The following post is from Marissa over at Thirty Six Months. She talks about learning to invest, saving and paying off her student loans.

What does “Green” mean to you? How do you define it?  There is a fantastic movement towards sustainable development, and eco-friendly, Green, businesses are the new trend. Not only is this refreshing to see, but it also motivates the older establishments to get their act together and stop wasting resources. Even though there are many easy fixes, many established businesses still don’t pay attention to wasted energy.

No one is intrinsically bad at saving energy; it’s the lack of knowledge and the corresponding effort that enables unproductive behavior. Green businesses not only help the environment, but they lower their own operating costs in the long run, thus becoming sustainable- not just environmentally, but monetarily as well. And that is the most important motivating factor.

Here are some easy tips to help move your business into the Green Zone:

Recycle: I don’t mean just paper, but computers and old electronics. My employer has a week every month where employees can bring in old computers that can either be salvaged for parts, or fixed up and sent to those who need a basic set up.

This not only keeps our landfills clear of old electronics, but helps others.

Use email. I don’t understand why people feel the need to print emails. If you really want a copy of something, just save it to your hard-drive or to the cloud. This goes back to the old-school mentality of needing everything in paper copy. If you need to make copies , be sure to print double sided. This will save paper costs.

Stop Faxing. Almost everyone has a scanner and a printer these. It is so much easier to email documents than faxes. It saves paper, and time.

Unplug or turn off electronics when not in use. My office is terrible for this. We leave computers on because we are too lazy to re-start it in the morning.  Powering down your computer can reduce energy used by 50%. That’s a lot of savings in your pocket.

Have an adjustable thermostat. We are all adults and we can dress appropriately for the weather, but when our office is either too cold or too hot it makes it rather difficult to function at work. Make the thermostat accessible for your employees and trust that they will use it appropriately.  This will allow the temperature to adjusted in time to save energy costs.

Set up an online pay-roll service. I haven’t received a paper copy of my paycheck in years. Everything is online and easily accessible from anywhere.

Being environmentally friendly doesn’t require huge changes or sacrifices. It just requires some common sense and a bit of work. There are extremely simple ways to save water, energy, and paper and the results in your pocketbook, and the environment will be worth it.

When it comes to running a business, the primary focus should always be the bottom line. If you add up the costs of all the resources saved over the course of a year, it is enough to really make the minimal effort worthwhile.

Whether you’re joining a new company or if you’ve been at the same one for years, there are certain things you should keep in mind when interacting with your peers. Here are 8 things you shouldn’t do at work.

1. Gossip: It happens at every job, has been happening and will keep happening. Whether at the water cooler or via instant messaging, he-said she-said always gets around the office. It can backfire on you in no time. Instead, distance yourself from the people who are constantly spreading someone’s business (truth or lies), and keep your personal information to yourself to avoid getting involved.
2. Micro-manage: Micro-managing is not fun. As adults, you should be able to trust someone to do their job. Constantly checking in, giving instructions, and always being around can actually decrease performance instead of increasing it. In the beginning, of course, training is necessary. However, if your employee has proven that they can be trusted, give them the opportunity to do things by his or herself.
3. Hover: One of my biggest pet peeves when I’m working is when people hover. I don’t like for people to read over my shoulder or stick around when I’m on the phone. It’s very awkward and it can be interpreted as rude. Instead of just sticking around, you can leave a note or just ask someone to come see you when they’re done. Hanging around and hovering can make people uneasy and seems as if you’re rushing them.
4. Stay on social networks all day: Facebook has killed productivity in the workplace. Whether it’s stalking exes, catching up with friends or family, or working on your farms and mafias, we can spend a little too much time on social networks. Twitter is another time sink. Don’t forget you’re at work, meaning you have work to do! Your zombies can wait, and so can your followers. Save your social networking for your breaks and do it on your own time. You’re not getting paid to tweet (unless you have a job like I had as a Social Media Coordinator).
5. Come in tardy constantly: Little is more distracting than when someone is constantly late to work. It’s understandable if you come in late occasionally. You can’t control traffic, maybe the kids were slow to get ready for school, and sometimes we simply oversleep. However, someone who is regularly tardy has no regard for the importance of their job. If you’re really having trouble getting to work on time, make arrangements to either change your shifts or work on whatever it is that’s making you late.
6. Reply all: Reply all is probably one of the worst things you can do at your job. Some people send messages meant for just one person and it ends up arriving in the inbox of all of your coworkers. I’ve seen this happen and had to silently laugh to myself. I’ve seen it where it was relatively harmless (just annoying), and I’ve seen it where someone was being talked about, and tension was very thick at work afterwards. Be sure to double and triple check that you’re simply hitting “reply” and responding to one person.
7. Take things personally: At my last job, the office culture was based around the principles in the book The 4 Agreements. One of the agreements is to not take things personally. I think this should be a universal agreement at all job sites. When people mix business with personal things, nothing good is achieved. When someone is criticizing your work, do not feel as if they are attacking your personal character. Take it as constructive criticism and move on. Don’t take work problems back home.
8. Handle personal business: You may be at work for the majority of your day, but it’s not the place to handle your personal business. This means you shouldn’t be holding personal conversations, scheduling appointments, having arguments, etc. If you absolutely need to handle personal business, you should make arrangements to take care of it during your breaks. If that’s not enough time, talk to your supervisor about handling emergencies. Just don’t make it a habit.

What are some other things you shouldn’t do at work?

Hate Your Job?  Do Something About It!

If there’s one thing that really drives me up the wall, it’s people who just live to complain.  You know the type.  Nothing is ever good enough.  Everything stinks.  And nothing is ever their fault.  Sometimes I just want to scream.

In my day job, there are a lot of people like this.  They hate their jobs and they seem to go out of their way to make other people miserable.  I guess those cantankerous types just can’t stand to see anyone else happy and content.

Although I have my share of bad days, I don’t really hate my job.  But it’s also not the most rewarding job in the world and it’s not that I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

What I really enjoy is blogging.  I love interacting with people from all over the world and learning new things each and every day.  And I love that I can set up a website and keep it as a semi-passive income stream that will keep earning money for years to come.

Trust me it’s a lot more rewarding to sit down and know that you’re building something for your future rather than plopping down on the couch and watching TV all night.   And yes, there are nights when I come home and just want to crash in front of the TV.  But that rarely happens these days (unless Modern Family is on).   You’re more likely to find me burning the midnight oil writing new articles and setting up new sites.

Is there any reason you can’t do the same?

What’s that?  You don’t know the first think about creating websites?  Well neither did I when I first started out and that never stopped me.  And one of my newest sites is specifically designed to help people like you learn how to make a website with no experience necessary.

Oh, I get it.  You just don’t have the time to do it.

What a load of bull!

I have a full-time job and I have three kids between the ages of 1 and 6.  I spend all day at work and then come home to help my wife make dinner, help my girls with their homework, play a few games, read a story or two, get the kids off to bed, and then take the dog for a walk.  By the time I do all that it’s easily 9:00.  All I want to do is crash but instead I go to my desk and start working on my side business for awhile.  If I can do it, so can you!

Seriously, how much time do you waste watching Golden Girls re-runs or fooling around on Facebook?  Instead of planting imaginary seeds on Farmville, maybe you should be sowing real seeds of income for your future.

I was playing around with the Google Keyword Tool looking for ideas to write about and I found something pretty funny…there’s a lot of people looking for excuses to get out of work!

Here’s a small sample of the various keywords people use when looking for good excuses to get out of work.  The number next to each phrase is the number of searches per month.

Now I’m guessing most people are looking for real work excuses so they can stay home and sit on the couch watching The Price is Right or General Hospital…but I’ll assume you want to stay home so you can concentrate on building your blog or doing something else productive with your time. 

Anyway I called my buddy Joe who works as an office manager/HR guy for a small business and asked what were the craziest real work excuses he had ever heard?  Here’s a few of his favorites…

I want to hear from you…leave a comment below with the craziest excuse you ever gave your boss so you could skip work…