Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: dailyprompt

  • What Should You Do If You Make a Mistake at Work?

    What Should You Do If You Make a Mistake at Work?

    Yes, I confess. I did a bad thing: I made a mistake at work. Well, not a big one. If you work long enough, the statistics aren’t in your favor because sooner or later, you’ll make a mistake. The important thing is how you deal with it. My mindset on dealing with mistakes is one positive change I’ve made in my life.

    Daily writing prompt
    Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
    View all responses

    Mistakes are unavoidable. For perfectionists, a mistake can be a terrible blight on your goal to have a perfect track record.

    Mistakes happen, even if you are detail-oriented and careful. You may have called a client the wrong name or damaged your company’s reputation. After a mistake has been made, no matter how big or small, it’s how you deal with the mistake that matters.

    Here are some steps to follow to minimize the impact of a mistake and keep your job (or help you to find a new one).

    Step 1: Acknowledge the Mistake

    Whether you make a typing error that resulted in an important package being sent to the wrong planet or printed a thousand copies of the wrong file, the first step is to acknowledge what happened. 

    Everyone makes a mistake at some point in their career, and the best thing about making one is the confirmation that you are human. All humans are prone to errors. You say, “Oops” (or swear, depending on your preference), and start the recovery process.

    Decide who to notify about the error, whether it is your boss, coworker, or customer, and tell them what has happened. The next critical part is damage control. 

    Who does the mistake affect? Just yourself and one other person, or an assembly line of people? What must you say to each person? Is it enough to tell them about the error, or is there something you must do to put things back on track for each person?

    Step 2: Analyze the Problem and Your Performance

    After deciding who must be notified about the mistake, tell them what you will do to rectify the error. Will you need to issue an apology to a customer? Do you need to fulfill a product order a second time? 

    How soon can you fix the mistake? Provide a timeline for each step and when you’ll have the issue resolved.

    Those are the immediate steps that you need to take as soon as you realize that you’ve made an error.

    You may also need to do some damage control to patch up relationships. For example, you forgot to complete your part of a project, so your coworker is angry with you. You could offer to help that coworker with their project.

    Step 3: Process Your Feelings

    You may be feeling frustration, embarrassment, or fear about what you’ve done. People may think you’re stupid or incompetent. 

    When you realize you’ve made a mistake, you may be frustrated if the problem can’t be fixed right away, and other people need to be brought in to fix your issue. (And then even more people know what you did wrong. You’re getting famous–but not the way you wanted to be known.)

    It is embarrassing when other people are made aware of what you’ve done wrong. If only we could make things disappear with the snap of our fingers! 

    In extreme cases, you may be fearful of losing your job because you’ve previously been warned not to make the same mistake, or the error is a costly one, resulting in the company losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    First, process your feelings. Acknowledge what you’re feeling and what is causing you to feel that way. 

    Second, practice self-care. Do activities that will take your mind off what you’ve done wrong and regain your confidence. Watch a movie, spend time with friends, go for a run, or any number of activities that you enjoy.

    Constantly dwelling on your negative feelings won’t improve the situation.

    Step 4: Formulate a Plan to Prevent Future Mistakes

    Analyze what went wrong and figure out how you can prevent the mistake from happening again. Could you create a checklist to follow? For example, if you made an error with a customer order, your checklist could include confirming the address and rechecking the customer’s name.

    Ask for constructive feedback. What do your supervisor/coworkers/customers think you could do better? Is there any advice that you can take from the incident to improve how you do things in the future?

    Taking initiative will show people that you’re trying your best to fix the mistake and prevent it from happening again.

    Step 5: Focus on the Future: Mistakes Aren’t the End

    If you are making the same type of mistake over and over again, analyze how you can improve yourself. Is there a skill you can work on? For example, if you are careless, how can you train yourself to be more precise? If you are disorganized, how can you be more organized with your schedule so you aren’t rushing to complete tasks close to the deadline?

    In addition to improving soft skills, such as organization, what hard skills can you improve on to prevent mistakes? For example, if your error was the result of a lack of familiarity with a computer program or platform, can you take a course to improve your knowledge?

    If your mistake was severe enough that you lost your job, you can still take steps to move on. How will you address the question (if it comes up) about why you left your last job? Instead of saying you were fired, you can simply say the job ended. Tell your next employer what you learned from the experience and the steps you’re taking to ensure a similar issue doesn’t happen again.

    Always focus on self improvement. 

    Key Takeaways

    As the saying goes, mistakes happen. As soon as you realize that you made a mistake, take the initiative to acknowledge the error and find a solution. Mistakes are embarrassing, so take the time to process your emotions, take time for self care, and formulate a plan to prevent similar errors from happening again.

    Do what you can to avoid making errors. Mistakes are unavoidable; it’s how you deal with them that matters.

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  • What Job Would You Do For Free?

    What Job Would You Do For Free?

    Daily writing prompt
    What job would you do for free?
    View all responses

    Take care of yourself first.
    Then help others without expecting anything in return.
    The results may surprise you.

    Something I enjoy doing is mentoring others. It’s not really a job because I don’t get paid for it, and it’s not volunteer work, either. I don’t commit a certain number of hours to mentoring. I just help when help is needed.

    By sharing life experiences, we can be the mentor/big sister/big brother that other people need if they feel a bit lost in life. We can give them a heads up on how to tackle the challenges in life.

    By sharing work experiences, we help those with less work experience to improve their skills and avoid repeating the mentor’s mistakes.

    This “job” is very rewarding. The reward is the “pay” itself. Being a mentor is a job I would do for free.

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  • How has technology changed your job?

    How has technology changed your job?

    Remote work has made it possible to work anywhere, anytime. This work setup is perfect for those who enjoy a flexible work schedule, instead of a rigid 9 to 5 with a set lunch break. You experience fewer distractions and you can work when you’re most alert. Technology is one of the main reasons my job has evolved to where it is today. Here are some of the ways technology has changed my job.

    Daily writing prompt
    How has technology changed your job?
    View all responses

    Remote work has made it possible to work anywhere, anytime. This work setup is perfect for those who enjoy a flexible work schedule, instead of a rigid 9 to 5 with a set lunch break. You experience fewer distractions and you can work when you’re most alert. Technology is one of the main reasons my job has evolved to where it is today. Here are some of the ways technology has changed my job.

    1 Increased productivity

    One of the best benefits of remote work is the elimination of the daily commute. I can start my day in a relaxed manner, checking work messages over morning tea. This uninterrupted focus allows me to dive into tasks without distractions, boosting my productivity. Additionally, the flexibility of remote work enables me to do other things during breaks, whether it’s attending to household chores or brainstorming project ideas while preparing lunch.

    2 Maximized work time

    Technology has revolutionized how we conduct meetings. With the click of a button, I can attend scheduled or impromptu meetings. I don’t need to gather up my papers to walk to another room or another floor in the office building. If I need feedback on a document that I am working on, I can send the document via email or messaging app to a colleague or colleagues.

    3 Coordinating work schedules

    Technology makes coordinating work schedules across different time zones easier. We can use 

    apps and electronic calendars to share our availability, including vacation times, office hours, and times when we are out of the office for a couple of hours a day.  

    4 Efficient file management

    Cloud-based platforms like Google Docs have made it easy to collaborate on documents and to share files. Version control of documents makes it easier to keep a history of changes made to a document. It is also easy to track comments made by team members and organize files in a cloud-based system.

    5 Enhanced communication

    We have a wide range of technology to communicate with each other, from emails to phone calls. Other examples include apps such as Slack, ClickUp, Notion, and to send typed messages, voice messages, and files to each other. We can also communicate about specific stages of projects.

    6 Advanced writing tools

    Grammar checkers and AI-powered writing assistants have transformed the writing process, offering feedback and suggestions. While these tools enhance accuracy and efficiency, they don’t yet replace human expertise. They are a wonderful helper and a second set of eyes on writing projects.

    Key Takeaways

    Technology has been key in making my current work set-up possible. Without it, there would be no remote work jobs. Technology has helped with productivity, collaboration, and efficiency, for individuals and teams in a digital world.  

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  • Would you return to the past if you could?

    Would you return to the past if you could?

    If you could return to the past, what moment would you revisit or redo? I learned that returning to the past didn’t necessarily mean revisiting yesterday. It could also mean precious time with family, an opportunity that I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t won a prize.

    Daily writing prompt
    Where would you go on a shopping spree?
    View all responses

    “Where are we, Mom?” The building we were in was large and spacious, but unlike anything I’d seen before. And everything about it was wrong.

    “A shopping mall, honey.” 

    “No, it can’t be. We won a shopping spree at a new mall. I showed you the e-message. We get fifteen minutes to grab whatever we want. But look at this place! No holograms! And look at that! People are everywhere, walking into stores. And the stores aren’t projections! This is ridiculous! I would never bring your granddaughter here. Mom, let’s go. I don’t know how we’re going to shop in a place like this.”

    “This place–” Mom glanced at me with the mischievous excitement of a child. “This is what shopping malls looked like when I was a teenager! Look over there, at the food court! That’s where I’d hang out with my friends—”

    “At the mall?” I almost gasped. I would never let my daughter Keeva hang out at a mall. I wanted to give my opinion about “hanging out” at such a place but Mom had grabbed my arm and was pulling us into this archaic shopping mall.

    “–this was before we had cellphones and… what do you call it now? Dash-calls? We actually hung out in person, face to face. We would ride our bikes here or take the bus. We bought hamburgers and shakes. Hot dogs. Then we went window shopping. I mean literal window shopping, not like what you do these days where your house phone generates an image and you just stare at holographics and buy stuff. Even when you were growing up, it was already getting bad with social media. Whatever happened to talking to real people?”

    Mom picked up a sweater from a rack at a store entrance. “Such a beautiful sweater!” she said, handing it to me.

    I was shocked at how heavy it was. I mean, it was a real sweater and I was touching it before buying it. This felt criminal.

    “I miss this,” said Mom. “Holographic shopping is not the same.” She smiled at another shopper entering the store. “Hello!” she said.

    I glanced down in embarrassment. Ugh. She was talking to a complete stranger. I picked up the tag to check the material. “Fifty dollars! I exclaimed. “This must be a secondhand sweater for that low price!”

    “Three hundred dollars is too much for a sweater.” Mom sighed. “How do people afford anything these days?” She draped the sweater over her arm.

    “We should get a wall TV before our fifteen minutes are up.” I pointed at the tech store. “Keeva is crazy about those. They drape on your wall like a poster, and you can peel them off and put them on a different wall.”

    But once we were outside the tech store, I stood with my mouth open, my mind searching through dusty memories for the correct word. “Mom, they’re… they’re flatscreen TVs. You’ve got to… to mount them on something. I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid!”

    “I want a hamburger,” said Mom, starting toward the food court without waiting for me. 

    I hung back, unsure what to do as I took in the sight of all the food vendors. The most shocking part was each stall was staffed by what looked like real people. I was horrified. Was I supposed to tell someone what I wanted to order? What happened to pressing buttons on a menu? 

    “Two hamburgers and two shakes, please,” said Mom with a smile. “We’re on a shopping spree so that should be on the house.” She took the tray, scanned the tables, found an empty one, and sat down. She seemed perfectly at home here.

    I turned my watch to take a photo to send to Keeva via dash-call. My watch beeped. Our fifteen minutes were up, and we had only gotten food and a sweater. Keeva had expected me to return home with something spectacular. 

    “You young people spend too much time with your tech,” said Mom, offering me a burger. Put away that app and let’s talk—just like in the old days. Enjoy life like it was when you could touch and smell everything. Honey, there are some things money cannot buy.”

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  • What’s more important: Time or Money?

    What’s more important: Time or Money?

    In life, there are two important currencies: time and money. Sadly, we can’t have both, although ideally, we would want both. How do we prioritize which one is more important? One is a finite resource while the other is not. Which would you choose to have in unlimited quantities: time or money?

    Daily writing prompt
    What do you wish you could do more every day?
    View all responses

    Each day, we wake up with the same twenty-four hours. How we spend it is up to us. We have routine activities, like eating, brushing our teeth, and showering. We have mandatory activities like going to work and paying our bills (and eating). And we have enjoyable activities, like spending time with people we care about, working on hobbies, or visiting places.

    Some of us have to prioritize money in our twenty-four hours. We need it to live. Without it, we can’t buy food or pay for shelter. This can mean working at a job we hate or working two jobs just to exist. It might not be the life we want.

    Some of us can equally enjoy money and time. We work the hours we need to pay our expenses, and then we spend weekends relaxing or going out. We can afford to spend money and time on experiences by exploring our hometown or going on trips. In our lifetime, this is what we remember: experiences, if we have the time for them.

    If we prioritize time, we find ways to enjoy life, like fixing up our backyard so it is a great place to invite friends over for a barbecue. We can set up a home theatre. Our income is spent on experiences. We can stay home and spend time cooking healthy meals in our kitchen. Buy new tech so we can enjoy the latest computer games.

    For those who have money in abundance, time is also in abundance. We can pay someone to do the things we dislike, such as chores and housework. The time we gain from not having to do the mundane aspects of daily living is now available for relaxing and enjoying life.

    Money is something we can lose and gain back. We spend it, we work again, and get it back.

    Time is finite. We only get to experience a particular day once, and when the sun sets on that day, we never see that day again. We have only one chance to experience that day in our lifetime and there is no rewind button.

    So what do you wish you could do more of every day? I think it depends on where you are in life. You may want to work more so you can afford what you want. You may want to spend more time with friends and family. Or you might want more time to spend on that vacation you’ve always dreamed about.

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