Life-Work Hacks
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Have you ever noticed that the times when you really need to focus are the times when it’s toughest?
On days when you have far too much to do — an overflowing inbox, meetings to prepare for, chores to complete — it’s easy to end up darting from one task to the next, never making any real headway.
When you’ve got a lot to juggle, you need a battle plan. Here’s what to do:
- Write a List
It’s impossible to focus when you’re constantly thinking “I mustn’t forget to send that email” or “I need to call John.” Write down everything that needs to get done today. Your list doesn’t have to be complex, and you don’t need to worry about sorting it at this stage.
Some people like to keep their work and personal lists separate; it’s up to you how you do that. If something’s on your mind, though, make sure you record it somewhere — even little things like “buy milk on the way home” can drag down your mental energy. - Decide on Priorities
Once you’ve got your list, it’s time to figure out what order to tackle your tasks in for today. First, look for anything that can be delegated or postponed: pare your list down as much as possible.
Next, work out what you want to do first. It’s up to you how you prioritize; normally, it makes sense to tackle the more important and urgent tasks first, but you may prefer to go for a few quick wins in the first half-hour of the day to build up a sense of momentum.
Put some sort of mark against your first, second, and third tasks. (I use one, two and three asterisks; you might prefer numbers, or colors.) That way, you can relax and get on with your tasks in order, knowing that you’re dealing with things efficiently, and that you’ll be able to get all the important stuff done. - Resist the Urge to Multi-Task
However tempting it is to have your emails open in one window while you reply to Tweets in another and edit that document in a third … don’t. You can’t focus on several things all at the same time, and you’ll end up making silly mistakes or forgetting to finish part of a task.
Tackle things one by one. That might mean:- Setting a timer while you work on the report for 30 minutes
- Dealing with your emails as a batch, perhaps every few hours, not as they come in
- Closing social media programs until your lunch break (if they’re part of your work, treat them like your emails)
- Work Steadily, Take Breaks
None of us can focus for hours at a time — but when we’re busy, we often try to. This just leads to slowed progress, mistakes, and procrastination. (You know the kind of thing; you tell yourself you’ll just check Facebook quickly while waiting for a file to download, then you end up clicking on links, leaving comments, sending happy birthday messages…)
To stop yourself procrastinating, plan for regular breaks. Work for, say, 45 minutes on your report, then take a 5 or 10 minute break to stretch your legs and grab a glass of water. When you know you’ve got a break coming up, it’s a lot easier to stay focused.
Hopefully, your too-busy-to-think days don’t come up too often. If you seem to be in a constant pattern of rushing around, juggling more tasks than you can manage, then look for ways to make changes. That might mean learning some better time management skills, or talking to your manager about your workload.
 | Written on 5/12/2012 by Ali Luke. Ali is a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a writing coach. She blogs about writing on her site, Aliventures.com, and has a free ebook "How to Find Time For Your Writing" available when you join her writing newsletter here. |
Triathlons can be intimidating.
The mere mention of one conjures up images of genetically perfect athletes speeding through race segments so fast that they're blurry. Fortunately, you don't have to be a genetic freak in order to be able to run your first triathlon. A sprint distance triathlon is typically only a 400-600m swim, a 12.4 mile bike and a 5k run and is one of the fastest growing sports in North America.
If you decide to race a triathlon, you can run your first sprint distance triathlon in about 3 months of training and as it turns out, triathlons aren't as intimidating as they sound.
- You Don't Need A Wetsuit For Your First RaceYou don't need a wetsuit for your first race. Not only is it an expensive piece of equipment that can take a while to get use to swimming in, a lot of times they're not even allowed! If the water temperature is above 84 degrees Fahrenheit you won't be allowed to wear the wetsuit and compete for awards. If you don't have a wetsuit, don't worry that much about it - lots of people race without one. Once you run one or two races and have them under your belt, you can look at renting or even buying a wetsuit - but it's not a "must-have" for your first race.
- When You're In The Water Just RelaxEveryone is always nervous about the swim. When you’re in the water, waiting for the race gun to go off, it can be really, really tempting to get pumped up, overstressed spend all your energy thinking about the race. The swim is consistently the most feared leg for new triathletes without a swim background.
It's okay. Relax. Stay loose and don’t go too hard right out of the gate. If you have a lot of people around you kicking and splashing, breathe and go at your own pace - one that's quick, but (more importantly) sustainable. It's way too common for people to freeze up and panic during the swim. If you ever feel rushed, panicked or tired, simply stop, tread water, hold on to a buoy or a boat if you have to and take deep breaths until you calm down. - Keep Your Nutrition SimpleNutrition for triathlon can get really complicated, really fast - if you let it. However, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. Simply eating well will cut out half the complexity of a nutrition regimen. Eliminating processed foods and choosing to eat real food and choosing water instead of sodas, and alcohol will help get your body get used to digesting real nutrients and utilizing your energy resources efficiently. It sounds really simple and it is. In fact, if you do this, you don’t have to worry about carbo-loading or any other nutrition hacks for your first sprint distance triathlon.
- Follow A Training ProgramA triathlon training program is immensely helpful to helping you get started doing your first race. Besides actually getting you physically ready for a race, a training program lays out a road map to show you where to start your training and how to finish based on your training level. It’s much easier to focus on a 30 minute workout you have to do today than it is to think about the triathlon you have to run in just 90 days. Not only does a training plan make things less intimidating but it also guides you from your current fitness level across the fitness line.
- Practice Brick WorkoutsIf you’ve practiced swim, bike and run workouts and think that’s all there is to a triathlon, you’d be wrong. You’ll want to practice brick workouts before your first race.
Brick workouts are when you practice two disciplines back to back. The most common brick is the bike and the run. you’ll do your bike workout and then get off, change shoes if you need to, and do your run
The first time you’ll do this, your legs will feel like lead. That’s why they’re called brick workouts. After practicing this a couple times through, your legs will start to get the hang of it and your mind will get used to the fact that the first quarter or half mile of running is just going to be tough. - Your Bike Doesn't Matter Until It MattersYou really don't need a nice bike to get started racing. Too many new triathletes go out and buy a $5,000 bike, do one race with it and then let it collect dust in the garage. You can get a bike for $150 off Craigslist or borrow one to get started. It really doesn't matter what type of bike you start out, with one exception. Don't use a mountain bike. You might not realize it now, but a mountain bike is significantly slower and harder to pedal than a road bike. The frame of the bike is less comfortable for long distances, the overall bike is much heavier and the wheel is much smaller and wider, which means you go less distance every time you pedal and each of those pedal strokes harder. If you're like me, you might not full grasp the difference of this until you race your first triathlon on a mountain bike. Never again. Beg, borrow or steal a road bike if you can.
- Start NowTriathlon season is coming up. You’ll see the bulk of triathlons happening from May to late September. If you can exercise for just 15 minutes right now, you can train to do a triathlon in about 3 months. If you start now, you’ll be ready for early summer races and (if you enjoy your first triathlon), you’ll have a couple of months to do your second as well.
On the fence, why not sign up for a triathlon today and run your first triathlon in 3 months.
 | Written on 5/7/2012 by Joel Runyon. Joel writes about triathlons and other impossible things at the Blog of Impossible Things and Impossible HQ. He recently released Impossible TRI: a triathlon guide for running your first triathlon in 3 months. |
Over the past week, two people have – independently – thanked me for simply doing what I said I’d do.
In a perfect world, we’d take it for granted that people would actually come through on their promises and commitments. But in the real world, it’s the sad truth that many people – in business and in their personal lives – don’t always put their words into action.
You probably know a few people who always talk big, but never come through for you. Perhaps they promise to help out, and let you down at the last minute. Maybe they’re constantly running late. And, over time, you realize that this is just a habit with them: you can’t rely on them to do what they’ve said they’ll do.
Of course, none of us are perfect. I know I’ve had times when I had to reluctantly back out of a commitment, and I expect you have too. Stuff comes up. Problems happen. But you want to do everything you can to be a man or woman of your word.
Here’s how:
- Don’t Over-CommitThe easiest way to avoid flaking out on commitments is to make sure you don’t take on too much in the first place.
This means learning to say “no” – not just to other people, but also to yourself. Opportunities will come your way constantly, and you need to be choosy about which ones you latch onto. Think of these opportunities as items on a restaurant menu: sure, you might be keen on half a dozen of the entrees, but that doesn’t mean you’d order them all at once. - Don’t Back Out at the Last MinuteIf you do end up over-committing, and you think you won’t be able to stick to what you’ve agreed to, then let people know as far in advance as possible.
Let’s say you’ve said you’ll help your friend John to move his stuff to a new apartment one Saturday … and you’ve also agreed to take on overtime that week to help out in the office. You might realize that you’re going to be exhausted by Saturday, and that the last thing you’ll want to do is to help John.
Don’t put off a decision until Saturday morning, then cry off. Instead, let John know in advance. You might want to change your commitment (“I can help in the afternoon, but not in the morning”) rather than backing out completely. - Don’t Be DisorganizedSometimes, people have great intentions, but live in such a state of confusion and disorganization that there’s no hope of them ever following through.
Mistakes do happen – but it’s hugely embarrassing to forget completely about a commitment that you’ve made, only to get a phone call asking if your colleagues (or fellow volunteers) should continue waiting for you before they start the meeting.
Make sure your diary or calendar system is easy and intuitive for you to use, and that it flags up reminders at appropriate points. When you make new commitments, ensure you record them somewhere: don’t rely on your memory alone. - Don’t Be LateIt might seem like a small thing, but being punctual shows your respect for other people’s time.
If you constantly seem to be running late, then look at what’s going wrong. Are you over-optimistic about travel times, only to get stuck in traffic? Are you prone to getting wrapped up in your work, to the point where you always leave late? Are you simply so busy that it seems impossible to keep on top of everything? Do other meetings always overrun, with a knock-on effect?
When possible, arrive early for meetings, appointments, and similar. Take a book with you, so you’ve got something to read if you have to wait around. If you find that meetings keep overrunning, then build in extra buffer time between one meeting and the next.
Like I said before, none of us are perfect – we’ve all over-committed at times, or just plain forgotten to do something that we’d agreed to. And sometimes emergencies crop up. But if you make a sincere, consistent effort to do what you’ve said you’ll do, you’ll find that you’re seen as someone reliable and trustworthy – the sort of person who bosses love to promote and who clients love to work with.
If you’ve got any tips to share on this, just leave a comment below.
| Written on 5/7/2012 by Ali Luke. Ali is a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a writing coach. She blogs about writing on her site, Aliventures.com, and has a free ebook "How to Find Time For Your Writing" available when you join her writing newsletter here. |
Benjamin Franklin was a man of action. Over his lifetime, his curiosity and passion fueled a diverse range of interests. He was a writer (often using a pseudonym), publisher, diplomat, inventor and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
His inventions included the lightning rod, bifocals and the Franklin stove. Franklin was responsible for establishing the first public library, organizing fire fighters in Philadelphia, was one of the early supporters of mutual insurance and crossed the Atlantic eight times. Self-development was a constant endeavor throughout his incredible life.
Benjamin Franklin was clearly a man who knew how to get things done.
- Less Talk, More Action
“Well done is better than well said.”
Talk is cheap. Talking about a project won't get it completed. We all know people who constantly talk about the things they are going to do but rarely ever take that first step. Eventually people begin to question their credibility. Taking action and seeing the task through to completion is the only way to get the job done. - Don’t Procrastinate
“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
This is probably one of the first quotes I remember hearing as a teenager. With an impressive list of achievements to his credit, Benjamin Franklin was not a man hung up on procrastination. He was a man with clear measurable goals who worked hard to turn his vision into reality. What are you putting off till tomorrow that could make a difference in your life today? - Be Prepared
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
You need a plan to accomplish your goals. Charging in without giving any thought to the end result and how to achieve it, is a sure way to fall flat on your face. Think like a boy scout. Have a realistic plan of attack and a systematic approach for getting where you need to be. - Don’t Fight Change
“When you're finished changing, you're finished.”
Whilst many of us don’t like change, others thrive on it. Either way change is inevitable. The stronger we fight against it, the more time and energy it consumes. Give up the fight. Focus on proactively making positive changes, instead of having change merely thrust upon you. Wherever possible, try to view change as a positive instead of a negative. - Get Moving
“All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.”
There’s a reason we use the expression, movers and shakers. Movers are the ones who take action, the people who get things done, while the immovable are sitting around scratching their heads wondering how others could possibly be so successful. Which group do you want to belong to? - Avoid Busywork
“Never confuse motion with action.”
We are always running around doing things. We rush from one meeting or event to the next, sometimes without achieving a great deal. At the end of the day, how much of our busywork are we proud of? How much of that running around improves anyone’s life (including ours) for the better? Make your motion mean something. - Give Yourself Permission to Make Mistakes
“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”
If we fear making mistakes, we become scared to try new things. Fear leaves us nestled in our comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone rarely leads to greatness. Taking risks and giving yourself permission to make mistakes, will ultimately lead you to whatever your version of success may be. - Act Quickly on Opportunities
“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.”
Opportunities are everywhere. The trick is being quick enough and smart enough to seize them when they arise. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that something won’t work or can’t be done, allow yourself the freedom to ask what if? - Continue to Grow
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.”
We all have vices of some description. The key is to keep them under control or preferably eradicate them entirely. Be kind to those around you, whether they are neighbors, family, co-workers or friends. Never accept that you have finished growing as a person. - Keep Going
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
Have you ever looked at a successful entrepreneur or business person and thought how lucky they are? Most of the time, luck has nothing to do with it. Hard work and sacrifice on the other hand have everything to do with it. Successful people deal with failure. They tackle their demons head on. They pick themselves up and keep going. - Know Yourself
“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.”
Understanding ourselves is not easy. Sometimes we just don’t want to see ourselves for who we really are. It’s much easier to hold onto a romanticized version of ourselves or to simply view ourselves through other people’s eyes. Start by being brutally honest with yourself. Follow through with understanding, compassion and acceptance. - Don’t Self-Sabotage
“Who had deceived thee so often as thyself?”
We spend so much time worrying about other people hurting us, yet fail to comprehend the damage we inflict on ourselves. If you are using negative self-talk, lying to yourself or indulging in addictive behavior you are self-sabotaging. Life can dish up enough challenges without us adding to the mix. Be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like you would a best friend. - Don’t Give Up
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
Achieving our goals can be downright exhausting. There will be days when you want to give up. There will be times when your energy levels flatline and you wonder why you bother getting out of bed. Yet you push forward, day after day because you believe in yourself and you have the determination and strength to back up that belief. - Wise Up
“Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.”
Benjamin was definitely onto something with this one. Who hasn’t had the thought - I wish I could know then, what I know now? Unfortunately there is no time machine; there is no going back. The key is to wise up as early as you can to start forging a life of purpose, achievement and happiness.
 | Written on 4/29/2012 by Thea Easterby. Thea Easterby is a freelance writer, blogger and keen traveller. Her blog www.writechangegrow.com offers inspiring tips on writing, career change and personal development. |
Pundits have been chattering about enterprise social media for a while, but previous research showed that despite the hype these technologies had a long way to go before they were fully embraced by business. Now a new report indicates that adoption of social tools and the realization of their much discussed benefits may be firmly underway, in Europe at least.
The report by branding agency Millward Brown, and sponsored by Google, is based on a poll of 2,700 professionals in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, and comes to conclusions that will get enterprise social advocates excited. “The results… clearly show that not only are social tools being used widely within business today, but that those who are using them are already reaping the benefits,” declares the report’s forward written by Sebastien Marotte, VP of Google Enterprise, EMEA.
First off, it should be noted that the report includes both consumer social products like LinkedIn and Facebook used for business purposes and social tools geared specifically for organizations under the banner ‘enterprise social’. So what are the details?
Some of the most encouraging findings about enterprise social concern exactly who is using the tools. The report found that high-growth companies (defined as those with more than 10 percent growth in 2011) are making the greatest use of social tools, with 81 percent of these dynamic companies that employ enterprise social reporting these tools have significantly impacted growth and 80 percent telling pollster they saw benefits to teams’ collaboration and knowledge sharing. “Frequent users of in-house social tools are more than twice as likely to be working in high growth companies,” says the report, though professionals in Germany and Sweden seem to be less likely to utilize enterprise social.
“The better the performance of a company, the more likely they are to be using social-media tools,” Allan Hyde, senior account director at Millward Brown, told the Wall Street Journal, though the paper notes the report does not attempt to demonstrate the bottom line impact of these social tools but instead offers subjective opinions about them. Hyde concedes that, “it may well be that the sort of companies that adopt social media tools are the sort of companies that are successful anyway. We are not suggesting that this is some sort of panacea.”
Not only were those at high performing companies more likely to use social tools, but the highest performing individuals were also more likely to adopt enterprise social. Senior managers, somewhat surprisingly, were also more likely to be using social tools than more junior employees. The report finds:
- 86 percent of frequent users have recently been promoted, compared to 61 percent of non- users.
- Frequent users are happier in their jobs with 38 percent claiming to be highly satisfied compared to 18 percent of non-users.
- Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of senior managers are using social tools at least once a week, compared to 49 percent of those in more junior roles.
- Senior managers who report using social tools, claim they are already improving productivity (76 percent), knowledge sharing among dispersed teams (79 percent) and the ability to quickly find information (72 percent).
- 76 percent of senior managers believe businesses that embrace social tools will grow faster than those who ‘ignore’ the technology, and 53 percent believe that businesses will not survive unless they embrace social.
If you’re interested in the full report, you can download it for free here.
Do you think a similar survey in the U.S. would yield similar results?
Image courtesy of Flickr user andrewasmith.
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With the London Olympics just a few months away, there’s the usual flurry of stories detailing frenzied preparation by organizers, the host city, the athletes and security forces. But this year there’s one other great wave of pre-Olympics news items breaking across Britain’s media—surprisingly controversial telecommuting stories.
Just this week interest turned to Britain’s civil servants who are being urged to work remotely to avoid adding to the expected congestion on the city’s already packed roads and trains. The announcement, which might seem ho-hum in some tech-savvy circles, raised a few eyebrows in Britain with the Daily Mail declaring government workers get “a gold medal for skiving!” (the British English equivalent of slacking off) for being allowed to telecommute for seven weeks this summer. The article notes that “business leaders” are complaining about the probable reduction in useful government work that the policy will bring.
“Business groups criticized plan that has led to fears of a massive reduction in government work as the country tries to pull itself out of recession,” says the paper. “They said it sent out the dangerous message that Britain would close down for almost two months,” it continues, quoting Pierre Williams, from the Federation of Small Businesses, as saying: “A lot of private sector workers will feel rather surprised that the public sector have decided to work from home during the Olympic games.”
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister was forced to deny that staff would be “skiving” at home, reassuring the public that no less work would get done. Meanwhile, other stories are offering businesses looking to offer staff options, tips on how to make flexible working successful.
With study after study confirming that remote work actually boosts productivity for most people and most tasks, the most surprising fact about the boom in remote work this summer in London may be the fact that’s it’s controversial at all, revealing to converted virtual work fans the deep well of skepticism that still exists in substantial pockets of the business community.
In four years when the Olympics are held again, will remote work have become so mainstream that a bit of an uptick during the games will be far less remarked upon?
Image courtesy of Flickr user surreynews.
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In his new book, The Digital Workplace, author Paul Miller doesn’t hail the death of the traditional office, vanquished by a rise in Web workers. Rather, he sees a more symbiotic relationship between the physical and digital work spaces.
The traditional office has reached an evolutionary plateau, according to Miller, but the digital tools we use to communicate both inside and outside of the cubicle will continue to improve to create more visceral experiences for the workforce. At the same time, Miller believes that the physical office remains important to provide social glue for the organization and head off total isolation of its employees.
Miller sat down with us for a brief video interview to talk about some of the key concepts in his book as well as the evolution of the digital workspace.
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Remote work may be going increasingly mainstream with more and more companies letting staff work flexibly, but as with any major shift in how we work, there are bound to be holdouts. And the start-up scene is home to its fair share. Early-stage companies, particularly in the tech sector, have a long-standing mythology of (usually young and personally unencumbered) teams sleeping under their desks to get products to launch, with many wearing the hothouse atmosphere and extreme hours as a badge of honor. Remote working still raises eyebrows among some.
Zaarly exec Shane Mac, for example, recently published a piece in VentureBeat, which we highlighted here on GigaOM, arguing that a remote set-up stinks for startups who need their staff in close proximity to form a company culture and generate the maximum number of ideas by sparking their thinking off each other. Mac makes a compelling case for the usefulness of physically close teams, but not everyone in startups is buying it.
ProofHQ, a British company that sells tools to help review design work, for example, has been remote from day one. “The company has literally never had an office with employees in it,” founder and CEO Mat Atkinson told GigaOM, explaining that having had an earlier experience starting a company with VC backing, he opted to bootstrap ProofHQ and avoid venture money, necessitating he skip the office as a budget-saving measure. Plus, he found a development team in distant Poland and wanted to be able to serve customers globally right from the outset. The result is a team spread from the west coast of America to the Middle Eastern country of Qatar.
So did he experience the squeeze on ideas and the less binding company culture that Mac predicts? “From our experience it just simply wasn’t the case,” says Atkinson, who uses constant Skype chats, regular video calls and daily scrums for each area of the business to keep his team collaborating and innovating. He also insists on regular face-to-face meet-ups for the team.
“I do understand when people say face to face matters and I agree with that. We make an effort to do things face to face both virtually by video conferencing, as well getting together in person, but I disagree when people say it’s the only way to make it happen,” he says, though he concedes that working at a distance is tougher on managers. “Remote working works really well for the team, but if you’re managing people, you have to put more effort into it. I would say it takes probably 20 percent more effort.”
Besides admitting that a distributed setup is tougher on managers, Atkinson also acknowledges that those looking for venture money might have a reason to shy away from a remote set-up. “If you’re looking to go down the venture capital route then your VCs will probably want you to be co-located and co-located close to them,” he says. “I know that’s breaking down more and more but I think VCs are still skeptical of companies that work remotely.”
But it’s not just VCs who Atkinson sees changing their minds about remote work. According to him, skeptics like Shane Mac are slowly going to the way of the dinosaurs. “There has been a real transition in the perception that people have of working remotely. In the early days it was seen as kind of odd — it’s never going to work. Now customers that we talk to about it are very interested. I have quite a lot of other early-stage technology companies wanting to talk about how we’ve managed the business, and it’s just not seen as weird. When we recruit now, people see it as a positive rather than a negative or a neutral, so I think there’s a massive change in people’s perceptions at all levels.”
Within five years, Atkinson feels, remote work will be as unremarkable as cubicles and laptops seem now – even for startups — and its posts like this, discussing the issue as contentious, rather than the practice itself, that will seem odd.
Do you agree?
Image courtesy of Flickr user dierken.
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