Archive for March, 2010

Time Management-Tips for Incorporating New Business Development Into Your Busy Day by Caryn Kopp

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

three attys smFinding time for new business development can be a huge struggle. There’s always something else that seems to be more important. But what I’ve found is that people who don’t carve time for this, find themselves with an empty pipeline down the road. So I have 3 tips for fitting new business development into your busy schedule.

Tip 1. Schedule a block of time on your calendar for new business and consider it as firm as a meeting with a new prospect. You’d NEVER cancel one of those.

Tip 2. Don’t accept interruptions during business development time. Put your phone on do not disturb, turn off the IM, cell phone, Blackberry, pager and hang a do not disturb sign on your office letting others know that you’re unavailable- just as if you were out of the office at a meeting.

Tip 3. If you’re truly swamped, reduce the size of your prospect list. Focus on 10 prospects you’re drooling to do business with. If 10 is too many, pick 5. If 5 is too many, rethink your desire to earn more money.

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Want to Live Longer?

Monday, March 29th, 2010

There is no getting around it.  Four preventable risk factors — smoking, high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose, and overweight and obesity — account for a significant proportion of the nation’s disparities in life expectancy, according to a study published March 23 in PLoS Medicine.

Lose weight and live longer

Lose weight and live longer

Goodarz Danaei, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues analyzed 2005 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, performing an extensive review of epidemiologic studies to estimate the effects of the risk factors on eight subgroups of the U.S. population, called the “Eight Americas.”

Overall, the researchers estimated that the risk factors reduced life expectancy at birth in 2005 by 4.9 years in men and 4.1 years in women. They found that the life expectancy effects of the risk factors were smallest in Asians (4.1 years for men and 3.6 years for women) and largest in Southern rural African-Americans (6.7 years for men and 5.7 years for women). Read more at http://tinyurl.com/yg5qlqc

Now get on the treadmill, put down that cigarette,  and take your blood pressure medication. Keep your diabetes under control through diet, medication and weight loss.  You’ll live longer.

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Georgia limits on non-economic damages found unconstitutional

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

The cap on noneconomic damages in Georgia was unanimously struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court, who stated in their opinion that caps are “violative of the right to trial by jury.” The issue was brought before the court in a case involving a woman whose face was permanently disfigured after a face-lift operation. The jury awarded $1.15 million in noneconomic damages; however, the 2005 tort reform law limited the award to $350,000. As a result of the decision, the initial award will stand.  Bill Rankin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court announced, in a unanimous 7-0 ruling, it has found a state law limiting damages awarded for pain and suffering in medical malpractice lawsuits to be unconstitutional.

The cap on awards was the heart of the 2005 attempt at tort reform. Look for the ruling to restart Georgia’s own debate over health care and its costs in the Legislature.

“Reprinted with permission of Victoria Powell, Author/Blogger at VP Medical, http://www.vp-medical.com “.

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Are You a Workaholic? 7 Signs that Point to Yes, and 7 steps Toward your Recovery

Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Written By: Christina Galoozis
Every mom is busy.

But how do you know if you’re too busy? (Hint: The number of things on your to-do list isn’t an indicator.)

Perhaps this will resonate:  I’ll be able to sleep better if I can get just one more hour of work done. Or, I was busy all day, but there’s still more to do. There’s always more to do.

If the little voice inside your head sounds like this, you may be a workaholic. Whether you’re a stay-at-home, work-at-home or work-outside-the-home mom, we’re all candidates for what stress-management expert Debbie Mandel labels an addiction to stress.

“Like any addiction, people who suffer from workaholism need an adrenaline high, so they keep staying busy to avoid crashing,” says Mandel, author of Addicted to Stress: A Woman’s 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life (Jossey-Bass, 2008).

Wendy Pike, a small-business owner and mother of two, knows this feeling. After losing her job while on maternity leave—it was the late 1980s, before the Family Medical Leave Act—she was hired at her husband’s office supplies company part-time. But that quickly escalated to getting a master’s degree, taking over the human resources and finance departments, eventually becoming part-owner and acquiring 12 companies. During those years her kids spent their sick days on the company couch, their free days washing shelves in the warehouse and developing life-long friendships with some of the employees.

Read more at

http://www.hybridmom.com/articles/features/are-you-workaholic-7-signs-point-yes-and-7-steps-toward-your-recovery

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IME doctor who injures a patient – negligent? Based on a chapter by Marjorie Eskay Auerbach

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Many physicians believe because the IME is conducted at the request of a third party, there is no physician-patient relationship, and therefore no potential liability for malpractice. However, several recent court decisions have challenged that interpretation. In 2004, the Michigan Supreme Court found that if the IME’s alleged negligence caused injury to an individual while performing an examination, the physician could be sued for malpractice.

First, do no harm

First, do no harm

In Dyer v. Trachman, 470 Mich 45 (2004), the Supreme Court held that an IME physician has a limited physician/patient relationship with the examinee giving rise to limited duties to exercise professional care. This would include the duty to perform the examination in a manner that does not cause physical harm to the examinee. In this particular case, the plaintiff had recently had surgery on his shoulder and advised the physician conducting the exam that his surgeon had placed restrictions on his range of motion. Apparently, the examining physician caused damage to the shoulder repair by performing passive range of motion, necessitating another procedure.

In the case Christine Stanley v. Robert R. McCarver, Jr., M.D., Osborn Nelson & Carr Portable X-Ray, Inc., 204 Ariz. 339, 63 P.3d 1076 (App.2003), Ms. Stanley, a registered nurse, was required to undergo a chest x-ray for employment purposes. Dr. McCarver interpreted the chest x-ray and reported abnormalities that required serial x-rays for further evaluation. He provided that report to Osborn, Nelson & Carr, and they forwarded the information to the employer. Ten months later, Ms. Stanley was diagnosed with lung cancer. She alleged she would have been diagnosed earlier if she had been notified of Dr. McCarver’s report. The trial court granted Dr. McCarver summary judgment because there was no physician-patient relationship with Stanley. However, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed and found that when an employer has referred a person for an examination, a physician has a duty to exercise reasonable care in conducting the examination, and this duty includes communicating any matter of concern or abnormalities about the examination directly to the person examined. This issue had not been addressed previously in Arizona. The Arizona Supreme Court concluded that the absence of a formal doctor-patient relationship does not necessarily preclude the imposition of a duty of care and affirmed the portion of the Court of Appeals opinion imposing a duty but vacated the remainder of the opinion and remanded the case for further proceedings.

In more recent Arizona litigation, the Court of Appeals found that “a formal doctor patient relationship need not exist for a duty of reasonable care to arise.” Ritchie v. Krasner, 1 CA-CV 08-0099. The court held that when a doctor, in the context of performing an IME at the request of the insurance carrier, reviewed patient records, conducted an exam and rendered a report which was relied upon by the carrier and the worker, he assumed a duty to conform to the legal standard of care for one with his skill, training and knowledge.

The court found this duty to exist even though the doctor showed the examinee a written limited liability agreement, stating specifically that no physician-patient relationship was created in the context of performing an IME. The court found that although the agreement made clear to the worker that there was no doctor/patient relationship, this did not obviate the doctor’s duty of care. Subsequently, some experts have said the appeals court decision represents an expansion of an IME’s legal duties and could have a chilling effect on their participation in certain evaluations.[1] The ramifications of this recent decision have not been fully appreciated.

[1] http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/08/10/prca0810.htm.

Source: Marjorie Eskay Auerbach, “Independent Medical Examinations” in Iyer and Levin (Editors), Medical Legal Aspects of Medical Records, Second Edition, 2010. Contact us for ordering information,

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IME or DME? Based on a chapter by Marjorie Eskay-Auerbach, MD, Esq.

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Independent Medical Examinations or IMEs, also referred to as Defense Medical Examinations (DME), and Insurance Medical Evaluations, are currently a mainstay of the medical-legal system. In most cases, the examination consists of a patient interview and physical examination; psychiatric and psychological IMEs do not generally have a physical examination component. The procedural rules governing IMEs vary across jurisdiction; however, an IME is broadly defined as a health assessment conducted by a physician, not otherwise involved in the care or treatment of the individual, at the request of a third party.IME

The examiner is often expected to answer questions of causation, appropriateness of treatment, need for additional care, and sometimes disability, posed by the requesting party. Other issues that may arise include the presence or absence of pre-existing medical conditions, apportionment of findings, and impairment ratings. These examinations may occur in the context of a work-related injury, disability, or personal injury litigation.

If the examination is performed well, and findings and conclusions are reported in a detailed and unbiased manner, the IME may provide sufficient information to allow for settlement of a particular issue. Alternatively, if the examination is poorly performed, so that the examinee reports that “the doctor spent five minutes with me” or the conclusions are clearly unfounded or obviously biased, the report will provide ample ammunition for opposing counsel to discredit the physician and his or her opinions.

Independent medical examinations have been referred to as Defense Medical Examinations, or DMEs, by plaintiff’s counsel, to highlight the assumption that the physician conducting the examination has a defense bias. Much of the information available on the internet, using the search term “independent medical examination” relates to educating patients about what to expect or discussing the defense bias that is assumed to be present. It is the responsibility of the entity requesting the IME to recognize the reputation of the evaluating physician, and the risk that accompanies hiring a physician with a reputation for bias to conduct the examination. It is, of course, unrealistic to assume that there is no such thing as a work-related accident, or that every motor vehicle crash is disabling, and requesting parties may consider the physician’s “track record” when making a choice.

In the context of litigation, and most frequently in the workers compensation arena, independent medical examinations may be conducted to determine medical “impairment ratings.” These ratings are performed, by definition, only when the patient’s condition has reached maximum medical improvement. The values for impairment ratings are most commonly computed using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The ratings are often used in calculations that vary from state-to-state and at a federal level, to determine the financial compensation for a given condition.

IMEs involve critical analysis of all relevant medical and some non-medical information that may affect the ultimate outcome of the medical condition being evaluated. For the attorney or claims adjuster, a detailed report, including a comprehensive history (obtained from the examinee) and medical record review, will reflect the examining physician’s efforts to obtain data related to the examinee’s altered condition and the events leading up to it.

Source: Marjorie Eskay Auerbach, “Independent Medical Examination” in Iyer and Levin (Editors), Medical Legal Aspects of Medical Records, Second Edition, 2010. Contact us for ordering information.

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How Physical Therapists Chart – Based on a chapter by Gwen Simons PT, JD, OCS, FAAOMPT

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

physical therapist The physical therapist is required by law to perform a physical therapy examination (sometimes referred to as an evaluation) on each patient on the first visit.   The examination is divided into three steps:

  1. Taking the patient’s history
  2. Performing a systems review where the physical therapist screens the cardiovascular/pulmonary, integumentary, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular systems and the communication ability, affect, cognition, language, and learning style of the patient.
  3. Performing tests and measures that are “used to rule in or rule out causes of impairment and functional limitations; to establish a diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of care; and to select interventions” within the physical therapist’s scope of practice.

Historically the physical therapist’s documentation was done in the traditional “SOAP” format. In that documentation style, the patient’s subjective reports are under the “S” (for “Subjective”) part of the note. The systems review and the tests and measures are under the “O” (for “Objective”) part of the note.

After the physical therapist does the examination, she will evaluate the results to come up with the physical therapy diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of care (which includes the physical therapist’s interventions or referral recommendations). The Guide refers to this process as the physical therapist’s Evaluation. In the SOAP note format, the physical therapy diagnosis and prognosis would be documented under the “A” (for “Assessment”) part of the note. The plan of care for the patient would be documented under the “P” (for “Plan”) part of the note.

Subsequent physical therapy treatment notes

Medicare and other payer rules have driven the need for documentation to be done in different formats in different settings. Frequently the physical therapy documentation merely reflects what interventions were delivered in a daily “treatment record” or “encounter note.” These notes primarily record what treatment was delivered for payment purposes but do not always record the patient’s subjective complaints or progress. However, under most state laws and Medicare rules, the physical therapist is required to document a “progress note” or “re-evaluation” at least every 30 days (or less under some state laws) if the daily treatment notes do not record objective measurements and progress.

The progress note/re-evaluation contains tests and measures and an evaluation of the patient’s progress toward the treatment goals since the initial examination or last re-evaluation.  This is the best place to start the search for medical evidence in the physical therapy record if the daily notes are devoid of objective measurements or evidence. Daily notes should not be overlooked, however. If the patient’s condition changes, a new injury occurs, or there is a negative response to treatment, the physical therapist should document it on the day it was discovered rather than saving it for the monthly progress report.

Evidence in the Physical Therapy Record

Regardless of the format used for documentation, all physical therapy documentation has one thing in common: it quantifies the patient’s function. The focus of physical therapy interventions and treatment goals is on maximizing the patient’s function and moving the patient toward independence. While the reduction or elimination of pain may also be a goal, safe function despite pain is paramount. Therefore, the physical therapy record is frequently a good source of evidence of whether the patient’s subjective reports of pain are truly disabling. The medical legal reviewer should look for statements in the assessment (or evaluation) that say “pain is out of proportion to objective findings” or “signs and symptoms are not consistent with subjective complaints.”

Since independence is always a goal, the physical therapist has an expectation of compliance and effort. When the patient is not compliant or shows signs of giving a sub-maximal effort, the physical therapist is likely to document it. The physical therapist may also use words such as “self-limiting,” “pain-focused,” or “sub-maximal effort” to indicate that the patient’s subjective perception of the pain may not be reliable or credible. This does not mean the physical therapist thinks the patient is exaggerating or “faking” the injury but is an indication that the physical therapist has not observed enough objective signs to support the patient’s limitations or reports of pain.

The physical therapist may also document comments the patient makes that indicate the patient’s motivation for limiting activities, such as “my attorney told me I should not go on my hiking trip” or “my attorney told me I should continue to wear my neck brace, so I put it back on.” This is not the evidence the attorney wants to see in the record if she is representing the patient. These entries in the record are particularly damaging when the objective findings indicate that the patient is capable of safely doing more, or the attorney’s advice contradicts the medical provider’s advice. On the other hand, where the patient’s subjective complaints are consistent with the medical/physical findings, the physical therapist’s documentation can help give credibility to the patient’s reported disabilities.

Source: Gwen Simons, PT, JD, OCS, FAAOMPT, “Physical Therapy Records”, Iyer and Levin (Editors) Medical Legal Aspects of Medical Records, Second Edition, 2010. Contact us for purchasing information.

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Physical Therapists: Vital Role in Recovery – Based on a chapter by Gwen Simons PT, JD, OCS, FAAOMPT

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Physical therapists often play a vital role in restoring an injured patient to a higher level of function. I recently learned more about their educational preparation and roles. The following is written by Gwen Simons:

To obtain a license to practice physical therapy, the physical therapist must graduate from a CAPTE accredited program or have equivalent foreign education. CAPTE accredited programs follow “The Normative Model of Physical Therapists Professional Education.” The entry level for physical therapy education has changed over the last twenty years from a bachelor’s degree to a doctorate in physical therapy (DPT) degree. Currently physical therapy programs must offer a master’s degree to be accredited; however, more than 8 percent of the programs have converted or plan to convert to the entry-level DPT degree. Many practicing physical therapists are returning to “transitional” DPT programs to upgrade their degree to the doctorate degree merely because the DPT is becoming the recognized standard even though physical therapists with bachelor’s degrees had an equitable physical therapy education and still meet (or exceed) minimum licensure requirements.pool therapy

The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy administers the only national licensure exam. Therefore, there is a national standard for entry level education and licensure even though each state licensure board sets its own passing criteria for the exam.

The physical therapist assistant (PTA) is a graduate of a physical therapist assistant associate degree program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy (CAPTE). The PTA assists the physical therapist in providing physical therapy interventions to carry out the treatment plan. The PTA does not perform examinations or make decisions to change the treatment plan and functions under the direction of the physical therapist. In general, the PTA does not require on-site supervision unless it is required by the payer or the state licensure act. PTAs must be licensed or certified in most but not all states. In some settings, the physical therapist may be assisted by non-licensed personnel called physical therapy technicians (“techs”) or aides. Occasionally these support personnel have other degrees or certifications, such as an athletic training certification (ATC) or an exercise physiology degree. The Physical Therapy Practice Act in each state governs the use of such non-licensed personnel when they are working in a physical therapy setting regardless of whether they have other degrees or certifications. In most states, non-licensed personnel have a very limited role in caring for the patient and are prohibited from independently performing or billing for physical therapy services. Documentation is not typically done by non-licensed support staff unless they are merely checking off flow sheets or exercise records. Therefore, each physical therapy note should be signed by either the physical therapist or the PTA. A red flag should go up about whether the licensure laws were complied with and the standard of care was met where documentation is done by non-licensed support staff.

Practice settings

According to the Guide, physical therapists provide services in a broad range of inpatient, outpatient, and community-based settings where physical therapists practice, including the following:

• Hospitals (for example, critical care, intensive care, acute care, and subacute care settings)

• Outpatient clinics or offices

• Rehabilitation facilities

• Skilled nursing, extended care, or subacute facilities

• Homes

• Education or research centers

• Schools and playgrounds (preschool, primary, and secondary)

• Hospices

• Corporate or industrial health centers

• Industrial, workplace, or other occupational environments

• Athletic facilities (collegiate, amateur, and professional)

• Fitness centers and sports training facilities

The physical therapist may play a slightly different role and have different responsibilities for the patient in each of these settings. For instance, in acute care and rehabilitation facilities, the physical therapist is one member of the patient care team. Care must be coordinated between multiple providers, and all team members have a responsibility for knowing what care the other team members are providing with regard to how it may impact their individual treatment plans.

In any inpatient setting (hospital, rehab, subacute, extended care or skilled nursing facility), it is generally the physical therapist who is responsible for teaching the patient how to safely transfer from the bed to the wheelchair and bedside commode or in and out of a car. They are also responsible for teaching the patient how to walk with assistive devices. The physical therapist assesses the patient’s need for assistance and documents it in the patient’s record. Other team members, such as nursing staff, may rely on this information to know how much assistance to give the patient and whether the patient requires the assistance of more than one person. Each facility will have policies and procedures about how this communication between team members should occur.

Source: Gwen Simons, PT, JD, OCS, FAAOMPT, “Physical Therapy Records”, Iyer and Levin (Editors) Medical Legal Aspects of Medical Records, Second Edition. Contact us for purchasing information.

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Making the Most of Trade Shows by Caryn Kopp, Guest Author

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Schedule Post-Trade Show Follow Up On Your Calendar. Make immediate contact your HIGHEST priority when you return to the office. Use your calendar to block out the morning you return to the office to complete sales follow up. Think of new contacts like really good French baguettes. By tomorrow they’re stale. Before going through the mountain of mail, the volumes of voicemail or the never ending email, tackle your trade show follow up. You may need to hang a sign on your office door saying you are unavailable (just as you would be if you were out at a meeting). Hire a temp (or have an assistant on hand) to help you handle the extra workload. Sound expensive? Compare it against the lost Disney opportunity…enough said. There is a flow to new business development and new business relationships. Keeping the momentum going and delivering what you promised, when you promised it, is a critical component to successfully adding new clients to your roster. If, for some reason, you cannot send the information, the samples or execute the phone call when you promised, make sure to COMMUNICATE. A simple email letting someone know when you will fulfill your promise fills the bill. Then, be sure to adhere to your promised timeline.

Some people tell me they think following up quickly is a sign of desperation. Not true! There’s a difference between Please meet with me…please, please, please!!!! (desperation) and I am calling to follow up on our conversation this past Monday. Here is an example of how we can help you to achieve your goals (buttoned up). Prompt response and follow up is respected by decision makers. It conveys that you are interested in their businesses and lays the foundation for relationships of trust. In a detail oriented business, demonstrating your ability to deliver the details matters. This is not the time to play hard to get.
Some people want to wait for a few days to give the decision maker time to “dig out from under”. Why? Isn’t that one of the best times to catch the prospect at his/her desk? The long discussion may need to wait for a few days but you can certainly ask for a time on the calendar for a meeting or conference call.
A few people tell me they strategically lump trade show contacts with other prospects they are pursuing and then call in priority order. With this line of thinking it could take weeks to follow up with a new contact. Revisit the French baguette analogy. What will it look like weeks later?

In the course of your many conversations at a trade show, you may uncover an opportunity for another person in your company. Apply the Golden Rule. Treat this as you would want a co-worker to treat an opportunity of yours. Immediately communicate all details to your colleague, as if it were a job share. Include information about the opportunity, the level of priority and when the prospect is expecting follow up to occur.

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Coping with a Job You Hate by Guest Author Natalie Gahrmann

Monday, March 1st, 2010

I have a few clients who absolutely hate their current jobs but feel stuck where they are because they believe that there isn’t anything else out there. Unfortunately, few people have the luxury in today’s economy to leave a job without having something definite already lined up and the job dissatisfaction rate continues to climb. Having a job you hate is not an easy thing to deal with so here are some ways to make your situation easier to handle:

1. Maintain perspective: Know what’s motivating you to stay at a job you hate; it’s important to know why.  Is your current job the only one in your area that fits your skills? Or do you need it to keep your children fed and clothed? What attracted you to the job in the first place? Does that reason still exist? Whatever the reason, remembering what it is and keeping it at the forefront of your consciousness makes working a difficult job easier. When you do this, you end up working not for the job itself, but for whatever the motivation is behind your being there. The job becomes more than a job— it becomes a way to fulfill whatever desire moved you to take it in the first place.stressed+businessman

2. Know what you really want: Often, a terrible job will help you be clearer about what you would want in a better job because you know for sure what you don’t want. Identify the things you desire in your job. It may help to focus on what you don’t like and note the opposite. It may also be helpful to note the things you dream about in your ideal job. For example, are your coworkers too competitive? Then, you may prefer a more team-based environment. Is your boss always second-guessing or changing your decisions? Then perhaps you would like a job where employees are trusted and tasks are truly delegated. Would you prefer a job that requires a lot of problem-solving instead of a set group of tasks? Would you rather work for yourself? Have you always dreamed of teaching for a living? Be sure to create a physical list that contains what you really want in a job. Explore how many of these things you can create in your current job situation or somewhere else in the company.

3. Make a conscious choice: Being in ‘choice’ is very powerful.Therefore after identifying your key motivation for staying at the job you hate, if it’s compelling enough to keep you there, than consciously choose to stay.  If you’re unsure about it, evaluate it further. Maybe you took this job several years ago because you wanted a job close to home beings you had small children and didn’t want to spend an excessive time commuting. Now that the kids are older, is this still important criterion? Or perhaps you took this position because there seemed to be an aggressive career path to a higher level position but it never materialized. Or maybe you realize that you qualify for lots of different jobs of the same type that you’re working now, and you realize that a different work environment might make things much more tolerable. Whatever your motivation, consider carefully whether it’s enough motivation to stay at the job or if you’d be better off transferring to another department or Division if you’re at a large enough company, or leaving entirely if there aren’t any feasible options within your current work environment.

4. Set weekly goals for yourself: If you really want to leave your job, set weekly goals to help you find the golden opportunity for you. One week you might research the industry, another week you might arrange three informational interviews, send out five resumes or attend a networking event. Having these goals will help you transition to something better. Doing something daily towards a new job will help give you a sense of accomplishment and keep you progressing toward a new job.

5. Re-engage your commitment whenever you feel negatively toward your job: When feelings of frustration, hopelessness, anger, or sadness about your current situation re-surface, review your choice again. Realize that even after you have chosen to stay, there may still be parts of your job that you dislike.  Let go of the negative emotions and re-focus on the positive motivations for staying.  Allow your conscious choice to stay to become the habit and motivator to continue doing a good job and contributing daily.

6. Honor your needs: Allow yourself to acknowledge whatever emotions come up for you. Don’t try to hide it inside, or it will just blow out later. If you need to take a walk, or go to the restroom, take a day off, or even write it out in your private journal, do that. Letting things build up until they might explode is never a good idea. And, in the midst of your feelings, reflect back on your motivation for choosing to stay. Control your stress by respecting your needs.

7. Be realistic: If you really hate your job, don’t expect to love your job some day soon. Instead, expect that you won’t like it. Expect that the things that have frustrated you since the first day will still frustrate you now and will probably continue to do so as long as you stay at the job. If you expect that, the job will never sink below your expectations. However, at this point, you know that you are more than the job. You don’t expect all of your satisfaction to come from that, because there are more areas in your life than just that.

8. Enjoy the Perks: Some jobs are terrible, but still have some great perks. Almost every job has at least one good perk such as a good salary, tuition reimbursement, health benefits, gym discounts, stock options, or opportunities to travel. Take advantage of whatever perks are available because even focusing on some of these more positive things may make things easier, at least in the interim until you find something else.

9. Increase your Self-Care: Going into a job you hate will be worse if you get to the office feeling rushed, stressed and frazzled and lack self-care. Set aside some moments of solitude each morning. Develop some positive daily rituals such as treating yourself to a latte, listening to upbeat music, going for a walk outside at lunchtime, getting up early enough to hit the gym before you go to the office, or connecting with friends for fun diversions. Add some humor to your day buy posting a “joke of the day” calendar near your work space. Enjoy an activity regularly that helps you unwind and get rid of tension. Be willing to treat yourself to simple pleasures to help you feel better inside. By focusing on you, your well-being, health and happiness your present situation will be more tolerable.

10. Maintain your job performance. Although you’re dissatisfied at work, it’s important to continue to do your work and do it well. Hating your job doesn’t mean you can’t learn new skills or be a good performer at work. Use your time to make yourself a better candidate down the road. If your company offers training courses, take advantage of them. Use downtime to learn something new on your computer. Pick up a management development book and read it (or listen to it) at lunch. Turn your job into an opportunity for self-improvement. Set personal performance goals that you’ll be able to highlight as accomplishments in future job interviews. Be sure to avoid burning any bridges at your company because you are unhappy. Instead, maintain positive relationships and grow your network.

Right now, it might seem like you will be stuck in this job forever. Keep your chin up and remind yourself that you are in charge of your destiny. Search internal postings for new positions. Start your search for a new job externally. Realize that this too shall pass!

Visit our BLOG: http://coachnatalie.blogspot.com

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