through stress.

When you are happier and in a healthier place, your morale is good.  Morale is a virus that is contagious, good morale will spread as easily as bad.