Moving? Make it Easier With an Online Calendar

By Choncé Maddox | Scheduling | No Comments

Moving to a new city can be equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. It can also be a logistical nightmare if you’re not prepared for the challenge. There’s no need to make moving harder than it already is. You will likely move many times in your life for a variety of reasons. Learn how to make the best of the moving process. To make moving as easy as possible, leverage your online calendar.

An online calendar is a wonderful time management tool will help you break down the project at hand, so it’s more easily managed. Check out these 7 online calendar tips for your upcoming move:

Go on a Shopping Trip

What kind of materials do you need to accomplish your move? In most cases, this means acquiring an absurd number of boxes and bags to store your belongings. However, if you don’t have enough, make a trip to get everything you need.

An online calendar can help you plan the most efficient shopping trip ever. Track the best times to miss crowds and traffic, and organize your to-buy list, so you don’t forget a thing.

Hold a Yard Sale

Getting rid of some clutter makes packing up a lot more manageable. Of course, you could throw some stuff away, but you might as well try and land some extra cash by holding a yard sale. Use your online calendar to plan your sale days in advance, leaving enough time to advertise it to the community.

For anything you’re unable to sell, consider donating it to a local charity. This will be one final act of goodwill before you pack up and leave the place you’ve called home for so long. If you have family and close friends around, you can send some gifts to them as well. Many young families will jump at hand-me-down clothes or baby toys.

Organize Your Packing With Your Calendar

Once your move is in the works, you’ll need to start packing up your belongings. This will take a lot of time, and isn’t a task you want to put off until the last minute. To ensure it’s all done promptly, organize your efforts with an online calendar.

With this planning tool, you can set aside time every day to chip away at your packing. This way, you can log continuous progress up until the day of the move. Then, stick to your packing schedule, and there will be little to do once that day arrives, saving you a lot of stress and headache.

To further organize your packing, you can break down your time and where you concentrate your efforts. Your schedule can look a little something like this:

Monday – Pack any kitchen appliances and dishes you won’t be needing
Tuesday – Clear out and box up storage closets and bathroom cupboards
Wednesday – Pack the basement and deep clean
Thursday – Bubble wrap and box up pictures, wall decor, memory albums, books, and any fragile household items
Friday – Pack up guest and laundry rooms as deep clean

Of course, the days and tasks are totally up to you. The important thing here is that focusing on singular tasks will help you be more effective than just chipping away at random little things.

Plan the Trip Using Your Online Calendar

Does your move include a cross-country drive hauling a trailer of belongings? If you don’t have the necessary moving equipment, you’ll need to rent some. Moving companies typically charge by the day, so planning an efficient trip can prevent the costs from piling up.

Your online calendar will not only make your drive more efficient but more enjoyable as well. Plan hotel stays and stopping points along your drive, and you’ll make the trip in a timely manner. This will help you get some needed rest and make memories along the way.

Enlist Some Help

On the day your moving truck arrives, there will be a lot of packing and lifting to be done. To get this done as quickly as possible, you can enlist the help of family, friends, and neighbors.

To organize volunteering efforts, make an event in your online calendar. You can share this event with others to collect RSVPs and get all of the work done in a single time period. This will get all hands on deck to complete the project instead of a little bit of help trickling in here and there. You might even whip up a batch of cookies the night before to thank your helpers.

Execute Your Arrival Using Your Online Calendar

The move doesn’t end when you arrive at your destination. There will be just as much unpacking to do as there was packing. Everything you did to depart will need to be replicated for your arrival.

You can plan these efforts the same way you organized your leaving. Enlist help, have cleaning supplies handy, set time for unboxing, and make a plan to follow in your online calendar. This will help make it less of a chore and allow you to better settle into your new home.

Get Familiar With Your New Home

Unless you’re moving back to a previous residence, there will be a lot of unknowns in your new hometown. You will need to get familiarized with key locations such as gas stations, schools, and grocery stores. You’ll also be interested in hitting up local sites like movie theaters and parks for entertainment.

Schedule times to hit the town in your online calendar. This way, you can see as much as possible in the shortest amount of time. In addition, the more comfortable you get with your new surroundings, the sooner you can call it home.

Leaving one place in favor of another is a challenge in itself. There are so many things to get accustomed to, and the difficulty of moving shouldn’t stop you from making the transition as positive as possible. Use these tips and your online calendar to make moving a cinch, and get down to business in your new home.

How Entrepreneurs Can Clean Up Their Calendars

By Jon Bradshaw | Time Management | No Comments

Entrepreneurship is one of the most admired aspects of the American dream. Without hardworking men and women with dreams and passions — coupled with astounding drive and work ethics — we wouldn’t have many of the things we enjoy today. Think of your favorite brand and remember that before it became mainstream, it was a lowly startup backed by a bold entrepreneur.

While entrepreneurs are rightly praised for their accomplishments, it can be difficult to be in their shoes. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into entrepreneurship. All that effort can get exhausting. It can also get confusing when calendars are packed end-to-end with meetings and events to keep track of.

Time management is key to entrepreneurial success. Here are six ways active and aspiring entrepreneurs can clean up their online calendars to help them achieve more while stressing less.

1. Implement Color-Coding

Color-coding is a simple organizational system that will bring your calendar to life and keep it better organized. All you need to do is group your tasks together in a way that they can be identified with a single color. Once you get used to this new system, one glance at your day will give you all the information you need.

For example, you can separate most of your tasks into three main groups, such as team huddles, client meetings, and administrative tasks. Each group will have its own color, like red, yellow, or blue. A stream of yellow for next Wednesday lets you know right away that you have a bunch of client meetings coming up that you need to prepare for.

Once you’ve implemented your color-coding strategy, you’ll begin to think about the tasks you put into your calendar more carefully. More methodical thinking will keep your calendar clean and organized even as you splash it with colors.

2. Batch Tasks Together

Speaking of grouping tasks together, not every single to-do item needs to have a designated space in your schedule. There are many instances where you can batch tasks together to condense your calendar and prevent clutter.

It would be silly to create a calendar event for every email you plan to send throughout the day. Not only can you schedule a time to do all your emailing, but you can also batch that with other administrative tasks to get them done at the same time. If you don’t want to forget important details, use the notes section of your digital calendar to make to-do lists that accompany your task batches.

3. Create a Separate Calendar

Many online calendar apps allow you to create multiple calendars to organize your time. With multiple calendars, you can clean up one messy calendar by dividing it up. To ensure double-booking doesn’t occur, keep these calendars synced even if you don’t view them together at the same time.

One of your calendars can be designated for all your personal affairs. Track birthdays, anniversaries, sporting events, important school dates, and more here, while keeping all of your entrepreneurial activities on a separate calendar. If you really want to go all out, you can create separate calendars for each department of your budding organization.

4. Learn How to Delegate

One reason entrepreneurs’ lives are so grueling is that their plates get overloaded, especially in the early stages of a startup. Entrepreneurs are product developers, marketers, HR representatives, and salespeople all at the same time. The sooner you can delegate some of these tasks to others, the sooner you can clean up your calendar and clear your head.

Learning how to delegate is a process. Many entrepreneurs don’t want to let go of their responsibilities because they only trust themselves to get the job done. Just remember that you’ll become more effective as you pass on assignments and focus your attention, and your calendar, on fewer projects.

5. Make Time for Yourself

Entrepreneurship is often a 24/7 job. Building a business from the ground up isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time and effort to become one of the few who enjoy long-term success. Prioritizing your mental health and physical wellness will help ensure long-term success by staving off burnout and keeping your mind in top shape.

This is different from just creating a separate calendar for your personal events. You need to intentionally make time for yourself in your calendar. Schedule a date night with your significant other, allot time for exercise. Even schedule some evening hours to read a book. These blocks of time will help with your work-life balance and clear your calendar of unnecessary busywork you continue to pile onto yourself.

6. Lean on Automation

Any task that you can automate can be taken out of your schedule, which leads to a more open calendar. Not only that, but automation will keep your business running even without your constant supervision. You will be able to accomplish more with less effort.

No matter your business model, there is some business task that you can automate. You can add a chatbot to your website to answer frequent customer questions without the need for a human representative 24/7. You can automate email marketing campaigns and sales outreach. Find ways to automate your growing business, and these tasks and others won’t be taking up calendar space any longer.

While it’s good to fill your time with productive activities, an overstuffed calendar can be counterproductive. Use these tips to clean up your calendar and keep it that way. That way o you can focus on your performance as an entrepreneur and not your ever-changing schedule.

How to Effectively Measure and Track Employee Productivity

By John Rampton | Time Management | No Comments

Prior to Covid-19, employers were increasing efforts to monitor the productivity of their employees. In fact, according to a 2018 Gartner report, 50% of 239 large corporations admitted that they were monitoring their employees. In particular, the content of their emails and social media accounts. What’s more, these companies also stated that they monitored who their employees utilized and who’s meeting with whom.

According to an Accenture survey of C-suite executives one year later, 62% of their organizations collect data about their employees. Of course, the pandemic has only accelerated employee monitoring. And, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing.

An ExpressVPN survey found;

Even though 83% of employers think employee monitoring is unethical — 78% use monitoring software.
More than one-third of employees believe their employers don’t monitor their online activities, and 15% don’t know it’s possible.
The majority of employees (56%) feel stressed and anxious about their employer monitoring their communications. Moreover, 41% wonder if they’re being watched, and 32% take fewer breaks because of it.
The majority of employees (48%) would be willing to lower their salaries to prevent surveillance. In fact, 1 in 4 workers would take a cut of 25%.
Employees admit that 41% of their recorded work calls contain evidence that could lead to their termination. Additionally, 37% of employers claim to have used stored recordings as evidence for firing.
Moreover, employers use stored emails, messages, or calls to inform their decisions regarding performance reviews (73%) and to track potential worker unionization (46%).

So, what’s the answer here? After all, with the latest wave, companies may be rethinking their plans for re-opening. But, even when things do return to normal, remote work, or at the least hybrid offices, are here to stay.

At the same time, employers will need to measure and track their team’s productivity without making them feel anxious. It’s certainly a precarious situation. But, you can use the following ten techniques to make this possible.

1. Set clear expectations and reasonable deadlines.

I’m still baffled at how many leaders and project managers still fall into the trap of not setting clear expectations and reasonable deadlines. In my opinion, these topics should always be a top conversation priority — regardless if your team works at the office or works remotely.

If you tell your employees what you expect from them, especially in a remote working environment, they’ll be happier and more productive. If “the big talk” is an area that you’re struggling, try using the following;

Focus on clearly defined objectives or goals.
Objective and goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Explain the “why” behind your expectations so that they know that their work is meaningful.
Provide examples and access to the right tools and resources.
Agree on reasonable deadlines.

2. Arm yourself, and your team, with the right tech.

“Having a surplus of communication and collaboration tools is great,” writes Deanna Ritchie in a previous Calendar article. “At the same time, you don’t have to collect them all. We’re not talking about Pokemon here.”

“Instead, limit the tools that you’re using,” Deanna recommends. “Besides decreasing distractions, it prevents everyone from bouncing back-and-forth between tools. Furthermore, it can also help reduce information overload.

Some suggested tools to measure and track your team’s productivity include;

Calendar can automatically schedule meetings. More importantly, with its analytics feature, you can see where your valuable time is being spent.
Slack is a popular messaging tool that allows you and your team to communicate and collaborate in real-time.
Basecamp is a project management tool designed to keep everyone on the same page.
Hub Staff is packed with features like time tracking, screen recording, employee monitoring, and scheduling, and payroll software.
Google Drive will let you and your drive collaborate on online documents together.
Kickidler is more than just employee monitoring software. It also comes with time tracking, employee productivity analysis, and efficiency dynamics. The Autokick feature will notify employees of their productivity stats or if they’ve been on a website too long.
Time Doctor is a time tracking application. It also breaks down how much time has been spent on a specific task or project.
Teamwork allows you to track every of your team and convert that into invoices.

3. Trust is a must.

“Trust is the foundation of every relationship in our life,” says Jen Fisher, U.S. chief well-being officer for the consultancy Deloitte. “Every positive relationship starts from a place of trust.”

Work environments built on trust are healthy and productive, adds Fisher, co-author of Work Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines. Moreover, trust is perhaps more important than ever during this uncertain time caused by the pandemic.

“The pandemic has catapulted us into the future in many ways,” she says. “With uncertainty, you need trust and meaningful and supportive relationships.” And, you can build trust with your remote team by;

Reduce your team’s stress by not micromanaging, be respectful of boundaries, and communicating frequently.
Help them learn and grow by offering frequent feedback.
Get to know each team individually, even if it’s a virtual one-on-one meeting.
Again, have goals, objectives, and expectations that are crystal clear.
Share your expertise, but also admit that you don’t have all of the answers.
Freshen up your virtual events and meetings, like sharing achievements or going on a virtual field trip.
Be consistent, such as always being respectful of their time.

Above all else, be transparent. If you’re monitoring your team, let them know this in advance. And explain to them that they’re not being monitored to spy on them. Rather, you need this data to eliminate time wasters and bolster their productivity.

4. Focus on measuring outcome, not input.

“Employee monitoring was pervasive before the crisis,” notes Ryan Wong in Entrepreneur. “In 2018, research found that 50% of large corporations were using email monitoring and location analysis..” However, “in the early months of lockdown, use of monitoring software skyrocketed, with industry leaders like Teramind and ActivTrak reporting record increases in sales requests.”

“For employers, monitoring tools might seem a useful stopgap at a time when teams aren’t in the office,” he adds. The problem? “Time spent at a keyboard or in front of a webcam is hardly indicative of performance or productivity.”

Monitoring in this manner is actually detrimental to obtaining the results you desire. Employees who are aware their keystrokes are being tracked, for example, are incentivized to produce high-volume work that has little commercial value.

“The deeper issue is that, in many ways, we’ve measured productivity all wrong — confusing inputs for outcomes,” states Wong. “Even tracking ‘hours,’ the oldest of workplace metrics, is fundamentally misleading. Just knowing someone has worked a 40-hour week gives little insight into what they actually accomplished.”

The better approach? Measure and reward business outcomes. “These will differ from business to business and employee to employee — and that’s precisely the point,” he explains. “Taking the time to first define what success looks like, and then finding ways to measure — is the surest way to boost output. Handy schema like KPIs, OKRs, and KRAs, all circle around this central premise.”

5. Reward quality, not quantity.

When it comes to your employee’s work, it’s important to find a way of measuring quality. As an example, think about the customer service you provide. Your brand’s reputation depends on it, but it’s hard to measure.

With that in mind, consider quality when putting systems in place to track employee productivity. And, ask yourself, “What can you do with it to track job performance?”

For instance, is there any feedback you received from a distributor regarding an employee who went beyond the call of duty? While your employee might have needed more time to complete this level of work, the value you received is incalculable. And that should definitely be measured and rewarded.

6. Use positive reinforcement.

It should come as no surprise that happy employees are more productive. However, happiness doesn’t always mean giving them a raise. While that can help, you can increase employee happiness through positive reinforcement, such as;

Showing compassion, empathy, and gratitude
Focusing on meaningful work
Treating employees with respect
Not blaming others for failure
Providing constructive feedback
Rewarding good work with acknowledgment or promotions.

7. Manage task distribution.

Identifying each employee’s strengths and weaknesses can be accomplished by analyzing the data. For example, you might notice that one team member completes a task much faster than anyone else. Ideally, you should give this employee all these responsibilities going forward to increase your team’s productivity. By doing this, everyone will have more free time in their schedules, which will increase productivity.

Understand why your weakest performers are less productive than other team members. For example, perhaps they’re having difficulty with certain programs, applications, or tasks related to their work. In this case, you may consider training them to improve their skills and increase their productivity.

8. Measure both short-term and long-term.

Track-specific key performance indicators for both short- and long-term goals.

Recognizing small accomplishments will keep employees motivated to work towards bigger goals.

Furthermore, this presents an impressive picture. While it may not seem obvious, the little things can have a huge impact on pushing your team towards the big goal.

9. Eliminate time-wasters.

Analyze the data to see where your employees spend a lot of time. For example, you might want to restrict employees’ access to these websites or apps during the workday so that they aren’t distracted.

Data may also indicate that certain clients are taking up a lot of your employees’ time, making them less productive than they should be. It’s possible that your business isn’t even making money from that client. As such, it may be worthwhile to revisit a time-wasting client relationship to make your team more productive.

10. Focus on the bottom line.

Increasingly, small companies are focusing on their bottom line instead of the hours worked by employees. This allows them to track progress while ensuring that their employees have more flexibility — mainly how and when they work.

Moreover, there are several cost benefits to having a remote team. This includes reducing rent and utilities, cleaning services, food, and taxes. In fact, the average real estate savings with full-time telework is $10,000/employee/year. Additionally, remote teams tend to be more productive. They’re also less absent, more likely to stay with your company, and would prefer working from home than accepting a pay raise.

How Parents Should Spend Their Time With Kids Back in School

By Abby Miller | Time Management | No Comments

A lot of parents really look forward to the first day of school. Not only do they support growth and learning, but it’s also nice to have the house to themselves for a few hours each day. Summer can get pretty hectic, and school hours provide a much-needed respite.

For stay-at-home parents, those school hours provide a lot of opportunities. The question is, how do you fill up those empty hours in your Calendar? Here are a few ways parents can make the most of the time the kids are away at school this upcoming scholastic year:

Reverse the Damage of Summer

First things first, staying on top of messes during the summer can be quite tricky. However, now that your kids will be spending most of the day at school, you have plenty of time to pick up the slack left in housekeeping. Just a few days of elbow grease should be all you need to reverse the majority of the damage left by summer festivities.

Sure, it’s helpful and even developmentally beneficial to have your kids pitch in with the cleaning, especially if they’re responsible for the mess. However, school can often be a stressful time, and you don’t want to overload them too much if they’re struggling during their first week. Besides, you work much more efficiently than they do anyways.

Prepare the Afternoons

When your kids get home from school, they are going to be tired from sitting all day in a classroom and participating in any after-school activities they’re enrolled in. They won’t always be super agreeable or cooperative, especially if a long day was equally difficult. Preparing the afternoons for them is a great parenting gesture that requires little effort but goes a long way.

For example, let’s say you know one of your sons is coming home from football practice, and your other son is stressed about an application for the Honor Society. Before they even walk through the door, they have everything they need set up. Layout a change of clothes and set up a study area. The little things like this you can do will pave the way for your children to succeed no matter what they do.

Do Some Meal Planning

If there is anything kids can do well, it’s eating and eating often. Of course, they’ll be expecting dinner to be made for them as they return home and some sack lunches to take on a day when the cafeteria is serving mystery meat. So to avoid kitchen burnout, use your time while everyone is at school to do some meal planning.

By planning out your weekly meals, you can do your grocery shopping more efficiently and even cut down on cooking time. Leftover dinner can provide lunch for all your kids the next day or even provide some meal variations for the entire week. If you’re deciding what to cook at three in the afternoon, you’re already behind.

Nothing will make meal prep as easy as an online calendar. List out the meals you want to try throughout the week and plan around your shopping trips. You can even coordinate with other families to share meals with some of your kids’ friends.

Enjoy the Alone Time

Let’s face it; you’ve earned some ‘me time’ and should start cashing it in. The extensive family time in the summer is incredible but admittedly exhausting. So kick up your feet for a spell and enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet after months of chaos.

Try to make your alone time a little productive or at least enjoyable. Opt for reading a book or picking up an old hobby before binge-watching the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy. If it helps, use your Calendar to intentionally plan solitary activities that will ensure the entire afternoon isn’t spent napping.

Improve Yourself

As an extension to that alone time, you can take a page out of your kids’ schoolbooks and look for some ways to improve yourself. For example, you can brush up on your math skills to help with homework, or even continue your own education using the plethora of online classes available through universities around the country.

Other ways to improve yourself include getting more exercise or maintaining your mental health. With kids out of the house, it will be much easier to fit in a long daily workout or book a Calendar appointment with a counselor or therapist.

Not sure what challenge you want to face? Check out the app store on your phone for some simple ideas. Some apps can teach you new languages, give you creative writing prompts, or even how to do basic coding.

Start a Side Hustle

Being a stay-at-home parent is both admirable and awe-inspiring. However, it can be noted that some of these parents sometimes don’t feel completely fulfilled when their kids spend long hours away from home. One way to fill up the time while providing for both the family and society as a whole is to start a side hustle.

Some side hustles are easy to get into, like downloading a food delivery or ridesharing app and picking up the odd job around town. Others require more creativity but can be more rewarding, like selling arts and crafts online. There’s really no limit to what you can do, from baked goods and homespun clothing to lawn care and painting.

Thanks to the magic of technology, it’s also easier than ever for stay-at-home parents to pick up a part-time job. In addition, working remotely opens up many more doors from employment with flexible schedules for even the parents with jam-packed Calendars.

Challenge yourself to do more with the time you’re being given this school year. Set goals using your Calendar and work alongside your children to become better people every single day.

How Implementing New Tech Tools Can Improve Team Efficiency

By Jason Barnes | Time Management | No Comments

Everywhere you turn, there’s a new tech tool promising to offer you more time, energy, or sales. They sound amazing on the surface, but if you choose the wrong one, they can produce more frustration than solutions.

The good news is, there are productivity and efficiency tools that are worth your time. In this article, we’ll cover some new tech tools and how you can introduce them to your team. After you’re done reading, you’ll be inspired to integrate them into both your work and personal life.

Collaboration Tools

Organizing your team’s workload is essential to accomplishing your goals and should be the first place you pursue improved productivity. Adding collaboration software to your arsenal is a great way to harness the power of your team.

Team members today are often working remotely, off-site with clients, or scattered throughout the office. This makes managing workflow a challenge if you don’t use tech to bridge the gaps.

Project management tools like ClickUp and Asana break projects down into discrete tasks and allow you to assign responsible parties for each one. The entire team can see when deliverables are due, which tasks depend on others, and who gets the baton next. Prioritizing how team members collaborate, plan, and execute can be the difference in whether or not they reach their goals.

Calendar Management Tools

It’s no secret that time, the best-known nonrenewable resource, is gold when it comes to business and life. Calendar management can be a game-changer when it comes to wrangling the hours your team has available to work. Identifying the time spent in meetings, pursuing new business, or completing administrative tasks can pinpoint where to improve efficiency.

Giving team members and sales prospects the opportunity to self-schedule commitments can eliminate time waste as well. Just think, how many emails have you exchanged trying to find a mutually beneficial time to meet with a colleague or client? Using a tool to help tackle calendar chaos makes managing your team’s time, and efficiency, effortless.

List Management Tools

Oh, lists. Don’t we love them? They can be so satisfying to write down, check off, and — ideally — move on from.

But at what point do we step away from all of the list-making and get to the task-doing? Luckily, there are list management tools that tech pros praise and use to get their most important work done. The best part? Many of them integrate with other much-loved and -used tools that help you manage your schedule, team, and conversations.

Use list managers to keep track of work responsibilities, and you and your team will be checking off completed tasks in short order. Apps like Todoist and Any.Do even allow you to share tasks with another person and assign priority levels.

Messaging Tools

Say you’re working from home and so are your colleagues. What’s the most efficient way to reach out for a project status? If you send an email, chances are you’ll wait hours for a reply. When your team is spread out (and even when it’s not), real-time messaging platforms like Slack and Google Chat can be a godsend.

They’re also more efficient. How many times has a traditional check-in been derailed by a debate about the latest blockbuster? Messaging platforms provide channels where you can keep the sales team’s eyes on #sales and the teamwide discussion of “Black Widow” in #entertainment.

Messaging tools keep it simple, keep it focused, and — even better — keep a record. You can easily check back to what was said or committed to as a way of tracking progress and assignments. Employees can get instant answers to questions, removing obstacles to making progress. That’s a win-win, whether you’re in the office or working remotely.

How to Get Started

So you’ve decided to implement some of the new tech tools you’ve learned about with your team. But where do you begin? First, you’ll want to determine which ones you’d like to prioritize. As with any behavioral change, a clear message from team leadership is critical. For simplicity’s sake, it’s best to integrate one new tool at a time to have the best chances of it sticking.

Second, be intentional. Once you’ve chosen a tool, have a conversation with your team about why you want to implement it and how you think it will help. In high-performing teams, transparency, buy-in, and active listening are key.

Hold a meeting with a set agenda, leaving space for conversation and questions. At the meeting, share how you selected this new tool, provide research, and pitch its features and benefits. Be sure to establish expectations on how the team will use it and how you’ll monitor its effectiveness.

Finally, reinforce the new tool and be its champion. As the leader of your team, you’ll be looked to for guidance, pointers, and reassurance. Educate yourself, devise a plan, and execute it as you implement this tool and others with your team. With your new tech assistants, you’ll become productivity masters in no time.

What Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower Can Teach You About Time Management

By Max Palmer | Time Management | No Comments

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States of America. He was elected in 1953 and was elected for a second term in 1956. He would serve as President until 1961. He accomplished a number of things during his presidency, including the Federal Highway Act of 1956 and effectively ending the Korean War.

It’s worth noting that one of Eisenhower’s longest-lasting accomplishments didn’t come from his presidency, although it did influence his service. As a general in the US Army and in other military leadership positions, Eisenhower developed a system that helped him to prioritize his daily task list. This effective prioritization made him a better leader for both the military and his country.

The Urgent-Important Matrix, also known as the Eisenhower Matrix, will help you prioritize your task list and increase your daily efficiency and productivity. Let’s break down how it works and how you can implement it in your own life:

Learn the Quadrants

The Eisenhower Matrix works by dividing tasks into four quadrants. The rows and columns help you determine which tasks should go where. The columns represent urgent and non-urgent tasks, while the accompanying rows indicate important and non-important tasks. Combined together, you get these unique quadrants:

Quadrant 1: Do

The first quadrant contains all of your most important tasks for the day. This is the cross-section between urgent and important, so naturally, this is where your attention will primarily be focused. Next, this is the ‘do’ quadrant, meaning these tasks must be done as soon as possible.

Your previously designated deadlines will go here, especially the ones that don’t have any flexibility. That will include meetings with clients, scheduled flights, or fixed editorial deadlines. Tasks of this nature will get your attention first thing every morning.

Unplanned tasks can often creep their way into this quadrant, and you must be ready for them. For example, if your entire office loses internet, you’ll have to make room for this emergency in your schedule by shifting your priorities on the fly.

Quadrant 2: Decide

Some people will confuse important tasks with urgent ones. This second quadrant will help you keep the two apart. While these tasks are certainly important to you, they can be scheduled in their own due time instead of being forced into available spaces in your Calendar.

For example, maintaining your physical health is important, but it might not have the same urgency as a project deadline with a set due date. So take the time here to add times to go to the gym into your Calendar. This will help you ensure that you’re making time for your physical health without letting it become a stressful endeavor.

You can use this quadrant to schedule more intentional time with your family, time to pursue a personal hobby, or even read a leisurely book to unwind in the afternoons.

Quadrant 3: Delegate

Some tasks are urgent but not quite as important as those tasks that fill up quadrant number one. These are the tasks that you should delegate if possible to someone else. For those in a leadership capacity, this is a particularly important quadrant to focus on. Many leaders can get so wrapped up in the details that they spend too much time cramming quadrant one when they could be pushing some tasks off into quadrant three.

Just think about the types of assignments you would pass on to an assistant or a department lead. For example, scheduling appointments in your Calendar might be urgent, but won’t be as important as the meeting you’re on your way to attend. The responsibility of scheduling can be delegated to a secretary instead.

Quadrant 4: Disregard

Here lies the final quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix. These tasks are neither urgent nor important and, as such, should be forgotten. Some will call this the ‘don’t do’ section or even the ‘delete’ section, as you have three other quadrants of far more important tasks to worry about first.

Some of these tasks won’t even make it onto your Calendar, such as scrolling through social media or taking a nap. These tasks just aren’t important or urgent in the grand scheme of things, even if they can be enticing. Part of why the Eisenhower Matrix works so well is that it shifts your attention away from these distractions to more productive projects.

Get Started With Your Matrix

Everyone will have a different matrix depending on their occupation, seniority, and choosing to prioritize their own tasks. However, here are a few steps you can take to get started:

List Out Your Tasks

Kick things off by listing every single task you hope to accomplish in the coming days. List out important deadlines, goals, and appointments. Feel free to add even the smallest items to this list, as you’re going to be sifting through it later.

As you’re getting used to using a matrix to prioritize your task list, don’t worry about which quadrants everything belongs in just yet. Instead, focus first on making sure you have all of your tasks laid out in front of you so you can determine how to organize it all.

Start at the Top

Now that you have your to-do list straightened out, it’s time to draw out your Eisenhower Matrix. You can draw one in a notebook or use an online program such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to do this. Your matrix will consist of four squares forming a larger square together.

Quadrant one, the ‘Do’ quadrant, will be positioned in the top left corner. Quadrant two will sit directly to the right, with quadrant three positioned directly below. The fourth and final quadrant will take up the remaining spot in the bottom right corner.

Once you’ve finished the simple drawing, start filling each quadrant with the tasks that fit. Start with the urgent and important tasks first, and slowly work your way down through all the quadrants. As you get more familiar with how the matrix works, you’ll better organize your tasks in such a manner.

Keep it With You

The Eisenhower Matrix isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it model unless you have an impeccable memory. As you’re getting started, keep your matrix with you so you can refer to it throughout the day. This can be easily done if you’re tracking it online and can access your matrix from any electronic device.

This is an important step since there will be times when your matrix might need to be adjusted, as was mentioned previously in the case of an unplanned crisis. Additionally, referring to your matrix often helps ensure that you’re adhering to the parameters you set for each task.

Now that you have a feel for how the Eisenhower Matrix is constructed, it’s time to put it to work. Give it a test run during the next week to get a feel for how prioritization changes your approach to work and affects your productivity.

Just Start — Reducing Anxiety

By Deanna Ritchie | Knowledge Base | No Comments

Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S.? In fact, anxiety affects 40 million adults in the United States each year, aged 18 and older. Or, to put it another way, 18.1% of the population each year. And, the COVID-19 pandemic has only further impacted our mental health.

There is some good news, however. And, that’s that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. For some, there may even be strategies that you can use right now that will offer immediate relief. But, for others, you may have to speak to a mental health professional.

In either case, if you want to reduce anxiety, then your first step is just to start. As tennis legend Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Anxiety; Know your enemy.

Before getting too far ahead of ourselves, let’s quickly run down what anxiety is and why it shouldn’t be ignored.

I don’t like to even talk about mental health — and many people feel the same. My feelings are not because I don’t get anxious — but rather the fact that talking about it makes me feel worse. And — why do we have to use the word “mental?” Seriously, these things are as much physical as anything.

“Anxiety is our body’s normal reaction to stress,” explains the staff at McLean Hospital. “When we’re presented with potential danger, our bodies respond to that stress.”

A similar emotional response is fear. When our body responds to an actual or perceived threat, the result is anxiety. And, this is caused by anticipating what will happen in the future.

Examples include waiting to hear back from your doctor, preparing for a job interview, or speaking in front of a crowd. It’s completely normal to feel anxious. However, this can become a problem when anxiety is more than a temporary fear or worry.

“A person who has an anxiety disorder may always be anxious or may easily become anxious about many things,” explains McLean. “Temporary fear or worry is normal, but if the feelings associated with anxiety disorders linger, they can continue to get worse over time.”

Research has found that anxiety disorders can be caused by genetic and environmental factors. For example, being exposed to stressful events as a child. When left untreated, this can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including;

Bipolar disorder
Restlessness
Accelerated heart rate
Irritability
Headaches
Sweating
Irritable bowel syndrome
Feeling easily fatigued
Sleep disturbances
Difficulty contracting
Substance abuse

Overall, anxiety can have a negative impact on all areas of your life. As such, it should be addressed ASAP. And, you can use the following eleven techniques to get started.

1. Stay in your time zone.

Anxiety is a future-oriented emotion. To combat the worry of what might happen, “reel yourself back to the present,” says Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., a psychologist and author of Freeing Yourself from Anxiety. Ask yourself the following questions;

What’s happening right now?
Am I safe?
Is there something I need to do right now?

What helps me the most is asking, “What are you saying to yourself.” When I first learned about this technique, I had to tune into my inner voice. When I tuned in — I found I was feeling “imposter syndrome” and saying terrible things to myself. The inner convo was something like this: “You’re a piece of shit and don’t forget it,” and “you are nothing and never will be,” “you can’t do this job; you always let people down.”

You wouldn’t say any of those things to your worst enemy — so WHY would you say that to yourself?? Be aware of what you say to yourself.

If there is something you need to do for yourself — schedule another time to revisit your worries. Preferably, your revisiting plan and what you can do should be later in the day so those distant scenarios won’t throw you off track too much.

2. Just breathe.

Slow, deliberate belly breathing can help you calm your body almost instantly. What’s more, it’s easy to implement, free, and can be done anywhere. To get started, follow these five steps:

Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and breathe naturally
Put one hand on your belly, the other on your chest. As you breathe in deeply, count to four. Count to three as you hold your breath and four as you exhale. As you inhale, move your hand inward; while exhaling, move it outward.
Focus only on the sensation of your breath.
If your mind begins to wander, refocus on your breathing.
Repeat as necessary.

The reason why this is so effective is that breathing exercises encourage you to focus on the present. And it has the ability to slow down your heart rate.

Think about getting better at breathing and maybe turn this into a meditation.

3. Try the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique.

The 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique is another easy and fast way to help calm your anxiety whenever you feel overwhelmed.

It works like this:

Five. Name five things that you see. It can be anything from a bird outside your window to the artwork on your wall.
Four. Next, name four objects that you’re able to touch. Everything from a knickknack on your desk, hair, or the floor that your feet are touching is fair game.
Three. Pick out three things that you can hear. This could be birds chirping, a running air conditioner, or your breathing.
Two. Notice two things that you can smell, like the brewing coffee or your perfume or cologne.
One. Finally, take note of a taste, like the flavor of the gum you’re chewing.

When paired with deep, slow breathing, this technique works best.

4. Use power language.

“Mind-body research shows that the words you use can have a powerful effect on how you feel,” says Deanne Repich, Director: National Institute of Anxiety and Stress. “Most anxiety sufferers use negative words that destroy their self-esteem and promote a sense of loss of control,” aka “victim” words.

“Victim words perpetuate your anxiety and fear,” adds Repich. “They create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy that results in anxious thoughts and physical symptoms.”

How can you defeat victim words? Replace them with “power” language. These are words that promote your sense of self-worth.

As an example, converting “I can’t control my anxiety” into “I can control my anxiety, and I’m learning skills to conquer it.” Another would be rephasing “I shouldn’t be late for dinner” to “I may be late for dinner. It’s unfortunate, but it’s OK.”

“Think of your inner power like a muscle, just like any other muscle,” Repich says. “The more you use it, the more toned it becomes and the more you can accomplish.” And, with practice, you’ll be able to eliminate anxiety.

5. The throwback hack.

Georgia Foster and Virginia Alexandra, co-authors of “The 3 Minute Anxiety Fix.” suggest that you look at photos whenever you feel anxious or have anxiety. Ideally, it’s stored on your phone or the cloud so that it can be accessed whenever you need it. This is effective since it sparks a great memory.

They also say that your favorite songs and inspirational quotes can help transport you to a better place.

6. Download a relaxation app.

Mindfulness apps, such as Headspace and Calm, offer guided meditations to help release tension, focus, and sleep. Best of all? Most of these apps feature meditations that last only one to five minutes.

Believe it or not, it only takes a couple of minutes of mindfulness to reduce anxiety. I use Calm religiously because of the wide range of offerings on the app for varying moods and situations (yo! even storytime to listen to while you go to sleep).

7. File it.

Have you ever lied awake at night worrying about everything that needs to get done? If so, you can use the “File It” technique to keep track of these items while putting your mind to ease.

To perform this exercise, follow these steps:

Close your eyes and imagine folders on a table. But, there’s also a file cabinet on it.
Next, pick up each file and label it. For example, if you need to make a phone call put that in the right folder.
After naming the file, acknowledge the racing, why it’s important, and then file it away.
Repeat this process whenever a thought pops into your mind.

The idea behind this is that you’re acknowledging and naming your triggers. More importantly, you’re examining them, filing them by importance. As a result, you’re not ignoring your feelings. Instead, you’re developing a plan to deal with them at a better time.

8. Be mindful of what you’re eating and drinking.

If you consume too much caffeine, you may experience heart palpitations. Additionally, caffeine can trigger panic or anxiety attacks — especially if you suffer from an anxiety disorder. Palpitations can also be caused by hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.

Furthermore, it can also cause anxiety or panic attacks because sugar is an adrenal stimulant. For some — it’s paying attention to foods containing refined flour products and even wheat that may cause inflammation as well. And aside from caffeine and sugar, food allergies can also contribute to an overactive nervous system.

Basically, don’t worry too much about anything. My mantra — Eat right, sleep right, and exercise; and most things in your life will go much better. You’ll be better able to handle things.

9. Bring laughter into your life.

“It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body,” writes Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. “Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress.”

Also, there’s nothing that “works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh,” they add. “Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.”

When you feel a wave of anxiety, the authors recommend that you find opportunities to laugh, such as;

Watching a funny movie, sitcom, or YouTube video.
Reading the funny pages.
Remembering a moment that made you laugh.
Spending time with people who make you smile.
Playing with children or a pet.
Engaging in fun activities like mini-golf.

10. Get your body moving.

A study from 2017 showed that 77 percent of the participants were inactive for 12 hours a day. In addition to being physically unhealthy, being sedentary most of the day can also affect your mental health. And, thanks to the pandemic, this has only gotten worse.

If you begin to feel anxious, get up and move. Preferably, you want to elevate your heart rate for five minutes through vigorous exercises. I’ve gotten out of bed and zoomed around and around the block — fast, and it kicks off the anxiety — gone. Like the restless leg thing — with an around the block two or three times — gone –. Better if you can exercise well enough during the day, but hey, “we can’t always get what we want, right?”

11. Do something.

Do something, anything. Clean or organize your workspace. Grab a glass of water. Talk a short stroll outside. Start working. Just diving in and working (even if it’s working again at night is helpful for me).

Taking any sort of action will interrupt your thought pattern. And that action will distract you from worrying. Remember, self-care is the most important thing to do for yourself. The AA and NA use another mantra I always use — “Grant me the Serenity” and the NCBI — “HALT” — don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.

Please take care of yourself and you’ll start reducing anxiety — just start!

5 Tips for Keeping Your Team on Track During the Day

By Jon Bradshaw | Time Management | No Comments

As a manager, one of your top priorities every day is to make sure your team stays on the right track. Your responsibility is to assign tasks and projects and guide the work toward a set deadline. If a detour is necessary, you’re expected to be the guide.

With so many daily responsibilities, unexpected distractions, and the unpredictability of human nature, teams can easily get derailed and lose productivity. Teams need the right mindset paired with proper tools to ensure each day is a productive one from start to finish.

You need to keep your team members on track no matter what obstacles they face. Try a combination of these suggestions to help out even the trickiest of teams:

1. Leverage Productivity Software

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of apps and tools you can use to help keep your team on task and heading in the right direction. Many can be used for free as well. So you’re only harming yourself if you don’t take advantage of at least a few of them.

For example, time management is made easier using scheduling tools like Appointment. When time usage is a major concern, programs like this help to keep schedules structured around deadlines and milestones. Other tools like online calendars and time trackers enable employees to be more productive instead of watching the clock.

Another popular brand of productivity tool is project management software. With a program like ClickUp or Asana, you can assign tasks to different team members. You can also designate roles and break a project into progressive steps. Add in a communication tool like Slack, and you’ll have everything you need to streamline team operations.

2. Manage Your Meetings Better

Meetings can be a double-edged sword. Well-executed meetings provide needed direction and instruction for your team to improve and excel. However, poorly planned meetings can stop productivity in its tracks and do little to help your team move forward.

For starters, consider how often you should hold meetings. Meetings that are held too frequently become redundant and end up wasting time. Meetings that are held too far apart can become long and drawn out.

Every meeting should have a purpose. Do you need a weekly team meet-up to divide assignments and check on individual progress? That’s fine, but keep them concise. No one wants to sit in an hour-long meeting every week if the goal could be accomplished in a 15-minute team huddle.

3. Encourage and Empower

Let’s face it. Eight-hour workdays are long. It’s hard for just about anyone to maintain optimal productivity for that period of time. Fatigue, boredom, and frustration can easily derail productivity and get your team off course.

As a leader, part of your responsibility is to encourage your team to overcome these challenges. One way to accomplish this is by offering incentives. An alluring reward can help a team finish a project by the end of the workday with more vigor. Celebrating successes can increase job gratification and fulfillment and encourage team members to stay on track with their goals.

Another aspect of leadership is team empowerment. Put your team in a position to succeed. Provide flexibility so work-life balance isn’t a concern and provide the proper tools for the work environment. You can also make resources available for physical, mental, and academic needs.

4. Take a Break

Many managers focus on how to get their team to work as hard as possible around the clock. You might find more success by taking an alternate route. While hard work is an admirable virtue, it can lead to faster burnout and decreased motivation.

Instead, start by planning out your team’s breaks. Sufficient time for rest allows team members to regroup and recharge before jumping back into a project. Proper breaks improve critical thinking, which leads to greater efficiency. Providing adequate breaks also helps increase endurance over the course of a long shift.

It goes without saying, but just to be sure, don’t let breaks get out of hand. Break time is meant to reduce burnout, not burn out the clock by avoiding work altogether.

5. Examine Your Management Practices

We know you mean well, but keep an eye on your management techniques. While you might think you’re being helpful, you could be part of the reason that your team is getting off track.

Micromanagement is perhaps the greatest example of how one management technique can throw an entire team off course. A leader might have the perfect plan in mind and wants to lead their team every step of the way. However, excessive hand-holding is often frustrating for team members. The frustration that builds from being micromanaged constantly can lead to resentment and deliberately going off-script.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, having a too complacent leadership style can be just as debilitating. You can’t just hole yourself up in your office and hope your team gets a project done with no direction. Sometimes a leader needs to be there to shift a team into gear and get them motivated again.

Don’t expect your team to become a productivity powerhouse overnight. Aim for incremental progress and guide your team in the right direction. Keep an eye on those key performance indicators, as they will show you whther your efforts are paying off.

How to Prep Your Home Office This Summer for a Productive 2022

By Jason Barnes | Time Management | No Comments

Home offices saw a lot of use over the past year and a half. This is thanks in large part to the wave of remote workers who settled in at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Working from home kept individuals and families safe from the spread of the virus while still enabling them to get their jobs done.

Since restrictions have been lifted, numerous workers have opted to keep working remotely at least part of the time. Being closer to family, enjoying greater flexibility, and avoiding tedious commutes are some of the many reasons why more people are choosing to stay home. The rise of hybrid work — toiling at home some days and in the office on others — is an interesting trend to follow.

If hybrid work is calling to you, you’ll have some preparations to make. Your home office will be glad that you’re still putting it to use, but there are a few alterations you can make this summer to prepare for a brand-new year of work in 2022:

Deep Clean

When your home office becomes a part-time arrangement, the last thing you want to do is have to tidy it up on the days you work remotely. Since summer is usually more flexible, use the time you have to deep clean your home office so that it’s spotless and orderly for the winter months. As you settle into a hybrid schedule, you won’t have to worry about your office not being ready for use.

In addition to giving the physical space a deep clean, the computer system you use to stay connected with work could also use a reboot. Clear your computer of unused data or documents that might be slowing it down or taking up space. Cancel any software subscriptions that you’re no longer using or will no longer need as you transition away from full-time remote work.

Optimize Your Efficiency

After you’ve handled the tangible aspects of your home office, it’s time to work out the kinks in your system of operations. Quarantine habits aren’t always the greatest, and there are probably a few things about your home office that should be changed to ensure maximum productivity.

While sheltering in place, you might have gotten too accustomed to the flexibility of schedule you were able to enjoy. Clients, customers, and co-workers could call or message whenever because they could largely count on you being at home. Now that life and work are reverting back to normal, this won’t always be the case.

In this situation, you would benefit greatly from implementing appointment software into your system of operations. Use scheduling links and an online calendar to book meetings and phone calls so that your new hybrid schedule doesn’t get tangled up. Look for other tools to help improve your efficiency as well as productivity hacks that will make your hybrid work setup run smoothly.

Enable Easy Transitioning

During the long months of lockdown during the pandemic, workers settled into their home offices and got comfortable. Now many companies are expecting their employees to show up at least a few times a week to the main office. If you fall into this hybrid category, you’ll fare much better by arranging your home office for easy transitioning.

Start by determining how many things you need to take from home to your work location. If all you need to transfer is your laptop, this will be easy. However, if you have other materials and paperwork that need to be moved back and forth, you’ll need to be better organized.

For example, you can implement a filing system that allows you to quickly withdraw any needed paperwork from a folder or cabinet to take to the office. You won’t have to go hunting it down, and a neat folder can be easily slid into a backpack or briefcase. Keeping your favorite writing materials or other office supplies in a carrying case also enables easy transitioning from site to site.

Take Advantage of Back-to-School Sales

Classes are starting up again in August and September. Each year this means stores are putting on sales for all back-to-school essentials, from backpacks and three-hole punches to jackets and jeans. While these sales are geared toward students and their parents, you’ll be able to stock up on materials for your home office, too.

If your line of work relies on a number of paper products, hit up a back-to-school sale to stock up on everything you need at a more affordable price. This ensures that your home office will always be equipped even if you don’t know for certain the next time you’ll be working remotely.

Upgrade Your Video Technology

At the beginning of the pandemic, having poor video quality or a bad microphone was fine since the shift to remote work was new to many. Employees were doing the best they could to manage with the resources available during lockdown. Now that businesses are fully reopened, if you plan on working from home at all, you will be expected to do it right.

In anticipation of any team meetings or customer calls over videoconferencing software, amp up your home office with a better camera and mic system — if you haven’t already. You can purchase an inexpensive microphone with a USB plug-in that will work much better than your generic Apple earbuds or the microphone built into your computer. A simple webcam will give you an enhanced video feed, which will leave a better impression on any clients or shareholders you may ever meet with online.

As you continue to utilize your home office, don’t shy away making improvements to it this summer and beyond. It is yours to mold, and it doesn’t have the same restrictions a cubicle might. Above all else, prioritize productivity, and your home office will be the residence of one of America’s best workers.

Productivity Lessons Learned From the Olympics

By Hunter Meine | Time Management | No Comments

It’s 2021, but they’re calling it the 2020 Olympics — a year later than scheduled. It’s an exciting time for athletes and sports fans around the world. Even though fans cannot be in attendance due to lingering concerns over Covid-19, there have been plenty of memorable moments and incredible performances to remember. In addition, there are productivity lessons that can be learned from the Olympics.

The Olympics are often an inspiring event for global citizens of all ages. Kids become interested in trying new sports, and adults get a burst of energy to get up off the couch and exercise more often and better than better. All the while, citizens cheer on their countries in a display of unity and patriotism.

You can take many lessons from the Olympics and apply them to your everyday life. So watch a few events the next couple of days and tune in before the Closing Ceremony’s on Sunday, August 8th. Here is a list of the lessons we would like to take home from these Olympic games:

It’s OK Not to Be the Very Best

A lot of people will tear themselves down when they notice that someone else is better at them at something. That’s easy to see while watching the Olympics from home. You might ask yourself, “Why should I continue to pursue swimming if there’s always going to be someone who’s faster?” That sort of feeling will get you stuck in a deep rut rather quickly.

Keep watching the games and you might notice something peculiar. You’ll see athletes jump for joy with tears in their eyes after winning a bronze medal. Two people bested them, but they didn’t care. The way they saw it, they were still one of the best in the world and now had a medal to commemorate all of their hard work.

Seek to find that joy in what you do even if you’re not the best at it. Play the guitar because you enjoy it, not because you’re going to be the next Jimi Hendrix. You will be a lot happier and more fulfilled when you make that mindset shift.

Learn From Your Failures

While watching the world’s greatest athletes compete on TV, it’s easy to think that they’re superhumans that rarely make mistakes. But, in reality, the opposite is true. The athletes you see have actually had countless failures, but they learned from every single one of them.

Learning from your failures is hard. It’s much easier to curl up in a ball with some Netflix and ice cream and admit defeat instead of pushing through. Nevertheless, its greatness occurs when you rise from the ashes, and you use the experience, however bitter, to become better than you were before.

Musicians are another great example of learning from mistakes to become better. While practicing a piece of music, they commit numerous errors in the early stages. You’ll experience this when taking on a new job or trying to learn a new skill. When those mistakes come, look at how to avoid repeating them instead of letting them conquer you.

Get a Good Support System

While tougher to notice in this year’s Olympics, you’ll often notice athletes run to celebrate a victory with someone special. Family members, friends, and coaches the athletes have grown close to are the first to bask in a win with the victor. This support system knows just how hard the athlete has worked to get where they are today and was there to guide them for most of the journey.

Friends and family can and should make up part of your existing support system. If your loved ones are a bad influence, consider expanding your circle to include some more positive friendships. Spend time with those who uplift you and support your goals, and you’ll be amazed by what they can help you achieve.

Another way to build up your support system is through networking. By networking, you can find valuable mentors who can teach through experience and lend a helping hand. While you’ll most likely find mentors in a professional capacity, the advice and support they can give can be applied to almost every facet of life.

Preparation is Everything

The Olympics are only every four years (switching off between summer and winter games). While there are regional and even some global competitions in between each Olympics, there’s nothing quite like having an Olympic medal draped around your neck. That’s why those four years are filled with intense focus and preparation from every athlete.

Just think about the runners in the 100m dash. Their races only last for about ten seconds. Yet, they spent years training for those ten-second races. That sort of dedication is quite admirable. It should put a lot of your personal goals into perspective, like going back to school or changing career paths. It will take a lot of Calendar events, planning, and execution to reach your goals.

Discipline is Required for Greatness

Let’s circle back to that Olympic work ethic for this last section. While it’s true that most, if not all, of the Olympic athletes you see, are naturally gifted, none of them made it to the world stage without their fair share of hard work. It takes gallons of blood, sweat, and tears to become an Olympian and even more to make it to the podium.

When the going gets tough, just remember that discipline is required to be great. Many professional athletes are used to getting up early and working long hours to achieve their goals. You should expect to do the same, especially for the goals most worth pursuing.

At the end of the day, the Olympics make for entertaining television. However, let us not let the lessons that can be learned from the various sporting events we watch — be lost on us.

Everyone has it within themselves to become someone or something magnificent (or at least better than we are now) with a ton of hard work and focused determination.

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