negativity

Best Money Tips: How Negativity Can Be Good For You

Amy Lu — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 08:30:09 +0000

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found articles on ways to make negativity work in your favor, little known tips to help you pay tuition, and cleaning hacks to keep your place spick and span.

6 Bad Habits That Are Ruining Your Career

Mikey Rox — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 09:00:38 +0000

We all have our own list of little bad habits — some longer than others. Maybe you talk with your mouth full or cut people off when they're speaking. (I'm guilty of the latter myself.) But while these habits seem benign enough on the surface, they can sometimes interfere with your career and potentially affect your upward mobility — and subsequently, your finances.

How can you identify which of your naughty little habits to consider correcting? Here's a look at six examples that can potentially impede your work and make it harder for you to get ahead.

1. Being a Negative Nancy — Or Ned

There's nothing more annoying than being around someone who complains and whines about everything. It doesn't matter if it's about family, work, or life, they always take a glass half-empty approach and find something wrong with everything.

If this description fits you, you might argue that this is who you are or that you've always been this way. But what you may not realize is that being negative about life can impact how you feel about your work. (See also: 6 Ways to Banish Negative Thoughts)

No matter where you work or what you do, nothing is ever going to go perfectly. Your employer will get on your nerves, some of your coworkers might be slackers, and you might not be completely satisfied with your job description or salary. It's okay to vent, but constantly complaining and whining about a situation and being negative isn't going to change anything. You're only going to make your life harder.

Yes, there's a downside to every job, but rather than focus on what's wrong at work, focus on what's right. A positive mindset helps you stay motivated and increases productivity. You're not likely to give your employer 100% if you don't feel good about your job, and this lack of effort can affect whether you receive promotions and raises.

2. Always Running Late

Your friends and family might accept that you're always running 10 or 20 minutes behind schedule. Lord knows mine have. Your employer, however, may not be as understanding. If you never arrive to work on time and you're always late coming back from lunch, you'll have a hard time fitting all your work into a single day. And if your day gets off to a slow start, there's a chance that you'll miss deadlines and delay projects, which puts everyone behind schedule. If your boss realizes that you're the common denominator in project delays, this can affect your reputation and whether you move up in the company, and possibly put your job on the line.

3. Social Media Addiction

If you're glued to your phone or tablet 24/7 and you can't go longer than 10 minutes without checking your Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, you'll have a difficult time trying to get through an eight-hour workday. Being able to keep up with your friends and family via social media helps you stay connected even when you're far away, for sure. But if your notifications are going off every five minutes and you're pausing work several times a day to respond to comments, like photos, or read the latest news on your newsfeed, you're not giving your work the attention it deserves. (See also: 5 Ways to Break Your Social Media Habit)

Besides, your employer can very easily access your accounts and see what, when, and where you're updating. Push the limit and you may find yourself with a newfound freedom to engage your social media without that pesky job holding your back.

4. Skipping Meals

Whether you're trying to lose weight or you're the type of person who forgets to eat when your mind's occupied (like me!), skipping meals interferes with work performance more than you realize. You need as much physical and mental energy as possible to get through the day, especially if you have a demanding job. Skipping lunch can eventually affect how you feel about your job and result in feelings of sluggishness, irritability, and brain fog.

"When workers skip a lunch break on a regular basis, they often don't realize that fatigue and burnout are creeping up on them until they wake up one day and 'suddenly' feel less enthusiastic about their jobs or businesses," says Dr. Janet Scarborough Civitelli, a workplace psychologist at VocationVillage.com.

5. Procrastinating

Everyone procrastinates from time to time. If you're not excited about something, it's much easier to put it off until tomorrow or the next day. Procrastination can affect your health if you're the type of person who puts off checkups, and it can affect your personal finances if you wait until the last minute to pay bills and end up paying late. However, the effects of procrastination don't stop there, as it also affects your work and career.

If you're a chronic procrastinator, you might put off important work assignments until the last minute, especially those that are challenging or boring. This can result in missing deadlines and targets, or rushing to complete an assignment at the last minute and making careless mistakes. Understand that procrastination at work doesn't only affect you — it affects the whole organization. It only takes one slacker to slow productivity to a crawl, and your job might be in jeopardy if your bad habits start affecting the company's bottom line.

6. Smoking

I don't need to explain how bad smoking is for your health, or how it increases the risk of cancer, heart disease, and stroke. You already know that. But you might not realize how smoking impedes your work.

Every smoke break at work takes time away from your job duties. Sneaking away for a four or five-minute break every couple hours may not seem like a big deal, but these minutes add up over the course of a day, week, or year, which affects overall production. Smoking can also weaken your immune system, resulting in more sick days, and some of your coworkers might have to pick up the slack to accommodate for your absence. And if your boss restricts the number of smoke breaks employees can take, you might not get your nicotine fix when you need it. This can trigger irritability, nervousness, and affect the quality of your work. For those reasons — and a million more — do yourself a favor and kick the habit once and for all.

Are there other bad life habits you've noticed that impede one's work? Let me know in the comments below.

This article is from Mikey Rox of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Negative Traits That Are Actually Good for You

Sarah Winfrey — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:00:05 +0000

Pessimism. Anger. Shyness. Jealousy. Boredom. Impatience.

These characteristics is usually seen as negative. In fact, you hear generalizations that aren't flattering about all of these traits. Pessimistic people aren't happy, anger hurts relationships, shy people hide all their lives, jealousy keeps you focused outside your own life, frequent boredom means you don't have an active mind, and impatience indicates an uncaring attitude towards others. (See also: 5 Ways Negativity Can Help You)

While there are legitimate reasons why these traits aren't universally desired, the truth is that each of these have positive aspects, too. So just because one or more of these words describes you doesn't necessarily mean that it's time to change.

Pessimism

Pessimistic people tend to live longer and to be healthier for more of those years. This is mostly tied to defensive pessimism, in which people manage their anxiety by thinking through everything bad that could happen so that they can avoid those things. Most experts think that this type of pessimism is protective because people are actually somewhat successful in identifying risks and avoiding them.

To live long and be happy in our lives, we probably need a balance of optimism and this type of pessimism. We do not, however, have to be the bouncy, always-optimistic people that our culture seems to want us to be. It's still true that optimists have higher overall senses of well-being. When we balance that with the ability to look ahead and avoid possible negative outcomes, we'll have the best of both possible worlds.

Anger

Anger isn't necessarily wild, it doesn't just happen to people who are out of control, and it doesn't have to be a negative emotion. Anger has a lot to offer. It can provide motivation for change, it can actually help our relationships, and it can help us know ourselves better.

When we feel angry, it's usually because something isn't going the way we think it should. If we are angry enough and we can channel that energy, we have a lot of power to put towards changing the things that made us angry in the first place.

Anger helps relationships because hiding anger means hiding the truth. When we tell our partners, friends, and relatives the truth about how their actions affect us, and when we genuinely want to find a solution that will work for everyone, expressing our anger often leads to solid changes that make our relationships stronger.

When we look at the things that make us angry, we can learn what is important to us. This is especially true when anger surprises us. Often, that anger means that we care deeply about something that we didn't previously know we cared about.

Shyness

There are a lot of good resources about how to overcome shyness. All of these seem to assume that it's definitely something we'd want to weed out of our lives. However, shy people often self-identify as being good at observing and listening. Since listening well has been identified as one of the most underrated skills for being a good CEO, it seems that being shy may have more to offer than we usually think.

In addition to being important to our survival, being observant may be a skill we're losing. Since it's still important to note our surroundings and understand the world we live in, maybe we should value shy people more than we do.

Jealousy

It's easy to feel embarrassed and ashamed of our jealousy, but the truth is that jealousy shows us what we want and helps us evaluate our lives so that we can live them in a way that makes us happy. When we feel jealous, it's because someone else has what we want.

However, it's also true that we often don't want exactly what the other person has. For instance, it's common to feel jealous of a friend starting a new job. Upon reflection, though, most people find that they don't want the exact same job their friend got. Instead, they want a new job themselves, or they want to start something new in general, or maybe they want a new challenge in life.

It's important to dig below jealousy to find out if it's hiding other desires or emotions. This helps us identify what we really want out of life, so we can determine the best way to chase it down.

Boredom

It's easy to think that you are a boring person if you find yourself bored a lot. However, experiencing boredom often motivates us to find or make meaning in our lives. Being bored indicates that we aren't doing something that is important to us. Because boredom is uncomfortable, it moves us toward doing things that actually do offer meaning. It helps us find the things that are important to us and participate in them enthusiastically.

Boredom also stimulates creativity. When we don't like the status quo or find the traditional way of doing things tedious, we're more likely to come up with a new "normal" or find a new way of doing things. But we often have to get bored to get this done.

Impatience

When we're impatient, it's easy to get annoyed and start acting unkindly to anyone who might be making us impatient. However, impatience also shows us that we don't care about what we're doing, or aren't engaged for some reason.

Most of us find that we aren't impatient when we're doing something we love, and that we have ultimate patience, even for tedious or mundane tasks, when we care about the greater process at hand. If this is true for you, then you can use your impatience as a barometer for your levels of caring and engagement. Experiencing a lot of impatience means it's time to reevaluate what you're doing or why you're doing it, to decide if it's time for a change.

Do you have any of these characteristics? Have you experienced them as positive or negative?

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This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Ways That Negativity Can Help You

Nick Wharton — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 11:00:07 +0000

Debbie Downer, Moaning Myrtle, Negative Nancy. Slang terms like this make us feel like we have to be constantly upbeat and positive if we want to live a good life. However, recent research suggests that some degree of negativity can be helpful and essential to our health and happiness. (See also: Pessimism Pays)

Here are five ways that negativity can work for you.

1. Find the Downside

We've all gone into situations thinking that they would be positive experiences only to have them quickly go south. Then, as we reflect on went wrong, we often realize that there were warning signs from the very beginning that we either didn't see or chose to ignore. Negativity can help us find and consider the downsides of a situation and that can save us from emotional and physical distress down the road by either saving us from getting involved in the situation or at least making us aware of what could go wrong if we move forward.

2. Save Money

If something seems too good to be true, that's a cue for us to dig deeper with eyes and ears wide open. This is especially important when we are considering a large purchase such as buying a home or a car. Our negativity forces us to ask probing questions so that we aren't fooled by slick marketing and clever PR tactics.

3. Save Time

Time is our greatest and scarcest resource. More than ever before, companies, organizations, and individuals compete for our time and attention. If you're not careful, your calendar could quickly fill up with to-do items that are less than enjoyable. Negativity can keep us from overcommitting our time and helps to focus us on what we truly want to do rather than feeling obligated to do things we don't want to do. (See also: 25 Ways to Take 5 Minutes for Yourself)

4. Stay Safe

Negativity and doubt have their place when it comes to our evolution.

Let's say the sky looks dark and threatening. An optimist might say, "That storm will blow over or be short-lived. No sense is changing my plans for the weather!" A pessimist may look at that same sky and say, "That looks dangerous. I better hold off on going out until the weather clears up." If that sky is indeed indicative of dangerous weather, it's best to take cover and wait for more information, especially with the wild weather we're having this year! Negativity can literally keep us out of harm's way.

5. Be Prepared

Pessimists tend to place a premium on preparation while optimists often wing it and believe everything will turn out fine in the end.

Sometimes going with the flow is fun and sometimes it leads to disaster. If you have an important job interview coming up, it's best to be prepared. Research the company, the role, and the people whom you'll meet with during the interview. Make sure you have examples to pull from your experience that align with the responsibilities of the job and a handful of questions to ask if the interviewers are open to them. Negativity can be a saving grace in high-pressure situations that require preparation and practice.

Despite the benefits, too much negativity can lead to depression and low self-esteem. It's important to balance our sense of optimism and negativity so that we can clearly see situations and people for what and who they really are. Using both outlooks helps us to evaluate opportunities for maximum personal benefit.

Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Which outlook has benefited you most, in terms of personal finance? Please share in comments!

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This article is from Nick Wharton of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Do This One Thing Every Day to Defeat Negativity

Mardee Handler — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 21:00:04 +0000

"The sky is falling… the sky is falling!" exclaimed Chicken Little when an acorn fell from a tree and hit her on the head.

Sound familiar? Do you assume the worst when your boss calls you in for a meeting, or when your partner says, "We need to talk?"

Negativity is a habit. It's a half-glass-empty thinking style that results from a subconscious focus on the doom and gloom. Like most habits, negativity can be a hard one to break. But guess what, doomsters? The good news is that counter-productive habits — including negative thought patterns — can be broken. (See also: The Surprisingly Easy Way to Change Your Habits)

How can you break the cycle of negativity? Start here.

Record Your Negative Thoughts

Recognizing a bad habit is key to breaking it. Perhaps negativity has become so second-nature to you that you don't even recognize it anymore. It's time to take note — literally and figuratively. By tracking the negative thoughts that creep into your mind or downbeat comments that slip out of your mouth, you are one step closer to conquering negativity.

Track in a way that's convenient for you — whether that means jotting them down on paper or using an electronic tool like Evernote that can be accessed on your phone or computer. Whatever method you choose, be consistent and be diligent so you get an accurate "report."

Why Bother?

Okay, I can already hear the moaning and complaining… "one more thing to do???" But tracking works. According to MyFitnessPal, studies prove that calorie counting and food tracking is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Weight Watchers' Points Plus program operates on the same tracking concept.

Let's face it: Like excess pounds, your negativity might be weighing you down. Time to shed those negative thoughts!

Noting your thoughts is an effective habit-busting strategy because it requires action. Rather than letting the negativity float in and out of your head, you're stopping, noticing it, and taking the time to jot it down. It also encourages self-reflection.

What Thoughts Make the List?

If you are used to negative thoughts, it might take a little extra work to identify them. One strategy is to enlist the help of your partner, close friend, or family member. Ask them to shoot you a subtle look or signal to make sure you're catching them all.

Another is to identify key words with negative connotations. Here are just a few:

"Never" (followed by something positive)
"Always" (followed by something negative)
"Can't" (usually preceded by "I")
"Fat," "stupid," "lame," "incompetent" — or any other self-depreciating adjectives

Your Negative Thoughts List Can Reveal Patterns

At the end of the day, take a look at your negativity list. Just how half-empty is your glass? Knowing how many negative thoughts invade your mind can shed some light on the amount of work that lies ahead. Hey, maybe it's not as bad as you thought! On the other hand, if negativity pervades your thoughts, it's time to roll up your mental sleeves and get to work.

Not only can reviewing your list of negative thoughts help you realize the degree of negativity you're carrying around, but it can also allow you to identify patterns. For example, if you notice that 8 of the 10 negative thoughts on your list pertain to your job, perhaps it's time to start polishing up your resume.

Tally the results at the end of the week. See if you notice any other patterns that you can relate to other factors. Did the negativity appear more prevalent on days that you skipped exercise or were particularly tired? Good news! Maybe you need a new fitness routine instead of a new job.

Use Your List to Turn the Negativity Train Around

Once you feel like you have a good handle on your personal negativity tendencies, it's time to take action. For some, it may take a week; for others, perhaps longer. It doesn't matter. This is not a race — it's a quest for improving the quality of your thoughts, and thereby, your overall wellness. However long it takes to get there is however long it takes to get there. Period. No judgment!

Thought Flipping

Where to begin? Try a technique, called "thought-flipping." Imagine every negative thought that pops into your mind is a pancake on the griddle and give it a good flip.

Take that negative thought — and flip it into a positive one. I am not encouraging manic, "I-will-conquer-the-world-in-a-single-day-" type notions, but somewhere between negativity and overzealousness lies a healthy dose of balance, a more realistic way of looking at the events that shape your world. Instead of "I'll never get that job; why would they want to hire me?" flip it: "You know, I could be the one that gets this job — why not me?"

Ready… set… let the glass become half-full!

How have you conquered or managed negativity? Please share in comments!

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This article is from Mardee Handler of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Ways to Banish Negative Thoughts

POPSUGAR Smart Living — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:24:11 +0000

Want to know the secret to success? The formula is part positive thinking and part self-awareness. It's easy to become jaded when life gets tough, but don't get caught up in negative thoughts because it may hinder your progress. Seeing the world as a glass half empty may lead you to give up easier and not try as hard because you may think that it's pointless to even make an attempt. Here's how you can banish those negative thoughts for good.

Get a Gratitude Journal

Writing down a list of things that you are grateful for can renew your appreciation for the things that you've been taking for granted. The gratitude list will cause you to focus on the positive and not the negative. Doing this daily can ingrain this type of positive thinking in your mind.There are plenty of really cool gratitude journals available on Amazon, like this 2012 Gratitude Journal ($8).

Surround Yourself With Friends

Friends make a person happier and can distract you from the negative in your life. They also provide a form of emotional support and can be there for you when the going gets tough. Feeling isolated will make you feel more negative because you'll start having these unrealistic negative thoughts about yourself that your friends can't counter. Friends will help ground you and give you a good dose of reality.

Defeat Your Thoughts on Paper

If you keep ruminating on something gloomy, write it down on a sheet of paper. Then play devil's advocate and write down several arguments to counter it. Keep on doing this, and you'll feel much better. Sometimes you get so focused on yourself and your misery that it's hard for you to find solutions or a positive perspective.

Offer to Pet-Sit

Having animals around you makes you happier, so offer to pet-sit for your friends when they take trips. If you can put in the money, time, and energy, you should really consider adopting a pet. Seeing how animals take such joy in simple things will snap you out of your doom and gloom mind-set.

Lose Yourself in an Activity

If you're obsessing about something, you need to break that seemingly never-ending loop of bad thoughts. Pick an activity that you know you can really lose yourself in, such as playing a sport, meditating, or even reading. Anything that will take your mind off of whatever is bothering you.

Take in the Outdoors

Scientists say that taking in nature can really calm a person's mind. Make it a point to go to a place with greenery, be it a nearby park or garden. Take a deep breath and inhale the smells and absorb sights of nature. You'll find negativity fading away.

Love being happy? Here are more ways to increase your happiness.

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Negative thoughts can make you unproductive, crabby, and straight-up unhappy. Stay positive with these suggestions.

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This article is from POPSUGAR Smart Living of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

negativity

Best Money Tips: How Negativity Can Be Good For You

Top 5 Articles

Other Essential Reading

6 Bad Habits That Are Ruining Your Career

1. Being a Negative Nancy — Or Ned

2. Always Running Late

3. Social Media Addiction

4. Skipping Meals

5. Procrastinating

6. Smoking

6 Negative Traits That Are Actually Good for You

Pessimism

Anger

Shyness

Jealousy

Boredom

Impatience

Like this article? Pin it!

5 Ways That Negativity Can Help You

1. Find the Downside

2. Save Money

3. Save Time

4. Stay Safe

5. Be Prepared

Like this article? Pin it!

Do This One Thing Every Day to Defeat Negativity

Record Your Negative Thoughts

Why Bother?

What Thoughts Make the List?

Your Negative Thoughts List Can Reveal Patterns

Use Your List to Turn the Negativity Train Around

Thought Flipping

Like this article? Pin it!

6 Ways to Banish Negative Thoughts

Get a Gratitude Journal

Surround Yourself With Friends

Defeat Your Thoughts on Paper

Offer to Pet-Sit

Lose Yourself in an Activity

Take in the Outdoors

Like this article? Pin it!