Internet Psychologist
Yesterday afternoon, I was busy marking student assignments to make sure that I met the end-of-week deadline. To mark each assignment, I need several browser tabs open – the student’s work, the assignment brief, the marking scheme, the spreadsheet of marks, and the module guide. But I also needed my …
There’s an old saying that “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”. Like many old sayings, it’s bonkers. If you give a busy person more work to do, all that happens is they take on the extra workload, but do everything less effectively. It is an …
Last week, I was chatting with a student who obviously thought that what I was saying was useful. Goodness me. I was so helpful, apparently, they wanted to make a note of what I had just said. They brought out their phone and then started stabbing at the screen. When …
There is an advert currently playing on commercial radio in the UK that’s really getting on my nerves…! It is for a well-known British retailer and involves a conversation between a male customer and a female representative of the business. At the end of the advert, where the customer has …
For the past week, when I have arrived home from work, my wife has said, “I’ve got the tennis on TV”. It’s a warning to me that she is watching the latest from Wimbledon, and I should be prepared for some annoyance. Tennis is unlike most other sports in that …
Do you ever go to work full of excitement? When you open that office door, are you brimming with joy and eager anticipation? Or are you already frustrated, annoyed and anxious about what the day might bring? These are just a few of the many emotions that can be experienced …
It’s a crazy world out there, isn’t it? Yesterday, we had Israel in combat with Iran. Meanwhile, Putin keeps bombing the Ukrainians. In the USA, the Government is constantly at odds with various groups. And here in the UK, planners in Wiltshire wanted to argue about whether a former pub …
If you have ever been in a meeting and people start getting tetchy, there’s a chance someone will have said, “I think we should sleep on it before making a decision”. When everyone in the room is tired, because the meeting has gone on too long, tempers will inevitably get …
If you passed me driving on the A34 to work the other day, you could have witnessed me shouting at the radio. “For goodness’ sake,” I said (or words to that effect), “these business people need to get real.” My outburst was because there was a discussion about the “need” …
Last weekend, Rory Mcllroy won the US Masters golf championship to much international applause and a nice cheque for $4.2m. I saw a much younger Mcllroy at the 2011 Open Championship, held in the pouring rain at the Royal St George’s Club in Sandwich, Kent. My son was 12 years …
I’ve had a few days off work this week. It’s that time of year when I need to use up my holiday allocation; otherwise, it cannot be carried over, and I would lose out. On the first day of my break, I was invited to take part in the celebrations …
Yesterday, my son was chatting with me during a break from his online work. He said, “I really like my new boss.” Apparently, this manager encourages all staff to prioritise work-life balance. He believes people are most productive when they are not working flat out. He is right. Earlier this …
Today is “International Museum Day,” and I suspect the folk down at South Kensington, the home of several museums in London, will be celebrating. Of the world’s top five most visited museums, three are in London, with the Natural History Museum at the top. But I have an idea that …
Millions of people did not wake up for work this week because Apple failed to make the alarm on their iPhones work correctly. This is not good news for the company, which reported a record fall in sales this week for the past year. I am fond of telling people …
I have a confession to make. I have stolen property in my house. I know because I stole it. Besides, the object itself makes it obvious it is stolen. The offending item is a small hand towel that I took from a hotel. Embroidered into the corner is the phrase …