Short on Time? 4 Time Hacks to Get Your Schedule Under Control

I’ve found that, over the years, traditional work schedules have gone by the wayside. Things like weekends off and nine-to-five workdays are a thing of the past. There are times that this flexibility is a blessing, but it does mean that I have to stay on top of both my work and personal schedule. Which is why I’ve started to incorporate more time hacks into my life.

Start introducing time hacks into your own life by first taking a closer look at your daily activities to determine how your time is spent. Consider using a daily activity log to evaluate your current schedule. With a few “off the beaten path” changes I’ve discovered, you too can get that stuffed schedule under control again.

Listed below are a series of time hacks I took to better organize my schedule. You may embrace them all or pick out a couple that resonate with you. Either way, you’ll gain more time in your schedule by incorporating a few of these time hacks into your daily routine.

1. Keep Up That Pandemic Simplicity

Let’s start with something that is easy to overlook: the pandemic brought a certain sense of simplicity to our lives. Don’t get me wrong. The event itself was a horrible thing. But as far as scheduling goes, for a lot of us, life got a bit cleaner.

Social activity was at a minimum, and even things like shopping were done via drop-offs or curbside pickups. Over the course of life in quarantine, I’ve found that, whenever things lighten up, my reaction is to revert to old habits like in-person shopping and relentless social schedules. It’s a tendency that I’m resisting now.

See, it turns out that the simplicity induced by the pandemic is helpful for normal life, too. Work schedules are easier to manage without an added hour or two for commuting. Grocery shopping is a breeze with curbside pick up. I can even “eat out” at a moment’s notice by having Grubhub deliver my food or if I do not want to risk my health by going to a pharmacy and waiting for prescriptions, I can get my medication delivered to my doorstep with ^[1] same-day delivery via a company like Medly’s digital pharmacy.

I shared this tip with my grandparents, who are constantly refilling their prescriptions, so that they could stay safe as well. Pandemic or not, maintain those simple lifelines where you can. The time that they save is significant.

2. Create a Master Calendar

Calendars are awesome. They help me keep track of my daily schedule. I remember events that absolutely would have slipped off of my radar if they weren’t there, ensconced on my little calendar app. You can even set up calendar alerts or reminders to help keep you on schedule.

I’ve gone with the mainstream option by utilizing Google’s popular multi-platform calendar. It integrates into so many devices and gadgets. But in reality, any calendar app can do. The point is, if you want your schedule to make any sense, you need a calendar.

But that’s not really a “time hack,” is it? If you want to take your act to the next level, you should go beyond a personal calendar. You need to integrate a “master calendar”^[2] for your tribe. Whether that’s a spouse, children, or friends, if you cohabitate with others, get a calendar set up for you all to share. That way, you can include events that impact everyone involved in a central location for all to see.

3. Embrace the Rule of One

Multitasking feels great. But I have some tough love to share with you: that productive feeling is a fallacy. It’s actually more of a time suck rather than a time hack. In fact, one of the best ways to reduce your productivity is to take on too many things at once.

Enter the “Rule of One.”

This is the uncomplicated idea that, in order to remain productive over the long term, you should plan to only accomplish one substantive thing each day. Start the day by picking a single significant thing that you want to check off your list by the end of the day.

By focusing on a single thing for each 24-hour period, you can maintain forward momentum. You can also embrace a genuine sense of productivity as you complete real-world items on a daily basis.

4. Review Your Entertainment …Regularly

When things are crazy, it’s easy to slide into unhealthy entertainment habits. When I finish a long day, all I want to do is binge on a comedy like “The Office” or “Modern Family.” These are great shows with real entertainment value, but when I mindlessly consume them as a bottomless escape from my reality, it doesn’t help matters much.

On the contrary, binging television, gaming at all hours of the night, going out to clubs, eating junk food, or any other entertainment activity can be destructive. The problem isn’t what you’re doing so much as why you’re doing it.

If you want to restore your schedule, consider what you’re getting out of each entertainment activity. Use the Japanese model of simplicity and minimalism as an inspiration to remove time-sucking activities from your life — even technically “fun” ones.

If you’re like me, you’ll find that the entertainment you do continue to engage in has a new level of satisfaction. Oh, and you’ll free up more of your schedule, too.

Letting Go to Regain Control

If there’s one thing that I’ve discovered about scheduling over the years, it’s that a firmer grip never wins out. In fact, getting more intense about a crazy schedule tends to play out a bit like squeezing a bar of soap.

Instead, I’ve learned to look for subtle yet effective ways to make a difference. Incorporating things like simplicity, master calendars, and the Rule of One can have a huge impact on your schedule. It did for me.

Featured photo credit: De an Sun via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]	^	Medly Pharmacy: 5 Reasons Prescription Delivery is the Future of Healthcare
[2]	^	Care.com: The 8 Best Calendar and Organizer Apps for Families

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How to Manage Time Efficiently And Make the Best of Your Time

Time management happens to be one of the most important skills in everyone’s life. If you don’t know how to manage your time, you probably can’t achieve much!

In this episode of the Lifehack Show, I’ll show you what you can do to manage your time efficiently and make the best out of your time. Learn how to stop juggling all of your responsibilities at once, and start living a more productive and less stressful life.

The post How to Manage Time Efficiently And Make the Best of Your Time appeared first on Lifehack.

How To Become More Efficient in Life

Be it in your personal life or professional life, efficiency is crucial. It is a measure of how dedicated you are in terms of work or other things as well.

In this episode of the Lifehack Show, I’m showing you how to spend less time doing unimportant stuff so that you have more time for things that really matter to you.

The post How To Become More Efficient in Life appeared first on Lifehack.

Are You Addicted to Productivity?

“It’s great to be productive. It really is. But sometimes, we chase productivity so much that it makes us, well, unproductive. It’s easy to read a lot about how to be more productive , but don’t forget that you have to make that time up.”

Matt Cutts wrote that back in 2013,^[1]

“Today, search for ‘productivity’ and Google will come back with about 663,000,000 results. If you decide to go down this rabbit hole, you’ll be bombarded by a seemingly endless amount of content. I’m talking about books, blogs, videos, apps, podcasts, scientific studies, and subreddits all dedicated to productivity.”

Like so many other people, I’ve also fallen into this trap. For years I’ve been on the lookout for trends and hacks that will help me work faster and more efficiently — and also trends that help me help others to be faster. I’ve experimented with various strategies and tools . And, while some of these strategies and solutions have been extremely useful — without parsing out what you need quickly — it’s counterproductive.

Sometimes you end up spending more time focusing on how to be productive instead of actually being productive.

“The most productive people I know don’t read these books, they don’t watch these videos, they don’t try a new app every month,” James Bedell wrote in a Medium post.^[2] “They are far too busy getting things done to read about Getting Things Done.”

This is my mantra:

I proudly say, “I am addicted to productivity — I want to be addicted to productivity — productivity is my life and my mission — and I also want to find the best way to lead others through productivity to their best selves.

But most of the time productivity means putting your head down and working until the job’s done.” –John Rampton

Addiction to Productivity is Real

Dr. Sandra Chapman, director of the University of Texas at Dallas Center for BrainHealth points out that the brain can get addicted to productivity just as it can to more common sources of addiction, such as drugs, gambling, eating, and shopping.

“A person might crave the recognition their work gives them or the salary increases they get,” Chapman told the BBC.^[3] “The problem is that just like all addictions, over time, a person needs more and more to be satisfied, and then it starts to work against you. Withdrawal symptoms include increased anxiety, depression, and fear.”

Despite the harmful consequences, addiction is considered by some experts as a brain disease that affects the brain’s reward system and ends in compulsive behavior. Regardless, society tends to reward productivity — or at least to treat it positively. As a result, this makes the problem even worse.

“It’s seen like a good thing: the more you work, the better,” adds Chapman. “Many people don’t realize the harm it causes until a divorce occurs and a family is broken apart, or the toll it takes on mental health.”

Because of the occasional negative issues with productivity, it’s no surprise that it is considered a “mixed-blessing addiction.”

“A workaholic might be earning a lot of money, just as an exercise addict is very fit,” explains Dr. Mark Griffiths, distinguished professor of behavioral addiction at Nottingham Trent University. “But the thing about any addiction is that in the long run, the detrimental effects outweigh any short-term benefits.”

“There may be an initial period where the individual who is developing a work addiction is more productive than someone who isn’t addicted to work, but it will get to a point when they are no longer productive, and their health and relationships are affected,” Griffiths writes in Psychology Today.^[4] “It could be after one year or more, but if the individual doesn’t do anything about it, they could end up having serious health consequences.”

“For instance, I speculated that the consequences of work addiction may be reclassified as something else: If someone ends up dying of a work-related heart attack, it isn’t necessarily seen as having anything to do with an addiction per se – it might be attributed to something like burnout,” he adds.

There Are Three “Distinct Extreme Productivity Types

Cyril Peupion, a Sydney-based productivity expert, has observed extreme productivity among clients at both large and medium-sized companies. “Most people who come to me are high performers and very successful. But often, the word they use to describe their work style is ‘unsustainable,’ and they need help getting it back on track.”

By changing their work habits, Peupion assists teams and individuals improve their performance and ensure that their efforts are aligned with the overarching strategy of the business, rather than focusing on work as a means to an end. He has distinguished three types of extreme productivity in his classification: efficiency obsessive, selfishly productive, and quantity-obsessed.

Efficiency obsessive. “Their desks are super tidy and their pens are probably color-coded. They are the master of ‘inbox zero.’ But they have lost sight of the big picture, and don’t know the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.”

Selfishly productive. “They are so focused on their own world that if they are asked to do something outside of it, they aren’t interested. They do have the big picture in mind, but the picture is too much about them.”

Quantity-obsessed. “They think; ‘The more emails I respond to, the more meetings I attend, the more tasks I do, the higher my performance.’ As a result, they face a real risk of burnout.”

Peupion believes that “quantity obsessed” individuals are the most common type “because there is a pervasive belief that ‘more’ means ‘better’ at work.”

The Warning Signs of Productivity Addiction

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself if you think you may be succumbing to productivity addiction. After all, most of us aren’t aware of this until it’s too late.

• Can you tell when you’re “wasting” time? If so, have you ever felt guilty about it?
• Does technology play a big part in optimizing your time management?
• Do you talk about how busy you are most of the time? In your opinion, is hustling better than doing less?
• What is your relationship with your email inbox? Are you constantly checking it or experience phantom notifications?
• When you only check one item off your list, do you feel guilty?
• Does stress from work interfere with your sleep?
• Have you been putting things off, like a vacation or side project, because you’re “too swamped?

The first step toward turning around your productivity obsession is to recognize it. If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then it’s time to make a plan to overcome your addiction to productivity.

Overcoming Your Productivity Addiction

Thankfully, there are ways to curb your productivity addiction. And, here are 9 such ways to achieve that goal.

1. Set Limits

Just because you’re hooked on productivity doesn’t mean you have to completely abstain from it. Instead, you need to establish boundaries.

For example, there are a lot of amazing productivity podcasts out there. But, that doesn’t mean you have to listen to them all in the course of a day. Instead, you could listen to one or two podcasts, like The Productivity Podcast or Before Breakfast, during your commute. And, that would be your only time of the day to get your productivity fix.

2. Create a Not-to-Do List

Essentially, the idea of a not-to-do list is to eliminate the need to practice self-discipline. Getting rid of low-value tasks and bad habits will allow you to focus on what you really want to do as opposed to weighing the pros and cons or declining time requests. More importantly, this prevents you from feeling guilty about not crossing everything off an unrealistic to-do list.

3. Be Vulnerable

By this, I mean admitting where you could improve. For example, if you’re new to remote work and are struggling with thi s, you would only focus on topics in this area. Suggestions would be how to create a workspace at home, not getting distracted when the kids aren’t in school, or improving remote communication and collaboration with others.

4. Understand Why You Procrastinate

Often, we procrastinate to minimize negative emotions like boredom or stress. Other times it could be because it’s a learned trait, underestimating how long it takes you to complete something or having a bias towards a task.

Regardless of the exact reason, we end up doing busy work, scrolling social media, or just watching one more episode of our favorite TV series. And, even though we know that it’s not for the best, we do things that make us feel better than the work we should do to restore our mood.^[5]

There are a lot of ways to overcome procrastination. But, the first step is to be aware of it so that you can take action. For example, if you’re dreading a difficult task, don’t just watch Netflix. Instead, procrastinate more efficiently,y like returning a phone call or working on a client pitch.

5. Don’t Be a Copycat

Let’s keep this short and sweet. When you find a productivity app or technique that works for you, stick with it.

That’s not to say that you can’t make adjustments along the way or try new tools or hacks. However, the main takeaway should be that just because someone swears by the Pomodoro Technique doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for you.

6. Say Yes to Less

Across the board, your philosophy should be less is more.

That means only download the apps you actually use and want to keep (after you try them out) and uninstall the ones you don’t use. For example, are you currently reading a book on productivity? Don’t buy your next book until you’ve finished the one you’re currently reading (or permit yourself to toss a book that isn’t doing you any good). — and if you really want to finish a book more quickly, listen to the book on your way to work and back.

Already have plans this weekend? Don’t commit to a birthday party. And, if you’re day is booked, decline that last-minute meeting request.

7. Stop Focusing on What’s Next

“In the age when purchasing a thing from overseas is just one click and talking to another person is one swipe right, acquiring new objects or experiences can be addictive like anything else,” writes Patrick Banks for Lifehack .

“That doesn’t need to be you,” he adds. “You can stop your addition to ‘the next thing’ starting today.” After all, “there will always be this next thing if you don’t make a conscious decision to get your life back together and be the one in charge.”

• Think about your current lifestyle and the person you’re at this stage to help you identify what you aren’t satisfied with.
• By setting clear goals for yourself in the future, you will be able to overcome your addiction.
• Establish realistic goals.
• To combat addiction, you must be aware of what is going on around you, as well as inside your head, at any given time.
• Don’t spend time with people who have unhealthy behaviors.
• Hold yourself accountable.
• Keep a journal and write out what you want to overcome.
• Appreciate no longer being addicted to what’s next.

8. Simplify

Each day, pick one priority task. That’s it. As long as you concentrate on one task at a time, you will be less likely to get distracted or overwhelmed by an endless list of tasks. A simple mantra to live by is: work smarter, not harder.

The same is also accurate with productivity hacks and tools. Bullet journaling is a great example. Unfortunately, for many, a bullet journal is way more time-consuming and overwhelming than a traditional planner.

9. Learn How to Relax

“Sure, we need to produce sometimes, especially if we have to pay the bills, but, banning obsession with productivity is unhealthy,” writes Leo Babauta. “When you can’t get yourself to be productive, relax.” Don’t worry about being hyper-efficient. And, don’t beat yourself up about having fun.

“But what if you can’t motivate yourself … ever?” he asks. “Sure, that can be a problem. But if you relax and enjoy yourself, you’ll be happier.”

“And if you work when you get excited, on things you’re excited about, and create amazing things, that’s motivation,” Leo states. “Not forcing yourself to work when you don’t want to, on things you don’t want to work on — motivation is doing things you love when you get excited.”

But, how exactly can you relax? Here are some tips from Leo;

• Spend 5 minutes walking outside and breathe in the fresh air.
• Give yourself more time to accomplish things. Less rushing means less stress.
• If you can, get outside after work to enjoy nature.
• Play like a child. Even better? Play with your kids. And, have fun at work — maybe give gamification a try .
• Take the day off, rest, and do something non-work-related.
• Allow yourself an hour of time off. Try not to be productive during that time. Just relax.
• You should work with someone who is exciting. Make your project exciting.
• Don’t work in the evenings. Seriously.
• Visit a massage therapist.
• Just breathe.

“Step by step, learn to relax,” he suggests. “Learn that productivity isn’t everything.” For that statement, sorry Leo, I say productivity isn’t everything — it’s the only thing.” However, if you can’t cut loose, relax, do fun things, and do the living part of your life — you’ll crack in a big way — you really will.

It’s great to create and push forward — just remember it doesn’t mean that every minute must be spent working or obsessing over productivity issues. Instead, invest your time in meaningful, high-impact work, get into it, focus, put in big time and then relax.

Are You Addicted to Productivity? was originally published on Calendar by John Rampton.

Featured photo credit: Christina @ wocintechchat.com via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]	^	Matt Cuts: The dangers of productivity porn
[2]	^	James Bedell: The Trap of Productivity Porn
[3]	^	BBC: When productivity becomes an addiction
[4]	^	Psychology Today: Productivity Addiction
[5]	^	The Wall Street Journal: To Stop Procrastinating, Look to Science of Mood Repair

The post Are You Addicted to Productivity? appeared first on Lifehack.

How Remote Work Affects Your Productivity And Wellbeing (Backed By Data)

The internet is flooded with articles about remote work and its benefits or drawbacks. But in reality, the remote work experience is so subjective that it’s impossible to draw general conclusions and issue one-size-fits-all advice about it. However, one thing that’s universal and rock-solid is data. Data-backed findings and research about remote work productivity give us a clear picture of how our workdays have changed and how work from home affects us—because data doesn’t lie.

In this article, we’ll look at three decisive findings from a recent data study and two survey reports concerning remote work productivity and worker well-being.

1. We Take Less Frequent Breaks

Your home can be a peaceful or a distracting place depending on your living and family conditions. While some of us might find it hard to focus amidst the sounds of our everyday life, other people will tell you that the peace and quiet while working from home (WFH) is a major productivity booster. Then there are those who find it hard to take proper breaks at home and switch off at the end of the workday.

But what does data say about remote work productivity? Do we work more or less in a remote setting?

Let’s take a step back to pre-pandemic times (2014, to be exact) when a time tracking application called DeskTime discovered that 10% of most productive people work for 52 minutes and then take a break for 17 minutes.

Recently, the same time tracking app repeated that study to reveal working and breaking patterns during the pandemic. They found that remote work has caused an increase in time worked, with the most productive people now working for 112 minutes and breaking for 26 minutes.^[1]

Now, this may seem rather innocent at first—so what if we work for extended periods of time as long as we also take longer breaks? But let’s take a closer look at this proportion.

While breaks have become only nine minutes longer, work sprints have more than doubled. That’s nearly two hours of work, meaning that the most hard-working people only take three to four breaks per 8-hour workday. This discovery makes us question if working from home (WFH) really is as good a thing for our well-being as we thought it was. In addition, in the WFH format, breaks are no longer a treat but rather a time to squeeze in a chore or help children with schoolwork.

Online meetings are among the main reasons for less frequent breaks. Pre-pandemic meetings meant going to another room, stretching your legs, and giving your eyes a rest from the computer. In a remote setting, all meetings happen on screen, sometimes back-to-back, which could be one of the main factors explaining the longer work hours recorded.

2. We Face a Higher Risk of Burnout

At first, many were optimistic about remote work’s benefits in terms of work-life balance as we save time on commuting and have more time to spend with family—at least in theory. But for many people, this was quickly counterbalanced by a struggle to separate their work and personal lives. Buffer’s 2021 survey for the State of Remote Work report found that the biggest struggle of remote workers is not being able to unplug, with collaboration difficulties and loneliness sharing second place.^[2]

Buffer’s respondents were also asked if they are working more or less since their shift to remote work, and 45 percent admitted to working more. Forty-two percent said they are working the same amount, while 13 percent responded that they are working less.

Longer work hours and fewer quality breaks can dramatically affect our health, as long-term sitting and computer use can cause eye strain, mental fatigue, and other issues. These, in turn, can lead to more severe consequences, such as burnout and heart disease.

Let’s have a closer look at the connection between burnout and remote work.

McKinsey’s report about the Future of work states that 49% of people say they’re feeling some symptoms of burnout.^[3] And that may be an understatement since employees experiencing burnout are less likely to respond to survey requests and may have even left the workforce.

From the viewpoint of the employer, remote workers may seem like they are more productive and working longer hours. However, managers must be aware of the risks associated with increased employee anxiety. Otherwise, the productivity gains won’t be long-lasting. It’s no secret that prolonged anxiety can reduce job satisfaction, decrease work performance, and negatively affect interpersonal relationships with colleagues.^[4]

3. Despite everything, We Love Remote Work

An overwhelming majority—97 percent—of Buffer report’s survey respondents say they would like to continue working remotely to some extent. The two main benefits mentioned by the respondents are the ability to have a flexible schedule and the flexibility to work from anywhere.

McKinsey’s report found that more than half of employees would like their workplace to adopt a more flexible hybrid virtual-working model, with some days of work on-premises and some days working remotely. To be more exact, more than half of employees report that they would like at least three work-from-home days a week once the pandemic is over.

Companies will increasingly be forced to find ways to satisfy these workforce demands while implementing policies to minimize the risks associated with overworking and burnout. Smart companies will embrace this new trend and realize that adopting hybrid models can also be a win for them—for example, for accessing talent in different locations and at a lower cost.

Remote Work: Blessing or Plight?

Understandably, workers worldwide are tempted to keep the good work-life aspects that have come out of the pandemic—professional flexibility, fewer commutes, and extra time with family. But with the once strict boundaries between work and life fading, we must remain cautious. We try to squeeze in house chores during breaks. We do online meetings from the kitchen or the same couch we watch TV shows from, and many of us report difficulties switching off after work.

So, how do we keep our private and professional lives from hopelessly blending together?

The answer is that we try to replicate the physical and virtual boundaries that come naturally in an office setting. This doesn’t only mean having a dedicated workspace but also tracking your work time and stopping when your working hours are finished. In addition, it means working breaks into your schedule because watercooler chats don’t just naturally happen at home.

If necessary, we need to introduce new rituals that resemble a normal office day—for example, going for a walk around the block in the morning to simulate “arriving at work.” Remote work is here to stay. If we want to enjoy the advantages it offers, then we need to learn how to cope with the personal challenges that come with it.

Learn how to stay productive while working remotely with these tips: How to Work From Home: 10 Tips to Stay Productive

Featured photo credit: Jenny Ueberberg via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]	^	DeskTime: 52/17 updated – people are now working and breaking longer than before
[2]	^	Buffer: The 2021 State of Remote Work
[3]	^	McKinsey & Company: What employees are saying about the future of remote work
[4]	^	World Health Organization: Mental health and work: Impact, issues, and good practices

The post How Remote Work Affects Your Productivity And Wellbeing (Backed By Data) appeared first on Lifehack.

How To Lead And Manage a Remote Team

Leaders of today have their work cut out for them. The corporate landscape of the 21st century demands resilience in their pursuit of excellence but also patience with their decisions. Modern-day business leaders need to embrace the freedom of individuality while balancing company initiatives and accomplishing key objectives. And most of all, they must be flexible in their ability to lead and manage a remote team.

Remote work is no longer a potential option or wishful thinking for busy parents, as COVID-19 has completely changed the landscape of the modern-day workplace as we know it.

In 2020, Growmotely conducted a survey and found that 74% of respondents expected working from home to become a standard in the business world.^[1] Although inevitably, there will be companies that mandate their employees back into the workplace once the pandemic is over, it’s safe to say that the corporate world will never be the same ever again.

Keeping this in mind, company leaders must ask: how can we lead and manage a remote team? Is it possible? And more importantly, is it worth it?

While there may be multiple correct answers to these questions, we need to place these questions into context to establish some foundational skills and communication lines to truly maximize our chances of actually surviving a permanent work-from-home culture. Regardless of your preference on whether or not working from home makes sense, some people will be left in the dust if they don’t adapt to the new demands placed on their plate.

True leaders evolve with their problems to stay ahead with innovative solutions, which is why future leaders will focus on prioritizing people over their individual preferences. Here are five tips on how to effectively lead and manage a remote team.

1. Focus on the “What,” Not the “How”

Managing a remote team shouldn’t equate to adult babysitting, yet this is how most leaders feel about it. Yes, people will do what they want while at home, but that doesn’t mean they’re constantly taking naps or playing video games.

We all function at different rates, hours, and times throughout the day, so allowing your employees to do the same may increase their work output while improving their quality of life. Interestingly enough, Stanford published a study documenting a 13% increase in workplace productivity while working from home, which also yielded greater satisfaction at work and a nearly 50% decrease in attrition rates.^[2]

For the early risers, this may mean allowing them to start their day early and end their day early. For the late adopters, it may mean that their workday may take them into the later hours of the evening. And to be honest, it shouldn’t matter what time someone is on the clock, as long as they get their work done and meet their deadlines. This is important because it allows individuals to choose their day, which can facilitate trust, have honest conversations about struggles, and provide people greater fulfillment with their work.

Most of all, focusing on the “what” is far more critical than the “how” for the company’s bottom line. At the end of the day, results are the only thing that matter. Ask yourself: do you really care how someone does their job as long as they get the job done?

2. Ask for Feedback, Don’t Just Give It

Influential leaders don’t tell their employees how to solve problems; they ask them how to solve problems. Asking for feedback about a problem is how continuous innovation is created because it cultivates a problem-solving mindset by the entire company, not just the leadership team.

If the leadership team had all the answers to their problems, why would they need other employees working for them? A leader’s role is to state problems to facilitate innovative thinking and problem solving, especially if this problem solving isn’t a strength of the leader at hand.

In Simon Sinek’s book, The Infinite Game, he discussed how great leaders are usually the last ones to speak on a topic or problem because they actively choose to hear a collective effort from their peers before taking a stab at solving it. They utilize their team and resources to come up with the best ideas, not those that come from the talking heads of the corporate ladder. In turn, these simple steps facilitate growth, innovation, and connectivity between team members and their peers.

Asking employees for their feedback makes them feel valued and a part of the team, significantly affecting team culture and morale. When people feel connected to a group, they’re willing to go above and beyond to show their loyalty. More importantly, their motivations become intrinsic instead of extrinsic, significantly changing their emotional buffer for stress, tension, and uncertainty.

Even if the feedback provided can’t be used or implemented, it is still essential to growth and development. And in many situations, leaders will be surprised by the brilliant answers posed to them once they work up enough courage to ask the questions and be vulnerable by stating they don’t have the answers.

3. Be Vulnerable

On the surface, vulnerability may seem like a weakness, but it’s a sign of strength. Those willing to show their vulnerabilities will win over their peers and employees because they are not above everyone else. Humans are vulnerable beings, yet, in the workplace, vulnerability has been brushed under the rug due to the overwhelming toxicity that masculinity has placed our modern-day workplace into.

By showing your vulnerability, you become one of the tribe. You show others that it’s normal to express emotion and inherently set the tone to prioritize your peers’ mental and physical well-being. We all have good days and bad days, so celebrate the good days and be open about the struggles of the bad days. You will be surprised to see how people respond positively to your efforts.

Brene Brown is a renowned expert in leadership and vulnerability and has discovered just how powerful being vulnerable can be in a workplace. Through her research, she has found that men and women differ in their abilities to be vulnerable based on gender expectations and roles, which is why it is so difficult to make this transition in the office.^[3]

However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways around this barrier. It takes intention and continuous practice to achieve greatness in any field of study, so prioritize vulnerability like the muscle. The more you use it, the easier it becomes to carry a heavy load.

4. Immediately Confront Conflict

Being away from the office can provide greater flexibility and comfort, but it can also allow petty issues to become significant problems down the road. If there are fewer touchpoints of contact between leaders and their team members, there may also be fewer opportunities to bring up conflicts and issues throughout the day. This is a slippery slope because minor problems quickly turn into big ones without much effort, causing a cascade of problems that may eventually lead to employee burnout or the failure of meeting deadlines.

The classic “watercooler” discussions that happen throughout the office are still a factor in company culture online, as conversations and group text messages can become burdensome for company growth and team morale. Be sure to stay on top of these conversations to avoid any underlying pitfalls or employee conflicts that will inevitably happen.

5. Be Willing to Learn Everyday

Lastly, leaders of the future must be willing to unlearn, relearn, and breakthrough old thoughts with new information daily. In his blockbuster book, Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results, elite Silicon Valley consultant Barry O’Reilly discusses the cycle of how transformative leaders use this adaptive model to innovate new ways of improving business and thought processes continuously.

Highly effective leaders are constantly searching for new and innovative ideas. Yet, many go about it wrong, which can stifle ingenuity and creative thinking. By utilizing the unlearn, relearn, and breakthroughs, future leaders can vastly change how they innovate with their teams and provide the structural framework to change how they do business.

Final Thoughts

Leading and managing remote teams doesn’t have to be difficult as long as you are willing to put in the time, energy, and resources to be transparent with your problems and execute. It is your job to ensure the highest levels of trust with your team, which will take you and your people to the next level, providing fuel to the fire towards your future success.

When leaders lead with their hearts, they also create loyal followers and future leaders. Be willing to do what it takes to put your people first, even when they’re working from home in their PJs.

More Remote Team Management Tips

• 9 Effective Team Management Strategies
• 11 Tools to Help You Keep Track of Your Remote Employees
• Keeping Millennials Motivated in a Remote Workplace

Featured photo credit: Surface via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]	^	Forbes: 5 Statistics Employers Need To Know About The Remote Workforce
[2]	^	Stanford University: Does Working From Home Work? Evidence From a Chinese Experiment
[3]	^	The Atlantic: ‘Messages of Shame Are Organized Around Gender’

The post How To Lead And Manage a Remote Team appeared first on Lifehack.

How a Project Management Mindset Boosts Your Productivity

In our “always-on, always-connected” world, time is at a premium. Most people spend every day jumping from one task to the next, scrambling to get everything done. But just being busy doesn’t mean you’re successful.

On the contrary, most people could be doing far more with the time they have. The reason they aren’t is that their approach to getting things done is all wrong. And while some might attack that problem by applying various productivity tips and tricks to whittle away their to-do list, they’re only treating the symptoms of a larger issue.

The real problem is that they lack the right mindset to organize and tackle their daily tasks and get the most out of their time. As it turns out, the mindset they need to succeed bears a striking resemblance to that of a professional project manager, and that’s good news—because it means that anyone can learn to think like a project manager and supercharge their productivity.

But don’t just run out and sign up for a project management certification course. That would be overkill (unless you’re looking for a career change, anyway). Instead, read on to find out how you can apply a project management mindset to everything you do.

I’ll cover what project managers do, the skills they rely on, and some actionable tips on how you can think like a project manager and get more done. Are you ready? Then, let’s dive in.

What is Project Management?

If you were to look up the role of a project manager, you’d find some vague—if not utterly confusing—descriptions of the job. The trouble is, it’s hard to describe what a project manager does without repeating the word project about half of a dozen times. And any description that doesn’t do that tends to leave a lot to the imagination.

Take, for example, the description offered by the Project Management Institute:^[1]

“They are organized, passionate and goal-oriented [individuals] who understand what projects have in common, and their strategic role in how organizations succeed, learn and change.”

That doesn’t help much, does it? But having worked with project managers of all kinds and in multiple industries allow me to give you a more useful definition.

Project managers are people who lead teams (both large and small) to work on well-defined projects with the goal of completing them on time, on budget, and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. The projects they work on can be anything: creating a piece of software, building a building, running an advertising campaign—whatever needs doing.

But what’s more important is how project managers go about their work. It’s their job to assemble all of the resources needed to get their work done, and then to put those resources to the most efficient use to achieve their stated goals.

Think of them as the ultimate coordinators—the producers of the business world, if you will. And they accomplish that using a very specific set of skills.

5 Essential Project Management Skills

An effective project manager relies on a few major skill groupings to do their job. These include:

• Planning Skills – Planning skills involve knowing how to get from a project’s starting point to its completion with a minimum of disruptions and delays along the way.
• Scheduling Skills – Scheduling skills involve understanding how to segment necessary work into smaller tasks, prioritize those tasks, and schedule the right amount of time for each (without under or over-allocating time).
• Budgeting Skills – Budgeting skills involve having a complete understanding of the costs involved in completing a project. This can mean material costs, labor costs, and even indirect costs, and then building a realistic budget that doesn’t overpromise or underdeliver with the resources available.
• Risk Management Skills – Risk management skills refer to being able to spot potential risks before they interrupt or derail a project, and knowing how to avoid or mitigate them when necessary.
• Communication Skills – Communication skills involve knowing how to communicate the knowledge contained in the preceding skills to others and how to listen to feedback from others to avoid unnecessary confusion or delays in work.

In a real-world context, project managers do rely on some additional skills, like leadership ability, networking, and contract management. But since those aren’t relevant to an individual applying a project management mindset to their daily life, we’re not going to go into detail about them.

Now, at this point, you may be wondering: What good is a project mindset without the skills to back it up? And that’s a valid question.

But the truth is that if you’re already doing the work of managing your job and your personal life, you probably already have enough of these skills as they relate to your specific situation.

For example, you should already understand what’s required of you at work, and you have the skills relevant to your job. That means you should also know how to tackle a work-related project from beginning to end, have a decent idea of how long each part of the job takes, and what kinds of things might get in your way.

All that’s missing is knowing how to apply that information to make the most effective use of your time—and that’s what a project management mindset is.

Sounds simple when you put it that way, right?

With that said, let’s get to some actionable tips that you can apply every day to start thinking like a project manager. Before you know it, you’ll have gotten your schedule under control and your efficiency off the charts.

5 Tips to Get You Thinking Like a Project Manager

The best part of all of this is that there are some very specific ways that you can apply a project management mindset to your day to boost your productivity.

You don’t have to take any courses to learn them, and you don’t have to radically restructure your daily life. And once you begin to do these things, you’ll begin to see the logic in how they help you to maximize your productivity in everything you do.

1. Set Aside Dedicated Planning Time

Of all of the ways you can apply a project management mindset to your life, this one is as close to a must as it gets. It’s that you must set aside at least 15 minutes each week to plan out what you need to get done in the days that follow. That means no distractions, no interruptions, and no multitasking. Just you, your to-do list, and your preferred scheduling app.

The time you spend planning will determine how efficient you are for the rest of the week, so it’s important to get things right. And that’s not just my opinion. There are volumes of research that demonstrate the direct link between planning quality and project success. And besides, it just makes sense. You can’t manage what you haven’t planned for, right?

When you’re making your plan, it’s also important to break down the work you have to do into as many smaller sub-tasks as you can. This will increase your flexibility and help you to deal with unforeseen difficulties and other problems as they arise.

2. Never Begin a New Project Without a Complete Understanding of it

Another thing you can do to apply a project management mindset to your life is to make it a point to avoid taking on any new projects without gaining a complete understanding of what’s expected of you. If you’re dealing with work-related tasks, this means taking the time to speak to your manager or any stakeholders involved in the work to nail down their precise vision.

This is a step that most non-project managers often rush through, preferring instead to dive right into whatever work’s assigned to them. But when you do that, you leave yourself open to disruptions when your deliverables change.

You know that feeling when your manager sends you an email at 4:45 PM on a Friday to let you know that they’ve just remembered a change a client requested to something you’ve worked all week on? You’ll be surprised how many of those nasty surprises you can avoid if you insist on hashing out as many details as possible in advance of beginning your work.

But before you tell me, “I’m not in charge, so I have to roll with the punches!” Let me tell you this: No matter your position at work (or in your personal life, for that matter), people will be generally receptive to answering questions upfront if they know it will result in a better end product.

I mean, you wouldn’t even buy a car without finding out everything there is to know about its history, would you? So, why would anyone ever expect you to work on something you don’t know enough about to get it right on your first try? Just remember that as long as you’re clear about what you’re asking for and can demonstrate why it matters, you should be able to get the clarity you need to get any project off to a solid start.

3. Set Clear Communication Standards and Goals

Now that you know how critical it is to understand the full scope of any project you’re working on, let me add a caveat: no project outline is ever perfect, and you’ll always need to be able to make changes on the fly when necessary. But that’s what makes setting clear communication standards and goals so critical.

Letting every stakeholder involved in your work precisely how, when, and where to address issues with you as they come up is vital. Remember that 4:45 PM Friday email I just mentioned? Even if you were thorough in mastering your project’s details upfront, an unexpected change could come up, anyway. But you don’t have to be blindsided when they do.

At the outset of each new project, let everyone involved know the exact process they should follow for common topics that require communication between stakeholders. The idea is to prioritize real-time communication methods like phone calls and online chat for items that require immediate attention—like those changes the client requested a week ago but that didn’t make it into that email until late on a Friday afternoon.

You can set up a group channel using Slack or the collaboration tool of your choice for daily back-and-forth communications. Also, consider leaving email as the option of last resort for your least-urgent messaging. It’s slow, inefficient, and a major time-waster, anyway.

Think that’s an exaggeration? It’s not. Workers in some places spend up to 5 hours and 52 minutes per day checking and responding to emails.^[2] That’s time you could be putting to much better use actually getting work done.

4. Set Boundaries and Take Care of Yourself

Good project managers know that if they make solid plans to get tasks done, they’ll have all the time they need to meet their deadlines. And if they don’t, the solution is to make better plans, not to just throw more time at the problem. They also recognize that setting clear boundaries and sticking to them keeps them working at peak efficiency and avoids burnout.

So, no matter how much work you have ahead of you, it’s crucial to know when to call it quits. That means keeping your work life separate from your personal life and permitting yourself to disconnect from one or the other when it’s time to do so. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with making yourself a priority. After all, you need to eat, sleep, and relax, too.

Also, remember that the people that work to excess are often doing it to cover up some kind of deficiency somewhere else (often, one that’s not their responsibility, anyway). So, make it a point to take care of yourself. Play a game of solitaire or listen to some music to reset your mind or to unwind at the end of the day. It’s okay—you’ve earned it.

5. Use Data to Keep Expectations Realistic

One of the reasons that project managers can consistently meet their goals and get things done on time and a budget is that they don’t commit to unrealistic goals in the first place. That’s another critical part of the project manager’s mindset that you can use to supercharge your productivity—it means never biting off more than you can chew and then struggling to keep up.

But before we continue, let’s be clear: I’m aware that sometimes it’s others setting unrealistic expectations for us, and that we can’t always control that.

Even when the unrealistic expectations aren’t your own, however, you can still work to disabuse others of them. The key is to do your homework and use as much data as you can to explain why your view is correct and theirs is not. The reason I suggest using data is that it makes it more difficult for the other parties involved to use illogical arguments to buttress their points of view.

For example, if you’re called upon to complete a task in less time than you know it will take, don’t be afraid to point to previous work that proves your point. The more, the merrier, in fact. Most of the time when you do this, common sense will win the day. And even if it doesn’t, you’ll have plenty of ammunition to explain why things haven’t gone to plan later on, and nobody can fault you for it.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, the project management mindset is all about three things: preparation, planning, and execution.

You don’t need to be a certified project manager to apply those principles to the way you manage your life and work. The five tips laid out here will get you off to a good start, but they’re not the end-all-be-all of the project manager’s mindset. Really, any workflow you can devise that fits into those broad categories and helps you get things done could pay dividends to your productivity.

After a while, it should even start to feel quite natural to think about the tasks that you have ahead through a project managers’ lens. And once you do that, you’ll find yourself working at peak efficiency and using every minute of the day to the fullest. You may even find yourself with more free time left over than you know what to do with. And wouldn’t that be a welcome change in your otherwise busy life?

More Project Management Tips

• 8 Essential Project Management Skills for Productive Work
• 5 Project Management Tools to Get Your Team on Track

Featured photo credit: Campaign Creators via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]	^	Project Management Institute: Who are Project Managers?
[2]	^	CNBC: Here’s how many hours American workers spend on email each day

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Why Your Employees’ Voices Are Important to the Company

A lot of people struggle to express themselves at their workplace. You may, in fact, be one of these people. If you are—or if you are a manager or leader to someone who feels challenged to express themselves—it’s crucial to give yourself and your employees a voice. Why? Because your employees’ voices are one of the most important assets your company has.

Every individual in an organization has their own unique perspective. This means that every individual has insight into how the entire organization is functioning.

Organizational Blind Spots

If you’re only hearing from certain people in the company, your organization will inevitably have blind spots.

It’s crucial to expose these blind spots to run a company that is healthy and thriving. Yet, so many organizations make a huge error: they don’t give their employees a chance to share their genuine experiences.

As a voice and presence coach, I have seen firsthand how learning and development initiatives often prioritize CEOs, the C Suite, and managers. While this is wonderful, it’s not enough. If you’re not giving every individual in your organization access to professional development conversations, you’re leaving out crucial perspectives—and crucial voices.

When you give your employees a voice, you give them a chance to report both on what is happening in your company and also the efficiency of how it is happening. Your employees get to feel seen and heard, which makes them happier to keep contributing. Hearing your employees’ voices means you are taking care of your most important asset: the people who create the conditions for your product or service to continue being delivered to the world.

Why Employees Don’t Speak Up

The long and the short of it is: they’re scared.

The primary need of any human being is to ensure their own safety and survival. This is as true on the savanna as it is in the office. And if you think about it, we really work to survive.

Of course, our work might be helping us fulfill our purpose in the world at the same time. But first and foremost, we show up to our jobs so we have the resources to meet our most basic needs like food and shelter. This means that when there is any threat at work, it registers as a survival issue in our nervous system. Very quickly, we go into protective mode, and when we do, the first thing to leave us is our ability to speak up. If we think we may be punished, we shut down our voice.

But there’s even more that happens when our work environment doesn’t feel safe for us—we also become less productive. Our human nervous system is essentially a machine. It’s able to function optimally when it feels comfortable, but when it’s under a perceived threat, it becomes focused only on survival. Employees in this state can get distracted easily, become jumpy or combative, and are unlikely to communicate well.

So, ask yourself: Are the employees in my company reporting back to me about how their work is going? Are they speaking honestly about their workload? Are they sharing what could help them be more efficient? If they’re not offering this kind of feedback, chances are they don’t feel safe, comfortable, or invited to do so.

Notice if the employees in your company aren’t using their voices to share how they’re doing. If they’re not, they need a safer environment to do so.

I’ll talk in a moment about what you can do to create a safer environment. But first, let’s get clear about what could be making your employees feel uneasy.

Things That Are Making Your Employees Uncomfortable

Imagine this scenario going on at an organization:

Lisa is in a familiar jam—the marketing department needs information from her today, but the product team isn’t going to get back to her until Thursday. This keeps happening, and Lisa is frustrated and confused about what to do. She keeps pinging the product team, and they’re getting snippy with her. Meanwhile, she’s getting hounded with emails from marketing about the missed deadlines.

Lisa may not be a higher-up, but at the next meeting that includes the product team, the marketing team, and the leadership folks, it’s crucial that Lisa’s voice be heard. She is the puzzle piece that can help make sense of a larger organizational issue. If Lisa doesn’t have a chance to speak up, not only will the workflow issues continue, but she will also continue to feel more frustrated, less excited to show up to the office, and less effective at her job.

Of course, organizationally, it’s crucial to address operational issues like this. But now let’s take an example that involves an employee’s personal identity. Imagine this situation:

Nina was in a meeting last week where someone told her she needed to “calm down because she seemed frustrated.” To her, this was a very obvious incident of being labeled the angry Black woman. But the micro-aggression didn’t seem to register to anyone else on her team. No one stood up for her during the meeting, and now she knows that if she confronts the person who said it or speaks to her boss, either of them may double down on the idea that she needs to calm down and not be so angry.

Nina is left feeling unsafe to express any displeasure or frustration about her work. This means she can no longer communicate honestly, and she certainly will not share her personal experience with anyone at the office.

With her nervous system in a state of anxiety, Nina will quickly become less productive at her job. She will only open up if someone comes to her with genuine curiosity and a sense of non-punitive openness, inviting her to share. Otherwise, she’ll keep her mouth shut so as not to be under further threat.

How to Create a Safe Environment for Expression

The most important thing leaders of an organization can do to create a safe environment is to model honest and open expression themselves. This means becoming adept at expressing appreciation and also expressing the need for change without unnecessary punishment or harm.

Here’s what you can do to help your employees open up their voices:

Step 1: Ask Specific Questions

An employee who has felt vocally shut down for a prolonged period of time will have trouble speaking freely right away. This means it will not be very effective to ask open-ended questions. If you say: “How’s everything going for you here at work?” You’re likely going to hear “Fine.” This is someone still stuck in protection mode.

If you want to get real answers, you’ll want to ask specific questions. You could ask:

• “Are you experiencing any difficulties with workflow or communication in your team?”
• “Are there any suggestions you have for how we can meet deadlines better?”
• “Have any incidents occurred that make you feel uncomfortable in the office?”

Keep in mind, your employee still won’t share honest answers with you unless it’s clear they’re not going to be punished for being transparent. You must be genuinely curious and ready to implement changes based on what you hear.

Step 2: Take Action Based on the Feedback

When your employees help reveal a blind spot or an issue that needs to be addressed, take action to make corrections immediately and efficiently. If you don’t, you’re committing the worst offense of all—being all talk and no walk. If you don’t follow through, you can be sure that your employees will shut down their voices once again and stop sharing with you.

So, set up a new communication and deadline structure. Bring in a DEI consultant. Put your money where your mouth is, and make the changes your employees are revealing to be necessary.

It is an immensely brave thing for an employee to speak their truth to you, and it is crucial to honor the information you receive by taking action.

Step 3: Create a Culture of Respect and Wellness

When you take these first two actions, you begin creating a culture in which people are truly honored for speaking up. You show that you value each individual’s contribution to the organization.

In a way, giving your employees a voice is really about caring for their overall well-being. It is treating them as whole and complete human beings so that their nervous systems can serve as the best functioning “machines” possible to do their job well.

When we ask specific questions with curiosity and when we take action based on what we hear, we are acknowledging our employees as valued members of our workplace. This creates a culture of respect and wellness.

You can also continue to nurture your employees with things like raises, bonuses, and asking how their’ son’s birthday party went. But give the raises and the bonuses or ask about the birthday party without the basis of genuine respect in the office, and you’ve still got a culture that simply doesn’t help people feel safe. So, always come back to asking the questions and making the changes.

Ultimately, You’ll See More Productivity

The bottom line is that if we don’t take care of people’s wellness and, ultimately, safety in the workplace, we can’t expect productivity. And how do we find out if our employees don’t feel well or safe? We invite them to use their voice.

So, if you really truly want employees who are working at their greatest potential with the greatest amount of creativity, the greatest amount of curiosity, and the greatest amount of innovation, you’ve got to be sure that you’re honoring their voices. The great news is, it’ll impact your bottom line in the best ways, too.

More Management Tips

• How the Productivity Formula Can Improve Employee Efficiency
• If You Want an Invincible Team, Make Them Feel Safe

Featured photo credit: krakenimages via unsplash.com

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STOP Being Busy and Create More Time with these Productivity Hacks

Feeling overwhelmed and so busy like there is just not enough time in the day?

Instead of having LESS time, let’s create MORE of it!

Learn these essential Productivity Hacks in this episode of The Lifehack Show. Be the Master of Your Time by understanding The Superstructure Method, and all of the Four Steps to Creating More Time out of a Busy Schedule.

The post STOP Being Busy and Create More Time with these Productivity Hacks appeared first on Lifehack.

Productivity Boost: How to start your day at 5:00 AM

I have been an early-riser for over a year now. Monday through Friday I wake up at 5:00 AM without hitting the snooze button even once. I never take naps and rarely feel tired throughout the day. The following is my advice on how to start your day (everyday) at 5:00 AM.The idea of waking up early and starting the day at or before the sunrise is the desire of many people. Many highly successful people attribute their success, at least in part, to rising early. Early-risers have more productive mornings, get more done, and report less stress on average than “late-risers.” However, for the unaccustomed, the task of waking up at 5:00 AM can seem extremely daunting. This article will present five tips about how to physically wake up at 5:00 AM and how to get yourself mentally ready to have a productive day.

Many people simply “can’t” get up early because they are stuck in a routine. Whether this is getting to bed unnecessarily late, snoozing repetitively, or waiting until the absolute last possible moment before getting out of bed, “sleeping in” can easily consume your entire morning. The following tips will let you break the “sleeping in” routine.

Relocate your alarm clock.

Having an alarm clock too close to your bed is the number one reason people simply cannot get up in the morning. If your alarm clock is within arms reach of your bed, or if you can turn your alarm clock off without getting out of bed, you are creating an unnecessarily difficult situation for yourself. Before I became an early-riser, there were many times that I would turn off my alarm without even waking up enough to remember turning it off. I recommend moving your alarm clock far enough away from your bed that you have to get completely out of bed to turn it off. I keep my alarm clock in the bathroom. This may not be possible for all living arrangements, however, I use my cellphone as an alarm clock and putting it in the bathroom makes perfect sense. In order to turn off my alarm I have to get completely out of bed, and since going to the restroom and taking a shower are the first two things I do everyday, keeping the alarm clock in the bathroom streamlines the start of my morning.

Scrap the snooze.

The snooze feature on all modern alarm clocks serves absolutely no constructive purpose. Don’t even try the “it helps me slowly wake up” lie. I recommend buying an alarm that does not have a snooze button. If you can’t find an alarm without a snooze button, never read the instructions so you will never know how long your snooze button lasts. Not knowing whether it waits 10 minutes or 60 minutes should be enough of a deterrent to get you to stop using it.

Change up your buzzer

If you use the same buzzer day in and day out, you begin to develop a tolerance to the sound. The alarm clock will slowly become less effective at waking you up over time. Most newer alarm clocks will let you set a different buzzer tone for the different days of the week. If you change your buzzer frequently, you will have an easier time waking up.

Make a puzzle

If you absolutely cannot wake up without repetitive snoozing, try making a puzzle for yourself. It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that the longer your alarm is going off, the more awake you will become. Try making your alarm very difficult to turn off by putting it under the sink, putting it under the bed, or better yet, by forcing yourself to complete a puzzle to turn it off. Try putting your alarm into a combination-locked box and make yourself put in the combination in order to turn off the alarm — it’s annoying, but extremely effective!

Get into a routine

Getting up at 5:00 AM is much easier if you are doing it Monday through Friday rather than sporadically during the week. I recommend setting an alarm once that repeats everyday. Also, going to bed at about the same time every night is an important factor to having a productive morning. Learn how much sleep you need to get in order to not feel exhausted the following day. Some people can get by on 4-6 hours while most need 7-8.

Have a reason

Make sure you have a specific reason to get up in the morning. Getting up at 5:00 AM just for the heck of it is a lot more difficult than if you are getting up early to plan your day, pay bills, go for a jog, get an early start on work, etc. I recommend finding something you want to do for yourself in the morning. It will be a lot easier to get up if you are guaranteed to do something fun for yourself — compare this to going on vacation. You probably have no problem waking up very early on vacation or during holidays. My goal every morning is to bring that excitement to the day by doing something fun for myself.

As I previously mentioned, I have been using these tips for a very long time. Joining the world of early-risers has been a great decision. I feel less stressed, I get more done, and I feel happier than I did when I was a late-riser. If you follow these tips you can become an early-riser, too. Do you have any tips that I didn’t mention? What works best for you? Let us know in the comments.

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20 Essential Leadership Qualities Of A Great Leader

“Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”—John Maxwell

Whether it’s leading an organization, a team, or a family, leadership all starts with being able to lead yourself successfully first. When we can lead ourselves successfully, then we can have the influence that allows us to truly lead others. It’s always an “inside job” first.

After working with thousands of CEOs, executives, athletes, entrepreneurs, and business teams, I’ve compiled here a list of the essential leadership qualities that I have seen lead to consistent success.

1. Know Your “Why”

First on this list of key leadership qualities is knowing your “why”. Simon Sinek, the author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, defines a leader’s “why” as “the purpose or cause—the single driving motivation for action.” Strong leaders know the “why” that inspires their personal performance and the actions of their team. The stronger the “why,” the better the motivation and performance.

2. See Time as Your Ally

Effective leaders look at time as an ally and friend, instead of as an enemy they are constantly fighting. In my book, The Time Cleanse, I introduce the concept of “Timefulness”—being fully present in the moment improving the quality, experience, and performance with your time.

Using mindfulness techniques like Timefulness will help leaders discover more ways to enter the flow state and use their time in the most effective ways possible. Time is every leader’s most valuable asset.

3. Have Grit

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Great leaders can sustain focus, energy, and effort to reach difficult goals in the face of failures and setbacks, all while remaining optimistic.

Angela Duckworth, a noted researcher and the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, reveals that while talent and IQ are certainly success factors, what’s more, important is the sustained application of effort (perseverance and passion) over time. That takes Grit.

4. Have a Vision

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”—Jack Welch

Great leaders always have to have a crystal-clear vision. They can visualize the future in detail as well as communicate that vision with their team. When a team can see the vision of a leader clearly, they can accelerate success in every metric.

5. Be Self-Aware

Powerful leaders can self-reflect. Their personal reflection allows them to be aware of their impact on others and the organization. This constant reflection keeps them at the top of their game and keeps them from repeating mistakes.

“Leadership is the art and science of directing, motivating and inspiring individuals or groups in achieving a common goal.”—Steven Griffith

6. Don’t Take Things Personally

Day-to-day and in the heat of the battle, great leaders don’t take things personally. They have the ability to keep things in perspective and keep their eye on what’s most important in decisions and their actions. Instead of getting distracted or emotional, they get more focused on the task at hand.

7. Be Accountable

Effective leaders are 100% accountable for their actions. They also keep their team members accountable for their actions. They do what they say and say what they do. If you want respect, be 100% responsible for everything under your command.

8. Communicate Effectively

Great communication is the key to great leadership. All communication is an exchange of energy and information. Effective leaders are precise and purpose-aligned in their words, voice, tone, and body language. They know what to say and how to say it no matter what the situation.

9. Be Emotionally and Mentally Strong

Quality leaders have the ability to consistently regulate thoughts and emotions to work for them rather than against them. Emotional and mental stability is a key component of leadership. Bad news doesn’t get them too down, and good news doesn’t get them too distracted.

10. Have a Growth Mindset

True leaders are constantly looking to grow the strengths and experience of themselves and their team. They have open minds and a natural curiosity for improvement. They want to know the latest innovations and ideas that will help them improve.

They continually ask this key question: “How can we get better today?”

11. Admit Mistakes

The greatest leaders know that when you’re pushing to the next level of performance, mistakes will happen and, in fact, are part of the process. When people in an organization know they are supported if a mistake happens, they will fully engage to be the best they can be. The ability for a leader to admit mistakes shows his personal accountability and humanness.

12. Have Empathy

Great leaders have the ability and flexibility to step into other people’s shoes and feel what others are feeling. Understanding their team and the problems they are facing is key to powerfully leading them. Empathy says, “I see you and feel what you’re feeling.”

“Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.”—Oprah Winfrey

13. Have Compassion for Others

Empathy may be a key to great leadership, but without compassion, it’s not complete. Compassion recognizes the suffering of others and then takes action to help. Leaders that consistently step in to help can become one of the greats. This builds true loyalty. Compassion is a superpower for leaders in today’s workplace.

14. Lead With Confidence

One of the most important keys to success in all areas of life is having the confidence to go for it—the belief that you can do it. Confidence is needed to go through both the high and lows that business and life will throw at us. It’s no different when it comes to great leadership.

Confident leadership is not about being fearless, it’s about going straight for what you desire in the face of fear and uncertainty. Great leadership is about knowing you can handle yourself in any situation, even if you don’t know it all.

15. Show Gratitude and Appreciation

Leaders that can acknowledge the big and small things their teams do are often the most successful. Research shows that showing gratitude for coworkers increases engagement, creates more positive integrations at work, and leads to better performance.^[1]

16. Delegate Tasks

Delegation is crucial for maximizing productivity and overall team performance. Effective leaders know what activities provide their highest ROT (return on time) and can delegate to others the things they are more suited to do. They know who is best for getting specific things done and are motivated to delegate to them quickly and decisively.

17. Lead With Mindfulness

The more present you are, the higher your performance will be. Being present in every moment allows leaders to connect with their gifts and talents and get into the flow of productive work. It allows them to make mindful choices with their thoughts and actions, which gives their organization confidence in their leadership. When you’re 100% present, you can have 100% confidence in what you’re doing.

18. Be Self-Motivated

“The great leaders of business, industry, and finance, and the great artists, poets, musicians, and writers all became great because they developed the power of self-motivation.”—Napoleon Hill

Powerful leaders know how to motivate themselves and are self-starters. Their motivation comes from within. They know what it takes to create momentum for themselves and their teams. Nothing can stop them because nothing can take away their internal fire.

19. Have Integrity

Authentic leaders know what their personal values are and stick to them in both big and small situations. They don’t let emotions or the pressure of work sway them. That attitude then sets the tone for the entire organization. Their colleagues know that they always keep their word and act with complete integrity.

John Wooden’s definition of integrity as “Purity of Intention” says it perfectly:

“Integrity in its simplest form is purity of intention. It’s keeping a clean conscience.”

20. Be a Good Cornerman

Last on this list of essential leadership qualities is being a good cornerman. One of the greatest qualities of top leaders is the most simple: they are in your corner no matter what. Win or lose, they stand by you. Knowing your leader is in your corner gives you the supreme confidence to give your all to your team or organization.

The greatest leaders make every person they lead confident that their leaders have their back. When your leader has your back, you can put yourself out there to do things you never expected and perform at a level you didn’t know was possible.

Bottom Line

Now that you read this list of essential leadership qualities, it’s time to put them into practice! Don’t worry if you don’t get everything right every time. Be self-aware and lead yourself to be the best you can be first.

Leading yourself will allow you to mindfully lead other people, teams, and organizations to maximize their performance and results. Remember, leadership all starts with you!

More Leadership Qualities

• 14 Powerful Leadership Traits That All Great Leaders Have
• 7 Leadership Qualities You Need To Adopt At Work
• What Makes a Good Leader: 9 Critical Leadership Qualities

Featured photo credit: Austin Distel via unsplash.com

Reference

[1]

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Emergenetics: The Psychological Effects of Workplace Appreciation & Gratitude

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