8 Morning Habits of High Performers

“Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” — Wayne Huizenga

I really appreciate that quote. I truly believe your morning habits set the stage for the remainder of the day. For example, if you keep hitting snooze until you realize that you’re running late, how do you think the rest of your day will be? You all “get it.” You all “know.” But, do you DO the actions that support the habits you know to be correct?

You may forget an important document at home. Since you didn’t have time to eat breakfast, you grab a doughnut. And, it totally slipped your mind that you have an important meeting today — which you totally didn’t prepare for.

If that’s your version of “Groundhog Day,” then how successful and productive do you think you’ll be? That’s why top performers get the most out of their mornings. And, they do so by embracing the following 8 habits.

1. Wake from a good night’s sleep.

According to a global sleep survey conducted by Royal Phillips, 44% of respondents reported that their sleep has worsened over the last five years. What’s more, nearly 1 in 3 Americans sleep fewer than six hours per night.

Why’s that a problem? Well, it’s recommended that we get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. If not, that can lead to a myriad of problems including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline. As a consequence, this can lead to death.

While not trying to make light of this, it’s obviously impossible to be a high performer when you’re in poor health physically and mentally. That’s why the most successful people prioritize sleep. But, if you’re having trouble, the CDC suggests embracing the following habits:

• Be consistent. That means going to bed and waking up at the same time — even on weekends.
• Keep your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet — kind of like a cave.
• Ban electronics, like TVs and smartphones, from your bedroom.
• Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime.
• Engage in physical activity during the day.

I’d also add implementing a relaxing evening routine. Some ideas would be meditating, reading, journaling, taking a bath, or reviewing tomorrow’s schedule. These are all simple and effective activities that clear your mind and help you chill out.

2. Find some quietude.

“Silence is one of the best ways to immediately reduce stress while increasing your self-awareness,” Hal Elrod wrote in the Morning Miracle. “And gaining the clarity that will allow you to maintain your focus on your goals, priorities, and what’s important for your life, each and every day.”

I know what you’re thinking. How can I possibly achieve such a feat? Well, Leo Babuta recommends waking-up before everyone else in your home. But, if you’re not a morning person, you can find silence later at night when everyone else is asleep.

How should you spend your quiet time? You could take a walk, read, write, visualize, or meditate. Personally, I’m also a fan of not using my phone as an alarm clock. Instead, I use an old school alarm clock so that I don’t get sucked into the rabbit hole of emails, social media, or whatever nonsense that’s out there.

3. Smile and think of something positive.

Is this the first thing that’s on your mind as you groggily open your eyes early in the morning? Probably not. But, it’s been found that smiling releases those feel-good neurotransmitters known as dopamine and endorphins. For the uninitiated, this will lift your mood and kick your day off on the right side of the bed.

Furthermore, cracking a smile releases serotonin which will relax your body and lower your heart rate and blood pressure. And, it can also fortify your immune system.

Additionally, think of something positive. It could be reflecting on what you’re grateful for or something that you’re excited about, such as an upcoming vacation. You could also recite uplifting quotes like this gem from the Dalai Lama; “Every day, think as you wake up: today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.”

4. Make your bed.

“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day,” said Naval Adm. William McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, in his commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin. “It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.”

“By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed,” he added. “Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.”

“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right,” said McRaven.

“And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”

5. Find your own rhythm.

After you make your bed you may be asking,” What’s next?” Here’s the problem with that. Making these micro-decisions every morning could put you into a collision course with decision fatigue.

If you weren’t aware, that’s a big no-no. After all, it can lead to procrastination, avoidance, indecision, and impulsivity.

To avoid this, create your ideal morning routine. For some, that could be slamming a glass of water, going for a jog, eating breakfast, and taking a shower. Others may prefer to brush their teeth, stretch, and do something creative.

Another way to make fewer decisions? Plan the night before. For me, that means picking out my meals and outfit, as well as prioritizing my to-do-list.

6. Craft results-oriented affirmations.

I’ll be direct here. Affirmations are the bomb! Besides combating self-deprecating thoughts, they can boost your motivation. Also, studies show that they can reduce stress, increase creativity, and improve your problem-solving skills.

However, Elrod suggests that you affirm your commitments — opposed to who you are or who you want to be. And, you can accomplish this by answering four simple questions:

• What are you committed to?
• Why is this important to you?
• What activities will help you succeed?
• When will commit to doing these activities?

If that’s not your cup of tea, then at least set your intention for the day. It’s a simple way to keep you focused on what truly matters.

7. Do an “hour of power.”

“Motivation doesn’t last forever, so you need to replenish yours regularly,” writes Lianne Martha Maiquez Laroya for Lifehacker. And, here’s a little secret I have for you, high performers are well aware of this. As such, “they dedicate ample time to increase their supply.”

Moreover, when you’re emotionally invested in something, you’re more motivated to see it through. In order to accomplish this, block out a power hour. While you can spend this time however you please, I’d stick with things that get you pumped. Examples include listening to a playlist or inspirational anecdotes, watching TED Talks, or reading empowering quotes.

8. Don’t isolate yourself.

Prolonged isolation is connected to cognitive decline. Even if you have a family and collaborate with others, it’s still important to put these relationships first. When you do, you’ll be healthier and happier — at least according to a famous 79-year Harvard study.

Best of all? You can easily achieve this by doing things like eating breakfast with your family. And, when you get to work, greet your co-workers as they enter or a daily stand-up meeting.

8 Morning Habits of High Performers was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

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Successfully complete projects with the help of Estimate’s project managers

Completing a project that requires technology know-how can be difficult if that’s not your area of expertise. You could spend time and energy trying to find and hire developers and a project manager, or, you could join Estimate, a platform that helps you get your project done quickly and with high quality.

Estimate assists with projects related to software development, web design and digital marketing. When you join the Estimate platform, you have access to an experienced team of developers as well as a project manager to help guide your project from start to finish. Users start by entering information about their project, then Estimate assigns a project manager that is best suited for their specific project. Estimate also selects developers for your project, and the project manager ensures everyone is on the same page and helps the project to go smoothly.

Estimate also provides the opportunity for people to earn extra money as a partner, earning commission for bringing new customers to the platform. Users simply sign up and are given a personal link to share via social media or directly with friends and contacts. When one of their referrals completes a project, the user gets paid commission.

Features for customers

• New Project button: Users click this to create a new project and add any known details about the project. If there’s any information they’re not sure about, an Estimate team member will reach out after reviewing the provided information.
• Project manager: After reviewing the details of a project, Estimate assigns the best project manager for that project. The project manager stays in contact with the user throughout the project’s lifecycle.
• Chat section: Users can chat with their project manager, ask questions, and get the help they need to ensure their project is a success.
• My Projects: Under the My Projects tab, users can view the milestones achieved so far as well as the progress of the work.

Customers can also make secure payments, check their transaction history, download invoices, and more.

Features for Partners

• Referral link: Partners receive a personal link that they can share via social media or directly with people.
• My Partners tab: Users can register their partners, view their partners and see the projects they’ve brought to the platform.
• Dashboard: The personalized dashboard includes users’ information like projects, direct partners, the amount of money they’ve earned, their personal link, and more.
• Wallet: Users can click into the Wallet tab to see how much they’ve earned in commission, as well as withdraw money using their preferred payment method.
• Commission: Commission is paid when the project is complete.
• Verification tab: When withdrawing money, users must verify their info to ensure the security of financial transactions of customers and partners.

Interested?
Are you ready to have software developed for your project? Excited to have someone else manage the project for you? Or, perhaps you’re interested in earning some extra income. Whatever you’re looking for, visit uestimates.com to learn how Estimate can help you get everything done, and to sign up for the platform.

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Estimate.com

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All Hands Makes Virtual Team Updates a Breeze

Bringing your team together for an all hands meeting is a great way to keep everyone up to date on important company news. However, with team members working remotely or even working all over the globe, it can be difficult to find a time that works for everyone – even for a virtual meeting.

If your team includes people with different schedules and even different time zones, you’ll want to check out All Hands, an app that lets you create video updates for your team to view when and where it’s convenient for them. 

All Hands knows that better-informed teams make better decisions. With the app, you can record videos and even have other people contribute – all you need is your phone. When it’s time to update your team, you can share the video via Slack and Microsoft Teams rather than creating yet another a calendar invite. This lets your team members watch the video wherever they are, at a time that works best for them. All Hands also provides analytics so you can see how your team engaged with your video, helping you to create even better, more relevant videos in the future.

In addition to providing updates to your team, All Hands can be used to keep stakeholders informed, such as by sharing a product demonstration, without having to schedule a meeting with them.

Features
All Hands includes a variety of features that helps you easily and effectively communicate with your team.

• Pre-recorded videos: Rather than dealing with headaches from trying to find one day and time that works for all of your team members, All Hands lets you create collaborative, pre-recorded videos for your team members to watch when it’s convenient for them.
• View anytime: With All Hands, there’s no need to schedule multiple meetings. Your entire team watches the same update, just at a time that makes sense for them.
• Video features: All Hands videos feature automatic AI closed captions plus quick CDN video delivery and playback speed.
• Two-way communication: Viewers can react to your video with emojis, provide feedback and even ask and answer questions to continue the dialogue. This also helps you see who understands your message and who might need a follow-up conversation.
• Analytics: All Hands provides data that gives you clearer insight into who is most engaged with your video as well as which parts your audience found most interesting. This helps you create even more effective videos in the future. Everyone who presents can access their own statistics, and you can collect qualitative feedback and request questions and comments.
• Improves company culture: All Hands makes it easy to show employee appreciation and celebrate team members’ achievements, which can increase morale as well as productivity. Sharing pre-recorded videos also enables you to communicate with your team while respecting their work schedules.

Interested?
If you’re looking to keep your team informed without the headache of trying to schedule a specific meeting time, then All Hands is a great option. Check out their website to learn more and book a demo.

Photos
All Hands

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12 Ways to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up

Communication is a skill that all successful leaders need to acquire and maintain — not just in business, but also life. Having the ability to speak in a calm, concise, and clear manner will help your team be able to do likewise. Sharing your vision, goals, and expectations is only one piece of the puzzle. It takes an accomplished communicator to encourage a team to speak up. After all, excellent communication helps strengthen relationships, allows the exchange of ideas, and assists your organization in overcoming barriers. There are 12 ways to encourage your team to speak up.

Unfortunately, a study from VitalSmarts shows that “one percent of employees feel “extremely confident” when it comes to voicing their concerns in the workplace at critical moments.” Additionally, “a third of employees say their organizations do not promote or support holding crucial conversations.”

How can you change these types of statistics? Start by implementing the following 12 techniques.

1. Get to the root of the problem.

The absolute first step you need to take is identifying why people aren’t raising their hands. If you don’t know why, then how can you fix the problem? It’s like if your car doesn’t start when you leave in the morning. You can’t repair a problem unless you know precisely what’s wrong in the first place.

You could interview your team or conduct focus groups. Someone other than you should do this interviewing, as they’re probably afraid to tell you why they don’t raise their hands. You could also issue surveys to get to the bottom of what’s going on. The issue may be because they’re afraid of being criticized by others on the team, or being overlooked for a promotion. Or, they may not understand what you expect from them.

In short, you need to find out what’s holding people from voicing their opinions. Then you can find ways to correct the course.

2. Don’t overwhelm your team.

Let’s say that you have everyone gathered for a team meeting. Without even giving attendees a chance to get settled, you bombard them with way too much information. Even worse, what if the assignments you’re throwing at them are abstract, complex, or even utterly boring.

If every member of your team has their head spinning, or they’re yawning, then they’re not going to be engaged. How can they ask questions or provide input when they don’t know exactly what’s happening? Or, they don’t even have the opportunity to participate because as the CEO, manager, or boss — we’re jumping from topic to topic too quickly.

Whenever presenting information, keep it as simple as possible. Skip the jargon and only focus on the top one or two issues. Remember, you don’t need to cover everything right now. Save the less critical stuff for another time.

3. Apply radical candor.

Kim Scott, a former executive at Google, coined the phrase “radical candor.” It may sound like a complex system. But, in reality, it’s merely creating a bs-free zone.

“Radical candor is clarity offered in the spirit of genuine support, where people feel it’s their responsibility to point out one another’s weaknesses to give them a hand up to the next level,” explains Grainne Forde on Teamwork.com. “Scott illustrates radical candor with an example in which her very inconsiderate boss told her she had a lousy speaking habit.

Scott was saying, ‘um’ too often. In front of the group, he told her that “um” made her sound unintelligent — and then offered to pay for a speaking coach to improve the problem.” Some would consider this a bit harsh, “her directness compelled her to take the feedback seriously and improve.”

I’ve found the degree of “radical candor,” Scott is talking about, should be saved for a one on one. Then after your “radical candor,” hand out a little extra encouragement. With one small compliment, your employee doesn’t consider you an enemy.

To achieve radical candor, both leaders and employees need to realize that feedback is constructive because it allows for growth and development. Additionally, there needs to be transparency. It’s the only way you’ll be able to assist them in working through their weaknesses.

4. Reward people for speaking up.

I vividly remember the first year I went away to a summer camp. The first couple of hours, I was fine. But, I became incredibly homesick later that night. After a couple of days, I was over my bout with homesickness and had no problem enjoying myself.

Towards the end of the week, the other kids in my group began discussing who would receive an award along the lines of, “camper of the week.” I suggested that maybe I would get nominated. This lead to the camp leading asking, “Why? You were homesick and didn’t say anything for a couple of days — and now you talk?”

Some people might think that he was out of line. But, he was right. Sure, I was engaged and did my best to be an ideal camper. But, that didn’t mean I deserved an award. At the same time, the person who did receive this award mentioned that they were proud of me. Now, that recognition was an awesome feeling.

My point is this. You don’t need to throw a party for an employee who asked a question during a meeting. But, you can still show them that you appreciate their contribution when they offer a comment. For example, if they make a high point during a meeting, genuinely thank them for participating. A genuine thank you can be two words. Thank you!

Hemant Kakkar and Subra Tangirala write in the Harvard Business Review, “[I]f you want your employees to be more vocal and contribute ideas and opinions, you should actively encourage this behavior and reward those who do it.”

5. Make meetings more engaging.

Meetings can be a serious time-waster. They can also crush productivity and morale when not when properly. However, there times when meetings are necessary. That’s why making them more effective should be a priority.

While there a multitude of ways for you to improve meetings, making sure that they’re engaging should be at the top of your list. You can achieve meetings worth showing up for, by:

• Kicking things off with an icebreaker like telling a story or playing a fun game or activity.
• Not using industry slang or terminology.
• Asking invitees to leave their phones somewhere else.
• Saving handouts until the conclusion of the event to avoid distractions.
• Leaving time for a Q&A at the end.
• Sending out an agenda in advance so that no one is surprised. Also, this gives invitees an opportunity to review any relevant information and prepare their questions or concerns.

6. Stop dominating the conversation and listen.

While I wouldn’t say this trait is part of all entrepreneurs — I do think that some of us have such a healthy ego that we love hearing ourselves talk. The problem is that if you’re always dominating the conversation, others won’t even bother chiming in. What’s the point when they know there’s hardly a chance to be a part of the discussion.

While there are times when you need to speak, work on talking less and listening more. It may take some practice. But, this is probably one of the most straightforward strategies to get your team to speak up more often.

7. Be aware of body language and power cues.

Body language and power cues are probably not something on the top of your mind. But, your nonverbal communication most definitely impacts the people around you. Think of it this way. How likely would you be to “willing” share your thoughts with a leader who is continuously frowning and standing there with their arms crossed? Probably very unlikely.

But, what if they smiled, made eye contact, and stood in a relaxed, upright posture? You wouldn’t feel as intimidated. A quick couple of words about mastering your body language — soften power cues. For example, leave the expensive wardrobe at home and wear something that doesn’t intimidate your employees. Consider replacing your office’s rectangle desk with an oval one so that you can sit next to them.

8. Boost teamwork.

“When employees work in teams, they actively practice sharing their thoughts and speaking up to accomplish tasks as a group,” writes Eric Friedman over at eSkill. “This gets them used to talking about their work, whether it’s sharing new ideas or concerns, and can be applied on a wider scale to the entire company.”

Fridman adds, “Teamwork also works on a psychological level by bringing employees closer together, helping them form bonds to each other and the work, which will help them feel more confident to speak their minds.”

9. Accept different types of feedback.

When you need to collect feedback, use a variety of methods to do so. Allow your team to express themselves; however, they’re most comfortable. If they have no problem speaking, then don’t force them to write down their thoughts. If they don’t want to discuss a sensitive issue out in the open, block out time for a one-on-one or place a suggestion box in the office.

10. Explain the consequences of participating.

Explaining the consequences of participating does not mean retaliating against employees whenever they share their thoughts. Nor does it indicate that you’ll punish those who aren’t contributing to the conversation. Instead, a consequence in this setting means letting your team know the importance of speaking up.

For example, what if an employee isn’t crystal clear on a task that was assigned to them during a meeting? They might be embarrassed about asking for more details in a meeting. But, by not raising their hand, they aren’t able to complete this responsibility, and likely there were a few others that didn’t get the information. As a result, this can impact not only their career, but also this action can put the rest of the team and organization in jeopardy.

11. Encourage them to take a public speaking class.

In the early days of my career, I was terrified about speaking in public. But, this was a fear I had to overcome. So, I took a public speaking class. Not only did it improve my speaking skills, but it also made me feel more at ease in front of a crowd.

If there are members of your organization, why have nightmares about public speaking, recommend that they also take such a class. It could be online, at a community college, or through an organization like Toastmasters. Here: 7 Powerful Public Speaking Tips From One of the Most-Watched TED Talks Speakers

12. Lead by example.

Do you think that your team will feel comfortable enough to speak their minds when you aren’t? Of course not. It may sound off a vibe that this isn’t an environment where people can openly share thoughts and ask questions.

While you should certainly listen to what others are saying, the other part of being a great communicator is clearly expressing your expectations. It’s also asking precise questions and not being shy when it comes to public speaking.

Moreover, don’t hide in your office all day. Walk around and chat with your team. Check-in with them to see how they’re doing and if there’s anything you can help them with. Go to lunch. These connections may not seem like a biggie, but the relationship shows that this is a workplace where people can comfortably speak up.

12 Ways to Encourage Your Team to Speak Up was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

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Does Your Startup Need an Accountant? Here’s How to Tell

Starting a business is intense. When you’re in the thick of it, accounting and bookkeeping is not considered as urgent as, say, getting to a minimum viable product or figuring out your startup’s cash runway.

Yet, working with an accountant can be foundational to the health of your business and accountants are often considered small business owners’ most trusted advisors for a wide range of business advice. Get a leg up on the competition by outsourcing accounting to an expert. Not sure if your company really needs one? Here are some ways to tell:

1. If you’re unprepared to weather a crisis alone

Prior to 2020, many businesses were ready to endure small, emergency situations, but no one was ready for an event as destructive to the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help businesses cope, the U.S. government offered Paycheck Protection Program loans and tax credits courtesy of the CARES Act. Accounting services suddenly became even more essential. In fact, in a survey of small business owners, online payroll company OnPay found that businesses that didn’t have an accountant were less likely to receive government relief, expect an increase in revenue or return to normal quickly.

Additionally, 2020 has brought natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes. To claim the benefits you’re owed by your insurance provider and get disaster loans through the U.S. government, you would need to have your finance paperwork in order. An accountant can help you navigate the tricky and technical waters.

While hopefully 2020 has been an anomaly, emergencies and crises put startups in a precarious position. An accountant can walk with you during a crisis and prepare you financially for the next one.

2. If you don’t have any finance experience

The safest answer to the question “Does your startup need an accountant?” is “Yes, always.” Instead of rearranging your budget and trying to find money for an accountant later, the best case scenario is to have been in conversation with one from the beginning. The exception is if you’ve started another business before and have a good handle on how the process works from a financial perspective. 

When you’re preparing to launch your startup, an accountant can help you implement an airtight bookkeeping system, determine how your business should be structured and even guide you in the loan winning process. While those tasks might seem like questions Google has the answers to, you’re paying an accountant for his or her expertise, not just the ability to work with the numbers. Accountants serve hundreds of clients a year, which includes businesses of all sizes. An expert offers feedback specific to your industry and financial situation.

3. If you’re feeling stretched thin

When you’re building a business from the ground up, it’s easy to end up wearing all the hats: HR, accounting, product development and more. As head honcho, your time is extremely valuable and running the books shouldn’t be taking the lionshare of your time. You have more important things to do — making strategic hires, building connections both in the community and industry, and vision casting for the company. Finance-related tasks, like processing payroll and preparing for tax season, are easily delegated to a professional.

For example, your coffee company launched canned cold brew for the first time a few months ago. However, the profit margins per unit aren’t as high as you’d like them to be. Instead of gathering the data, building the report and then seeing where you can cut costs, allow an accountant to provide you the finished report, so you can spend time making the important decisions and delegating other tasks to your team.

It can be challenging to give up control when it’s your business. It’s your baby, you started it from scratch! But a reality check will tell you that the most successful businesses don’t magically have the capacity to do it all themselves. An accountant brings the skills and data you need to make the right calls for your company without spending all your time crunching numbers.

4. If you’re ready to grow

While accountants can assist with your business’s regular financials, the advice of an expert can also help you reach your business goals. All you have to do is bring your vision. They’ll bring the numbers.

Whether its opening a second location or debuting a new product, an accountant can provide a break-even analysis that accounts for your fixed costs, variable costs and market conditions throughout the year. This analysis will help you decide if the venture is worth it.

Additionally, an accountant provides both the 10,000-foot perspective and the minute details to help you see all sides of your company. Plus, they’ll help you take the emotion out of making good financial decisions so you can objectively reach your goals.

5. If you have to pay taxes

Everyone has to pay taxes, and unless your taxes are incredibly simple, chances are you would benefit from an accountant’s help. In fact, for businesses, tax season is year-round. Whether it’s paying estimated taxes or keeping your records in order in case of an audit, there’s always something you — or rather, your accountant — can be doing to prepare for the mid-April deadline.

Due to COVID-19, many businesses have slashed their workforces and are relying heavily on independent contractors, who get different tax documents. Additionally, the pandemic has forced most businesses to invest in an ecommerce platform, which means potentially reaching a wider audience. Taxes get tricky when you’re shipping out-of-state. An accountant can guide you through both of these COVID-related tax concerns in addition to helping you minimize your tax bill through applicable tax breaks and tight bookkeeping.

6. If you’re going to sell

Once you get past the startup stage, you might start to consider what your business is worth. An accountant can assist you in determining its value and a succession plan. Knowing your worth is especially valuable if a larger company likes your innovative idea and wants to buy you out. In those types of negotiations, you’ll definitely want an accountant on your team. What’s even better is an accountant that you’ve worked with for an extended period of time. 

By finding an accountant now and developing a working relationship with them, you’re investing in your business’s future, be it enduring a storm or making it big.

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The Benefits of the Pomodoro Technique

As I began exploring ways to boost my productivity I kept hearing people rave about something called the Pomodoro Technique. I’m sure that you’ve come across this as well. And, for good reason. It’s not only effective, but it’s also one of the easiest hacks to implement.

The Pomodoro Technique explained.

For the uninitiated, the Pomodoro Technique is credited to developer, entrepreneur, and author Francesco Cirillo. He discovered the importance of time tasks while a student at Guido Carli International University, a business school in Rome, during the early 1990s.

“I was easily distracted and unable to focus,” he previously told Entrepreneur. “So I decided to give myself a challenge: study without interruption for 10 minutes.” To accomplish this, he used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to track his time.

After some trial and error, Cirillo found that this method was successful in helping him improve studying. He eventually went on how to share this idea with others. And, he was gratuitous enough to write and distribute a free book as well.

Named after the Italian word for tomato, the Pomodoro Technique is pretty straightforward. In fact, it only involves five some steps:

• Choose a task.
• Set a timer for 25-minutes.
• Work on the task until the timer goes off.
• Take a short break — usually around 5-minutes.
• Every 4 Pomodoros, which is 3-4 work periods of 25 minutes, take a longer break — typically between 15-30 minutes.

You’ll want to repeat this process throughout the day. It’s also helpful to mark your progress with an “X” whenever you finish a Pomodoro. And, you may want to also note how often you wanted to procrastinate or work on something else. And review this at the end of the day

From my experience, you can make adjustments as you go along. For example, you can block out time for undisturbed work for however long you want. It depends on when you’re most productive based on your ultradian rhythms. Some folks work in 30-minute blocks, while others push an hour.

The concept, however, is that you work in sprints followed by short breaks throughout the day. As a result, you’ll be more productive because it will help you achieve the following.

1. Makes you feel more valuable.

Time. It’s your most valuable asset because once it’s spent, it’s gone. And, because of that, the Pomodoro Technique assists you in getting the most out of your precious time.

On the surface, this could be monetarily. Case in point, you’re working on a flat rate project. How? By ensuring that you maintain a profitable hourly rate. See, with the Pomodoro Technique you can plan a balanced outcome by knowing the time you’ll need to complete the project.

As a result, you’ll meet deadlines, exceed expectations, and keep your promises. Not only is that good for business, but also for your self-worth.

Speaking of that, if you can block out your time more effectively, you’re in a better position to provide value. That could be delivering quality work on a consistent basis or finding the time to serve others. When you do, you’ll be happier because you’re more fulfilled.

2. Improves planning.

Productivity doesn’t just happen with the snap of a finger. That’s why you need to plan your ideal week if you want to get more done in less time. And, I’ve found that the Pomodoro Technique makes this a whole lot easier.

Let’s say that you have identified your top priorities for the week ahead. You would then open up your calendar and add them to your calendar.

For example, you need to write an article for your business for either your site or an outstanding publication like Entrepreneur. Since it has to be submitted on Thursday, you want to have it completed by Monday so that your editor has time to review it.

As such, your Monday could be mapped out as follows:

• Two pomodori for research.
• One pomodoro to string together your thoughts and outline the piece.
• Two pomodori to actually write the article.

Once added to your calendar, you know exactly what to focus on and when. And, you can then keep repeating this process for your entire week. It may sound like a lot of work upfront. But it’s worth the time investment since you can dive right into your most important work.

More importantly, over time, we’ll get better at determining how long certain activities take you to complete. Knowing this will ensure that you aren’t under-or-overestimating your time.

3. Helps you fight procrastination.

Even though you know exactly what needs to get done, and you have every intention to do so, procrastination is always around the corner lurking its ugly head. While it happens to the best of us, if left unaddressed, it can have serious consequences.

For example, it can cause you to miss due dates and fall behind your work, which in turn harms your credibility and adds stress. One way that the Pomodoro Technique can help solve this problem is that provides you with clarity. Again, when you know what to focus on and when you’ll feel less anxious and overwhelmed.

Also, it can encourage you to just get started when you’re dragging your feet. Because 25-minutes is a short time commitment, and it’s the only block you have to complete a specific task, it’s like a game to beat the clock. Besides, once you get moving, it’s much harder to stop.

4. Breaks the habit of multitasking.

In my opinion, this is the main advantage of embracing this concept. Despite what you may believe, multitasking is a myth. The reason? The human brain just isn’t capable of handling more than one thing at a time.

What’s more, multitasking can lower your IQ, impact your working memory, and prevents you from entering a flow state. As if that weren’t enough, this can drain your mind’s energy reserves. And, multitasking gives you a false sense of being productive.

As you’ve probably caught on by now, the Pomodoro Technique forces you to focus on one task at a time. In turn, this will counter the negative side effects of multitasking. And, more importantly, it will help you deliver higher quality work in less time.

5. Let’s you deal with distractions and interruptions.

Distractions and interruptions are inevitable. Even if you take the appropriate steps, like turning off your smartphone, a coworker may come barging into your office with an urgent matter. Cirillo was well aware of this and developed the following approach:

• Inform. If you’re in the middle of a Pomodoro, let the other party know that you’re currently busy.
• Negotiate. Agree on a time to discuss the distracting issue.
• Schedule. Add that follow-up to your calendar immediately.
• Call back. When a Pomodoro is complete, contact the other party and tackle the issue.

What about internal distractions? You know, what if in the middle of your work you remembered that you needed to send an email? Jot it down and then send the email during your break.

6. Maintains motivation.

Whenever you complete a session, you mark your progress. For example, you could simply cross off an item on your to-do-list. Why’s that important? Every time you do this, you get a rush of dopamine, which will encourage you to repeat the behavior.

For others, they’re just simply motivated by beating the timer. If they only have five minutes to go, they’re going to turn up their average speed to complete the task on-time.

7. Decreases physical and mental fatigue.

Finally, the Pomodoro Technique encourages you to take breaks. That’s something that most of us take for granted. However, we need these frequent breaks to combat a sedentary lifestyle by stretching or going for a short walk.

Furthermore, the brain needs time to rest and recharge. So in-between work blocks, allow your mind to wander. You could also meditate, reflect, or do something that you enjoy like watching a funny video or exercising in your office.

When you return to work, you’ll be more focused, attentive, and energetic. And, because these breaks are timed, it’s easier to resist the urge of extending them.

Getting started with the Pomodoro Technique.

If you want to try out this method, you just need to block out your day into 25-minute work sessions with short breaks in-between. You should also keep track of what you accomplished. But, there’s one missing component, your timer.

If you prefer, you can stick with a plain old egg timer. You could also one the timer on your phone. Or, you could use tools and apps like Tomato Timer, Marinara Timer, Forest, or Focus Time.

The Benefits of the Pomodoro Technique was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

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Salad Lets You Earn While You’re Idle

You’ve invested in a pretty awesome gaming setup, but aside from a few hours of dedicated gaming, it just sits there. Wouldn’t if be cool if it could provide a return on investment when not being used? The creators of Salad Technologies, Inc. thought the same thing, and created Salad in 2018. Built by gamers with gamers in mind, this app allows you to mine cryptocurrencies while you’re away from the keyboard.

Salad Technologies, Inc. is a blockchain startup focused on powering blockchain and crypto through a decentralized infrastructure fueled by PC gamers. The Salad app blends the worlds of crypto and gaming in one app, and aims to be the easiest, most trusted way to monetize your PC’s idle resources.

Salad streamlines the crypto mining experience and has no need for the normal hassles involved with crypto mining, such as crypto-wallets or intricate PC configurations. With Salad, gamers can mine crypto in their downtime, and turn their GPU power into credits that can be spent on items like games, subscriptions, gift cards and more. Here’s how it works:

Features

• Free app: Salad is a free, open-source mining app. Users download and install the app and run it while they’re AFK to earn Salad Balance.
• Mine crypto: Salad makes it easy to mine cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, BEAM, Grin, Monero, Vertcoin and BTC Gold. The app uses your PC’s power to determine which coin is most profitable for you to mine.
• Complete offers: Users can also answer quizzes, take surveys and test apps through AdGate, AdGem and OfferToro. Offerwalls are a great way to boost your Salad Balance if you can’t run the crypto miner or want some extra rewards on top of your earnings.
• Storefront: Once users have built up their Salad Balance, they can redeem items from the Salad Storefront for games, gift cards, hardware and more. Items include Prepaid VISA Cards, Amazon Credit, Discord Nitro, Game Codes, and other awesome rewards. You don’t have to enter your credit card info – your Salad Balance is all you need!
• Referrals: With Salad, when you invite your friends and family to join the app, you receive a 50% earnings bonus based on your referee’s Salad earnings, up to $1 per referral. This is paid out to you incrementally as that person mines. The more people you invite, the faster you can earn your bonus.
• SaladPay: For business owners, Salad Technologies, Inc. provides a convenient microtransaction payment gateway that lets PC gamers make purchases on their website without needing a credit card. This removes minimum purchase restrictions, provides lump sum vendor payments with detailed sales reports, reduces fraud with no chargebacks, and even increases conversion and allows visitors to earn purchases.

Interested?

If you’re a PC gamer who wants to make the most of your gaming equipment when you’re not using it, Salad is a great option. Whether you want your system to mine for data while you’re idle, or you want to take part in some awesome offers, Salad makes it easy to earn a balance and buy items you’ll love. Head over to salad.io to learn more about how you can AFK the smart way.

Photos
Salad.io

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Determine Whether Working With a Friend is a Good Idea

There’s no way to sugarcoat this; starting a business is no easy task. You wear multiple hats; you’re continually building clients, don’t forget networking. If you’ve built many businesses, as an entrepreneur — you understand the very real possibility of failure. But how do you determine whether working with a friend is a good idea?

Indeed, it’s a wonder that anyone would ever contemplate starting their own business. But, as Jimmy Dungan said in A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it weren’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

There are plenty of entrepreneurs who have decided to make this journey just a little bit easier — by teaming up with someone else. For example, Bill Gates had Paul Allen, and Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak. The reason? Each partner brings something different to the table — whether that be different skill sets, lessening the workload, or having additional access to funding.

Maybe you want someone to gripe to, or someone to run your ideas past and have a second set of eyes on a project.

But, instead of approaching a stranger or acquaintance, why not just go ahead and start a business with a friend? After all, it worked for Gates and Allen and Jobs and Wozniak. There have been many famous entrepreneurial teams. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, and William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson — so why can’t it work for you and your friend?

Well, before you and your best friend get too far ahead of yourselves, you both should take a close look at the good and bad of working side-by-side with a friend.

Why You Should Start a Business With a Friend

You have a co-founder that you know and trust.

After spending years being acquainted with your friend, you know what their belief systems are, how they react to specific situations, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. You also know how to get under each other’s skin, so hopefully, you’ll avoid triggering those emotions while in the workplace.

More importantly, they are someone you trust entirely — and know that they would never intentionally do you any harm. What more do you want of a co-founder or colleague?

As Stephen Covey said, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

You can speak freely and comfortably.

When you have a trusting and honest friendship, you can pretty much say whatever’s on your mind freely and comfortably. Sure. There will be times when they’ll say something that you don’t want to hear — or that you don’t agree with — but you know what they’re saying is genuine and sincere.

As a result, you can keep each other in-check since you’re calling each other on your BS and ultimately do what’s best for the business.

Creates a positive work environment.

Having friends at work can be extremely beneficial. 70 percent of employees believe having office friends is the “most crucial” aspect of obtaining a fulfilling work life. What’s more, office friendships lead to higher engagement and productivity and a stronger connection to the company.

You have someone to bear your burdens.

Starting a business on your own, as already mentioned above, it no easy task. It can also be incredibly lonely.

But, when you have a friend by your side, you eliminate this loneliness. More important, you have someone to share your burdens with your — whether that be financial or completing tasks on-time. And, because they’re going through everything you are, you can vent to each, celebrate accomplishments, and even throw a couple of drinks back after a particularly challenging week.

You share the same vision.

Friends tend to think alike — that’s likely why you became friends in the first place. You and your friend being able to think alike is actually a great asset for your business.

You likely have the same goals, values, and vision for your business. Thinking alike can come in useful when you’re pitching an idea or your business to a client, prospective customer, or interested investors. If you know what your partner-in-crime is going to say next, then you can set them up seamlessly.

Decisions are easier to make.

As I just mentioned, friends tend to think alike and have a similar vision and belief system. That can make it easier to agree on business decisions — even if you have a different opinion personally.

Remember, spending too much time making a decision isn’t just time-consuming, it can also drain you mentally. You want to save that energy for more important decisions.

They accept your strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s say that public speaking isn’t your thing, but you’re one heck of a coder. But, your friend is charismatic and loves speaking. Instead of them asking you to pitch your business to an investor or at a conference, they would instead ask you to make a killer website to impress others. They also wouldn’t get upset or frustrated in areas that you’re weak — and vice versa.

Simply put, you accept each for you are. As a result, you can leverage each other’s strengths and improve on your weaknesses.

More friend time.

When you work with a friend, it sometimes doesn’t feel like work at all. You get to shoot the breeze, have fun, and create memories. As a result, going to work becomes more enjoyable and relieves stress.

Why You Should Not Work With a Friend

It can be hard to distinguish between work and play.

At the same time, chatting and hanging out all day isn’t always great for productivity. Instead of focusing on work, you’re busy talking about a movie you watched over the weekend. On the flip side, when you’re outside of the office, you may start talking shop instead of just enjoying each other’s company.

No matter how much you love your business, you both need to set boundaries and separate work from play.

Also, you may let workplace difference spill over into your personal lives. For example, if you and your friend are disagreeing on the direction of the business, and it becomes heated, that could make your social life a bit awkward.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

As friends, you probably know a lot about each other. But, knowing too much of others can erode respect.

For example, if you don’t agree with the lifestyle your friend is living, you may feel that they’re someone you shouldn’t work with. Even despite the fact they’ve shown up to work every day bringing their A-game.

Who’s the boss?

Even if you’ve agreed on established roles, it can still be tough to take orders from your friend — and they probably feel the same. As a result, there may be a power struggle.

You must compartmentalize relationship issues.

Friends fight. But, you can’t let those little personal squabbles interfere with the business. No matter how ticked you are at each other — you must remain professional and discuss any disagreements calmly and rationally.

In other words, you need to learn how to compartmentalize any relationship issues you have. Just because you’re at odds personally doesn’t mean that you’re currently at odds with your business partner.

Performance issues can be awkward to address.

When an employee isn’t delivering the results you expect, the conversation isn’t complicated. You have a conversation with them, determine what the problem is, and discuss the ways that they can be more productive.

That conversation isn’t so straightforward with your friend. You may be too empathetic, or they’ll take what you’re saying too personal. It may be an awkward conversation, but it’s necessary if you want your business to thrive.

Friendships don’t always translate to business compatibility.

Sure. You and your friend may share similar values and philosophies. But, you may have completely different approaches to completing various business tasks. That can lead to conflict and when trying to build your business model and company culture.

You know the same people.

Networking is critical when starting a business. But, how much networking can you do when you and your partner know the same people?

Networking may be a greater challenge, but knowing how to find and establish new connections may not be challenging.

A failed business can lead to a failed friendship.

If you fail in this business venture — it can be the absolute worst-case scenario.

Let’s say the business fails, and you blame each other for the failure. You didn’t just lose business; you also lost your friend.

If you’re still on the fence about working with a friend, here are some questions you should ask yourself. Determinations will become more apparent with questions.

• Do you share the same business goals and values?
• Do your work habits and schedules align?
• Can you complement each other’s skills and talents?
• What roles and responsibilities should each partner take-on?
• How will you resolve conflicts?
• Are your personal lives stable?
• How long have you known each other?

Just make sure that you cover all of the topics to do with your business that you can think of. A first business venture is usually the one that friends get together in. You want the best from your first business venture. Take the time to set up all of the parameters so that you and your friend can remain great partners through thick and thin.

Determine Whether Working With a Friend is a Good Idea was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

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7 Team Building Exercises to Improve Team Morale

If you want your startup to succeed, your team needs a sense of motivation and morale. There are many small, individual steps you can take to improve motivation and morale. For example, you can promote from within so employees feel like they have a future at your company. You can issue salary increases, raises, and bonuses to incentivize hard work. And you can create a healthy work culture, where your employees feel safe and feel a sense of belonging every day.

But if you want to reinforce that sense of belonging and make your team feel even more motivated, you’ll need the help of occasional team building exercises.

Hallmarks of Effective Team Building Exercises

Team building exercises could refer to any kind of meetup, event, or exercise where your employees are encouraged to work together—or at least, experience the same kind of event simultaneously. These events work by giving employees something fun or interesting to do (other than typical work), giving them an opportunity to relieve stress. They also have the effect of bringing employees closer together, creating bonds that can ease collaboration in the future.

Accordingly, some of the best team building exercises have the following in common:

• Something fun. The best team building exercises are fun. They’re not supposed to be stressful, and they shouldn’t feel like work.
• Something unusual. If you do the same thing every week, it’s eventually going to become stale and start to feel like a natural routine.
• A collective goal. One of the best perks of team building exercises is that you’re all working together on the same shared goal. This aligns your motivations and forces you to find new ways to collaborate.
• An opportunity for individual interaction. Good team building exercises also offer an opportunity for individual interaction. Your team members can engage with each other to solve a problem and discuss the issue.
• Regularity. It’s also a great idea to host team building events on a regular basis. For example, you could have a team building event on the third Friday of each month. This gives employees something to look forward to.

Team Building Exercises to Consider

Here are several examples of effective team building exercises to consider:

1. Kayaking (or other outdoor events). Kayaking allows your employees to get some exercise and enjoy the great outdoors (assuming the weather is good enough to support it). Plus, if you pair off your employees in teams of two, you’ll force them to work together to propel and steer their individual kayaks. You can substitute kayaking with a variety of other outdoor events as well, such as hiking or biking.
2. An escape room. One popular option is to take your team to an escape room (with everyone wearing masks of course). These businesses provide a room, or sometimes an entire building, that locks people indoors. Together, the people locked inside must find clues, solve puzzles, and work together to figure out how to escape. It’s a fun way to encourage your employees to collaboratively problem solve, and you’ll have something to talk about later.
3. A shooting range. You could also try out a variety of different firearms at a local shooting range. Shooting firearms is a cathartic feeling, and one at least some of your employees have never experienced before. Together, you’ll be able to refine your accuracy and get a feel for how different weapons aim and shoot. Depending on the shooting range you attend, you may be able to shoot weapons indoors or outdoors, engaging with a variety of different targets.
4. Solving a murder. If you’re interested in the clue-gathering and problem-solving elements of these team building exercises, consider hosting a murder mystery party. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could put together a storyline and a series of clues for your own creative murder mystery; if not, you could always buy a murder mystery “kit,” with speaking roles and background information pre-written. Either way, your team will have to work together to solve a fictional crime.
5. Playing board games. Board games are a great mix of collaborative and competitive, so consider hosting a board game night to facilitate bonds between team members. Classic options like Monopoly or Scrabble are passable, but you should also consider delving into modern games, which tend to be more engaging and complex. For example, you could experiment with social deduction games like Mafia or Werewolf, wherein players must bluff and deceive each other to win.
6. Low-stakes competitions. Consider hosting some kind of low-stakes competition amongst individual employees. For example, you could encourage employees to come up with the best business plan within an hour, then present those business plans in the style of Shark Tank. You could also try less conventional forms of competition, like encouraging teams to build the tallest skyscraper out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
7. Personal sharing. If you’re into something less intensive, you could try a simple personal sharing exercise. For example, you could have employees sit in a circle and play “two truths and a lie,” a game that requires each person to provide two unexpected truths about themselves and a plausible lie; each other employee must guess which anecdote or “fact” is not true.

How to Make Your Team building Exercises Even More Effective

If you’re looking for ways to make your team building exercises even more effective, consider these approaches:

• Mix up a variety of different events. Try many of these events, and some of your own choosing.
• Break up your teams. Make sure your employees get the chance to interact with lots of different people.
• Start slow, and scale in intensity. Don’t rush into complex or intimidating team building events right away.
• Get feedback and ideas. Listen to what employees have to say about your events, and ask them if they have any ideas for the future.

With the right team building exercises, you can make all your team members closer to each other and keep your employees motivated—and you’ll get to have some fun yourself along the way. Keep trying new angles and new events, and find what works best for your team.

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4 Ways to Encourage Online Calendar Courtesy

What’s the only tool I couldn’t live without? That’s a no-brainer. My Calendar.

From my experience, the online Calendar helps me succeed in all aspects of my life. My Calendar keeps track of all appointments and deadlines. In turn, having this information at my fingertips has helped me earn a reputation as someone who is dependable and always honors their commitments.

Outside of work, my Calendar helps me maintain a healthy work-life balance. Besides helping avoid getting burned-out, my calendar has helped me maintain important relationships. If I have family time scheduled — then I’m not going to accept a work-related meetings during that time.

But, the beneficial productivity has been possible because I not only live by my calendar, I’ve also made calendar civility and forward-thinking a priority. And, I’ve encouraged online calendar protocol by following the four strategies.

1. Use the right calendaring tools.

Have you ever wondered why we share things with others? Well, Jonah Berger, author of a study published in Psychological Science, says that it’s driven in part by arousal. In particular, it evokes positive and negative emotions.

“People’s behavior is heavily influenced by what others say and do,” explains Berger. “Whether you are a company trying to get people to talk more about your brand, or a public health organization trying to get people to spread your healthy eating message, these results provide insight into how to design more effective messages and communication strategies.”

Moreover, a New York Times report found that the five sharing motivations are:

• Bringing valuable and entertaining content to others
• Defining ourselves to others
• Growing and nourishing relationships
• Self-fulfillment
• Getting the word out about causes and brands

While this research focused on content, can this also be applied when sharing your calendar? Absolutely. In particular, when it comes to adding a title or description.

For example, maybe you meet a new lead or land a high-profile client. In order to follow-up or begin a project, you need to meet with your team. You quickly share your calendar containing a message sharing the good news, as well as where and when you’ll have a team meeting.

However, for communication to be effective — you’ll need the right tools. At the minimum, you need an online calendar that works across multiple platforms. Having tools that cross boundary’s means if you’re an Apple user, but everyone else on your squad uses Android, your apple Calendar isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to have something that integrates and plays well with others.

Use tools that integrate seamlessly with your calendar. For instance, Calendar syncs with Google, Outlook, and Apple calendars. Because of this, it can be used to quickly schedule meetings and organize teamwork — regardless of what calendar your team members are using.

2. Step-up your scheduling game.

If you want to encourage online calendar etiquette with others, then set an example by creating a user-friendly scheduling experience. And, you can achieve that lofty goal by:

• Responding to invites. No one wants to be left hanging — especially when it comes to protecting their valuable. As such, always respond to calendar invites in a timely manner.
• Include the location. Whenever scheduling a meeting or location, don’t forget to include the location. It makes life easier for the other party — even if it’s a VA or secretary. If it’s a physical location, you should also include a map so that it prevents tardiness. For virtual events, make sure to attach the phone number or meeting ID.
• Compose a descriptive title. You don’t need to overstuff the title. But, you shouldn’t be vague either. After all, titling the event only as “Meeting” says nothing. However, “Meeting With Jane to Discuss Dinner Party” lets the attendees know exactly what to expect.
• Add notes in the description. Just like with titles, you don’t need to go overboard here. But, you should include relevance notes and attachments, like the agenda. Why? It will give the invitees the opportunity to prepare.

And, most importantly, don’t schedule back-to-back events. You need to have buffers in-between events. When you do, participants have a chance to wind down, recharge, and prepare for the next event.

3. It’s okay to say “no.”

I’m going to blunt. Just because you received a calendar invite doesn’t mean you have to accept it. In fact, there are plenty of times when you have to say “no.”

One example would be a meeting request when the topic could be addressed over email. Another would be a meeting that takes place when you’re “off-the-clock.” And, yet another would be if the request doesn’t serve a purpose or has little-to-no value.

Of course, you don’t want to be a brute either. Instead, if you opt to decline an invite, by honest and polite. I mean how would you feel if someone rejected your meeting invite with a reply like, “No way! Stop wasting my time!”? I’m sure that would make you feel crummy.

With that in mind, pay the same respect to others. If your calendar is already full, let them know that. You may also suggest an alternative meeting date or a quick phone call instead. The easiest solution though would be sharing your calendar so that they can see when you are available.

4. Live by the golden rule.

I’m sure that you’re aware of the old adage “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” More simply known as the “golden rule,” it means treating others with fairness and respect.

“There is a lot of good, if emerging, scientific work suggesting people have an innate sense of fairness built into them and that the golden rule captures much of that innate moral sense,” says Kristen Monroe, director of the University of California Irvine Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality. “A lot of people instinctively follow it.”

“I don’t like to be kept waiting, so I try not to be late,” adds Monroe. “I don’t like to be lied to or deceived so I try not to do it, even if it might be more convenient to be just a few minutes late or tell a white lie occasionally.”

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, there are simple ways to follow this rule when sharing your calendar.

• Show-up on time. If a meeting starts at 1 PM, then you must be their on-time. To ensure this happens, set a reminder in your calendar. I would also avoid scheduling before the event either in case it goes over the allotted time.
• Don’t make last-minute changes. Things happen. That’s just life. But, unless it’s a life or death situation, never make a last-minute change. If you must cancel or reschedule a calendar entry, give some sort of notice in advance.
• Don’t micromanage. Why use a calendar if you remind attendees every day that there’s a meeting or deadline due next week? There’s nothing wrong with checking-in or sending the occasional gentle follow-up. But, don’t be a nuisance.

What if someone won’t respect your calendar? While frustrating, try to be empathetic. A great reply if someone bows out of an appointment is, “Hey, we’ve all been there — no hard feelings.” A kind reply will help the other person play their best game and you’ll be on top of yours.

If skipping meetings is a frequent problem with this person — then you can adjust your strategy. If it’s a teammates, try to help them diagnose the problem so that it doesn’t keep happening. Someone else, you need not prioritize your schedule with them.

4 Ways to Encourage Online Calendar Courtesy was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

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17 Work-From-Home Opportunities Worth Your Consideration

Work-from-home opportunities don’t pay you to hang at home, but they get pretty close. Between emails, you can raid the fridge, throw a pizza in the oven, or even help your kids with their homework.

But, like most things in life, work-from-home opportunities are not one-size-fits-all. Everyone has their own aptitudes and preferences. Know yourself, and then know your options.

What are the Best Work-From-Home Gigs?

The good news is, there’s a work-from-home opportunity out there for every lifestyle. Take a look at the list below to find one that fits yours.

Best work-from-home opportunity for single moms: Zirtual

Single moms can do it all, which is why they make great virtual assistants. Between managing their kids’ appointments, shuttling them around, and helping them with homework, single moms are already accustomed to doing most of the tasks VAs do.

Working for Zirtual doesn’t require a lot of qualifications, either. As long as you’re college-educated, based in the U.S., and have an internet connection, go ahead and apply.

Zirtual provides on-the-job training, and most of its team members make $12-$16 per hour. Zirtual VAs work for Fortune 500 companies, investors, and mom-and-pop shops.

Best work-from-home opportunity for passive income: Airbnb

If you want to make some extra money and have a space to rent out at home, why not list it on Airbnb? Airbnb hosts make nearly $1,000 per month, on average, simply for giving people a place to stay.

Sure, being an Airbnb host means keeping the rental space clean and tidy. But if you’re already on top of your household chores, it’s not a lot of extra work. Plus, you’ll get to meet people from all around the world in the comfort of your own home.

Best work-from-home opportunity for artsy types: 99Designs

If you know your way around graphic design software, 99Designs can be a lucrative work-from-home opportunity. There are two ways to do it: Either you can compete with other members of the 99Designs community on design challenges, or you can work directly with clients.

Our advice? Start with competitions. There’s no commitment, and you can choose projects that inspire you. Realize that you’ll probably need to enter a few before you start winning them.

Once you’ve won a few contests, brand representatives will begin to reach out to you directly. You can also bring your own clients to the platform, which makes it easy to save and share your work.

Best work-from-home opportunity for recent grads: Tutor.com

It’s hard out there for recent grads. If you’re not sure how to put your education to use but would prefer to work from home, check out Tutor.com. Whether your background is in math, science, history, or some other discipline, you’ll find students in need of support.

Affiliated with the Princeton Review, Tutor.com lets you work as few as 5 hours per week or as many as 29. Plus, you can pick up unscheduled sessions in your spare time.

Why can’t you set up your own tutoring service? You could, but finding clients can be a pain. And once you do, you may have to spend hours tracking down payments. Tutoring on an established platform avoids both time-sucks.

Best work-from-home opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs: Nu Skin

Opportunity platform Nu Skin makes it easy to become an entrepreneur. Nu Skin’s independent brand affiliates sell skincare products directly to consumers in nearly 50 markets. As they build teams, they also have the potential to earn commissions on the products which their team members sell to consumers, which encourages them to mentor the newcomers in their group.

Like other entrepreneurs, Nu Skin’s brand affiliates are responsible for their own expenses, but a unique leg up they have is that they have products that are tried, tested, and supported by a reputable company. Brand affiliates can set their own hours, manage their own teams, and they have the resources and tools to grow their businesses. This helps them be able to have some of the benefits of the gig economy, but have the potential to do more. Brand affiliates engage with customers remotely through social media, in-person meetings, and other platforms.

Best work-from-home opportunity for full-time hours: Amazon

In a lot of cases, work-from-home opportunities offer part-time or inconsistent hours. If you want a full-time job you can do from your couch, check out Amazon. Positions range from sales to software development to customer service.

Because positions range widely, however, so do salaries and benefits. Know your worth, and remember that you can always cobble together a full-time gig from two or more part-time ones.

Best work-from-home opportunity for writers: Verblio

Can you turn a phrase on a dime? Check out Verblio, an online freelance writing platform. Verblio writers pen a range of content, from 300-word blog posts to website copy to e-books. Editing opportunities come up on occasion.

If you want to work for Verblio, you’ll need to have great grammar, research, and content marketing skills. You’ll get to choose industries that align with your expertise, ranging from healthcare to cannabis to real estate.

Best work-from-home opportunity for social butterflies: Arise

Arise’s remote customer service representatives provide support for big-name companies, including Intuit and Airbnb. Earning up to $14 per hour, Arise workers choose their hours and need nothing more than a phone and a quiet space at home.

One plus of this work-from-home opportunity? You’ll never get lonely. The work is a matter of answering questions, triaging support needs, and helping clients deliver exceptional customer experience.

Best work-from-home opportunity for fashionistas: Stella and Dot

Do you want to have a future in fashion, but you can’t pick up stakes for a place like New York City? Stella and Dot’s work-from-home opportunities are second to none.

In a nutshell, Stella and Dot stylists get paid to share and wear jewelry. Many of them sell on social media, while others put on “trunk shows” — which are essentially Tupperware parties for the fashion world.

With that said, Stella and Dot is also a good way to earn some income on the side: More than eight in 10 of them actually hold full- or part-time jobs elsewhere.

Best work-from-home opportunity for multilingual people: Gengo

Are you fluent in two or more languages? Apply to work at Gengo. Gengo is a language translation service that serves Amazon, YouTube, The New York Times, and even the U.S. government agencies.

The company has more than 21,000 translators across all major time zones, covering more than 70 language pairs. Gengo translators earn an average of $417 per month, but income varies depending on customer demand, hours worked, and job availability.

Best work-from-home opportunity for English buffs: VIPkid

If you’re a “word nerd” or love to read, VIPkid has the perfect work-from-home opportunity for you: English tutoring. VIPkid students are primarily Chinese, but because it’s an immersive program, tutors don’t need to be able to speak the language.

Although VIPkid does require a six-month commitment, the pay is good. Tutors earn between $15 and $22 per hour, depending on their prior experience and hours worked. Tutors must be authorized to work in the U.S. or Canada and need a bachelor’s degree, but all majors are accepted.

Best work-from-home opportunity for role-agnostics: Kelly Services

What if you’re a multi-talented person who’ll take pretty much any work-from-home opportunity, so long as the pay is right? Kelly Services is an employment agency that focuses on remote work.

Founded back in 1946, Kelly Services employs almost 440,000 workers. It fills positions in an enormous range of industries, from accounting to automotive to IT to life sciences. Kelly Services fills temporary positions, as well as part- and full-time ones.

Best work-from-home opportunity for healthcare experts: United Healthcare

Although a lot of healthcare jobs must be done in person, a surprising number of them can be accomplished remotely. United Healthcare offers hundreds of work-from-home opportunities, ranging from customer service to clinical care to medical billing.

One of the world’s largest healthcare companies, United Healthcare employs nearly a quarter-million people across all 50 states. Plus, positions in the healthcare industry tend to pay handsomely.

Best work-from-home opportunity for home-decor junkies: Williams-Sonoma

Does a beautifully decorated room make you swoon? Consider work-from-home opportunities with Williams-Sonoma. The California-based retailer sells everything from bakeware to wreaths to barbeque grills.

Most of the remote-work opportunities with Williams-Sonoma are customer service positions. The perks and pay are good, though: Agents start at $12 per hour, with three weeks of paid training from home. They also get a 40% discount on most Williams-Sonoma products.

Best work-from-home opportunity for tech gurus: Dell

If you’re happy to spend all day writing code or troubleshooting consumer tech, a work-from-home opportunity with Dell might be right for you. Dell has team members in more than 15 countries and is consistently named a “best place to work.”

Although most people know Dell as a computer brand, it’s actually a do-it-all tech company. Partnerships with companies like SecureWorks enable Dell workers to get their feet wet in cybersecurity, a notoriously in-demand field.

Best work-from-home opportunity for travel fanatics: Dream Vacations

If you’d like to either be at home or on an adventure, Dream Vacations has work-from-home opportunities you might want to check out. As a franchisee, you get the flexibility of working from home — or on whatever beach you might be enjoying at the time — with the credibility of a brand.

Beware, though, that work as a travel agent is fast-paced. Not only do franchisees need to develop their own client relationships, but they also have to manage bookings and handle billing. To make it a little easier, Dream Vacations provides online training modules and social media support.

Best work-from-home opportunity for tax experts: Intuit TurboTax

If you’re a certified public accountant or enrolled agent, consider a remote tax preparation role with Intuit’s TurboTax division. Intuit welcomes tax experts at all levels of their career, but experience with tax-prep software is a must. Bilingualism is a plus.

One plus of this work-from-home opportunity? Overtime pay around peak times. Because tax preparation is a seasonal industry, home-based tax preparers can make a pretty penny around quarterly tax filing deadlines.

Work-from-home opportunities have never been more plentiful. But as is true of in-person opportunities, you shouldn’t take a position simply because it’s open.

Check out the company, talk to other members of the team, and find the right fit: Yours is out there, and the best part is, you don’t even have to leave your home to find it.

17 Work-From-Home Opportunities Worth Your Consideration was originally published on Due by John Rampton.

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