SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

One of the challenges of being an entrepreneur is always having to be “switched on,” to be constantly vigilant and on the lookout for new opportunities that will build brand awareness and promote a product or service. Except being “in the zone” all the time is tiresome. The brain, just like any muscle, gets tired the more it’s used. Heck, mine is already tired from writing this article. The point is that learning  how to manage your mental throttle control  is critical if you want to stay at the top of your game. Every athlete, speaker and entrepreneur needs rest because  that’s  when new insights and reflections come to mind. Daniel Goldman, author of  Focus , said it best: “A failure to focus inward leaves you rudder-less, a failure to focus on others renders you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided.” To mitigate the potential for suboptimal focus -- and hence, diminished productivity -- here are six ...

Those of you familiar with Stephen Covey's  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  will recognize the term Quadrant II manager. This ideal manager recognizes that time spent on the important but non-urgent aspects of her business are the most vital for success. The Quadrant II manager spends time during the work day on long-term planning, developing relationships and training staff to take on delegated tasks. Note that she spends virtually no time answering e-mail, plowing through an inbox or attending meetings. Many entrepreneurs are operate solo; they're the cook, maitre d', busboy and bottle washer of their business. Many have families to attend to and are desperately trying to keep all the plates on the tray without dropping any. I believe that's why so many startups fail. There's no way to manage that kind of chaos the way most of us try to manage. If you find yourself working night and day and still feel you're accomplishing nothing, stop, take sto...

Productivity is all about efficiency -- doing more, faster and with less.  And with increasing demands from today’s anytime, anywhere workplace, it is has never been more important. To get the most out of your day, you need to focus on these three segments of your life: Time Humans are notoriously poor multitaskers, so managing your time is critical to improving productivity. The biggest time suck is unexpected (and usually unimportant) tasks. We all know that urge to read the email that just came in or to peek at the latest notification to pop up -- an inclination psychologist Daniel Levitan, author of  The Organized Mind , calls the novelty bias. This unintentional task-switching eats up more time than you might think. University of California information scientist  Gloria Mark  found that it takes an average of 26 minutes to recover from trivial interruptions. To avoid this, plan out your day and compartmentalize unexpected interruptions: 1. Star...

Chances are good that, at some time in your life, you've taken a time management class, read about it in books, and tried to use an electronic or paper-based day planner to organize, prioritize and schedule your day. "Why, with this knowledge and these gadgets," you may ask, "do I still feel like I can't get everything done I need to?" The answer is simple. Everything you ever learned about managing time is a complete waste of time because it doesn't work. Before you can even begin to manage time, you must learn what time is. A dictionary defines time as "the point or period at which things occur." Put simply, time is when stuff happens. There are two types of time: clock time and real time. In clock time, there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. All time passes equally. When someone turns 50, they are exactly 50 years old, no more or no less. In real time, all time is relative...

Most of the stresses and challenges of entrepreneurship are well-documented. Entrepreneurs go into the game knowing that it’s difficult to raise funding, it’s hard to find good employees, decision fatigue will catch up to them eventually and so on. But one of the most common problems in entrepreneurship is also one of the least outwardly discussed -- time management. Time management is critical to your long-term success for two main reasons. First, it’s a determining factor for your overall productivity -- essentially, the better you can manage your time,  the more tasks you’ll be able to get done in a day . Second, it bears a massive impact on your psychological disposition -- the worse you are at time management, the more stress you’ll experience, and the more easily exhausted you’ll be in your position. Mastering time management is a crucial component of entrepreneurship, and these eight secrets will help you pursue that path. 1. Segment ...

We all are too busy. There is no doubt about that. Thanks to internet and smart phones, everybody is available all the time.  However, did you ever notice that the people who constantly mention that they are very busy are in fact the least effective ones? Being very busy is not an indicator of being effective or successful. Some people like to tell everyone around themselves how busy they are so that nobody asks them to take on another task. Also, some people like to seem very busy because only then they can feel important. If you also feel very busy or tell around that you are too busy, you probably cannot manage your time properly.  Below are some helpful tips for being more effective and less busy. 1. Don’t say yes to every task.  If you have more on your plate than you can actually complete, don’t say yes to another task just to please your boss. This will decrease your effectiveness and success rate because you have to divide your energy between different...

Everyday interruptions at work can be a key barrier to managing your time effectively and, ultimately, can be a barrier to your success. Think back to your last workday, and consider for a minute the many interruptions that occurred. There may have been phone calls, emails, hallway conversations, colleagues stopping by your office, or anything else that unexpectedly demanded your attention and, in doing so, distracted you from the task at-hand. Because your day only has so many hours in it, a handful of small interruptions can rob you of the time you need to achieve your goals and be successful in your work and life. More than this, they can break your focus, meaning that you have to spend time re-engaging with the thought processes needed to successfully complete complex work. The key to controlling interruptions is to know what they are and whether they are necessary, and to plan for them in your daily schedule. The tips that follow will help you do that, and so prevent inter...

Workplace management tips - for tackling the projects on your plate Whether activity at your office increases during high volume periods, limited resources have left your team short staffed, or you’re filling in for other colleagues, you may find that your to-do list grow unexpectedly. Here are some great tips for managing your workload: Get on the same page . Touch base with your boss to ensure the projects you’re working on align with his or her priorities. You may find, for example, that some of the assignments on your plate can be moved to the back burner. At the same time, you can talk to your manager about the resources you need to complete the most pressing tasks. Try teamwork . Seek input from your coworkers on the best course of action when you are confronted with a difficult or unknown situation. Having trouble creating a macro in Excel? Chances are, someone on the team has the experience to help you out, saving you time and frustration. Focus on solutions . A great...

Pikes Place, a fish market in Seattle, is known for its fun style of business. They toss fish around as if they were footballs. They have a sign that says, “Caution: Low Flying Fish.” Any business that has a sign about low flying product must be having fun. The employees love working there because they are engaged and willing to “ham” it up. The allow people to have fun and hire people according to their superpowers. They make sure that their employees are excited about creating a great experience. People from all over visit this historic place to buy fish and watch the show. So it also attracts customers who are looking to buy quality fish and have a fun experience. Do you want to retain your best employees and have more fun at work? You should probably check out the first 6 modules of the Work Happy Now Emergency Kit. It has three main sections: team building ideas, games you can play with your co-workers, and how to create a more positive attitude. EVERYBODY WINS! ...