15 Time Management Games and Activities

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15 Time Management Games and Activities

At Calendar, we have defined time management as “the ability to plan, organize, and control your time.” Another big definition we use is, “save time, be more productive, and focus on the things that matter.” That’s it, not too complicated, right?

Manage Your Time

The reason why we’ve put such an emphasis on time management is that time is your most valuable resource. Moreover, it’s so meaningful to our daily lives as it;

  • Ensures that you make the most of this finite source.
  • Encourages self-discipline.
  • Helps you get more done in less time.
  • Reduces stress and anxiety.
  • Makes you feel more fulfilled.
  • Prevents you from being that person. In other words, you’ll earn a reputation of being dependable.
  • Manages your energy.
  • Prevents indecisiveness and procrastination.
  • Allows you to take advantage of new opportunities.
  • Helps you reach your goals.
  • Identifies your priorities.
  • Improves every facet of your life, ranging from your career to personal relationships.

Improving your time management should definitely be something that you improve upon. And, while tried and true techniques like tracking how you spend your time, delegation, and blocking out distractions work, they’re not always exciting.

Instead, you can use gamification. Implementing gaming techniques can increase motivation, engagement, and problem-solving skills. It also improves resource management, speaks creativity, and enhances teamwork abilities.

Also, games and activities are just a fun way to learn. And, they can be something that you do during your downtime or as a team-building activity.

With that in mind, here are 15 time management games activities you can play if you want to manage your time more effectively.

1. How Long is a Minute?

Overall, we’re fairly decent at estimating time. However, there are a number of external and internal factors that can alter our perception of time.

For example, when we have something to look forward to, time dilutes. And, when you’re having fun, time does literally fly.

More interesting was a study involving a group of people who had to sit in a room for seven-and-a-half minutes without anything to do. Some felt that it was only two-and-a-half minutes. Others proclaimed that it felt like 20-minutes.

So, if you’re working with others, a simple activity you can do together is the minute challenge. Here, everyone closes their eyes and stands up. They sit down when they believe a minute has passed.

One person, or a timer, keeps track of the time so that they know when to open their eyes. It’s an effective way to demonstrate how everyone’s perception of time is different. And, if we over-or-underestimate time, that could throw off everyone’s schedules.

Of course, you can also do this on your own if you want a better idea of what the actual passage of time really is.

2. The Big Picture Challenge

Inspired by Orangeworks, here’s how this activity works;

  • Divide your team into small groups,” each responsible for painting a small segment of The Big Picture.”
  • Without knowing what the final image will be, the “teams must work together to ensure that all lines meet and colors match up.”
  • “The painted image can be a representation of a company’s brand, conference theme, values, goals or even a recreation of a famous work of art.”
  • After its completion and unveiling, the final masterpiece “can be proudly displayed back in the office as a constant reminder of what can be achieved through teamwork.”

The idea behind this is to encourage faster decision-making and prioritizing. More importantly, it fosters communication and collaboration.

3. The Mayo Jar

The mayo jar activity is straightforward. It’s an excellent way to visually highlight the importance of doing the most important tasks first.

Start with an empty jar. You’ll need materials like large rocks, smaller rocks, gravel, sand, and water. Next, try to get all of these items into the jar.

The only way this is possible is by starting with the big rocks and working your way. The biggest rocks are meant to represent your MITs. So, that’s why you always focus on them from the get-go.

4. Finding the Ace of Spades

Do you have multiple decks of cards? If yes, then this is a simple time management activity that you can do with at least one other person.

  • Like any other card game, you’ll need to shuffle one pack so that it’s random. The other deck, however, will be organized in ascending order.
  • Each player then gets a pack.
  • Participants must then quickly find the Ace of Spades.
  • As you might surmise, the player with the organized pack might find this to be less taxing than the individual with the mixed deck.

What does this accomplish? It highlights why the organization is so important to time management.

5. $86,400

With this time management activity, you would imagine that yourself or group members would have s $86,400 to spend. You can spend this fictional amount however you want.

There are two restrictions, though. First, you aren’t allowed to increase the amount of money. Second, you have to spend everything in one day, or you’ll lose it.

Once you’ve come up with a list of ideas, go over why and how you spent your $86,400. If playing with others, then everyone will discuss how they spent their money.

While it’s nice to occasionally pipe dream, this activity isn’t about money. It’s how you should spend your time more wisely. After all, there are only 86,400 seconds in a day so spend it on what’s most important. Because once it’s gone, you can’t reclaim your most valuable asset.

6. Blind Polygon

For larger groups, you might want to consider this classic team-building activity. It’s effective in encouraging communication and problem-solving skills, as well as working under a deadline.

Here’s how it works;

  • Everyone must put on a blindfold and are given a 15-30 meter rope.
  • The groups must then form a perfect square/triangle while blindfolded in a specific timeframe.
  • Players must be connected to the rope at all times.
  • You can do this in rounds or replay the game so that you can figure out how to accomplish this task more efficiently and quickly.

7. Desert Island

We’ve all been asked, “If you were marooned on a desert island and you could only take three things with you, what would you bring?”

While, here’s a game that puts a spin on that question.

Either by yourself or with a group, envision that you’re stranded on a desert island. Next, write down everything that you would take with you. The catch is that you only have two minutes to do this.

You’ll earn points for essential items, but none for nonessential. Hopefully, this will show the difference between what’s a priority and what’s not. And, knowing this will help you become more mindful of what you assign to your time blocks.

8. Circadian Rhythm

“Circadian Rhythm, “circadian” comes from the Latin and means, roughly, around (circa) the day (dian from diam which means day) and it’s a pretty special quality,” explains Tom Williams for Peak. “It helps your body understand what time of day it is and controls not just sleep but also your body temperature,” hunger, metabolic rate, “and the release of various hormones.”

“To put it more bluntly, it’s your body’s to-do-list,” states Abby Miller in a previous Calendar article. And, ideally, you should be working with your circadian rhythm by scheduling tasks accordingly.

For example, you wouldn’t work on a priority when you’re tired or drained of energy. Instead, you would do this when you’re most alert, energetic, and focused.

To help you, and even your colleagues, figure this out, write down your daily routine in hourly blocks of time. Next to each activity, take note of how you feel;

  • ‘at 70%’
  • ‘cruise control’
  • ‘distracted’
  • ‘hungry’
  • ‘on fire’
  • ‘slowing down’
  • ‘tired’
  • ‘vibrant’

After compiling this information, you should have a better understanding of your natural energy levels. When you do, you’ll be able to schedule the right activities at the right time. Eventually, you’ll be able to get more done in less time.

9. Time Squared

Here’s another activity that can be used to see how you’re spending each day. Of course, you can also do this with others.

  • Print 3 pages containing 24 squares — these will represent the 24 hours of a day.
  • On the first page, fill out the squares with routine activities. For example, if you sleep for 7 hours that would equal 7 squares.
  • On the second page, list how non-working time is spent at work, such as checking email or water cooler chats.
  • Summarize the data from these two pages on the third page. You can use different colors to tell the pages apart.
  • The empty or uncolored squares? That’s”‘productive time.”

Thanks to visualization, you can see how you’re spending your time. That should make it easier to reduce or eliminate certain activities so that you’ll have more productive blocks of time.

10. What I Did Yesterday

With this game, your team members can identify patterns in their workday. Just have them jot down 10 things that they did at work yesterday. On another piece of paper, ask them to record 5 items they expect will be discussed at their next performance review or one-on-one.

They should then look at the two lists together. Why? Because you want them to see which activities they did yesterday will impact the second list.

A variation of this would be putting the 10 things that they did yesterday on an “Importance/Urgency” grid.

In either case, this should encourage your team members to focus on their priorities.

11. Delegation Skill Practice

Here’s a fun time management activity where players imagine that they have a new assistant. That means they can finally offload some of the fewer critical tasks that were noticed in the previous activity.

Divide participants into groups of 3; a delegator, an employee, and an observer. The delegator should define an unpleasant task and assign it to the employee. The observer will then record how well this was explained and share their feedback.

Rotate these positions so that everyone has a turn. By the end, this should help everyone sharpen their delegating skills.

12. Dealing With Distractions

When it comes to productivity, distractions can be lethal. Thankfully, this activity can help you identify your most common distractions so that you can eradicate them.

An easy way to do this would be to track your time over several days. Write down everything you’ve been doing. You may notice that you’re spending too much time on social media or multitasking.

Since you’re aware of this, you can come up with solutions to stop letting distractions eat-up your valuable time.

13. Colored Blocks

As long as you have a set of colored blocks, you’re good to go. Just beware that you’ll need more blocks if doing this with others.

With that out of the way, here’s how this works;

  • Place the blocks on a table. You then have one minute to pick up as many blocks as you can during that timeframe.
  • You’re only permitted to use your non-dominant hand. As such, you may be able to only pick up one at a time.
  • When the 60-seconds are up, write down or reflect on the results.
  • Do this again, but this time, assign a point value to each color.
  • Now, you’ll have to think about the number of blocks you can grab, as well as the points associated with them.

The idea behind this activity is to demonstrate the importance of doing the most important tasks first, organization and planning.

14. Ribbon of Life

Want to know how much time you have at your disposal? Well, this activity will certainly help achieve that goal.

All you need to get started are a pair of scissors and a ribbon that’s 100cm long. Next, ask what the estimated lifespan is of an individual. On average, that’s 79 years old, which means you’ll want to cut-off 21 cm from the ribbon so that you’ll have 79 left.

You’ll then want to cut off how old you currently are or the average of your team. So, if that would be 40, then you’ll need to cut off 40cm more. With the remaining 59 cm, you’ll subtract the average time you spend commuting, eating, and sleeping. Don’t forget about time off from work as well, such as weekends, public holidays, and vacation time.

The remaining amount of ribbon left is what you have to make or break your life! So, squeeze as much out of it as possible.

Related: 25 Best Habits to Have in Life

15. Overcooked!

Finally, there’s this video game where you manage a restaurant. The premise is that you must prepare and serve food to customers in stressful situations. It’s a fun and interactive way to help you make more rapid decisions on how to put out fires.

You can purchase the game at Team 17.

What the Best Appointment-Based Businesses Have in Common

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What the Best Appointment-Based Businesses Have in Common

No matter what type of business you run, you can learn a lot from industry leaders in your field. Small grocery stores can take a page out of Walmart’s book, and up-and-coming tech companies can look to Apple and Microsoft for inspiration. The same can be said for your appointment-based business.

Whether you offer haircuts or oil changes, there are some things that all of the best appointment-based businesses have in common. Implement them into your business model, and you’ll have happier customers and a schedule packed to capacity. Use this checklist to add the features you need to be among the best of the best:

User-Friendly Online Appointment Software

The best of the best in appointment-based business use online appointment software to make life easier for themselves and for their customers. With online appointment software, customers can create bookings from any device at any time of day. Appointment slots are automatically updated to notify businesses at opening time.

The key to capitalizing on this convenience is to make your online appointment software as user-friendly as possible. Start with your website. Add an easily visible call to action that directs visitors to your booking software. Next, improve your loading times so customers don’t get discouraged and ditch the process altogether. 

Clear Policies for Late Arrivals and Cancellations

Try as you might, late arrivals and cancellations will happen even to the best appointment-based businesses. What sets the leaders apart from the rest is how they handle these situations when they arise. They establish clear late and cancellation policies in advance and stick by them.

How do you plan to handle customers who show up late or cancel? In the former case, having to cede their place in line to other customers is a fair way to discourage tardiness and reward on-time arrival. For the latter, consider adding a surcharge to appointments cancelled without 24 hours’ notice. Display these policies clearly on your website and make sure whatever actions you take are well understood and equitable for everyone. 

No-shows can fall under the cancellation category. If a customer commits to an appointment time and fails to arrive without notifying you, there should be a policy in place that covers that. You might consider charging a portion of the appointment fee to make up for lost revenue and wasted time. But remember that life gets in the way at times, and some changes will be unavoidable. Above all, strive to be fair. 

Short Wait Times

No one wants to get to their scheduled appointment only to be kept waiting for 30 minutes. Appointments should begin promptly. When customers are on time, businesses should do their best to uphold their end of the bargain.

Of course things will happen that will push appointments back, but good businesses take precautionary measures to keep wait times to a minimum even when something goes wrong. To enable this, make a note of when appointments run long. Does this happen at particular times, with particular services, or with particular clients? Identifying the root causes can help you make scheduling adjustments. You could add buffer times between appointments or find ways to improve workflows through automation to help your business run more smoothly.

A Safe and Comfortable Waiting Room

Even when wait times are short, you’ll want to make those waiting customers as comfortable as possible. This adds to the experience and will put customers in a better mood come appointment time. Shoving all your patrons into a crowded room with limited seating options won’t reflect well on your business, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic persists. 

Do what you can with the space you have. Even in a small waiting room, a complimentary coffee machine or a television set can really add to the space. Also be sure to keep health guidelines in mind as long as the coronavirus presents a threat to your employees and customers. Stay up to date with local ordinances, making sure chairs are spaced apart and masks are readily available as necessary. 

Top-Notch Customer Service

You can nail all the logistics of appointment setting and still have customers walking away leaving a one-star review. Why does that happen? Because customer service skills aren’t up to par. Running a successful appointment-based business is just as much about the love and care you put into your craft as it is how efficiently you deliver it. 

Provide your employees with continual customer service training. Emphasize building relationships with each visitor so they become more than a name that pops up on your online appointment software. Sincerely attentive customer service will enhance the appointment experience, boosting your retention rates. 

Data Analytics

One of the most helpful benefits of implementing online appointment software is the constant access to data. This information will prove to be invaluable to your business, giving you the insight you need to make decisions that will improve your appointment experience from beginning to end. 

For example, data analytics will show you the average length of appointments, the ratio of no-shows to made appointments, and key demographics you can target with your next marketing campaign. Without these numbers, your decision making is based on little more than guesswork. With data at your fingertips, your plans will have direction and purpose. This data will also show you how your numbers improve after implementing the tips mentioned above. 

Note the changes you make and how they impact your business. Soon enough, you’ll be the best appointment-based business in town, and fellow establishments will start emulating your recipe for success. 

Beware of Toxic Productivity

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Beware of Toxic Productivity

It may seem like a modern concept — but we’ve been striving for productivity for centuries. For example, one of the earliest mentions of productivity can be found in the classic economics text Wealth of Nations, written by Adam Smith in 1776.

What’s more, Benjamin Franklin came up with the first to-do-list in 1791. Even the day planner has been around since 1850. But, in the 21st Century, technology has almost made us obsessed with productivity.

Don’t believe me? Google “productivity” for the heck of it. You’ll get around 561,000,000 results!

On a daily basis, we’re bombarded with tools and hacks that promise to make us more productive. The problem is that eventually, we get burned out.

Then, the pandemic hit. For many of us, that meant we had “extra” time on our hands. With a scrapped daily commute, blank social calendar, and nothing else to do, we could be even more productive.

To make matters worse, this is what we were advised to by experts. Our social feeds were filled to the brim with people who suddenly became bakers, musicians, or contractors. There was no longer an excuse not to get things done.

What is toxic productivity?

“It’s tough enough to be productive in the best of times, let alone when we’re in a global crisis,” Chris Bailey, a productivity consultant and the author of “Hyperfocus: How to Manage Your Attention in a World of Distraction.” told The New York Times.

“The idea that we have so much time available during the day now is fantastic, but these days it’s the opposite of luxury,” he said. “We’re home because we have to be home, and we have much less attention because we’re living through so much.”

Next thing you know, you have new responsibilities and obligations. Eventually, you feel so overwhelmed that it’s like your underwater. And, you actually have less time to kick back and relax.

Even worse? You might have felt like a failure if you weren’t making the most of every minute in lockdown.

“It’s called toxic productivity,” explains expert nurse Emma Selby, clinical lead at health & fitness brand Results Wellness Lifestyle. “It can be defined as an obsession with radical self-improvement above all else.”

“Ultimately, it’s an unachievable goal,” adds Selby. Regardless “matter how productive you are, the result you are left with is a feeling of guilt for not having done ‘more.’”

Obviously, that’s counterproductive. More concerning is that this can impact your health and wellbeing during these uncertain times.

The signs of toxic productivity.

Not all productivity is toxic. Throughout the pandemic, a lot of us figured out how to get more done in less time. How so? By finally identifying our priorities and not dealing with distractions like in-person meetings.

A study from Prodoscore actually found that calendar time had dropped almost 23% vs. the year prior. However, from May to August 2020, productivity levels were up 5% when compared to 2019.

The downside? People were working through the weekend. The study reports that “year over year from May through August, employees are working 42% more on Saturdays and 24% more on Sundays in 2020 than in 2019.”

And, the latter is an example of toxic productivity. But, since this is different for everyone, here are some common red flags to determine if your productivity is toxic.

  • It’s impacted your mental health. You feel more anxious, depressed, or restless.
  • You’ve forgotten obligations and personal responsibilities. Examples include not remembering a family member’s birthday or skipping your workout, a healthy meal, or a good night’s sleep.
  • Your relationships have become stained. Are you not fully “present” when interacting with others? Have you been told that you’re working too much? Have you alienated those closest to you, like not responding to texts or making time for them?
  • You have unrealistic expectations. For instance, putting in a normal 8-day for work when you also have to homeschool your kids.
  • Feeling like you’re on the verge of burnout. Usually, this involves feeling less energetic and focused.
  • Attaching self-worth to hours worked. Just because you worked for 8-hours doesn’t mean you were productive. In fact, if you work more than 55 hours per week, productivity begins to drop sharply.

How to avoid toxic productivity.

Have you noticed any of the toxic productivity signs listed above? If you answered yes, don’t fret. There are simple ways to put a stop to toxic productivity before it interferes with your health, work performance, and relationships.

1. Don’t be productive, be smart.

Productivity is focusing on things that matter most to you. It’s those baby steps you’re taking to reach a goal. And, certainly not trying to keep with what you’re friends are posting on social media.

In short, don’t be productive just for the sake of being productive. Instead, be smarter and do more in less time by;

  • Scheduling your most important work about your internal clock.
  • Use Parkinson’s Law to your advantage, like cutting deadlines in half or gamifying tasks.
  • Follow the 80/20 rule so that you’re focusing on the vital few.
  • Manage your energy, not your time.
  • Stop chasing perfection and think done.
  • Re-use previous materials.
  • Keep tabs on your emotional exhaustion.
  • Keep your saw sharp by taking breaks and enhancing your skills.
  • Set your ideal schedule and then work backward.

2. Adjust your goals and expectations.

I’ve enjoyed working from home — and for some people, they’re actually mote productive without commuting, meetings, and talkative co-workers.

At the same time, there also days when you aren’t going to get as much done at home. You may have children to take care of or catch-up on household chores. There will be certain tasks that you literally can not do at home since you don’t have the right tools or equipment.

Additionally, there’s only so much you can actually do in one day. Don’t overcommit yourself. And, be honest about what you can realistically accomplish.

3. Redefine what breaks are.

Taking breaks doesn’t mean that slacking off. These are vital if you want to stay fresh and rejuvenated. Besides, there are perks to being lazy every now and then.

Besides taking frequent breaks throughout the day, disconnect on the weekend. And, if you feel like you need a personal day, go ahead and take it.

4. Embrace simplicity.

“Whether you call it minimalism, Kondo-ing, or simple living, there are certainly benefits to this type of lifestyle,” writes Calendar Co-Founder John Hall. “Mainly, saving time and money. But, it’s also good for your health and productivity.”

Rather than adding more to your life, scale things back. When you do, you’ll enjoy the following perks;

  • Having blank spots in your calendar allows time for self-reflection.
  • You’ll reduce decision fatigue.
  • You’ll finally have the chance to engage in self-care.
  • There will be fewer misplaced items.
  • It removes friction and conflicts from your life.
  • It strengthens relationships, focus, and effectiveness.
  • You’ll have a clean and organized home and workspace.

5. Establish clearly defined boundaries.

It’s not always possible. But, try to stick to a routine where you have a clear working and non-working hours. Even if your schedule is flexible or changing, leave work at work when you’re done.

Of course, this is a challenge. However, it’s not impossible. You could designate tech-free zones in your home, put your phone on “do not disturb,” set time limits on email, or ask a family member to hold you accountable.

6. Focus on positive self-talk.

“Do you define your sense of self-worth by how productive you are?” asks Dr. Therese Mascardo, Founder of the L.A. Digital Nomads, and CEO and founder of Exploring Therapy. “If so, you may find yourself caught in a cycle of chasing accomplishments that give you a temporary sense of worth until that wears off and you need yet another accomplishment to make you feel valuable.”

“To heal your self-talk, start seeing that your value is not in what you produce or accomplish, but in who you are,” advises Dr. Mascardo.

“Ask yourself, ‘Would I have these same expectations for someone I care for deeply?’” No? “Then you shouldn’t have these expectations for yourself, either.”

In fact, get into the habit of talking to yourself like you would a friend. And, if you’re really struggling with self-talk, get support from a therapist. They can help “you heal toxic narratives that have kept you stuck in a cycle of addiction to productivity.”

7. Don’t compare yourselves to others.

“Social media is always a two-edged weapon,” writes business analyst Man To Ip. “On one hand, social media like LinkedIn allow us to explore opportunities like never before. With the help of these tools, it is way easier nowadays to expand our network and get the latest information from companies.”

On the other hand? “These platforms promote a kind of competition among peers or even among strangers.”

“During this lockdown period, it is common to see that many people posting what online courses they have finished, what skills they have picked up, or generally ‘how they have used this period wisely,’” he adds. “Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that we should not equip ourselves with various skills or we should not give advice to other people.”

“Overall, these feeds have no problem at all, but toxic productivity comes in when we over-compare ourselves with others because of this information. It is, of course, good to have done five online courses in a month, but by no means you are a ‘loser’ simply because you have just done three courses instead of five.”

How to Boost Appointment Numbers Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget

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How to Boost Appointment Numbers Without Increasing Your Marketing Budget

Want to increase the number of appointments you get each day without increasing your marketing budget? It sounds like a picture-perfect world for appointment-based businesses. However, this scenario is far from a fairy tale. There are definite ways your business can increase appointment numbers without adding a dime to your marketing spend. 

By using the following tips in conjunction with your existing marketing campaigns, you’ll fill your calendar with as many appointments as you can handle. Here’s how to get started:

Book Follow-Ups in Person

Each time a customer walks through your doors, it’s an opportunity to sign them up for another appointment. No marketing resources are required — just your best customer service skills and leveraging a great window of opportunity. 

Setting up a return appointment in person is quick and convenient. It also provides an opportunity for you to engage with customers and develop a relationship that will increase their attachment to your business. Use your online appointment software to send follow-up information and appointment alerts even when your customers are booking return visits in person.

Review Calls to Action

When your business relies on online appointment software to bring people in, your website will often be your first interaction with new customers. If you want to maximize the appointment conversions you get from website visitors, you need a good call to action. 

Your call to action ought to be short, sweet, and to the point. It should be just enough to hook a customer’s attention and draw them in to deeper content that will persuade them to book an appointment. Examples of a good CTA include the following:

  • Book today and get a free product
  • Sign up and start earning rewards now
  • Visit today and get 15% off your appointment
  • Download our free resource 

Using data analytics, you can experiment with a few different calls to action until you find what works the best. Changing just one sentence on your website can see a spike in engagement rates and increased bookings. 

Focus on Organic Reach

Social media is a powerful tool for businesses. What’s important to note is that you can create successful social media campaigns without pouring money into them. While a well-calibrated paid campaign can be very effective in bringing in new customers, you can have a lot of success by focusing on organic reach.

Organic reach refers to the views and engagements you receive without paid amplification. Organic posts can sometimes get lost in the sea of content that fills customers’ feeds. To beat out the other posts competing for your audience’s attention, use the additional tools at your disposal. Stories and live video, for example, have proven to yield high engagement rates and longer view times than other forms of media.

Now let’s talk about content creation. How can you improve your organic reach without increasing your marketing budget? The truth is, you don’t have to. Photos and live video can be taken right on site, providing an authentic feel to your social media content at little or no cost to you. 

Start a Rewards Program

A good rewards program will boost your customer retention rate and also attract new customers to your establishment. It incentivizes appointment bookings and will naturally raise their number even without a heavy marketing campaign behind it. 

The costs of establishing a rewards program are minimal. Most of the effort goes into setting it up, whether you put together a punch card or a points program online. Talk to customers at your business location about signing up for the rewards program, and word of mouth will do the rest.

Speaking of word of mouth, referrals are a business’s best friend. Customers who are referred by family and friends tend to be more loyal and make more return appointments. Sweeten the pot by treating both parties to a special deal when a friend is referred and books their first appointment. 

Improve Your Booking Process

A user-friendly booking process will keep your conversion rate high. Slow loading times on your website, on the other hand, will drive impatient customers away. Placing your online booking platform somewhere easily visible and accessible ensures that customers can easily find it on their own.

Look at your online appointment software from the perspective of a new customer. What changes would you make if you were in their shoes? Little things like using a bigger font or reducing the number of screens users have to click through will go a long way. 

Perfect the Customer Experience

A whopping 91% of young consumers trust the business reviews they read online. Yes, that includes both the good reviews and the bad ones. If you want to boost your appointment numbers, do everything you can to make those reviews positive.

That doesn’t mean you should try to entice your customers to leave positive reviews in exchange for discounts. Instead, encourage them to be honest when leaving a review for future customers. 

While positive reviews will ring true and bring more people in, negative reviews will point out the flaws in your business so you can make needed changes. Be sure to respond publicly to discontented customers and tell them how you’ll make things right. Showing customers that you value their input will increase brand loyalty and bring in new faces every day.  

Ready for this call to action? Start applying these techniques today to boost your appointment numbers. You’ll see an increase in bookings as well as higher retention rates without spending big bucks.

Coping and Channeling Frustration

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Coping and Channeling Frustration

Dale Carnegie put it best. “Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration, and resentment.”

We all experience frustration; it is a natural response to stress, after all. Your internet goes out during a virtual meeting. Getting stuck in a line. Having construction on your street while working from home. And stress causes fatigue.

These are certainly frustrating examples. But, they’re also temporary. The internet will come back on, the line will move, and at some point, the construction will cease.

However, there are also long-term stressors. Examples include being dissatisfied with work, dealing with a manipulative family member, or failing to reach a life goal like starting your own business.

As a consequence, this can lead to other negative emotions like anger, anxiety, depression, irritability, loss of confidence, and stress. When not addressed, this can impact your health and wellbeing. It can even put a strain on your relationships if you’re constantly losing your temper.

Moreover, this can cause you to give up and fall prey to negative self-talk. The latter can cause you to make poor and aggressive decisions. And, frustration can even lead to nightmares.

In some cases, though, frustration can be helpful. Sometimes it’s letting you know that you’re ready to move on to the stage of your life or career. It can also remind you what your passions are and how to solve problems in a more productive and better way.

Regardless of how you use the frustration, you still need to find ways to cope and channel it. If not, it can interfere with all facets of your life. Thankfully, you can give these ten methods a try.

1. Build frustration tolerance.

“Frustration tolerance can be learned,” states Amy Morin, LCSW. “With practice and consistent dedication, you can decrease the intensity of your frustration, and you can learn to express your feelings in socially appropriate ways,” Morin suggests using the following strategies to make this possible;

  • Accept tough situations. “When you catch yourself dwelling on the unfairness of life, consider whether it’s a situation you can change or whether you need to change the way you respond to it,” she says. “If the situation is outside of your control, then focus on acceptance.”
  • Give yourself a pep talk. “Remind yourself that you can cope with distressing feelings,” Morin recommends. Try taking a deep breath or counting to 10 whenever you feel upset.
  • Learn how to calm your body. Experiment with breathing exercises, meditation, or progressive muscle relation to lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
  • Practice tolerating frustration. “Purposely do something that is mildly frustrating, like working on a tough puzzle or waiting in a long line,” advises Morin. “Manage your self-talk, and use healthy coping skills to deal with your feelings.”

2. Make a date with me, myself, and I.

Is everyone around you getting on your last nerve? You might be experiencing a “human hangover.” And, the best cure is going on a solitude-detox.

Spending time alone isn’t for everyone. But, having a little me time lets you reflect, find your voice, and chill out. It can also spark creativity, gives you a chance to plan your life, and it’s good for your mental wellbeing.

Best of all? You don’t have to disappear and hide out in the cabin for a week. Sometimes just going for a 30-minute walk will suffice. Other times you might just need an evening to yourself.

3. Distract yourself.

Have you ever been a child who gets ticked off when they can’t do something? One of the best ways to stop their feat of rage is to divert their attention to something else. And, that’s also a technique that you can still use.

Let’s say that you’re procrastinating on a task and it’s really starting to make your blood boil. Just stop working on it. Instead, do something else from your to-do-list.

If you’re in a really foul mode, you might want to do something that’s relaxing, like exercising or reading. These are healthy ways to blow off some steam and keep your mind focused on something else.

4. Change the tone of your thoughts.

Techniques like positive visualization can be another way to distract yourself in a healthy way. Mainly because this encourages you to shift your focus to something more pleasant. However, positivity won’t always cure you of your frustration.

It can, however, “help you transition your thought process to a new path,” Rachel Sharpe writes for Declutter The Mind.

“Have you ever found yourself thinking a negative thought and going down a rabbit hole?” Sharpe aks. “And somehow, this one thought magnifies into something so big you can’t control it?” Recite all the positive mantras you want; you aren’t going to be able to climb out of this frustrating spiral.

“When a negative thought enters your mind, think of a piece of evidence that counters it,” suggests Sharpe. For example, you forgot to buy eggs at the grocery store. Don’t tell yourself that you’re a forgetful person because this “is a permanent way to describe yourself for making a tiny mistake.”

“Instead, think to yourself, ‘I forgot to buy eggs because I didn’t include it on the grocery list due to being busier than usual today. I can pick some up tomorrow,’” she adds. “That way, you include a reason for not buying eggs, and you also include a solution proving that the problem is fixable.”

5. Forget the timeframe.

There are times when deadlines can come in handy. For instance, if you had to leave at 11:30 am to meet a friend for lunch, that you could use that to motivate you to get your most important work done first.

On the flipside, unrealistic deadlines also put us under a lot of pressure. And, when we fail to meet them, we beat ourselves up.

Sometimes, you might be better off easing-up on rigid timeframes. Instead, focus on your progress.

Let’s say that you wanted to lose 20-pounds in a month. That might be a tad industrious. But, if you lost 10-pounds during that period, give yourself props for still losing weight — even if you didn’t reach your ultimate goal.

6. Be more attractive.

No, this isn’t about succumbing to your vanity. Rather, it’s about making you happier and strengthening your relationships.

The first place to start? Decide to live in a beautiful state. Tony Robbins says this is possible by saying, “I’m not going to give up my happiness over little stuff.”

You should also remind yourself not to obsess over the “things I can’t control.” Rather, “focus on what I can control and what I can do.”

“And when people are generous, when they’re playful,” adds Robbins. They’re also more warm, sincere, and loving. In turn, “people love to be around them. There’s nothing more attractive.”

But, what does it really take to be more attractive? It’s all about is appreciating your life.

“Most people, their upsets are because their expectations aren’t met,” states Robbins. “You expect people to be a certain way.” Additionally, you expect yourself and the government to be a certain way, “and it isn’t.” So, he advises to “Trade your expectations for appreciation, and your whole life changes like that.”

“If you can just start appreciating the people around you,” this moment, and the “things that you’re not noticing, you’ll live in a beautiful state, and other people will find being around you an attractive or an enjoyable experience,” he says. “It’s that simple.”

7. Use frustration as a catalyst.

Have you ever been told that you couldn’t do something? I doubt that you just shrugged and said, “Whatever.” Instead, that might have pushed you to take action.

“One fascinating aspect of frustration is that it is a kind of tool that can help us to identify our needs or goals (which are blocked), of which we might not even have been aware,” states Dr. Bertus Jeronimus. “Frustration is therefore not necessarily bad, as it helps to identify problems, and propelled by discomfort, can act as a motivator to change towards different ways or truer answers.”

“When people are frustrated, they make greater efforts and strive in other directions,” adds Dr. Jeronimus. As Thomas Edison perfectly put it, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

8. Think about your hero.

I remember the one time I got an in-school suspension. My mom was furious. But, what really cut through me like a knife was when she said, “Your grandfather wouldn’t have done that.”

I admired my grandfather. And, I wanted to be just like him. So, those words not only stung, but they also put things in perspective.

To this day, whenever I get worked up or in a precarious situation, I still ask myself what my grandpop would do. I know that if he gets frustrated — he won’t scream or take his anger out on others. He would take a couple of deep breaths, close his eyes, and then respond to the problem calmly.

9. Stop listening to Gandalf.

If you’ve watched Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, you might agree one of the most memorable scenes involved Gandalf. Standing before the Balrog, he proclaims, “You shall not pass.”

What does that have to do with frustration? Well, hold on to that ball of negative emotions exacerbate anxiety and stress and increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Besides, learning how to get let go can lift you up and make your relationships stronger.

10. Think big but stay specific.

As opposed to steering clear of goals or plans that are intimidating, Adam Grant, Ph.D., a psychology professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Originals, suggests we embrace them. Why? Because it turns out that we’re actually more motivated by ambitious goals.

“Decades of research show that extremely difficult, specific goals motivate us to work harder and smarter,” he writes in The New York Times. “Most of us prefer a task with a 50-50 shot of success over an easier one.”

To ensure that you don’t fall off the tracks, remind yourself that the steps you’re taking are bringing your closer to your goals. The obvious way to do this is by breaking down large goals into small, more manageable ones.

10 Ways to Keep Your Environment Productive

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10 Ways to Keep Your Environment Productive

With some exceptions, the roughly 287 million registered vehicle owners realize that purchasing their vehicle was only half the battle. The other? Properly maintaining it.

Unless you’re driving a temporary vehicle, most car owners intend to keep their automobiles for an extended period of time. They have to change the oil regularly change the oil, transmission, brake, and coolant fluids. You also need to protect it from the elements and keep it clean — don’t forget the underside that’s full of winter salt and road grime.

As with vehicle maintenance — you have to maintain your productivity.

The same is true with productivity. It’s one thing to take steps in becoming more productive. It’s quite another to maintain that output.

And, this has never been more true during the last year of COVID. Many people have had to learn how to thrive in a remote world. Now, we might be preparing for a post-COVID world.

Initially, this might all seem overwhelming. But, here are 10 simple ways to remain productive by focusing on your environment.

1. Reevaluate your schedule.

This might not be applicable for everyone. If you are fortunate enough to have a flexible schedule, now might be the perfect time to check-in to see if it’s still effective.

For example, let’s say that you’re a parent. You had the daunting task of juggling work and homeschooling your children. Even though you might have hit a stride, is this still going on?

Some schools have opened back-up. Maybe you’re comfortable with a babysitter, neighbor, or family member watching your kids now. Personally, my mom has gotten the vaccine, so we’re on the right trajectory with my family.

Another example? Maybe your workplace is gearing to reopen. Do you feel comfortable going back to work in-person? Can you stagger shifts so that there aren’t as many people in the building?

The point is, things have changed over the last couple of months. So, you want to see how this has impacted your schedule. Maybe you can work when you’re most productive because the kids aren’t around, or you can maintain a flexible work schedule even though the office is back open.

2. Get your calendar in-shape.

“No matter how organized you may be, there is such a thing as over-scheduling,” writes Howie Jones in a previous Calendar article. “Taking planning to an extreme can make an ordinary day feel overwhelming. Deciding what might be unnecessary to add to your online calendar can cut down on busy work and wasted time.”

How can you get your calendar back to being lean and mean? Remove unnecessary entries like;

  • Meetings or agendas that don’t serve a purpose
  • Standing or back-to-back events
  • Notes and checklists
  • Reminders for minuscule or repetitive tasks like eating breakfast
  • Other people’s priorities

What should be on your calendar? Date-specific appointments and important tasks that you’re struggling with for sure. You should also pencil in time for networking, learning something new, and monthly themes that are attached to your goals.

You can also use “time analytics provided by a calendar app can also help you determine if you are using your time well,” adds Howie. “This could help you cut down on low-priority meetings, opening up more space in your online calendar.”

3. Keep it clean.

Several studies have found that a computer keyboard is dirtier than a toilet seat. Even dirtier? Your smartphone.

Although crawling with bacteria, most of these germs are harmless. But, still. That’s gross.

Moreover, cleanliness leads to an 80% reduction in catching a cold and a 2-8% productivity increase.

So, make cleaning your work environment a part of your regular routine. For me, when I’m shutting down for the day, I wipe down my keyboard, mouse, and desk. Every Friday, I do a little bit more, like vacuuming and organizing paperwork.

If you keep up with this, it will only take a couple of minutes out of your day. That’s much better than being bedridden cause you’re under the weather.

4. Automate your workspace.

When it comes to tedious business tasks, there is no shortage of tools to do the heavy lifting for you. Take scheduling appointments. Calendar uses machine learning to make smart suggestions on which meetings you should add to your calendar.

What’s more, you can automate email responses, social media posts, invoicing, and recruiting. As if that weren’t enough, automation can be used to fill-out forms, sign documents, nurture leads, and create proposals. Seriously, the sky’s the limit.

But, you can also use automation to keep your actual workspace productive. Case in point, there are subscription services that will replenish office supplies like pens, notebooks, and ink printers. FilterTime will automatically air filters to your home or workplace.

Smart assistants like Google Home and Alexa can control everything from your room’s temperature to lightning. Nest, as an example, will learn your preferred settings when you’re in a specific location. So, instead of fidgeting with the thermostat when you get to work, it will do this for you.

5. Adjust the volume.

I live near a school. When in-session, I’ve learned to adapt my routine. For example, I walk my dog before teachers and students arrive.

I also plan accordingly when school lets out. The busses roaring by and kids excitedly going home are distracting to me. To counter this, I either take a break during this time or put on a pair of headphones.

Some of you might be fine with this. — to each their own. But, if you were used to background noise and it’s no longer there, you might want to listen to some music or white noise.

6. Stay in-bounds.

Boundaries, in my opinion, are non-negotiable. For instance, if you want to spend quality time with your family or unplug after work, then don’t allow phones at the dinner table.

The same is true with the various zones you have throughout your home. There should be dedicated places to work, eat, relax, and sleep. Don’t get complicit now.

I know that there are days when you just want to stay in your cozy bed and work from there. That’s just not going to cut it. After all, working from bed decreases work productivity, energy levels, and quality of life.

Moreover, it can interfere with the quality of your sleep, encourage bad posture, strain your eyes, and negatively impact your mental health. It’s also unhygienic and can decrease relationship satisfaction.

7. Put your mental health first.

COVID has taken a serious toll on our mental health. In December 2020, it was reported that in the U.S., 42% of people surveyed have symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. This was an 11% increase from the previous year. Data from other surveys have found similar findings across the world. “I don’t think this is going to go back to baseline anytime soon,” says clinical psychologist Luana Marques, at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

The uncertainty of what the future holds, social distancing, and grieving have all contributed to these negative feelings. If there is any good news, it’s that there are ways to put your mental health first.

Keeping up with a daily routine gives you structure, predictability, and a sense of control. Limiting your social media and news consumption also help. Additionally, you should minimize isolation, even if it’s just talking to a friend on the phone.

One of the most effective strategies is spending time outside — 20 minutes a day is feasible. And, definitely schedule a meeting with a therapist. Teletherapy makes this more accessible while keeping you safe from COVID.

8. Follow healthy habits.

COVID hasn’t been just taxing for our mental health. It’s also impacted our physical health. Since the pandemic swept the work, there’s been an increase in sedentary leisure activities and a decline in physical activity.

Lockdowns have also lead to unhealthy eating habits and an uptick in alcohol and tobacco use. That’s just not damaging your physical health; it’s also affecting your mental health and productivity.

More, now than ever, engaging in healthy habits is vital. But, just like there are ways to prioritize your mental health, there are steps you can take to make this possible.

For starters, it is still possible to remain physically active. This might seem problematic if your gym is closed or you’re working from home. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility if you;

  • Do exercises that can be done anywhere, like burpees, squats, or push-ups, before breakfast and later in the day.
  • Set alarms that remind you to stretch.
  • Create a “commute.” For instance, when you’re done work for the day, take a walk.
  • Keep workout equipment and clothing visual.
  • Utilize technology like activity-tracking apps or smart fitness machines.
  • Use a standing desk.
  • Stand or walk when on phone calls.
  • Spread movement throughout the day. One idea would be to do calf raises or squats when brewing your coffee.
  • Launch a fitness challenge with friends, family, or co-workers.

In addition to physical activity, seek help with curbing vices, like smoking cigarettes. And, fill your workspace with healthy snacks from subscription services like SnackNation or Naturebox.

9. Build camaraderie.

“A major challenge with remote teams is fostering a connected culture,” writes Deanna Ritchie in another Calendar article. “After all, you aren’t literally working side-by-side or bumping into each other during a coffee break.” There also aren’t opportunities to socialize during lunch, meetings, or team-building activities.

“It is still possible, however, to build camaraderie with your virtual team,” adds Denna. You could “schedule virtual lunches or plan after-hours events like a video game tournament. Other ideas would be planning a fitness challenge, create a virtual breakroom, and use gamification in their work.”

“And, if you have a video call scheduled, open it up a couple of minutes early,” she advises. “Hopefully, this gives early arrivers a chance to partake in a little informal chitchat.”

10. Celebrate the small wins.

Finally, don’t count out the power of celebrating small wins. They give us a glimmer of hope and help us become more self-confident. But, how can you give yourself that well-earned pat-on-the-back?

Some suggestions to consider;

  • Keep a diary to keep track of all your daily accomplishments.
  • Give someone a high-five. Due to COVID, physical contact with someone outside your bubble might not be wise. But, you could have a group chat with your colleagues, family, or friends to congratulate each other.
  • Rewarding yourself by engaging in self-care or buying a book that you’ve had on your wishlist.
  • Repeat a celebratory mantra like ‘You’ve accomplished more than you had ten minutes ago!”
  • Jot down your minor victories and place them in a mason jar for future reference.
  • Say “thank you” to someone who has helped you accomplish a win.
  • Leave some blank spots in your calendar so you can spend that time if you wish.
  • Embrace failure as a part of the journey.

How to Make Cancellations Less Common

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How to Make Cancellations Less Common

We’ve all been there: You’ve waited all day for a meeting, only for the client to cancel at the last minute. Last-minute cancellations can throw a wrench in your day, and sometimes your whole week. 

While cancellations happen, they shouldn’t be frequent occurrences. To help you cut down on frustration and revenue loss, here are some ways to keep cancellations to a minimum:

Understand Why Clients Cancel 

Everyone needs to cancel an appointment on occasion. A pattern of cancellations, however, may indicate a business-wide issue. 

Try to get into the mind of your clients. Understand exactly what’s causing them to cancel. For example, do they have kids and can’t always find childcare? Is their schedule so packed they can only spare a few minutes of their day? Or, are they not able to afford your hourly rate?

Don’t get defensive. Recognize that you, not they, may need to change. 

If you suspect travel time is an issue, for instance, try implementing a teleconferencing tool. Allowing clients to book you at the click of a button can do wonders for retention. 

Create a Cancellation Policy

Implementing a cancellation policy is one of the best ways to ensure your clients show up both prepared and on time. This policy doesn’t have to be complex; in fact, it can be as simple as charging a small fee in case of a missed appointment. 

Imposing a small penalty will motivate your clients to show up to their appointments on time. More importantly, it will reduce the likelihood that they become chronic cancellers.

Encourage each new customer to review your terms and conditions. Ask them to sign a copy when they sign up for their first meeting. This document should include the charges for no-shows, the penalties for repeatedly missing appointments, and details on how far in advance you require rebooking before you levy a fee.

Don’t Schedule Too Far In Advance

You want to stay at the top of your client’s mind. Try to schedule appointments within a week from when you last spoke with a customer. Any further ahead, and your client may lose interest by the time their appointment rolls around.

Use “when,” not “if” questions: When in the next week can they meet? Approach the conversation with a handful of specific dates and times that work for you. Look for alignment in your availability and, if none exists, offer an alternative. 

Send Reminders 

We all have a lot on our mind these days. Reminders can cut through our mental clutter, but only if we use them strategically. 

Consider your customer base. If your clients are primarily Millennials, then go with text reminders. Baby Boomers and Silents may prefer a phone call or a voicemail message.

Regardless, make sure not to send out too many reminders. You want to tread the line of being proactive without being too overbearing. Try sending a reminder as soon as a client signs up for an appointment, and then another 48 hours before the scheduled time. 

Offer Self-Serve Rescheduling

Some clients may not show up to a scheduled appointment simply because they are too nervous to reschedule. They may not want to deal with a lengthy email exchange, much less wait on hold with your receptionist. 

Nip this in the bud with software that makes it easy for a client to reschedule their own appointment. Even if it doesn’t cut down on cancellations, such a system will, at the very least, save you time. 

Use Rewards to Your Advantage 

Reward any client who regularly shows up on time for their appointments. There are plenty of creative rewards you can implement, such as:

  • A modest discount or a service credit for a future appointment
  • A quarterly drawing for a gift card
  • Priority scheduling, especially during busy periods

These little perks come at a very low cost to you, but they can really drive home your commitment to punctuality to your customers. 

Missed appointments can mangle your bottom line and throw your schedule for a loop. The good news is, communication, creativity, and education are all you need to keep most clients from throwing in the towel. What’s not to love about that?

15 Life Rules to Inspire Motivation

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15 Life Rules to Inspire Motivation

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

Without motivation it’s kind of tough to reach your full potential. Of course, there are moments in your life where motivation is non-existent. When that happens, you should follow these 15 life rules to keep inspiring motivation day-in and day-out.

1. Trust yourself.

During his 2009 USC Commencement Speech, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his “rules of success.” This included his epic first rule; trust yourself.

And what I mean by that is, so many young people are getting so much advice from their parents and from their teachers and from everyone. But what is most important is that you have to dig deep down, dig deep down and ask yourselves, who do you want to be? Not what, but who.

And I’m talking about not what your parents and teachers want you to be, but you. I’m talking about figuring out for yourselves what makes you happy, no matter how crazy it may sound to other people.

I was lucky growing up because I did not have television or didn’t have telephones, I didn’t have the computers and the iPods. And, of course, Twitter was then something that birds did outside the window. I didn’t have all these distractions and all this.

I spent a lot of time by myself, so I could figure out and listen to what is inside my heart and inside my head.

And I recognized very quickly that inside my head and heart were a burning desire to leave my small village in Austria — not that there was something wrong with Austria, it’s a beautiful country.

But I wanted to leave that little place and I wanted to be part of something big, the United States of America, a powerful nation, the place where dreams can come true.

I knew when I came over here I could realize my dreams. And I decided that the best way for me to come to America was to become a bodybuilding champion, because I knew that was ticket the instant that I saw a magazine cover of my idol, Reg Park. He was Mr. Universe, he was starring in Hercules movies, he looked strong and powerful, he was so confident.

So when I found out how he got that way I became obsessed, and I went home and I said to my family, “I want to be a bodybuilding champion.”

Now, you can imagine how that went over in my home in Austria. My parents, they couldn’t believe it. They would have been just happy if I would have become a police officer like my father, or married someone like Heidi, had a bunch of kids and ran around like the von Trapp family in Sound of Music.

That’s what my family had in mind for me, but something else burned inside me. Something burned inside me. I wanted to be different; I’m determined to be unique. I was driven to think big and to dream big.

Everyone else thought that I was crazy. My friends said, “If you want to be a champion in a sport, why don’t you go and become a bicycle champion or a skiing champion or a soccer champion? Those are the Austrian sports.”

But I didn’t care. I wanted to be a bodybuilding champion and use that to come to America, and use that to go into the movies and make millions of dollars.

So, of course, for extra motivation I read books on strongmen and on bodybuilding and looked at magazines. And one of the things I did was, I decorated my bedroom wall.

Right next to my bed there was this big wall that I decorated all with pictures. I hung up pictures of strongmen and bodybuilders and wrestlers and boxers and so on. 

I was so excited about this great decoration that I took my mother to the bedroom and I showed her. And she shook her head. She was absolutely in shock and tears started running down her eyes.

She [my mother] called the doctor, she called our house doctor and she brought him in and she explained to him, “There’s something wrong here.” She looked at the wall with the doctor and she said, “Where did I go wrong? I mean, all of Arnold’s friends have pictures on the wall of girls, and Arnold has all these men.

But it’s not just men, they’re half naked and they’re oiled up with baby oil. What is going on here? Where did I go wrong?” So you can imagine, the doctor shook his head and he said, “There’s nothing wrong. At this age you have idols and you go and have those — this is just quite normal.”

So this is rule number one. I wanted to become a champion; I was on a mission. So rule number one is, of course, trust yourself, no matter how and what anyone else thinks.

2. The KISS principle.

If you’re like, you had a father who liked to throw around the phrase “Keep it simple, stupid.” In case you were curious, there’s a perfectly good explanation for this. It was a design principle popularized by the US Navy around 1960.

For those who are unfamiliar with the “keep it simple stupid” (KISS) principle, it simply that states that systems perform best when they have simple designs instead of complex ones.

Personally, I use this principle almost daily.

For example, when I have to tackle a large project I break it up into smaller, more manageable tasks. This makes completing the project simpler since I can chip away at specific goals, instead of worrying about completing everything at once.

3. Follow the Goldilocks Rule.

Do you remember the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? It wasn’t just a memorable bedtime story. It also inspired the aptly-named Goldilocks Rule.

“The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities,” explains James Clear. “Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.”

According to Clear, the Goldilocks Rule is actually backed by science. That’s because even though we love challenges, we prefer them to be within an optimal zone of difficulty.

Clear uses an analogy of playing tennis. If you played against a child, you would get bored because the match was too easy. But, if you played against a pro like Serena Williams, you’ll find yourself demotivated because the match was too difficult.

4. Embrace change.

People don’t like change. In fact, we resist it as much as possible. One study found that the reason for this is because the longer something is thought to exist, the better it’s evaluated.

Change is inevitable.

The fact of the matter is that change is inevitable throughout life. So instead of fighting it, learn how to embrace it. Start by taking baby steps and just going with the flow.

And, also keep in mind that change is good for you. It helps you grow and learn, as well gain new ideas and perspectives. That can open a whole new world of possibilities.

5. Choose possibilities, not problems.

“With personal power you possess the deep belief there are available solutions for problems. When you approach challenges from a solutions-focused perspective it engages the creative process of examining and architecting alternate routes in lieu of staying stuck in false beliefs of why things cannot be done,” writes Sherrie Campbell in Entrepreneur.

“If you cannot find a solution, open your thoughts to others, seek their ideas and suggestions. Solution-focused minds reward and inspire each other. When solutions are the focus you learn to fail and adapt, moving away from the fixing and failing approach.”

6. Measure twice and cut once.

Here’s another lesson I’ve learned from my old man; measure twice and cut once. This meant when cutting a piece of wood, you would measure it twice to make sure that you don’t make any mistakes. He would often tell me this when he noticed me rushing through something I didn’t care about.

I use this principle to guide me in almost everything I do today.

Let’s say I want to write a blog post. If I’m not feeling the topic, I may write a sub-par article that’s going to get rejected.

Instead of wasting everyone’s time, I would rather discuss a topic that I’m passionate about. When I do, the article isn’t just well-written, it has less errors and is faster for me to compose.

7. ASK.

This is an acronym for always seek knowledge. And this could be one of the greatest life rules I’ve learned. That’s because obtaining knowledge improves our lives by empowering us.

Think about it. You just read a leadership book or took an online course to learn a new skill. You most likely took that newly acquired knowledge and eagerly put it to use. As a result, you become a more well-rounded individual.

8. Be truly fulfilled.

“Michael Gerber, the guy that wrote The E-Myth, talks about why so many businesses, young businesses fail. One of the things he says is most people are not really entrepreneurs, but they think that’s what they should be. They think that’s the sexy thing, that’s the most attractive thing, that’s the best answer,” says Tony Robbins.

“What I say to you is you’ve got to separate the vehicle from the outcome. Is it going to truly fulfill you? What is it that’s going to give you that extraordinary life? What’s going to make things magnificent, on your terms, not somebody else’s terms, not your father, your mother, your background? What is that, really?”

“Separate the vehicle. There are many ways to get to that vehicle, but I’m saying, sometimes you have to reevaluate what’s going to really make you fulfilled.”

You can find this answer by asking yourself questions like:

  • What is your gift?
  • Are you an artist?
  • Are you the talent that can produce something no one else produces as a skill, a product, a service or some impact?
  • You incredibly good at management; you really know how to manage or lead people?
  • Are you an extraordinary entrepreneur that can take that gigantic gut-load of risk, create the vision, attract the talent that you need, the managers and leaders?

“You may have all three abilities, but which one really fulfills you the most, is going to be the critical question. We tend to want to do them all, especially in a room like this, because you’re all overachievers; right?”

“Me, too. You say, ‘Well, I can do all these.’ Yes, you can, but what will it do to your quality of life? See, again, the secret is going to be this. What is an extraordinary life, on your terms, today?”

9. Obey the Golden Rule.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I don’t know how many times my mom beat that into my head. And I’m glad she did. It’s helped guide me throughout life.

Take my business, for example. I treat my employees like I want to be treated. As a result, I have a highly motivated team – even though most are remote workers.

My team feels valued, respected, and delivers top-notch work on a consistent basis. That wouldn’t be possible if I mistreated them.

Besides my team, I also treat my customers with respect by delivering outstanding customer service. When I hear how my business helped a customer I want to keep that up. It’s almost like a video game, I want to keep playing until I get the highest score.

10. Give more than you take.

It’s true. Those who give, receive.

Whether if it’s through volunteering or sharing your wealth or knowledge, when you give more then you take, you’ll be rewarded. What kind of reward? It could be anything from developing new skills, gaining new experiences, or meeting new connections.

And who knows where these rewards can take you. Maybe you learned a new skill while volunteering that you can now use to enhance your business.

As an added perk, it feels pretty good too.

11. Try new things.

Here’s why we don’t try new things; we’re afraid.

The thing is, by letting that fear control us, we’re depriving ourselves from expanding our minds and experiencing new perspectives. Also, those who try new things are more likely to retain positive emotions.

So, stop being afraid and just do it. It’s better than living with could have, might have, and should have.

12. Smile.

You wake-up in the morning in a foul mood. How motivated do you think you’ll be for the rest of the day?

It’s no secret that our mood influences motivation. And one quick fix is to smile. Yep, it’s that simple.

It’s been found that smiling can instantly lift your spirits, boost your immune system, and relieves stress. As an added perk, smiling is contagious.

13. Take action.

Jim Rohn once said, “What we know and how we feel merely determine our potential for achievement. Whether we actually achieve our goals is ultimately determined by our activity.”

According to Rohn, there are two rules of activity:

  1. Do what you can. Ask yourself the following question, “What simple thing could I do, which I’m not doing, which could increase my health and/or my wealth?”
  2. Do the best that you can. Follow this philosophy from Ecclesiastes 9:10 — “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might.”

14. Work to live; don’t live to work.

Close your eyes for a second and reflect about your life so far. Are you more satisfied about the time you spent working or the time you had living? Hopefully it’s the latter.

Remember, life isn’t about work. It’s about building relationships and how you made an impact in the world. That should keep you motivated during even the most of trying times.

15. Inspire Motivation and Keep dreaming.

Never stop dreaming. No matter your age.

Dreams help you discover yourself. They help you reach your goals. And they ensure that you don’t live a life full of regrets.

Don’t Let These 5 Things Derail Your Digital Meetings

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Don’t Let These 5 Things Derail Your Digital Meetings

Remote work’s cure period has passed. Workers will continue to keep in touch using online meeting services. Even businesses that plan to resume on-site operations will use digital meetings to supplant travel.

Virtual meetings are less expensive. They require less time. They can connect people on opposite sides of the country and around the world instantly.

The permanence of digital meetings means they’re worth getting right. Here’s how to overcome five of the most common dysfunctions: 

Technology Hiccups

Nothing can throw off a virtual meeting like an ad hoc troubleshooting session. Maybe one person can’t figure out how to turn on their video function. Another might sound like they’re calling from inside a tin can.

You can mitigate some of these issues by ensuring everyone on your team has proper equipment. Consider providing microphones or asking attendees to use headsets or earbuds. Go the extra mile by sharing troubleshooting resources for common issues. Just about every digital meeting service provider has tutorials available.

Some technological issues are beyond your control, such as outages and service interruptions. But your attendees can avoid most technology troubles with better tools and training. 

Content Temptations

After tech issues, the greatest challenge of digital meetings is content rabbit holes. To get the most out of your meeting, your attendees need to keep their eyes and ears tuned to the topic at hand. 

Take your cue from entirely remote companies. Calendar, a productivity tool with distributed team, uses a few best practices to cut down on distractions:

  • Keep curious fingers off the keys

Typing keeps you from paying attention to the speaker and distracts others. Instead, take notes the old fashioned way: with a paper and pen. Enjoy the break from your inbox while you can. 

  • Implement a “one window” rule

It’s easy to distract yourself by reading the news or planning tonight’s dinner. During a meeting, however, the only windows you should have open are the video call and the agenda. If you need additional materials, such as slides or notes, have them organized before the meeting but hidden from view.

  • Mute yourself by default

This prevents some of the audio issues that pop up during calls. Plus, it gives more attention to the speaker. This way, you don’t have to worry about dogs barking or your neighbors mowing their lawns causing sound issues.

  • Be clear and to the point

Be clear in your phrasings, and avoid going on tangents. Pause frequently to give attendees time to ask questions and process information. It also avoids the dreaded “sorry, you cut out” that requires you to start from the beginning.

Distracting Backgrounds

To avoid turning your square into a problem spot, make sure you pick a clear, uniform background. Try positioning your camera with a blank wall in the background. If that is not possible, make sure the area behind you is neat. A business call is not the time to show your dirty laundry. 

If possible, arrange to have pets, children, and other members of your household otherwise engaged during your meeting. Early in the pandemic, these cameos were fun; now, not so much.

Cross-Talk

Cross-talk happens. However, it shouldn’t be an every-minute-of-every meeting issue. 

This can be particularly difficult when you have a large number of attendees on a call. To avoid confusion, share an agenda beforehand with speakers clearly spelled out. Use built-in tools, such as the chat menu or hand-raising, to prevent participants from talking over each other. 

Use low-tech techniques as well. Encourage speakers to pause after asking a question. Remind listeners to mute themselves when they’re not speaking. 

Small Talk

This point might sound harsh, but it is critical for optimizing your meeting: Water-cooler conversations should not be teamwide time (and, by extension, dime) sucks.

When you connect with associates or colleagues, it’s human nature to bond. You want to know about their families. You want to rehash last night’s game or who was voted off of the island. But without an eye on your watch, you risk spending half the meeting on small talk. 

Find other opportunities to build camaraderie amongst employees. Create Slack channels or Microsoft Teams groups where employees with similar interests can chat. You could also have a virtual game time or happy hour. 

Meetings aren’t going away, only changing in medium. Don’t wait to master their digital format, or you may find yourself getting sucked into a lot more of them.

Motivation Secrets of Productive People

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Motivation Secrets of Productive People

Make no mistake about it. Motivation will increase your productivity.

“Motivation and productivity are twin concepts in organizational development,” wrote Kristina Dems for Bright Hub.

“First, motivation works as the means toward attaining productivity as an end. Another point: Motivation is the best road to follow to reach productivity as a favorable effect. Lastly, motivation is the stimulus to trigger productivity as a response.”

Think about how this effects you and effects your life. When you’re not feeling motivated, you’re not going to accomplish much. That’s because you don’t have the drive to get things done.

And, to put it lightly, that sucks.

Now you’re behind on your planned goals or a task, which means you’re going to get behind another and another. Eventually, everything starts to pile-up. With no end in sight, you become even less motivated.

That’s why the most productive people employ the following motivation secrets to guarantee that they’re always ahead of the game.

1. When plans are made, they anticipate obstacles.

Peter Gollwitzer, a professor of psychology at New York University, in New York City, conducted a study in 2009 that compared two groups of women who wanted to be more active. The groups were both provided information on how to live a healthy lifestyle.

However, the second group was also taught how to foresee obstacles by using if-then statements. For example, if they wanted to jog, but the weather is poor, then what will you do? The women would say, “if it’s snowing, then I’ll go to the gym and use the treadmill.”

Suffice it to say, the second group fared far better.

Gollwitzer concluded that those who plan for obstacles are more likely to follow through on projects. This is because they don’t have any excuses for completing the task at hand.

2. They “don’t break the chain.”

Years ago software developer Brad Isaac asked Jerry Seinfeld if he had any tips for a young comedian. Seinfeld told him that the only way to become a better comic was to create better jokes. And the only way to create better jokes was to write daily.

But, that was just scratching the surface. Ultimately, the legendary comic unveiled his unique calendar system that kept him motivated every day.

Jerry told Isaac to get a huge wall calendar “that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall.” Then, go get a red magic maker.

He told Isaac that for each day he writes to to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”

“Don’t break the chain,” Seinfeld said again for emphasis.

Isaac says that this “works because it isn’t the one-shot pushes that get us where we want to go, it is the consistent daily action that builds extraordinary outcomes.” And, those daily actions build habits.

3. Live life from their calendars.

According to The Busy Person’s Guide to the Done List, by Janet Choi and Walter Chen of iDoneThis:

  • 41 percent of to-do list items are never completed.
  • 50 percent of to-do list items are completed within a day, many within the first hour of being written down.

Why is this the case when so many people swear by to-do-lists?

For starters, tasks on your to-do-lists are distinguished between those that only take a couple of minutes and those will last hours. Additionally, they emphasize the urgent instead of the important. And, they can add unnecessary stress.

Because of these reasons, highly productive people don’t use to-dos. They live from their calendars instead.

“Use a calendar and schedule your entire day into 15-minute blocks,” says Jordan Harbinger, co-founder of The Art of Charm. “It sounds like a pain, but this will set you up in the 95th percentile as far as organization goes.”

“If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t get done. If it’s on the calendar, it gets done no matter what. Use this not just for appointments, but workouts, calls, email blocks, etc.”

4. They don’t multitask.

Despite the myths, multitasking doesn’t make you more productive. In fact, it slows you down. This is because your brain is switching tasks and focus, which means it takes you longer to complete tasks.

In order to stay productive, you need to focus on thing at a time. Due’s Miranda Marquit uses the Pomodoro Technique to stay focused on one specific task at a time. This also boosts productivity since you’re dedicating your mental energy on one specific item.

As a perk, since you’re giving this one task 110 percent, chances are that there will be fewer mistakes. This means you won’t have to back and fix your errors, you can just move onto to something else.

5. Not controlled by technology.

“I was a Division I college athlete, and I grew up with five brothers and two sisters. I’ve always been a competitor. [But] I’ve learned that productivity should not be a competitive sport. You’re never going to win,” Cathy Engelbert, CEO of Deloitte, tells Fast Company.

“I am responsible for almost 80,000 people. I prioritize people over tasks. One Note allows me to put different tasks [involving] each of my executive-team members in a tab. That way when I talk to them, I can be more effective, because the five things I want to talk to them about [are right there].”

“If I looked at email and Twitter and texts [during the day], I don’t think I would ever give my full attention to anything. You cannot be insightful if you’re deluged with information.”

Engelbert adds, “We’re all drowning in data. We all need moments of recovery. For me, that includes not going right to my phone when I wake up in the morning. I got on a plane about six months ago, and I forgot my phone. For two days, I didn’t have my phone, and nobody died.”

Her final words of advice? “Technology should help you do your job, not control your job.”

6. They use a notebook.

Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Sheryl Sandberg all carry a notebook around. The reason? They rely on pen and paper to keep track of and remember all of their thoughts and ideas.

“I can’t tell you where I’d be if I hadn’t had a pen on hand to write down my ideas as soon as they came to me,” Branson wrote in a blog post.

“You think you’ll remember, but you won’t, and you’ll forfeit all the thoughts that flood you after you’ve freed your mind from remembering the initial spark,” adds Drew Hanson.

For Sandberg, she uses a notebook as a kind of daily planner. She jots down her to-do lists. Once she’s accomplished those items, she rips the pages out of her notebook. It’s a simple way to stay motivated for staying on track.

7. They work backwards from the future.

Steve Jobs once asked, “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”

“If too many days passed by with the answer being ‘no,’ he’d adjust his lifestyle until he hit a consistent yes,” explains HubSpot’s Scott Tousley. “This forced Steve to define long-term goals and stay motivated.”

This may sound drab, but the most productive people “think about the end of their lives,” which helps them define their legacy.

With this in mind, they then “work backwards to achieve those goals.”

“This touches on the psychological theories and models of motivation. If we’re driven by a purpose, we’re more likely to work extra hard,” says Tousley.

But, how does starting with your purpose keep you productive and motivated?

Starting with a purpose or “personal mission statement,” leads to the creation of long-term goals. Long-term goals lead to smaller goals, which create to-do-lists.

So, if you want to productive like Steve Job, define your purpose first and everything else will fall into place.

8. They’re friends with time.

Really productive people, or RPPs as Marie Forleo calls them, are friends with time. In other words, “they don’t look at time as the enemy.”

If you do, you’ll end-up always struggling with productivity and motivation. And, this makes sense. Whenever you could something the “enemy” it’s only going to end-up being a source of pain.

Instead, make time your ally. You can start by ditching time-stealing habits like multitasking and procrastination. You can achieve by practicing:

  • Mindfulness. This will help you focus on one task at a time.
  • Acceptance. Concentrating only on what you can control.
  • Authenticity. This encourages self-management since it helps you decide what to do and when to do it.

9. They create theme days.

Want to know how Jack Dorsey juggles all of his obligations at Twitter and Square? He creates theme days. Here’s what Jack said about this in 2011:

“The way I found that works for me is I theme my days. On Monday, at both companies, I focus on management and running the company…Tuesday is focused on product. Wednesday is focused on marketing and communications and growth. Thursday is focused on developers and partnerships. Friday is focused on the company, the culture and recruiting. Saturday I take off, I hike. Sunday is reflection, feedback, strategy, and getting ready for the week.”

How has that schedule help Jack work eight hours at both companies?

The first reason the schedule works is that it establishes a rhythm. You know what to expect every day because you’ve created a routine to keep you focused.

Secondly, it challenges you to complete tasks on certain deadlines. If you record a podcast every Tuesday like John Lee Dumas, then you know that you have the podcast prepared by that day.

Finally, it batches similar tasks together. This keeps you productive since it streamlines activity and eliminates distractions.

10. Bring optimism and fun back into the picture.

This may sound hokey, but research shows that the key to motivation is bringing optimism and fun.

Ron Siegel, a psychology professor at Harvard University, explains:

“Our modern brains are still wired up for the ancient evolutionary purpose of surviving in a dangerous environment. Over a million years or so, we developed specialized neural structures that selectively tuned in to danger signals. The prospect of getting attacked necessarily outranked all other neurological priorities.”

And, unfortunately, we still go into that survival mode. Instead of thinking about the pleasurable and rewarding experience of conquering a task, we focus on anxiety and fear.

For example, you just started a new business. You’re probably dwelling more on the fear of failure instead of the excitement of improving your community.

The best way to overcome this? Create basic two-columned pros and cons list so you can notice that the joys outweigh any fears or anxieties. When you actually see the positive, you’ll get yourself out of the rut you’re headed into.

As Rick Steves has written, “Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”

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