Beat the heat with these cool summer styles

用清凉夏日服饰赶走炎热

导读：在炎炎的夏日里，漂亮的姑娘们找出迷你裙、太阳镜，又开始忙着打扮自己了。在夏日穿着方面，我们除了追求漂亮以外还要得到一份清凉感。什么是我们打造今夏清凉时尚形象的主角呢？是宽宽的发带、优雅的发髻、舒适的亚麻还是飘逸的长衫？

Baby, it's hot out there! Looking fashionably fabulous can indeed be a challenge when the temperature (and the humidity) is on the rise. But there are ways to keep your cool, and here's how to do it with style in this edition of The Trend Report.

Band aid
Let's start at the top — keep your hair under control and you're on your way toward looking and feeling great on a hot day. The latest trend is the super-sized head band or headwrap（发带）, which you'll use to simply pull your hair back or as a fashionable accent with a chignon（发髻）, ponytail（马尾辫） or other hair "do." We love the punch of a great pattern, but solids are essential as well. Grab them and wear them now and into the fall season.

Trend tip: Want a quick "band aid" hair fix? Cut an 8" wide strip from the leg of a pair of pantyhose（连袜裤） or tights（紧身衣）. Slide on your head and scrunch for that wide look. Voila!

Linen closet
There's nothing like the cool, chic look of linen（亚麻布） when the mercury is on the rise, so every fashionista's closet should contain a few key linen pieces for this style emergency. We're loving the pretty sleeveless linen shirt and wrap duo from Isaac Mizrahi at Target, which you can pick up for $29.99! Throw the wrap（披肩） around your shoulders or use it as a belt to complete your look.

Trend tip: Step away from the ironing board（熨烫板）! Casual linen pieces such as shirts or shorts can be machine washed and dried (unless you prefer an ultra-crisp look). They'll soften and actually become less wrinkled（有皱纹的） the more you wash them!

New jersey
Cotton jersey（平针织物） is one of the most comfortable fabrics to wear on very hot days, and it's totally in style — labels such as Rachel Pally, Splendid, James Perse, C&C California and Vince are offering stylish "beyond the T-shirt" pieces right now that are great for summer wear. Look for baby doll dresses, cropped, wide-legged pants, tunics（长达膝盖的短袖束腰外衣） and sexy skirts to create your own "new jersey" wardrobe（衣橱）.

Trend tip: If the temperature happens to dip a bit, try leggings（紧身裤袜）. They're a red-hot trend for fall, and you can get a jump-start on the trend by layering a pair of black or white jersey knit leggings under your dresses and skirts.

Polo fever
Ralph Lauren's iconic polo shirt has been given a style update — the "Big Pony" embroidered logo（刺绣标志） — and it's a perfect and "cool" fashionista（疯狂追求时髦与流行的人） piece to wear right now. This limited edition shirt comes in both the traditional shape and a tiny, shrunken style, and it's done up in comfortable cotton mesh. Pair it with shorts, trousers or a slim skirt, add a chic pair of sunglasses, and you're ready to go.

Trend tip: Classic "prepster（富家子弟）" style somehow looks perfectly composed on even the hottest days. If you like it, add a polo-styled dress or two to your wardrobe to get you through the summer.

Go with the flow
When the heat is on, skintight is out. A kinder, gentler, looser fit will give you breathing room and keep you feeling cool. But that doesn't mean you need to wear a shapeless muumuu（华丽而宽适的长装）! Opt for a tailored caftan（有带子的长袖衣服） (the replacement to last year's ethnic tunic) and a breezy pair of Bermuda shorts（百慕大式短裤） instead. Casual yet sophisticated staples like these can take you from a low-key（低调的） office environment through the weekend.

Trend tip: For the most sophisticated look, steer clear of bright colors. Choose a more muted（柔和的） color palette instead, balanced with neutrals（中性） such as black, brown, navy（深蓝色） or beige（米黄色）. Add always-stylish tortoise accessories and you've put together a summer wardrobe that will work this year ... and next.
　

(source: http://www.msn.com)

Deal with office overload

处理超负荷工作

导读：在国内经济快速发展的今天，都市白领也正承受前所未有的工作压力。许多白领为了保住工作或取得提升，每天都在进行着超负荷的工作。而且这种超负荷工作的状态正在整个社会蔓延。超负荷工作对人的身心都是极大的伤害。许多人都深知超负荷工作的危害，可是企业、社会中残酷的竞争，使他们不得不继续这种以“生命”换取“工作”的生活。“超负荷工作”不是长久之计。我们全社会应该共同努力，合理地处理工作与生活的关系，消除超负荷工作现象。

If going to work feels more like torture（酷刑）, and fatigue（劳累的工作）, depression and irritation are daily aspects of your life, job burnout may be to blame.

Too much office stress is putting a major strain on many professionals, according to Clare Chen, an analyst at Hudson Recruitment, a Nasdaq-listed headhunting firm.

Along with booming business expansion and fast social transition, job burnout is pervasive（普遍的） in the Chinese mainland.

Survey proof

In April, Hudson Recruitment surveyed 705 multinational companies in China - mostly based in Shanghai - about their hiring plans and employees.

The survey showed that 33 per cent of survey participants believe job burnout is getting more and more serious in the mainland. Last year, about 27 per cent of respondents complained of being overworked.

About 55 per cent of respondents suggested they are working more hours than they were two years ago. Of those, 13 per cent say their hours are significantly longer.

About 42 per cent of office workers surveyed said they worked more than 50 hours a week, compared with the country's 40-hour-a-week standard. The number is about one percentage point higher than in last year's survey, Hudson reports.

The survey also indicates that practitioners in media, public relations, advertising, medical and biotechnology（生物工艺学） sectors are among the biggest sufferers of job burnout, as they not only work long hours but face pressures of stiffening（严厉的） job competition and constantly staying abreast of changes in their sectors.

Meanwhile, women employees suffer more than their male counterparts, as 41.4 per cent of the women surveyed report they are in a state of moderate（中等的） job burnout, compared with 37.2 per cent of men.

Most people start feeling the most office stress after working for four years, which is much shorter than 10 years in the late 1990s, the chinahrd.net survey says.

Causes

Hudson's Chen says there are many factors contributing to the office stress.

"Amid the fierce（残酷的） competition in the human resources (HR) market, employers have to work longer to cope with heavy workloads, receive last-minute missions constantly and are faced with work performance appraisals by bosses," says Chen.

Zhang Xing, a consultant at a PR company, usually works 10 hours a day. But there are times when he works more than 12 hours a day, and Saturdays and Sundays sometimes become working days.

Turning down these extra hours is not a good career move, Zhang says.

"If you refuse overtime, someone will do it and replace you," he says.

However, Hudson's report finds that a shortage of suitable talent is one of the reasons.

The long working hours will greatly reduce working efficiency and productivity, both Chen and Zhang believe.

In addition to physical exertion, psychological tension is another result of an overworked employee, points out Xu Xinxin, a researcher with the Sociology Research Institute attached to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Internal competition for promotions, problems between colleagues, and work and life imbalances all contribute to psychological tension, which may result in accident or collapse, says Xu.

"High-pressure work environments are taking their toll on workers' morale," says Gary Lazzarotto, CEO of Hudson Asia. "This can be detrimental to both workers, whose health and career progress may suffer, and employers, who pick up the tab in higher insurance costs and lost productivity."

Solutions

Dealing with the modern world "epidemic（流行病）" of job burnout is a new challenge for both employers and employees.

In developed nations, entrepreneurs（企业家） commonly push a policy known as Work-Life Balance (WLB) to help employees work productively and better enjoy their lives.

Overtime is not encouraged.

"If an employer finds an employee often works longer, the employer should ask if the executive-designed workload is too heavy for the employee or if there are some problems with the employee's working efficiency," says Xu. "Then the employer or the employee should adjust."

The WLB policies also include flexible working time, if the job allows.

Furthermore, allowing time off for training will help facilitate（提升） employees' knowledge and offer a cushion（缓冲） for intense work.

France-based Schneider Electric invited IBM and Tsinghua University to formulate a leadership development programme for its managerial-level talents in China.

The one-year programme will offer e-learning, classroom workshops, professional discussions and courses for 36 trainees selected from its China branch. It uses a model that combines academic training and business practises together, according to Amy Kan, a human resources director of Schneider Electric China.

Paid leave is another way to ensure employees don't get worn out.

"I find that many Chinese employees have not realised that it is their right to leave. They must keep in mind that we have a duty to work and have a right to leave," says Lazzarotto. "A nice holiday can refresh you and do good for your company."

He also suggests companies employ new measures to meet the headcount gap.

"Employing and training cost can be compensated by employees' higher productivity and guarantee a sound talent structure in the long run," he says.

Xu offers some advice for the job burnout employees:

Organize and prioritize（按优先顺序处理） by taking care of the more difficult and important tasks early in the day.

Manage expectations so that you can achieve your goals and deliver on promises to others.

Set aside a period of time dedicated to responding to e-mail and voicemails.

Lastly, take care of yourself. A healthier you is more productive and happier.
　

(source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn)