"Do you experience meaning at work -- or just emptiness?

In the United States people spend on average 35-40 hours working every week. That's some 80,000 hours during a career -- more time than you will spend with your kids, probably.

Beyond the paycheck, what does work give you? Few questions could be more important. It is sad to walk through life and experience work as empty, dreadful, a chore -- sapping energy out of your body and soul. Yet many employees do, as evidenced by one large-scale study showing that only 31 percent of employees felt engaged with their work.

Of course, different people look for different types of meanings -- and, moreover, different workplaces provide different meanings. The phrase "meaning at work" refers to a person's experience of something meaningful -- something of value -- that work provides. That is not the same as "meaningful work," which refers to the task itself. Work is a social arena that provides a variety of meaningful experiences; even if an employee doesn't find her tasks to be especially fulfilling, she might derive meaning from other aspects of her job, such as friendships with colleagues.

So, what are the sources of meaningful experiences at work? We have compiled a list of ways that work can become more meaningful, based on our reading of literature in organization behavior and psychology."

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This set of 1-hour modules is for those who feel that they are unable to effectively balance their work and their life.

Module 1 highlights techniques you can use to analyze your current level of balance between work and life responsibilities. Only through properly understanding where you are, in relation to where you want to be, can you begin to construct a map that will take you to your objective of a balanced, fulfilled life. Module 2 will focus on techniques for maintaining work/life balance. It includes recognizing the behaviors of passiveness, aggressiveness, and assertiveness and how those affect a person's ability to find balance in life. Module 3 will explain how the signs and symptoms of stress could be of physiological, behavioral, and psychological nature, where these stresses can come from and how to keep them from causing burnout. It also covers how you can positively change your responses to stress once you are able to recognize how you respond to stressful situations and relaxation techniques such as breathing and mediation.

• Analyzing Your Life Balance: pd_06_a01_bs_enus
• Maintaining Your Life Balance: pd_06_a02_bs_enus
• Taking Control of Your Stress: pd_06_a03_bs_enus

Visit the UMBC SkillSoft website for a Quick Start Guide, FAQs, and the link to log in to SkillPort.

For more information about the Business Exploration Series courseware, click here.

To schedule a department presentation about using SkillSoft for professional development, call ext. 5-6262 or hrtraining@umbc.edu.

The mind-body connection is well-documented in research from neuroscience, psychiatry, and medicine. Findings have consistently shown that our emotional experience (stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, etc.) can have a negative impact on our health. The good news is that, when harnessed correctly, we can use our mind to help heal the ailments of the body. The reverse is also true. When we are in emotional distress, we can use the body to shift our feelings.

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Class has been cancelled this evening. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have yoga back on Monday the 18th at 6:00pm.

Thank you.

"When is the last time you wrote something? Really wrote something, putting pen to paper, and not just typing away an email or report on a computer or smartphone. If it's been awhile, you might want to consider getting back into the practice -- writing (whether it be expressive writing, like you would do in a diary, or keeping a gratitude journal) has been linked with a number of benefits for both body and mind. Read through the list for some ways to write your way to a better you."

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"You've been through it more times than you'd care to count: As you're trying to manage your growing stress throughout the chaos of a busy work day, there's (always!) at least one person who is keeping their cool. Don't they notice the crises you've been rushing between?

And have you ever wondered how those de-stressed, ever-calm people keep it all together on a daily basis? The truth is, they're neither superhuman nor oblivious -- they just practice daily habits that keep their stress levels under control. And the good news is that you can learn from them. According to Michelle Carlstrom, the senior director of the Office of Work, Life and Engagement at Johns Hopkins University, it's all about tailoring tricks to fit your needs.

"My number one recommendation is you have to find the strategies that work for you and work to make those strategies a habit," Carlstrom told The Huffington Post. "I think people feel less stressed -- even when they're really busy -- if they're able to live out personal values that matter to their life. Whatever your values are, if you don't get to practice them its hard to feel calm."

By adopting your own personal stress-busters, the chaos of life can become a lot more manageable. But how to start? Carlstrom says relaxed people take an inventory of how they deal with stress and then figure out healthy strategies to balance out coping mechanisms that aren't beneficial. Below find seven simple strategies calm people make an effort to integrate into their lives on a daily basis"

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Today's leaders must be able to communicate vision in such a way that the audience is engaged and everyone understands and internalizes the message. Effective leadership communication gives purpose and meaning to the work that people do. Leaders should strive to communicate vision with a sense of integrity, building trust as an individual and as a leader.

This course provides a general introduction to vision communication, including its nature and its purpose. You will be guided through numerous techniques and methods for a leader to successfully communicate vision, such as personalizing and multiplying a clear message, communicating enthusiasm in an authentic way, and making the organization's vision the employees' own vision. Materials designed to support blended learning activities aligned with this course are available from the Resources Page.

This is course number: lead_05_a02_bs_enus

Visit the UMBC SkillSoft website for a Quick Start Guide, FAQs, and the link to log in to SkillPort.

For more information about the Business Exploration Series courseware, click here.

To schedule a department presentation about using SkillSoft for professional development, call ext. 5-6262 or hrtraining@umbc.edu.

"The Eastern practice of yoga has become a modern-day symbol of peace, serenity and well-being in the West. More than 20 million Americans practice yoga, according to the 2012 Yoga in America study, with practitioners spending more than $10 billion a year on yoga-related products and classes.

The mind-body practice is frequently touted for its ability to reduce stress and boost well-being, but it also offers wide-ranging physical health benefits that rival other forms of exercise. While the scientific research on yoga's health benefits is still young, here's what we know so far about its potential effects on the body."

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