How to have a successful summer vacation

How to have a successful summer vacationHow to have a successful summer vacationLots of people will take a vacation this summer, but for many of them, their vacations wont be the relaxing, recuperative getaways they were hoping for.Research shows that about40% of people return from their vacations and feel either no better, or even worse, than before they left.This happens because many of us make mistakes that compromise how enjoyable and satisfying ur vacations can be. Below are some simple recommendations that you can implement before, during and after your vacation that will help ensure that your time off this summer is pleasurable, gratifying and fully recharges your batteries.Plan aheadVacations can be stressful. Minimize your stress by planning out key parts of your vacation before you leave.Reserve a flight outside of rush hour so you dont get stuck in traffic. Book your scuba diving adventure a few weeks in advance.Before leaving make sure that you and your travel partners ar e clear on everyones vacation priorities and have a general agreement about how youll spend your time.While you are away you dont want to engage in potentially stressful negotiations about how to fill your days. Even a single negative incident on vacation, like an argument with a spouse, reduces how much your time away improves your health and well-being.Put away the electronicsA necessary ingredient for recharging your batteries on vacation is mentally disengaging from work. Its elend enough to physically leave the office, you have to mentally leave the office.This is called psychological detachment. If youre on the beach constantly looking at your phone to see whats happening back at work, youre notlage psychologically detached. If you check your email three times a day, youre not psychologically detached.If you dont psychologically detach you wont replenish yourself much on your trip. Turn off the electronics and clear your mind. That said, if you get anxious about the mountain o f emails that will be waiting for you when you get back to work, you will also have trouble chilling out. So, engage in email triage.Once every three or four days, check your email and delete anything you can dispense with immediately. Then, reply quickly to anything that can be addressed with a simple, token response, and mark as unread anything that needs some thought and should be tackled when you get back. This cuts the huge mountain of emails down to a small pile, which will put your mind at ease and allow you to unwind.Enjoy yourselfBe a little bit selfish on vacation and ensure that you get to do what floats your boat. Enjoying yourself is a necessary ingredient in making sure your vacation is recuperative.Vacations are supposed to refresh you and alleviate the burnout you suffer at work, and research shows that when you enjoy yourself and are satisfied with your vacation, your level of burnout drops significantly while away,but when you are not satisfied, your level of burno ut barely changes.Similarly, whether or not you enjoy your vacation strongly affectshow refreshed you feel when its over. Take time for yourself and participate in activities you find pleasurable and satisfying. This is your vacation. Youve earned it.Staycations are OKNot everyone has the disposable funds for travel vacations. But thats OK. Staycations can be as effective as exotic getaways if they are done right.The main mistake people make during vacations at home is that they stay in their normal routine. They cook, they clean, they watch TV. In short, they dont vacate their normal lives.If you stay at home on your vacation, shake things up. Visit local tourist attractions. Eat different foods. Take day trips to neighboring communities. Getting out of your normal routine can make a staycation feel as novel and recuperative as an excursion to a foreign land.Come home a little earlyWe usually come back from our travel vacations on Sunday night so we can return to work Monday mornin g. We do this because we think that maximizing our vacation time means making the vacation last as long as possible.But the goal of our vacations shouldnt be to make them as long as possible but to make them as effective as possible. If you return home Sunday night youre likely to run around trying to hurriedly unpack, water your plants, do laundry, pick up some groceries, check your phone messages and various other things you need to do to get back into the swing of things.However, scrambling about is stressful and can quickly undo all the health and well-being gains you made while on vacation. Research shows that people who return from vacations a little bit early report being in a better mood for longer than those who return on a Sunday.Bookend your vacation with as little stress as possible. Come home early enough to leisurely get back into your normal routine, and ease back into work retaining your vacation benefits for as long as you can.People often complain that they need a vacation from their vacation. When we return from our time off feeling just as depleted and tired as before we left it is usually because our vacations didnt allow us to replenish our drained resources, satisfy our needs or adequately disengage from our normal routines.Implementing a few simple tactics before, during, and after your vacation can ensure that your time off this summer fully recharges your batteries and lets you return to work feeling healthy, happy and productive.This article was originally published on TheConversation.com.

Art Therapist Career Overview - Job Description, Skills, Duties, Education, Training, Job Outlook Salary

Art Therapist Career Overview - Job Description, Skills, Duties, Education, Training, Job Outlook SalaryArt Therapist Career Overview - Job Description, Skills, Duties, Education, Training, Job Outlook SalaryArt Therapist Job DescriptionAn species therapist is trained to evaluate and treat patients by helping them create art. Art therapy is an alternative therapy that helps heal medical and psychiatric disorders.The patients may be young, very old, or somewhere in between, and vary from the physically ill to the emotionally stressed.The therapist integrates the understanding of art and psychology, and utilizes research-based art therapy techniques.Art therapy has its foundation on the idea that patients can enhance their confidence, self worth, solve conflicts, acknowledge losses, eliminate anxiety and generally improve their lives by creating art, which may be in the form of pottery, sketching or sewing.Create this ResumeArt Therapist Skills/DutiesArt therapist often works as part of a team comprising of healthcare professionals. The therapist provides the materials and instructions for the art therapy will conduct evaluations, treatments, and rehabilitation and keep a record to share with other physicians and healthcare personnel.They may work with cancer patients, psychiatric patients, schizophrenia patients, drug addicts, burn cases, retarded children, patients with bipolar disorder, etc.They may be hired by clinics, healthcare centers, hospitals, inpatient psychiatric facilities or outpatient centers. They help individuals in retirement communities or nursing homes. They may also be employed by schools, universities or advice patients in private practice.An art therapist maintains patient records and progress. He also performs administrative duties. He attends conferences and seminars.Art Therapist Education and Training An art therapist must train in art and psychology. At the undergraduate level, you have to complete 15 semester hours of studio art, in cluding, building a portfolio of art work and 12 semester hours of psychology. You have to then complete a Masters Program in art therapy, which takes 2 years to finish, during which, you will have to complete 24 graduate credit hours of work. You must then obtain credentials by the Art Therapy Credentials Board. After completing the graduate education, post graduate work experience, and passing a written test, you will receive board certification as an art therapist.Art Therapist Job OutlookThe job outlook for art therapists looks good. The job prospects will increase, like for other health care professions.Art Therapist SalaryAn art therapist earns between $35,000 and $50,000 in a year. The salary depends on his education qualification and experience. Customize ResumeMore Sample Career ArticlesArt Therapist Career Bariatrician Career Cardiologist Career

5 ways to improve your relationship with your boss

5 ways to improve your relationship with your anfhrer5 ways to improve your relationship with your bossUnfortunately, theres no Tinder for job searching (yet anyway) meaning you cant quickly swipe to see a three-sentence blurb and screenshot into what makes your could-be employer tick. If theres bedrngnis an app for it, its in your best interest to make a thorough investment into your relationship with your manager. Not only because they can make or break the success you reap in your role, but the mora cohesively you work together, the more streamlined your projects and processes will be, helping you, your higher-up and the company reach their goals.As career branding expert Wendi Weiner explains, If you and your boss are leid seeing eye-to-eye, then it can disrupt the productivity in the office which can also negatively impact the companys profitability. If you and your boss are not on good terms, then your working relationship - and company presence - may be cut short.Without fal ling too deep into doomsday here, career experts give their best advice on how to foster this all-too-important connection so going to work is less dreadful and more, well, mutually beneficialMake yourself pause before having an opinionEven if your current role is one thats inspiring and fulfilling, there are everyday tasks in each description that might seem trivial or unimportant to you. Perhaps your boss leans more heavily on the micromanaging mentality and insists you send daily progress reports. Or makes everyone file weekly data analyses that could be performed monthly.Whatever instruction or deliverable makes you roll your eyes, Weiner suggests taking a pause and falling the tried-and-true advice of putting yourself in that corner office. In other words Try to be less subjective to their demands and more objective, to understanding the companys goals as a whole, instead of zeroing in on your own priorities. Step outside of your own comfort zone and ask how you can help your b oss to improve his or her workflow. By putting the ball in your boss court to help you get involved in projects and opportunities, you will find that your boss appreciates your interest in being a problem-solver, Weiner notes.Challenge yourself to stop interrupting themYour manager might be killer at roping in clients, fostering long-lasting contracts and bringing in new business, but when it comes to internal presentations? They might become far more long-winded and theoretical than you have time for. Career expert and coach Jennifer K. Hill encourages employees to give their boss some leeway by biting their tongue and allowing them to power through. You might feel empowered to cut to the chase - especially if you know where the meeting is headed - but what you might not understand, Hill notes, is theyre catering to everyone on the team, not just you. Thats why their sometimes-flowery, rose-colored language could hit the mark for you, but be just what your co-worker needs.Another way you might be disruptive to your manager without realizing? By popping in for a quick question that will only take a minute. On the surface level it could seem proactive so you can go about your day, Hill says it has the opposite impact on your higher-up, who is wrangling other departments, tasks, and deadlines. Many bosses who are responsible for managing one or more people often feel frustrated with the constant barrage of interruptions throughout their day, she says. A great way to create a more symbiotic relationship with your boss is to schedule specific times when you need to speak with your boss rather than just coming into their office at all hours of the day. This healthy boundary will create a more reciprocally respectful relationship with your boss.Prioritize face-to-face communicationBeing offline once the clock strikes 6 p.m. (or 7 or 8)? Disconnected during your vacation to Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe? As if. As Weiner emphasizes, with a generation of overconn ected, digitally nomadic workers, the primary means of communication in both personal and professional practices is via tech. Even at times when youre meant to be away from your computer or email, more and more careers demand a different attitude.But while checking-in with your manager and being available when they need you is a good idea, Weiner notes theres nothing that can replace good ol fashioned face-to-face contact. Things can often get lost in translation over email, particularly with the tone of voice. Approach your boss with set points to discuss and request an in-person meeting where you can be open and honest with one another about the gridlock that is impeding your work or relationship from being productive, she suggests. Be open to the feedback and be an active listener. Allow your boss to express his opinion and thoughts, and offer a solution to any problems or concerns he/she addresses.Determine their whyThough theres no rhyme or reason to why your boss is a few deca des older than you or a handful of years younger, its likely they entered your industry with a purpose. Impassioned to make a change, to excel like their parents did or to carve a career for themselves, Hill says making an effort to get to know your managers why and what motivates them to success will connect you. This can start by scheduling a time to speak with your boss about his or her imagination for the company, and then delving deeper into what they are truly passionate about. Having a background of relatedness with your boss will help create a stronger rapport and a foundation for lasting success, she explains.Prove you always have their backOf all the tactics you can employ to fall within the good graces of your manager, Hill says one of the most invaluable is being dependability. When there are opportunities for mobility within your team or company, your boss will intuitively think of the person they can depend on to follow-through on all meetings, assignments, and goals. Being someone your boss can count on is something that will make you indispensable in your organization. Your boss will likely know your work product better than anyone else in your company, she says.