We all know that ‘nice’ is an overworked word, one we use when we are unable to or can’t be bothered to come up with something more precise.
But we need to watch out if ‘nice’ is often applied to us by ourselves or other people.
How to Be a Better Friend — Accepting Feelings
Of course you accept your mate’s feelings, you may think, as you recall all the hours you spend listening to their emotional traumas about their significant other, or lack thereof, or their mother or their boss or their kids or their diet…
You do what all good friends do. You listen. But really good friends listen without imposing their own agenda.
Read more »
Thumbs down to ‘Awkward Turtle’— How to handle awkward situations in better ways
‘Awkward Turtle’ is one of those urban slang expressions with which only the tragically unhip (you too?) are unfamiliar. It refers to a movement in which you place one hand over the other and rotate your thumbs, presumably imitating a turtle trying to get out of an awkward position.
It can be used in a group situation, when someone puts their foot in it, says the wrong thing, doesn’t realise something significant about a group member, and so on.
Read more »
Female and email mean never having to say Just Not Sorry
The new Chrome app Just Not Sorry is aimed specifically at helping women check the emails they are sending to highlight weak or filler words and phrases.
It’s a useful enough business tool but it’s something of a shame (see what I did there?) that the app focuses on women, and that the debates which it has sparked replay familiar ideas about women’s behaviour and position in the workplace.
Read more »
Two Questions You Need to Ask Yourself to Make Changes in Your Life
So, you’ve got the New Year off to a cracking start!
You’ve already got up early every day, you’ve been to the gym six times, you’re loving the new diet of mashed-up green stuff and you just romped your way through every book on the last Man Booker list. No, me neither.
Read more »
The One Word You Need to Reduce Christmas Stress
It’s meant to be a season of peace and goodwill. Cue hollow laugh.
For many of us, the first sighting of a red and white Santa, usually around the end of August, marks the onset of low-level creeping anxiety, which builds up into full-on stressed-out panic as we approach the final days.
Read more »
How to Tell When You’re Being Manipulated
Let’s be honest, we all use a little bit of manipulation now and then in order to get what we want.
Some of us know how to turn on the charm when we need to. We have a few strategies up our sleeve for bringing reluctant people on board with our plans.