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#Leadership : #WorkSmart -How to Get Back on Track When you’re Having an Unproductive Day….A Rocky Start Shouldn’t Dictate your Entire Workday. Do These Things to Reverse your Unproductivity.

May 31, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

If you’re a high achiever, you juggle too many things over the course of a day. And despite your best intentions, you’re bound to have days where you feel burnt out, or just plain unproductive. This can lead to a self-destructive cycle–you beat yourself up for being unfocused, which further distracts you from what needs to be accomplished.

As a small business owner who manages a chronic illness, I’ve dealt with my fair share of days that aren’t as productive as I’d like. Over time, I’ve learned the importance of having a “reset” button–or, in other words, turning around my unproductive day and not letting it go to waste. Often, you know in your gut when you’re not being as focused as you would like. There are, however, also a few signs you can use to identify whether you’re primed for unproductivity:

You’re procrastinating, whether that means scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, or doing something you don’t normally enjoy doing, like working out or cleaning your house.
You’re staring at a blank document and can’t get yourself to write anything.
You had a bad night’s sleep and you’re feeling off or tired.
You’re prioritizing other people’s goals and needs rather than your own.
You start something–a new project, document, or even an email–and don’t finish it.

You don’t have to write off the day as a lost cause. There are lots of ways to recover your time that don’t involve punishing yourself for being less focused than usual. Instead, these strategies take the reality of the situation into account–you’re tired, distracted, overwhelmed, bored, or a combination of all of the above–and change the tone for the better.

With that in mind, here are my five tips for turning around an unproductive day.

1.PRIORITIZE WHAT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

It’s funny–it’s easy to be unproductive when you have too much to do. Feeling overwhelmed leads to prioritizing inefficiently (or not prioritizing at all), and trying to accomplish too much. When you feel stressed by your to-do list, you’re more likely to mismanage your time or even just give up. If everything is urgent and needs to get done today, you can feel paralyzed.

When this happens, stop. Take a step back and take another look at your to-do list. Identify what items absolutely have to be accomplished that day. Chances are, this whittles down your list significantly, making it feel a lot more manageable. By simply taking some of the pressure off yourself, you’re more able to focus and be productive.

Once you’ve made it through the day, sit down with your list again, and determine what tasks should be a priority for that week. By thinking realistically about your list for the coming days, you set yourself up for days that are more focused and less overwhelming.

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2. CREATE A PRODUCTIVE AMBIENCE

If you can’t seem to focus, take a look around you. Are you distracted by your environment? And if you’re not distracted, are there ways that you could make your environment more conducive to you being productive?

My ideal environment includes atmospheric music without lyrics, natural light, a light snack, a drink like water or tea, and a comfortable seat. If I have all these elements, I’m much more likely to spend my time productively. I can really zone in and focus on what I’m doing.

Of course, you don’t always have total control over your environment. At the same time, you’re never totally out of control either. If you get unfocused when you’re hungry, make sure you have a supply of snacks on hand. Or, if you crave quiet but work in a busy, loud office with an open floor plan, make sure you’re armed with headphones before you leave the house every day.

3. CHANGE UP THE SCENERY

Sometimes, you need to refresh your body and mind before you can be productive. When I feel unfocused, I like to change my surroundings. I’ll go for a walk, do yoga, or meditate—anything that gets me out of my chair and stops me from staring at my computer for an hour or so.

You can also change up the scenery by heading to a different place to work, as long as it won’t be distracting. If you usually work well in coffee shops, head to a new one nearby. Or snag an empty conference room at the office for a few hours. Even if you don’t have a lot of flexibility in your schedule, there are ways to tweak the scenery just enough to give you a fresh perspective.

4. LIMIT DISTRACTIONS (SOCIAL MEDIA IN PARTICULAR)

Distractions like social media can easily trainwreck productivity–and unfortunately, it’s extremely hard to pull the plug on them entirely. Luckily, there are lots of ways to limit these distracting factors.

You probably can’t delete your social media accounts (nor do you want to), but you can remove them from your phone. Or, you can put all your social media apps in a folder that’s out of sight. Try hiding your social media apps in a folder with more serious or daunting icons first, like the stocks or your banking apps. That way, you’ll have to think before you start scrolling, and it becomes less automatic.

Many of us rely on social media for work, so we can just log out and ignore it entirely. There’s a great plugin called KillNewsfeed that allows you access to Facebook, but blocks your newsfeed (aka the place where productivity goes to die). You can still do your Facebook-centered work, but you’re not distracted by every photo, update, or ad that you see.

5. CHECK IN WITH AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY

When we’re unproductive, we often feel shame, despair, and frustration. Even though we know these days happen, we end up dwelling in our negative feelings rather than moving forward.

An accountability buddy is someone who holds no judgments and provides a listening ear. It’s someone you can check in with and give an update on your progress (good or bad). The best part is, when you say your goals out loud, they become a lot more real. There’s someone else to hold you to them. They’re cheering you on and encouraging you when you veer off track.

If you don’t already have an accountability buddy (official or unofficial) in your life, it’s time to find that person. It can be a coworker, an industry colleague, a classmate, or a friend. Whoever it is, remember that the dynamic goes both ways–they support you, and you support them, too.

Most importantly, acknowledge that none of us are productive 100% of the time. It’s not about trying to be perfect. It’s about how you handle an unproductive day when it comes your way.

FastCompany.com | May 31, 2018 | BY HARPER SPERO—CAREER CONTESSA 5 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Secrets of the Most #ProductivePeople -The Best Way to Use All those 5 Minutes of #Downtime Every Day…When you Have a Few Spare Minutes During the Day, you Probably Default to Checking Email. Here are More #ProductiveWays to use “Found Time.”

May 29, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Whether your meeting ended early or that project didn’t take as long as you thought, chances are you’ve got some found time on your hands at some point during the day. If you’re like most people, you default to checking email. If you had a system in place, however, you could use those unexpected minutes to get something done, says productivity consultant Leslie Shreve, founder and CEO of Productive Day.

“Most people don’t know how to jump in and take advantage of time because nothing is prepared and sitting in front of them,” she says. “The key is to proactively plan for those five-, 10-, or 15-minute bits of time that often appear throughout the average workday.”

And there are a lot of them. A study by the staffing firm OfficeTeam found that the average employee squanders 56 minutes every day, which adds up to nearly five hours a week that could be used on meaningful work.

START WITH AN INVENTORY

We’re not being proactive with our time because we’re managing tasks from paper to-do lists, emails, voicemails, conversations, notes, files, and ideas. “Those are tools; not systems,” says Shreve.

What’s necessary is a master list, or inventory, of all of your tasks. Shreve likens it to creating a mission control. Bigger than a brain dump, she suggests going around your desk and recording all of your tasks and projects. Look at files and papers on your desk: Things that are left out are often done so as reminders of what needs to be done, she says. As you note action items, you build your task inventory.

“You have to take time in your busy day to do this, but it can help you save a lot of time in the end,” says Shreve. “To make progress on meaningful work you need small action steps. You cannot get progress without project management. Unless you’re prepared, things will be lost or forgotten.”

Tasks should be small, Shreve says, only reflecting the first action step to get something started, or the next action step to keep something moving forward. “These small but powerful steps can move multi-step tasks, projects, and initiatives forward consistently and with ease,” she says.

Use a digital system, such as a spreadsheet, to record your full inventory of tasks—everything you need to do, no matter the source of the task or when action will take place. A paper to-do list needs to be completed, while a digital list is a system, says Shreve. With all your tasks in one system, you can plan and prioritize for certain days, weeks, and months into the future.

When you have found time, check your inventory and find a task that fits. For example, five minutes is enough time to make a phone call that you know will go to voicemail, schedule an appointment, or knock out a quick action step that will keep a priority or a project moving forward.

“Having an inventory of all tasks in one system allows you to make smart decisions about how to use your time, because all tasks are documented and ready for action,” says Shreve. “You can easily become more proactive and less reactive throughout the day.”

PLAN YOUR DAY

An inventory of tasks also helps you plan your day. When you get to work in the morning, check your task list and get to work. Looking at your inventory, priorities often bubble to the top, and Shreve suggests choosing four to seven items to do that day.

“You can always change it, and make it reflect what you really want or need to do that day,” says Shreve. “Your day and task list is never static.”

Working without a system is like grocery shopping; it’s easy to miss items because there’s often no order to the layout of the store, says Shreve. “You only buy the items you can find or that are in front of you,” she says. “Similarly, you can only do the tasks that you know about or see in your vision, and if you don’t have time to check 10 different places for the possibilities, something will be missed.”

MINUTES DRIVE RESULTS

While they seem inconsequential in the moment, those small amounts of time are essential for achieving results. “Inner work life matters for companies because, no matter how brilliant a company’s strategy might be, the strategy’s execution depends on great performance by people inside the organization,” write Harvard Business School professor Theresa Amabile and development psychologist Steven Kramer in their book The Progress Principle. “When progress happens in small steps, a person’s sense of steady forward movement toward an important goal can make all the difference between a great day and a terrible one.”

Knowing what’s possible allows you to take action on the most important tasks at the right times throughout the day, says Shreve. “You can use your time more wisely and with purpose,” she says. “You stop guessing and start knowing what to do and when to do it. It’s a priceless benefit from having a complete system and a workday strategy that works.”

FastCompany.com | May 29, 2018 | BY STEPHANIE VOZZA 4 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Secrets of the Most #ProductivePeople – How to Train yourself to Become a #SpeedReader. Read All your Emails, Project Reports, and Briefs in Half the Time Using these #SpeedReading Tricks.

May 28, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Reading is one of the most fundamental skills, and reading for pleasure can transform your health, memory, and productivity. In our age of information overload, however, it can feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get through all of your Slack messages, emails, and project reports, not to mention all the articles you intend to read. The sheer amount of documents and other communication many of us need to read at work each day can seem like a daunting task–but there are ways to get through everything you need to read at work faster.

Yes, speed reading. Though the technique is traditionally thought of as a way to get through book-length tomes, Abby Marks Beale, a speed-reading expert and author, says that the active reading strategies used in speed reading works on all kinds of texts. While speed reading to those that have never done it might seem like some kind of magic trick, Beale says in actuality, all it is “a set of active, mindful, and conscious strategies that allow a person to intentionally speed up or slow down [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][what they are reading] based on certain conditions.”

And these active reading strategies can be learned by anyone, and once mastered, the reader typically learns “how to double to triple their current reading speed while maintaining or improving their comprehension. This means they could read twice or three times as much in the same amount of time when they choose to read using faster strategies.”

Here’s how to start:

SET YOURSELF UP FOR CONCENTRATION SUCCESS

Before you even read a word of text, Beale says its critical to “create a concentrating environment.” This is an environment where we are free from distractions. This allows our brain to mono-focus on just one stimulus and absorb the information more quickly and readily. Of course, while it may be easy to create a concentrating environment if you have your own office, those who work in open workplaces might have some trouble shutting distractions out. That’s not to say speed reading can’t be done in an open workplace, you may just need to have some extra help blocking people out, like a pair of good noise-canceling headphones.

READ PHYSICAL MEDIA WITH A WHITE INDEX CARD

If you’ve ever spent time in a library doing research among other researchers, you’ll have no doubt noticed at one point that as a researcher read a book, she used a white index card placed directly under the sentence she was reading. Using a white index card is one of the first steps people can take towards becoming a speed reader, says Beale. “The method helps your eyes track more fluidly across the lines, helps you keep your place and forces concentration. Faster speed forces more concentration, which provides the opportunity for more comprehension.” However, she cautions that most people place the white index card in the wrong spot.

“When I ask readers where they would like to put the card on a page, most people say underneath the line they are reading. This, however, allows the reader to go back over what they just read, doubting the brain (we call this bad habit “regression”), while blocking where the eyes need to be going,” says Beale. “So in order use a white card to your advantage, the card needs to be placed ABOVE or OVER the line you are reading so you don’t see the lines you already read and you leave open the lines you haven’t. The card then pushes the eyes down the page.”

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ADAPT THE WHITE INDEX CARD TRICK TO ON-SCREEN TEXT

While the white card works great for printed text, such as books and project briefs, it’s not practical for screen reading. Holding up a physical index card to your monitor while reading lengthy emails, PDFs, and web pages would get tired very quickly thanks to gorilla arm syndrome. And you would just look silly. But Beal says it’s easy to adapt the white card trick to on-screen text:

“To adapt this to a screen, line up the first line of text to the top of the screen where an application’s toolbar or upper window border might be,” says Beale. “Then using the scroll bar on the right, advance down one line at a time, which forces the words up as if covered by a white card.”

If you use only one speed reading trick, make it this. That’s because, as Beale points out, “Reading text on-screen, without any strategies, is about 25% slower than reading on paper,” so you’re already at a disadvantage if most of your workplace reading is done on-screen.

STOP “WORD-FOR-WORD” READING

Now that you’ve set up an environment conducive to concentrating and have learned how to force your concentration on the line you’re reading using either variation of the index card trick, the last big beginners’ speed reading trick you need to master is the ability to use your peripheral vision to take in more than one word at a time. “People who ‘speed read’ have learned how to not decode every single word (also known as word-for-word reading) and instead read more words at a glance,” explains Beale, who gives the following example of the method:

The best way to achieve this is to read key words and/or phrases. Key words are the bigger, more important words in a sentence, just like the headlines of a newspaper provide the essence of the content. Learningto stop your eyes on the words that are typically three letters in length or longer and those which carry the most meaning of a sentence are key words.

“Now go back and reread just the words in bold,” Beale says. “The smaller, less important words are “seen” but not “read,” which starts the process for expanding your peripheral vision.” Additionally, another variation of this trick is to look for groups of words in a sentence that form a thought, as in this example:

Additionally, sentences contain groups of words/ that form a thought./ Looking for these thought groups/ encourages a wider visual swath/ while gaining higher understanding/ of the material.

Read the above text ignoring the slash mark groupings first, then go back and see the groupings created between the slash marks. “Both of these methods are active reading methods requiring the reader to really focus on what they are reading and how their eyes move on a page,” Beale explains.

At first, learning to speed read may make you feel like you’re actually reading slower, but over time you’ll pick up the techniques as second nature. And just maybe if you learn to speed read through your work texts, you may gain just enough new free time in the day to settle down with a nice leisurely book in the evening.

FastCompany.com | BY MICHAEL GROTHAUS 5 MINUTE READ | May 28, 2018

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#Leadership : These are the Most Important Minutes of Any #Meeting …Look for These Moments in your #Meetings and then Try Shape Future Meetings to have More of Them.

May 20, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Few people like meetings, and that’s probably because they’re increasingly overtaking the workday. Over the past 50 years meetings have grown from less than 10 hours a week to nearly 23 hours, not including impromptu gatherings, Harvard Business Review reports. That’s more than half of our workweek.

“Meetings may seem too frustrating and too numerous, but they continue because they’re the center for getting work done and building relationships,” says Chris Battles, senior vice president and general manager of communications and collaboration for LogMeIn, provider of collaboration software including the meeting platform GoToMeeting. “Real-time, face-to-face interaction, even at distance, unlocks insight, and that’s powerful.”

The reason meetings get a bad reputation is because their powerful moments are often allowed to slip away, says Battles. “We may have too many things to address or time constraints due to scheduling meetings back to back,” he says. “This results in the ‘gold’ being lost.”

You can reenergize your meetings by learning to recognize the most important minutes and by setting up a system that creates more of them.

LOOK FOR VERBAL AND NONVERBAL CUES

Identify critical points in your meetings by paying attention to the language of the participants. “We’ve all been in meetings where we’re bored senseless, checking our phone and completely disengaged,” says Battles. “You can tell when a spot in the meeting hits home when people suddenly become physically present and emotionally present.”

Watch for people who start taking notes or lean in. Another sign is when people begin to contribute. They’re not just paying attention; they’re adding their own insights.

“It’s those ‘Yes, and…’ conversations,” says Battles. “It’s the part of the meeting when people are open to the information and how relates to them. It’s when they talk about how the information personally impacts their world.”

When these moments happen, don’t smother them. Instead, let them come to fruition. “When people perk up around topic, engage them and get their perspective,” he says. “Pull the person into the meeting by asking questions and drawing them into a conversation.”

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MAKE SURE TO CREATE A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

Fostering important meeting moments requires paying attention to your culture. If your meetings simply present content and don’t allow engagement, it will be difficult to get those magic moments where interaction and discussion are going. Create a culture of collaboration by allowing time for questions and regularly calling on attendees for input.

“Attendees need to be free to speak up and pull others in to engage,” says Battles. “This requires that your meetings are considered a safety zone and employees trust that the norm is that they can contribute.”

HAVE A FLEXIBLE AGENDA

Often meetings follow the agenda too closely; it’s written for a reason, but it doesn’t have to be set in stone, says Battles. “When you have six things to cover, it’s tempting to close discussions too fast to get onto the next topic,” he says. “When you see momentum and energy building around one thing, stay with it, and get back to the others later.”

Override the agenda by being present and aware of what’s happening in your meeting, instead of just letting the meeting happen. “Meetings are meant to create discussion with real time interaction,” says Battles. “If not, an email would have been sufficient.”

CAPTURE THE “GOLD”

When attendees are engaged, capture the content was most interesting. Was it a topic, idea, or certain speaker? Take notes, but make sure to record actions.

“When you get to an animated state, identify next steps,” says Battles. “Do this before you move on to take advantage of the energy.”

From executive to staff meetings to team huddles, looking for those golden minutes creates a different perspective for the organizer and makes meetings at your company not so unbearable.

“Our days are often one meeting after another,” says Battles. “In each one, though, look for the great moment to take with you. Track those and use them to help participants engage with your content later.”

FastCompany.com | May 16, 2018 | BY STEPHANIE VOZZA 3 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : #WorkSmart – 5 Ways To Reset An #Unproductive Afternoon…One or Two Hours of Lost #Productivity Shouldn’t Ruin your Whole Workday. Here are Some Ideas to Reset your Brain & Start Fresh.

March 30, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

We live in a world surrounded by distractions. If you work in an open office, chances are, you have to fight them on a daily basis–whether it’s your coworker who talks loudly on the phone, or that little notification box at the bottom of your screen. Sometimes you’ve just had a rough morning, and doing anything productive feels like moving a mountain.

But just because you had an unproductive stint during your workday doesn’t mean that your entire afternoon is doomed. Take a deep breath and try one of these methods to get you back to work mode in no time.

1. DO SOMETHING TO DISCONNECT

If your work allows for flexible hours, one of the best things you can do is leave the office and do some sort of activity to recharge. Elizabeth Grace Saunders, in a previous article for Fast Company, recommends getting some exercise or running an errand so “you still have some personal time to recharge and get back to your desk refreshed and focused.” If it’s toward the end of the day (and you don’t have any after-work obligations), you might even want to come back when everyone is starting to leave, so that you can get your work done with minimal interruptions.

2. OUTSOURCE YOUR WORRIES

Sometimes, you’re distracted by your own thoughts, and no amount of decluttering can help your concentration. This feeling is even more crippling if you’re already feeling lonely, Lisa Evans previously wrote for Fast Company. An effective remedy is sharing your worries with someone. You can confide in a coworker you trust, or step outside to call a friend or family member. Edward Hallowell, a leading expert on attention-deficit disorder and author of Driven To Distraction At Work: How To Focus And Be More Productive, told Evans, “The minute you talk to someone, your feeling of vulnerability goes down.”

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3. THINK ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE

It’s easy to get bogged down in little to-dos when you have a long to-do list, but if lack of motivation is the reason why you’re distracted, you might want to turn your mind to your “role” priorities over your “task” priorities, Jane Porter previously wrote for Fast Company. This means thinking about whether the items on your to-do list move you forward in your role, or whether they’re merely admin time sucks like emails that probably bring out very little value (and don’t yield much results). When you can identify how your immediate tasks contribute to a much bigger goal, you’re more likely to want to make progress, which increases your motivation level, Porter wrote.

4. “OBSERVE” YOUR MIND WONDERING

Sometimes fighting distraction is a lost cause, and the best way to get your focus back is to let it happen and move on. When your lack of focus is due to lack of inspiration, this can be especially helpful. Shelley H. Carson, author of Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps To Maximize Imagination, Productivity And Innovation In Your Life, previously told Stephanie Vozza that being open to distraction “allows for the ability to take bits of information and combine them in novel ways that are useful or adaptive.” However, to reap the benefits, Carson said that we have to “look at them in a non-judgmental way.” Instead of beating yourself up about not being able to focus, embrace your busy thoughts and see what creative solutions it might bring.

5. DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A LITTLE BIT

Multitasking gets a terrible rep, but sometimes it can be a great tool when monotasking is just not getting you anywhere. As Saunders previously wrote for Fast Company, “Some situations just aren’t meant for long stretches of unbroken focus.” The trick is to experiment what form of task switching helps you best. For Saunders, task switching motivates her to work through small and boring tasks. She gives herself permission to toggle between writing business emails and looking at her calendar tasks, or she’d alternate these administrative tasks with more “exciting” work (such as book marketing). Saunders wrote, “The promise of soon being able to do something fun helps me quit procrastinating on what’s not fun.”

FastCompany.com | March 30, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 3 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : How I Learned To Worry Productively ….You’re Not Going to Stop Worrying, So you Might as Well Learn How to Make it Work for You.

March 20, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

We’re in a golden age of tracking: We track our steps, our sleep, our time on Facebook, and other sites we deem “productivity killers” (looking at you, Instagram). But one thing we still don’t track or think about much: the amount of time we spend worrying.

It makes sense–it’s not like a wrist tracker or Google Chrome extension could measure or sense the time we spend worrying about the future. But if we had something that could track our worry time? I know I’d probably end each day with the 10,000-step equivalent.

Congrats, you worried for a solid 3 hours total today!

We spend a lot of time worrying. A 2017 survey of 2,000 millennials showed that the average respondent spent the equivalent of 63 full days a year worried and stressed out. That’s like June and July–all lost to worry.

There are many reasons why we worry, but one of the main reasons is simply because we can. Unlike all other animals on the planet, we have the power to look into the future–with all its uncertainty and fuzziness–and reflect. And that stirs up the worry machine as we try to figure out what’s going to happen and how we’ll react.

It can feel productive, and studies show that we often believe worrying helps prevent negative outcomes or helps us find a better way of doing things.

But here’s the thing: Most of what we worry about never happens. A study from the University of Cincinnati showed that 85% of what we worry about never actually happens. And the 15% of things that do happen? The study showed we’re typically able to handle it better than expected or it teaches us an important lesson, according to the Huffington Post.

This paradox of worry–so all-consuming yet unproductive–is summed up best by Mark Twain, who famously said: “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”

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EASE THE WORRY

So, let’s all just stop worrying, okay?

Just kidding–I know firsthand it’s not that easy. I’ve been told to just “stop worrying” for years and, well, it just doesn’t happen like that. And reaching inbox zero with our worries is actually impossible. We’re wired to have some level of worry to protect ourselves–it’s why we look both ways before crossing the streets.

But the constant worrying about things that haven’t happened or things that aren’t even on the menu for the near future? We can take steps to curb overthinking.

Through trial and error, many late-night Google searches of “how to actually stop worrying,” and talking to other worry-inclined people, I’ve found a few techniques that help me ease worry and cut back on those 63 full days of dread.

Before we get into tips, it’s important to recognize that “worry” and “anxiety” are close friends but very different psychological states. Psychology Today offers a great breakdown of the differences. If you feel overwhelmed by your worries or in anxiety territory, it might be time to seek help from a professional. As someone who worries and has anxiety, I can’t recommend therapy enough.

But now, some tips for the casual worry wart:

TURN YOUR “WHAT IF” INTO “I CAN”

Even if we know most of our worries won’t come to fruition, it still can feel hard to let go of our “what if” scenarios. What can help: Refocusing from the “what if” to the “I can.” By that, I mean “I can problem solve” or “I can handle it.”

Dwelling on issues isn’t productive–but problem solving is. “Ask yourself what steps you can take to learn from a mistake or avoid a future problem,” Amy Morin, LCSW, a psychotherapist, explains in Psychology Today. “Ask yourself what you can do about it.”

But some slippery worries don’t come with a solution–they’re so far in the future, we can’t even take steps in the now. In those cases, it’s helpful to release a little control and focus on, “I can handle it.”

It’s a method that works for Joymarie Parker, 30, the cohost of the Joblogues podcast and a self-proclaimed worrier. Parker says when she switches from trying to control the future to trusting she can handle whatever comes, it helps her redirect her thoughts.

“When you can release the need for things to happen one way and accept however they happen, you’ll thrive and you’ll survive in that,” Parker says. “I like to think, ‘This can go really well or not so well, but I’m okay with both of those outcomes.’ And a lot of times when we worry, it turns out to be nothing or it was manageable. Whatever happens, we always come out of it on the other side.”

SET A TIME TO WORRY

Setting a designated time to worry can help you cut back on overthinking and recognize how much time you give those might-happen-but-probably-won’t-but-here’s-what-I’d-do-if-it-did thoughts. It’s a great way to ease into cutting back on worrying without forcing yourself to go cold turkey.

“Stewing on problems for long periods of time isn’t productive, but brief reflection can be helpful,” Morin explains.

Morin recommends setting aside 20 minutes of “thinking time” each day. “During this time, let yourself worry, ruminate, or mull over whatever you want,” she writes. “Then, when the time is up, move onto something more productive.”

I’ve found having a confined time to worry makes me prioritize my worries. It helps me weed out the highly irrational (What if I broke my leg tomorrow?) and focus on the worries that I can act on (What if I don’t finish that project by tomorrow?).

A set time to think also helps me stay “worry-lite” throughout the rest of the day. If a worry pops up outside of my scheduled time, I swipe it aside like a bad push notification and tell myself to “revisit during thinking time.” And when I do get to my thinking time? Half the time I find myself forgetting what nagged at me earlier in the day–another cue it wasn’t important to begin with.

CALL YOUR WORRIES OUT

Like I said earlier, we tend to love tracking our habits and finding ways to optimize our time. But worrying essentially goes against that goal to get more done in less time. Reminding myself of how unproductive it is to worry actually helps me calm it down.

As much as it can feel like worry is motivating me, or it shows that I care about something, I know 99% of the time it’s stopping me from actually living my life. When a worry pops up, I like to challenge it with a “Is this useful?” It helps me connect back to the present me–the “me” who actually has things to do and people to see–and it helps me dismiss the worries that don’t serve me.

I’ve accepted that I’ll never “stop worrying”–I’m a proud worry wart for life. But like my FitBit shows me how much time I spend sitting, noticing my worries helps me see the time I lose to irrational “what ifs.” Now, I’m starting to reclaim that time.

This piece originally appeared on Shine and is reprinted with permission. Shine Text is a free, daily motivational text service. To sign up, text “SHINE” to 759-85 or go to www.shinetext.com to learn more.

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FastCompany.com | March 20, 2018 | BY HALEY GOLDBERG—SHINE 6 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : 6 Things #SuccessfulPeople Do When they Return From a Long Weekend… An Extra Day Off Makes Snapping Out of Weekend Mode that Much Harder.

February 19, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

• Some people across the US received some extra time off thanks to Presidents’ Day.

• Business Insider spoke with several productivity and work experts to get tips on how to bounce back from a long weekend.

• They recommended hitting the ground running on your first day back.

Some people around the US receive an extra day off for Presidents’ Day to commemorate the individuals who have served in the White House over the centuries.

There’s a lot to be said about how you should— or shouldn’t— spend long weekends. But it’s equally important to plan out the days that follow a long weekend.

When you’re coming back from some time off and you have a shorter week to get everything done, it usually helps to hit the ground running.

With that in mind, here are six things that successful people do first when they return from long weekend:

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They get to work early

When it comes to some holidays, almost everyone has time off. So you won’t be falling behind by showing up to work at your usual time.

But coming in early is a good idea if you want to be as productive as possible after a holiday weekend.

“That will mitigate the workload avalanche and give you a head start, sans distraction,” Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job,” tells Business Insider.

They scrutinize their to-do lists

Productive people know that long, unwieldy to-do lists are essentially useless. There’s no better time to start cutting items from your list than the day you get back from long weekend.

“Now that you’ve spent a good bit away from your desk, you have tangible proof that those tasks you’re always putting off aren’t holding up your ceiling,” freelance reporter Kevin Purdy writes in Fast Company.

They double check their schedules

Don’t forget to double check your schedule. Remember, you’ll likely be dealing with a shortened work week. Don’t try to cram too many items onto your weekly schedule, or you might wind up burning yourself out.

They check in with people

If you’re back from a national holiday, odds are most of your coworkers and clients will be in the same boat as you.

Still, it’s not a bad idea to check in.

“Take the time to connect with one or two clients to let them know they’re top of mind with you and that you’re back if they need anything,” Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “The Humor Advantage,” tells Business Insider. “It’s a simple customer service touch point that can make a big impression.”

What’s more, if the long weekend ate up a Monday — a popular day for meetings— schedule in some time for your team and direct reports to meet up, even if it’s just for a few minutes. You want to make sure everyone’s on the same page now that you’re all back in the office.

They organize their inbox

Beware of spending too much time responding to the emails you missed over the weekend.

“It’s easy to get sucked into the vortex of responding to every email without considering whether it’s the best use of your time on the first day back,” Kerr says. “Don’t confuse email activity with productive work, so be strategic and only respond to email that are time sensitive.”

They focus on work

It’s important to be able to shut off your “work brain” over long weekends. You want to enjoy your time off, after all.

It’s equally important to snap back into a work-oriented mindset when you return to the office. Successful people are able to make the switch and avoid any unproductive post-long weekend dillydallying.

DON’T MISS: 11 things unsuccessful people do over long weekends

#Leadership : Here’s What I Learned About Myself When I Tracked Every Hour Of My Day… I Do a Full Day’s Work, but it Turns Out I’m Wasting more Time on #SocialMedia (and not getting enough sleep) than I Thought.

January 24, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Over the holidays I spoke with a friend who had just finished an interesting experiment: She spent a few weeks writing down the amount of time she spent daily doing both productive and unproductive things. At the end of her experiment, she was shocked to find how much time she was actually wasting on things like “quickly” checking social media. I was inspired to undertake the same experiment to see if I’m really as productive as I think, or if I’m wasting time.

So I decided to track everything I did every day for one workweek. My method was simple: I jotted down on paper how much time I had spent doing various tasks as soon as I finished them. I did not look at these times until the end of the week, as I didn’t want to influence a change in my behavior as I was doing this experiment. At the end of the week, I slotted all the events into the categories below, and then added up the times for each day, and then the entire week.

The amount of time listed below are the daily averages for the entire workweek.

DOING ACTUAL WORK: 8.5 HOURS A DAY

Might as well start off with my strengths. I was relieved to find I don’t appear to be a slacker. I work from home, and I spend 8.5 hours of my day, on average, doing actual work. In my case, this mostly involves writing. But as a journalist, a lot of my work doesn’t just involve the physical act of writing. I’m in one of the few occupations that can say browsing the web and social media for research is actually part of my duties.

My 8.5-hour workday involved five hours of writing and 3.5 hours doing work-related research online. That’s not bad, but sadly, the time I spend on social media doesn’t end with my workday.

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WALKING: 3 HOURS A DAY

I take three one-hour walks a day: one before work, one halfway through my workday, and then one later at night. While I do take these walks for health-related purposes, I also take them for work-related purposes. There’s just something about walking that helps spur my creativity to generate words and ideas for new stories–something studies support.

RUNNING ERRANDS: 1 HOUR A DAY

On average, I found I spend about an hour a day doing errands. This can include things like managing finances and invoices, doing laundry, and cleaning the house. I actually thought the amount of time I spent on errands would be higher, but technology means that I don’t have to waste time doing things like running to the bank.

COOKING/EATING: 1 HOUR A DAY

My average time spent both cooking and eating during a workday is only one hour. I eat three meals a day, and considering each meal takes me about 10 minutes to make, that means I only spend 10 minutes per meal actually eating my food. Yep, I scarf my food down fast–something that isn’t good for you. I should, in fact, be spending 20 minutes enjoying each meal (not counting the 10-minute prep time each meal takes).

INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: 2.5 HOURS

I found that I waste a whopping 2.5 hours of every workday playing around on social media and browsing the web just because it’s there. Sadly, that’s actually more than most people across the world do. The global average is closer to 2.25 hours. Further, considering I already spend 3.5 hours of my workday on the internet and social media sites doing work-related tasks, this is a horrible metric for me. Since staring at a screen and spending a lot of time on social media may actually be detrimental to our mental health, this is one area my findings say I need to reallocate time from to other more important areas of my life (like taking the time to enjoy meals).

RELAXING: 2 HOURS A DAY

This category includes things like reading a physical book, meeting a friend for a coffee, and watching television. These two hours of downtime usually always come before I go to bed for the night and, unlike wasting time browsing people’s pictures of food on Instagram, actually have a beneficial effect on our well-being.

SLEEP: 6 HOURS A DAY

Finally, we get to sleep. That critical state our bodies require every night. During a workweek I found I averaged about six hours a night. That’s not bad–but still less than the 7-9 hours most experts recommend.

Related: The Perils Of Time Tracking

SO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL TELL ME?

Overall, my unscientific experiment shows I’m generally a productive guy when it comes to my professional work (a good thing, since I write about productivity so much). However, I found I am wasting more time than I thought. Had you asked me before my experiment how much time I spent on social media and the web outside of work, I would have guessed maybe 30 to 60 minutes a day. The fact is, it is fives times that lower figure: All those “quick” checks of my social media apps add up to a lot of time over the course of the day.

My experiment also revealed that I need to spend more time enjoying my meals instead of scarfing them down, and that I should probably get at least an extra hour of sleep each night. Where could I find the extra, say, two hours, for that? You guessed it: from the time I spend wasting on social media.

So for me, it’s time to make a change. After all, the clock’s ticking.

FastCompany.com | January 24, 2018

#Leadership : 12 Ways to Automate #YourBusiness & Boost Efficiency…With the Right Systems, You can Maximize #Efficiency & #Profits.

January 15, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Too often, repetition, waste, and unnecessary bureaucracy slow down business. Members of The Oracles share their systems to streamline your business to run like a Swiss watch.

Patrick Byrne

Image credit: The Oracles

1. Implement AI and machine learning.

It’s now possible to convert your business metrics into data points and then turn those data points over to an artificial intelligence engine that optimizes many things like price and digital marketing spend. Getting familiar with artificial intelligence and machine learning is crucial.

Get your company on the Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. Google Cloud has built-in tools for automation and you’ll automatically get the latest advancements as Google regularly updates it. Microsoft Azure is coming along right behind them and is priced competitively. With the right machine-learning tools, you can achieve maximum efficiency and turbocharge your business. —Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com and tZERO

Grant Cardone

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2. Create both a sales cycle and business cycle.

A sales cycle starts when a customer shows interest and ends when they buy. With a business cycle, you market and drive people toward your product or service. Most people don’t have the money to establish a business cycle when starting out. Big corporations live in the business cycle. They spend money creating traffic. To automate, you need a business cycle that gets constant eyeballs on your business. —Grant Cardone, top sales expert who has built a $500-million real estate empire, and NYT-bestselling author; follow Grant onFacebook or YouTube

Creative Ways to Delight Your Customers and Make Them Loyal to Your Brand

By Staples

Tim Draper

Image credit: The Oracles

3. Look for repetition.

To find missed automation opportunities, I get my team together to discuss what we’re doing that is repetitive. Then, we look for an automated solution that can perform the task as well or better, while delivering exceptional service. We’ve had great success in taking menial tasks like sorting and responding to emails and automating them. This enhanced rather than harmed the customer experience. —Tim Draper, VC, founder of Draper Associates and DFJ

Rob Kosberg

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4. Make it simple and repeatable.

Automation does not need to be complicated to be effective. A complicated system requires more maintenance and is vulnerable to breaking. Each day, people apply to our program and book a call with one of our author development coaches. Our author liaison matches the applications with appointments, so calls are distributed fairly, and appointments are booked quickly. —Rob Kosberg, #1 bestselling author and CEO of Best Seller Publishing, whose strategies have positioned U.S. Ambassadors, professional athletes, and CEOs as thought leaders

Tai Lopez

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5. Have a nuclear team, plus ninja contractors.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, said, “The best management style is not to micromanage or be completely hands-off; it’s to look over the shoulder.”

No one does everything well so I hire a fleet of super-specialized “ninja contractors” for specific tasks like social media, email marketing, and copywriting. Meanwhile, my small team of full-time team manages everything else, with me looking over their shoulder.

Automation means building the most efficient team around you. By outsourcing specific tasks to contractors, you cut costs. And since you’re not their only income source, they don’t drag things out. —Tai Lopez, investor and advisor to multiple multimillion-dollar businesses, who has built an eight-figure online empire; connect with Tai on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube

Jared Goetz

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6. Only work 20 minutes a day.

I set my e-commerce business up so I only need to contribute 20 minutes per day to keep things running. At first, I ran everything, then gradually replaced myself. My obstacle was trusting other people to do my job. But when you invest time and money into others, they often become even better than you!

It’s essential to train new people and create standard operating procedures, so your team knows how to handle problems. For my first customer support agent, I copied all my email threads into a document. At that point, I’d answered every question a customer could have, so when an inquiry came in, she knew exactly how to respond. —Jared Goetz, serial entrepreneur and e-commerce expert; co-founder of four multimillion-dollar companies in five years

Com Mirza

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7. Work on your business, not in it.

You can’t escape the launch work when starting a business. It demands attention, effort, and late nights. After launching, extract yourself from the daily operations to work on your business, not in it.

Ask yourself what your time is worth. Anything below your pay grade — that can be done cheaper, better, or faster — should be outsourced. Create a weekly reporting structure, and monitor it three times a week to hold your team accountable. This will free up more time to work on growth. —Com Mirza, “The $500 Million Man” and CEO of Mirza Holdings; failed in eight companies back to back and today, runs a nine-figure empire with over 600 employees

LeNae Goolsby

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8. Empower, educate, and outsource.

Having a team that takes ownership of your business is paramount. Set clear policies and procedures, and encourage their input. Educate your team by providing supportive, ongoing mentorship coupled with knowledge assessments via the Socratic method (which focuses on asking questions instead of providing answers).

Then, outsource the necessities with trusted experts in areas like marketing, sales, billing, collections, bookkeeping, and incoming calls. This keeps the business running. —LeNae Goolsby, cofounder of Infinite Health and founder of Empowered Medicine TV

Joshua Harris

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9. Streamline task management and communication.

We use Slack and Trello to centralize communications and tasks so nothing slips through the cracks.

With that in place, create defined roles so a virtual assistant can route tasks to the appropriate team member. Tools like ScheduleOnce can automate appointments.

When making systems for employees, I use a two-step process: film yourself doing a task with a tool like Loom, then break that video down into a checklist of steps. —Joshua Harris, founder of Agency Growth Secrets; teaches entrepreneurs how to use machine learning and AI to produce unbeatable client results

Danny Morel

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10. Commit to a five-step plan.

One, learn everything yourself. Learn the ins and outs of the most critical positions so you can replace yourself. Two, don’t spend company money. Pay yourself a salary and only spend that. Three, know your weakness. Hiring a COO was the smartest investment I ever made. He took my weakness (documenting procedures) and made it a strength of our organization. Four, know the mental makeup that every position requires and hire for that. Five, let it go! There are people much better than you at a particular function in your business. Trust them to do their job. —Danny Morel, author of “The Resilience Roadmap” and founder of M.PIRE university; connect with Danny on Facebook and Instagram

Ken Lebovic

Image credit: The Oracles

11. Be patient, with a human touch.

Unless your new business is an app, most businesses require personal attention and a “human touch” to start. A new business can’t be automated out of the box.

Be patient. Take the time to make sure your business is working smoothly, and keep bringing a personal, human touch as you grow. Over time, figure a way to automate just those areas of your business that won’t affect the customer getting excellent service.

You don’t want to lose a first-time customer in a new business by not having your process personally tailored to their experience. —Ken Lebovic, president of North Shore Holdings; built a real estate empire acquiring thousands of properties in 20 years

Sharran Srivatsaa

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12. Commit to delivering consistent delight.

When I first met Issy Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotels, he told me something that stuck with me: “Systematize the predictable. Humanize the exceptional.”

I force one particular question regularly upon all the entrepreneurs that I mentor: “How can you create once and delight many times?” High-achiever personalities feel like they need to be intimately involved with every touchpoint with clients to delight. This is a fallacy and operationally frustrating.

Email automation is one of the simplest ways to automate “humanly.” I’ve used platforms like Emma and ConvertKit to deliver “sequences” of pre-written emails that don’t take away authenticity and consistently deliver delight. —Sharran Srivatsaa, angel investor and president of brokerage (western region) at Douglas Elliman; grew Teles Properties10X in five years

Thanks to reader Nathaniel Amanor for this topic suggestion!

Want to share your insights like those above in a future column? If you’re an experienced entrepreneur, please get in touch here.

Want to suggest a future topic for these entrepreneurs to answer? Email suggestion@theoracles.com and it’s very possible we’ll make your suggestion the focus of a future article!

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Entrepreneur.com

#Leadership : How Inefficient Processes Are Hurting Your Company…Siloed, Difficult-to-Use Business Systems Complicate Processes and Hamper Operations. Is This True of your Organization?

December 8, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Companies today are burdened by siloed, difficult-to-use business systems that complicate processes and hamper operations. According to market research firm IDC, companies lose 20 to 30 percent in revenue every year due to inefficiencies.

And yet, many companies continue to “make do” with their current applications and systems even though those may not be the right solutions. Unfortunately, companies will often repurpose one of these systems for a task which has a plausible functionality for the project — imagine using a flashlight to crack open a walnut — but is still not the right tool for the job.

Sooner or later, that misapplication is likely to cause a problem.

The consequences for using antiquated business process solutions or, gulp, no solutions at all, can be multi-faceted and ultimately damaging to a company’s bottom line.

Here are six common pitfalls that plague companies in nearly every industry due to inefficient or siloed business processes.

1. The silos themselves

Regardless of what industry you are in, or the type of customers you serve, the challenge of managing process flow and operations across diverse platforms and systems is universal. Combining tedious manual tasks with the reliance that company departments have on a smooth daily workflow makes it virtually impossible to maintain any kind of competitive advantage. Yet, this is how most companies operate.

There have been studies done on the effect siloing has on efficiency within certain industries. And the general conclusion has been that silos eat up a huge amount of resources, particularly in terms of interdepartmental cohesiveness. One noteworthy example referenced by author Gillian Tett in her book, The Silo Effect was Sony, whose successful PlayStation department jealously guarded its independence, even as the company’s then-new CEO, Howard Stringer, tried to break down silos.

As a result, Sony failed to capitalize on a series of technology shifts — such as the iPod and the rise of digital music devices — that at the time it was in a good position to dominate.

The fix. One of the ways companies can successfully break down work silos is to provide mechanisms to achieve transparency and openness. Companies may want to consider a “single system of record” to achieve transparency, streamline communications and manage performance.

A number of companies have built highly successful systems of record: Salesforce, in the sales function, Intuit in finance and Workday, in human resources are notable ones. Systems of record are typically the backbone of core business processes. Without a solution that keeps everyone and everything connected, an organization is vulnerable to the common issues that plague distributed teams.

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2. Poor systems integration

The growth of automation has led to more systems and solutions being in place than ever before, each requiring a set of processes to enable its successful use. According to an IDC survey, The Document Disconnect, over 80 percent of business leaders surveyed from sales, HR, procurement and other departments agreed that problems “arise because they have different internal systems/applications that don’t ‘talk’ to each other,” while 43 percent of workers surveyed said they often have to copy/paste or rekey in information.

Without a standardized solution, such as a SaaS platform that streamlines processes, employees are forced to continuously shift between disparate sources of information, resulting in productivity issues and even greater employee churn.

One major Fortune 500 automotive company cited in the report uses Sharepoint for document repository, Lync for collaboration, two separate document management systems and email for collaborating on critical business processes, such as managing supplies for a new product development initiative. Each process flow lives in a disparate system.

Those processes, in turn, help close the gaps between companies and their customers. And that leads to a more positive bottom line.

3. Bottlenecks

Just because a process has been executed one way for a long time doesn’t necessarily make it the best option. Often, companies will overlook sources of process slowdowns because of their lack of visibility and inability to understand the impact of a bottleneck.

These bottlenecks are sometimes the result of not adapting to new technologies — or “gatekeepers” demanding control over a specific phase of a process.

Regardless of the reason, process hurdles can cause major slowdowns, with far-reaching financial impacts.

General Electric reported that just a 1 percent improvement in oil recovery was worth 80 billion additional barrels per year — the equivalent of billions of dollars in additional revenue. Another GE finding: Avoiding just one day of down-time on an offshore platform can prevent $7 million per day in lost production.

The fix. Adapting to new technologies and being open to new solutions is the best way to improve processes. Be aware of a process that seems to be slowing down your business and actively pursue a way to improve it.

4. Redundancy

Another common problem for companies of all sizes is process duplication. Repeating steps dilutes the quality of a process and confuses those who execute the steps. This is commonly seen when there is a lack of departmental collaboration, or processes have been adapted in a less-than-systematic way.

The fix. Improving departmental collaboration can bring major benefits. One Fortune 50 consumer-package goods company was able to manage and improve its process flow by eliminating non-value-added activities. These included wasted time, wasted movement, wasted inventory due to overproduction, customer delays, waits for approvals, delays due to batching of work, unnecessary steps, duplication of effort and errors and rework.

5. Lack of insights

Even when companies have the right business intelligence information available, it may be inaccessible or erroneously reported due to a lack of real-time data. Leaders who don’t have the most relevant insights at their fingertips are less likely to make smart choices.

If a leader or sponsor doesn’t know exactly how you’re progressing (for example, where in the given initiative tasks are stalled, how cycle times are being impacted, whether the time line is being adhered to or whether a task is in the red or the black), it’s difficult to competently prioritize activities.

The fix. Oil and gas companies are an example of what can be gained by using real-time data analysis. They generate massive volumes of data from wells and sensors on their equipment and other assets they have already deployed. Concurrently, drillers and maintenance staff add to this volume by documenting their observations and the issues that concern them.

However, this potentially valuable data is often inaccessible or difficult to analyze because it’s in a text format or locked away in data silos.

6. Loss of operational performance

Without a complete understanding of all components of their business, executives lose the ability to identify critical weaknesses and plan for predictable growth. Simply put, they cannot remain reactive to operational vulnerabilities or mitigate the complexities of running a business in a global economy.

Ultimately, a lack of process visibility leads to the assumption of greater risk, a loss of stakeholder trust and less positive growth.

The fix. Processes that digitally connect suppliers, customers and assets are creating unique and unheralded efficiencies and customer value. From connecting machines on the shop floor to connecting data from different asset vendors, operations in the new digital economy entail using information to inspire new processes.

Those processes, in turn, help close the gaps between companies and their customers. And that leads to a more positive bottom line.

Entrepreneur.com | December 8, 2016 | NICK CANDITO

Posts

1.PRIORITIZE WHAT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

2. CREATE A PRODUCTIVE AMBIENCE

3. CHANGE UP THE SCENERY

4. LIMIT DISTRACTIONS (SOCIAL MEDIA IN PARTICULAR)

5. CHECK IN WITH AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY

START WITH AN INVENTORY

PLAN YOUR DAY

MINUTES DRIVE RESULTS

SET YOURSELF UP FOR CONCENTRATION SUCCESS

READ PHYSICAL MEDIA WITH A WHITE INDEX CARD

ADAPT THE WHITE INDEX CARD TRICK TO ON-SCREEN TEXT

STOP “WORD-FOR-WORD” READING

LOOK FOR VERBAL AND NONVERBAL CUES

MAKE SURE TO CREATE A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

HAVE A FLEXIBLE AGENDA

CAPTURE THE “GOLD”

1. DO SOMETHING TO DISCONNECT

2. OUTSOURCE YOUR WORRIES

3. THINK ABOUT THE BIGGER PICTURE

4. “OBSERVE” YOUR MIND WONDERING

5. DO SOMETHING ELSE FOR A LITTLE BIT

EASE THE WORRY

TURN YOUR “WHAT IF” INTO “I CAN”

SET A TIME TO WORRY

CALL YOUR WORRIES OUT

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They get to work early

They scrutinize their to-do lists

They double check their schedules

They check in with people

They organize their inbox

They focus on work

DON’T MISS: 11 things unsuccessful people do over long weekends

SEE ALSO: 8 things successful people do after getting back from vacation

DOING ACTUAL WORK: 8.5 HOURS A DAY

WALKING: 3 HOURS A DAY

RUNNING ERRANDS: 1 HOUR A DAY

COOKING/EATING: 1 HOUR A DAY

INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: 2.5 HOURS

RELAXING: 2 HOURS A DAY

SLEEP: 6 HOURS A DAY

SO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL TELL ME?

1. Implement AI and machine learning.

2. Create both a sales cycle and business cycle.

3. Look for repetition.

4. Make it simple and repeatable.

5. Have a nuclear team, plus ninja contractors.

6. Only work 20 minutes a day.

7. Work on your business, not in it.

8. Empower, educate, and outsource.

9. Streamline task management and communication.

10. Commit to a five-step plan.

11. Be patient, with a human touch.

12. Commit to delivering consistent delight.

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1. The silos themselves

2. Poor systems integration

3. Bottlenecks

4. Redundancy

5. Lack of insights

6. Loss of operational performance