Want to master your workplace in 2019? Here are six ways that can help

From friendships to salary negotiations, 2019 can be the year you conquer work and your career. Taking hold of your future begins with standing up for yourself, while also learning to navigate the complicated world of office politics. The murky friendships and bureaucracy can at times be maddening, but persevering does not only mean rising the corporate ladder. It could also mean setting out on your own.

Below are some of our favorite Smarter Living articles about mastering your workplace in the new year.

Talk through your failures to overcome them

We’ve all flopped on a big presentation.

Most people prefer to process failure internally, quickly moving on for fear of causing a scene or seeming unprofessional. But taking the time to reflect on and communicate about unwanted outcomes can go a long way in creating more congenial, trusting and productive workplaces. Read more >>>

You deserve more (money)

Not negotiating your salary can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars during your career, according to Linda Babcock, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University and author of “Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want.” Read more >>>

It’s OK that your workplace isn’t family

It’s fine to have warm, supportive relationships with your co-workers. But remember the context. That means that you stay really clear about the fact that it’s O.K. to look out for yourself and not fall victim to a mind-set in which you’re living at work. It’s O.K. to say, “No, I’m not going to work 60 hours this week.” And know that it’s not a personal betrayal if you decide to move on. Read more >>>

And sometimes those friendships can be awkward

An analysis of 26 studies confirmed that, yes, work friendships are great.

Yet having and keeping friends at work can feel more complicated than these studies let on. Say you’re leading a big project, and your friend’s contribution is a total mess. Or maybe your friend is not doing her share of the work, which means you are too often doing it for her. What are you supposed to say? What are you supposed to do? And how can you say or do that without damaging your friendship? Read more >>>

Don’t be ashamed of crying at work

When was the last time you had a good cry at work? Maybe you bombed a project, or got some harsh feedback you didn’t see coming, but it happens. We’re all human. What we need to realize is that it’s really not a big deal: Just under half of employees have cried at work at some point, according to a study from this year, which also found that about 75 percent of chief financial officers thought crying every so often is totally normal.

Still, a lot of us have hang-ups about it. But we really shouldn’t, said Alison Green, who runs the career advice blog Ask a Manager and published a book this year with the same title. Read more >>>

Know when to quit

Winners are just people who know when to quit — and do it often. We’ve all heard the saying “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” But what if we’ve been looking at quitting all wrong? What if, rather than a step backward, quitting with intention can be a way to leap toward your goals? Enter “strategic quitting,” a counterintuitive approach that helps you free up time, money and energy for the things that matter. (Another way to look at this: learning the power of “no.”