It’s not surprising that many of us are suffocated by our work, so much that we neglect or even forget about other commitments we have in our lives which are equally, if not more important, than paying our bills. We have our family, communities, hobbies which we care very much for as well. Yet, work can be so time-consuming and draining to us that by the end of each day, there’s little energy left in us to engage in these other activities.

Is there no way out? I hope not. Although it might be hard for us to not adopt the changing work culture, I believe there are still some things we can change. Even if we can’t change the environment, the least we can change is the attitudes we hold within ourselves. Here are some practical tips which most of us are already aware of and serve more as a reminder to ourselves. I hope they will be of help for those of us who deserves a break from our hectic work life.

Recommended Reading: 6 Ways to Unleash Creativity in the Workplace

1. Learning When to Say "No"

As my boss often say to me when I first started work, don’t be over zealous in helping out my colleagues with their work. I didn’t understand back then, but three months down the job, I could see where he’s coming from. When you start accepting work outside your job scope, people eventually assumed that they were part of your responsibilities. Apparently, that’s what happened to my boss.

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Some of them may have used such tactics as a way to lessen their workload, while others may have done that unintentionally. Whatever is the case, it’s best to gauge our workload before we decide to assist in other work areas. Sure, some organizations appraise employees based on how much they are willing to do work outside their scope, but the key here is to balance between fulfilling our roles and going beyond. The priority should always be to complete our job well first.

2. Accepting Imperfection Doesn’t Mean Rejecting Perfection

Every job comes with its own expectation on how thorough it has to be done. Nevertheless, not every aspect of your job scope has such stringent requirement, and these are the areas you should give yourself some leeway. If you’re always aiming for perfection in everything you do, you’re going to be burdened by your overwhelmingly increasing stress in the long-run.

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I’m just suggesting that you don’t miss the forest for the trees, because you could’ve used that extra effort to finish and polish up those portions where you’re supposed to be ‘perfect’. Accepting imperfection for those parts that are less important doesn’t mean that you give up on your search for excellence; it just means you prioritize your efforts to where it matters more.

When you are performing well on your work as a whole, the resultant satisfaction has a positive trickle-down effect on the rest of your life outside work.

3. Setting Personal Rules

Some of you may be turned off by the word, ‘rules’, because it connotes something rigid and inflexible. But indeed, when it comes to certain things in life that we often sacrifice for work, we should ensure that we spend not just time, but quality time on these activities. Just as most of us have to spend a designated amount of time for work every week, we should set apart time for other commitments.

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In a sense, these ‘rules’ you set will help you keep a balanced life that does not involves only work, work and work. When you tell yourself that you will turn in by eleven every night, that you will spend every Sunday with your family and that you will workout at least twice a week, they will more likely to happen than if you simply say you will sleep early every night, you will have family time every week and you will keep yourself fit. Writing them down on a piece of paper will even make you commit deeper.

4. Delegating Work

It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of doing everything by yourself. Why? It seems logical to trust yourself more than you trust others when it comes to your work. After all, if you pass work to someone else and something goes wrong, you get the blame. But if we are to really improve our productivity level and enjoy what we do, we have to entrust certain tasks to others.

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There are certain works which we particularly enjoy doing and are better at. Then there are other stuffs which are better left without our interventions. The latter are those which you should delegate to people around you. Focus on what you do best and you will do a better job organizing your work and hence, a more balanced work life.

5. Be Sociable But Beware of Politics

Work takes up a significant portion of our time, so it will be beneficial to your well-being if you spend your time optimally. Get to know your colleagues well even outside work and you’ll have less hard time in the office. We are social animals after all; we need social support when the going gets tough. What’s more, this will make it easier to ask for help when you need it.

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One thing to be careful about here is that we may unknowingly get involved in office politics. When you socialize with people more, you get to see what you may like or not like about some of your co-workers. This is when you form or join cliques and stick with what your group believes in. Politics are inevitable in the workplace, but you can always minimize it by taking the effort to mingle with people from different groups.

6. Work Hard & Play Hard

Confucius said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. What he meant was that if you love what you do, you would enjoy it so much that it wouldn’t be considered as work. That is a great advice, but I still believe that work and play are distinct from each other. Once you accept that distinction, you will be able to simplify your work-life by a notch.

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As much as possible, when you’re out of the office, try to disconnect yourself from work at home. Don’t bring work home with you. If that is not possible on a day-to-day basis, then consider taking a complete break from work during your vacation.

Communication technology has improved communication by the leaps, but it has definitely created more stress for all workers. Switch off your mobile phone and resists checking your emails every fifteen minutes. Go out and enjoy yourself or attend to what is more important in your life.

7. Take Regular Breaks

Who would think of taking breaks when you have so many deadlines to meet? Most of us would be so absorbed into what we are doing and forget about them altogether. That’s all fine and dandy if we only get busy days once in awhile, but if such tight schedules are habitual, it can have an overwhelming effect on your stress level.

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It’s not just for the sake of yourself, but also for the sake of improving productivity. When you place sustained attention to a task, fatigue sets, you get distracted and make more mistakes. It ends up with you taking a much longer time to finish it. Taking short rests will rejuvenate your energy level and keeps you motivated.

Many people do not realize the power of taking regular breaks, and the damaging effect of not taking them. Sometimes, it is precisely that you are overwhelmed by work that you need to take a fifteen minutes tea break.

8. Have Something To Look Forward To

Some of us may see work as a chore that we slog it out for five days a week. For these people, they very much dread the drudgery of work. Time may seem to crawl by every second of the day as they do what they hate to do. Work becomes some sort of a living hell for them.

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But it doesn’t have to be this way. To simplify the pain of work, it helps to have something to look forward to at the end of the day, week, month or year. Better still, try to connect the reason why you’re doing the work you dislike with what you look forward to. It could be that you are working there because you are fulfilling needs of your family whom you love to see them after a long, hard day at work. Or you are slogging your days away because you’re earning a trip to the Caribbean islands.

If you fail to derive enjoyment or find meaning from your work, then link your efforts to a certain cause outside work. You’ll realize that the days will get back easier on you when you have a reason as to why you’re staying in your job, whether it’s lousy or not.

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Windows has released the new Windows 8 OS with a new interface that is marking Microsoft’s shifting focus from clicks to touch. The new Windows 8 is much faster than previous versions but after decades of seeing only your folders on the desktop, are you ready to embrace the new tile-filled UI, that is the Metro Start screen? We figure you might need help customizing the new UI for personal comfort.

In this quick-tip, we’ll get you started with some of the changes made to Windows 8 then show you basic configurations you can do to customize your Metro Start page.

Breaking the Ice with Windows 8

Some of the differences you will notice on Windows 8 are that many apps can only run when you are logged on with your Windows Live ID, and that Internet Explorer can be run in two different modes. The ‘Settings page’ also has gotten a new interface – I think we’ll start with this one.

1. Windows Metro Start Page

When you are on any page, or running any app, you can simply hover your mouse over the right side of the screen, to reach your Charms menu, that bar that seems to be playing hide-and-seek with you. You can find your shortcuts to the ‘Start’ page, ‘Devices’, ‘Setting’, ‘Share’ and ‘Search’ there. Alternatively, Windows key+ C will also open the charms menu.

If you hover your mouse to the left side of your screen, a preview bar will show you the apps you have running at the moment, as well as the Start page.

2. Log in with Windows Live ID

To get access to most apps on Windows 8, you will need to log in to your Windows using your Live ID. If you haven’t done so, you will get this error when you try to open an app.

To register your Live ID, hover your mouse to the right of the screen to reach your charms menu, and then click ‘Settings’.

Then click on the ‘More PC Settings’ bar at the bottom.

On the settings page, go to the ‘Users’ tab on the left and click on ‘Add a user’.

A new page will appear. Simply enter your Live ID and click ‘Next’ to complete the process.

When you have added your Live ID, simply log out from your Windows and log in again with the new user ID

With Live ID access, you can now use all apps available on your Windows 8. Also, you will be able to utilize SkyDrive and download more apps from the Windows App Store.

Customizing Metro Start Screen

Your Metro Start page is now the main page on Windows 8, and you have the ability to customize the look and feel of the page to your preference.

1. Personalize Metro Start Screen

To change the look of your Metro Start page, hover over the Charms menu on the right and go to the Settings page. Once you’re in, go to ‘Personalize’.

On this page, you can change your Lock screen, or click on the top menu to change the look of your Start screen.

You can also go to ‘Account picture’ to upload or change your account picture or avatar.

2. Tile Grouping

All tiles that are available on your Start screen can be grouped according to its class or category. For example, you may want to group your tiles under categories like ‘Social’, ‘Utilities’, ‘Internet’ and ‘Games’. To start grouping tiles, simply hold your mouse down on any tile and drag it to another position or group.

You can also create a new group by dragging the tile to an empty space; a new group will be created automatically.

To customize the look, you can also change the size of each tile, to have it appear as a rectangle or square. Simply right click on the tile, and select ‘Larger’ to turn the square to a rectangle.

3. Naming the Tile group

Each group of tiles can be renamed so it will be easier to remember. To start naming, point your mouse at the bottom right hand corner of the screen and click on the small magnifier icon. Your Metro Start page will be scaled down.

Now right click on any group of tile you want to label, and you will see an option appear at the bottom of the screen. Click on ‘Name group’ and enter any name you prefer for the group of tiles.

4. adding and removing apps to Metro Start screen

To remove any tile from your Start screen, simply right click on the tile and click on ‘Unpin from Start’.

To add a new tile (app shortcut) to the start screen, hover your mouse to the Charm menu and click on Search.

Now you are in a page where all apps are listed. Right click on any app to see the options and click on ‘Pin to Start’ to add the shortcut as a tile on your Start screen.

Visiting the Windows (App) Store

With Windows 8, it’s easier now to make your Windows fun. From the Start page, click on the Store tile to start purchasing new apps or download free ones.

Once you are in the Storefront, scroll left and right to look for any app you like, then choose to purchase or download for free.

Conclusion

With some basic changes, you can already customize your Metro Start screen to follow your preference. Although not much options are offered, soon enough when the product is launched, I’m pretty sure there will be more tips and tricks to better customization.

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