In the Mood for a Raise? First, See if the Boss Is in One
When is the best time to ask for a raise?
If you have strong arguments in your favor, wait until the boss is in a slightly bad mood, a West German researcher says. “But if you have weak arguments, wait until he’s in a good mood,” says Herbert Bless, a research associate at the University of Mannheim who is now studying social psychology at UC Santa Barbara.
Bless bases his advice on a study in which strong and weak arguments were presented to people in bad and good moods. Those in bad moods seemed to concentrate more on what was being said than those in good moods, Bless found. So by waiting until the boss is in a good mood, he reasons, employees with even weak arguments might win a raise.
Robert G. Smith, a Washington psychologist who counsels clients on how to get promoted, recommends waiting until the boss is in a positive mood, “then presenting him with a list of things you’ve done that qualify you for a raise. Maybe you solved a difficult problem. Maybe you tackled a job no one else would handle. Go in with a solid record of accomplishments.”
Strike when your boss is moving up the career ladder, advises Michael Mercer, a Chicago industrial psychologist. The more valuable an employee appears, he reasons, the more valuable the boss looks in the eyes of his/her higher-ups. Two other opportune times, he adds: immediately after your work has been complimented by the boss or immediately after your work resulted in noticeably higher profits for the company.
Kids Can Kick the Habit
By age 5, children can voluntarily give up thumb sucking by following many of the same quitting techniques used by adult cigarette smokers, contends a Denver psychologist who recently spoke at the annual conference of the National Assn. for the Education of Young Children in Anaheim.
But first, children must acknowledge why they suck their thumbs, says Susan Heitler, who spells out her quitting technique in “David Decides About Thumb Sucking” (available for $10 from Reading Matters, P.O. Box 300309, Denver, Colo. 80203). Some common reasons: “It feels good. It eases kids to sleep. It calms them down.”
Next, children must decide the costs of thumb sucking--such as social ridicule and dental problems--aren’t worth the gains and that substitutes are available. “If they’re upset, they can get a hug or talk about it,” Heitler says. “To get to sleep, they can hug a teddy bear.”
Heitler then encourages children to devise their own quitting strategy with their parents’ help. In the book, one child decides to wear socks on his hands at night and to use a reward system, earning a toy for not sucking.
Parents often “get all frustrated and angry and come down too hard” on their thumb-sucking children or, at the other extreme, are “too passive,” says Heitler, the mother of four former thumb suckers.
Dr. Charles Hall, a Huntsville, Ala., pediatric dentist who has helped 65 of his patients quit via Heitler’s technique, found it 90% effective in 5- to 9-year-olds and somewhat less effective in younger children.
Parents shouldn’t expect a quick cure, Heitler says; quitting usually takes at least 30 days and regressions are common.
A Speedier Estrogen
Estrogen placed under the tongue can relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes faster than estrogen swallowed in pill form, a new study indicates.
Dr. Yusoff Dawood, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois, found sublingual estrogen “three to five times more efficient than oral estrogen administration. This would enable the desired therapeutic effect to be achieved using much smaller doses of estrogen,” he said.
Sublingual estrogen, manufactured by Gynex Inc. in Deerfield, Ill., is not expected to be on the market for another two to three years, says company president John E. Urheim.
Dr. Donna Shoupe, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the USC School of Medicine, says sublingual estrogen may be a good alternative to pills and skin patches for some women. “Sublingual medication goes to the bloodstream first,” she says, whereas oral medication goes to the stomach and liver initially. As a result, sublingual medication produces less effect on the liver, fewer metabolic changes and fewer side effects, she says.
Shoupe and others are studying estrogen capsules designed to be held against the cheek and absorbed much the same way as the under-tongue form.
Check the Furnace
To guard against carbon monoxide poisoning, home heating systems should be inspected annually by a qualified heating contractor, advises the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The furnace or boiler as well as other components of the heating system should be checked, says a commission spokesman. “Although heating contractors do not routinely inspect venting systems as part of the checkup, consumers should ask the contractor to inspect the flue and chimney for possible problems,” he says.
About 60 deaths a year are attributed to carbon monoxide emitted from central heating equipment. People exposed to harmful levels of carbon monoxide may feel as if they are getting the flu. Symptoms include dizziness, fatigue, irregular breathing, nausea and headaches.