#WorkItWednesday

For #WorkItWednesday I thought we could talk about working *it* when other things don't feel right. The *it* is whatever you are involved in that's working right now.

I don't know about you but I have a tendency to focus on the wrong things at times. I tend to neglect the stuff that's working out and tunnel vision focus on the stuff that isn't going okay. While I do think we have to give some attention to what isn't working we shouldn't push off what is. It puts us in a negative mindspace and that's no good for anyone. It might be obvious to point out but I'll risk the obvious, a positive outlook has powerful benefits. Plus, a lot of times what isn't working out turns out to be pretty unimportant.

In group situations - like workplaces, volunteer groups - often when change is needed the focus is on fixing the things that aren't going right. But studies show that to effect change, focus on what’s working.

Of everything you are doing now - and this applies as much to your personal life as to your career - identify the one thing you do really well and promise yourself you’ll do more of it.

If you do that first and foremost - you can still find time to fix what’s broken. Start with the most severely broken piece and try to make it not excellent but good.

But first, focus on what’s working. Work it!

Call it a Day

The literal use of this phrase hails from 1838 when the phrase originally was "call it half a day" to mean leaving work early. (source) The modern use of the phrase is to indicate ending something due to false sense of accomplishment.

More bang for your buck

This phrase was used a lot in 1953 but an earlier citation puts it at 1940 in a Metals and Plastics Publications advertisement. Read about it here . The phrase means you get more for your money.

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.

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