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5 Ways to Get in the Zone

When thinking of Zen, instead of asking yourself what it is, ask yourself when it is.

Zen is simply now — the practice of complete awareness of the present.

While Zen has immensely beneficial applications in a multitude of personal situations, it can be extremely helpful in the work environment.

We all have the potential to experience Zen at the workplace, and the wonderful benefits it promises.

It’s just a matter of recognizing what Zen is and applying a few of its principles.

Have you ever been so involved in what you are doing at work that you fall into a hyper-focused state, and before you know it, you look up from your work to see the time has zoomed by?

Some people call it “being in the zone.” Others call it flow. Either way, it’s when we are completely engaged in what we’re doing — staying Zen while working.

Here are five ways to apply the principles of Zen at work:

1. Organize Your Desk and Work Area

Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.”
— Barbara Hemphill

Although some people claim to work better in a cluttered area, most find it distracting, since they have to continually push things aside to find what they need. If you are finding that there is no room on your desk, take a few minutes to clean your work area before sitting.

Spending just a few moments getting organized can help eliminate mental stress, since a messy work area definitely contributes to it.

2. Learn to Take Control of Demands

Life is not what it’s supposed to be. It’s what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”
— Virginia Satir

When the demands of our work make us feel pressured, our brain begins to think that we are unable to cope with them. Feeling stressed and overwhelmed is simply not having control over our everyday demands.

Your brain gives off a fight-or-flight response when you start feeling as if you cannot cope. The more you stress, the more your brain misinterprets the feeling and tries to fight it.

The good news is we can change this by first figuring out the signal thoughts that put us into “can’t cope” mode. These signal thoughts may include things like:

• Feeling as though we have to do everything immediately
• Having too much on our plate
• Believing we aren’t able to get everything done

To change your brain into believing you can cope, you have to change your mental attitude. For instance, instead of panicking over the 35 phone calls you have return, tell yourself this:

I will return these calls. There is no need to activate my body’s emergency system.

To do this, you have to ask yourself a couple things: First, does it really have to be done this second? Secondly, what will happen if you put it off?

3. Don’t Let Distractions Take Over

By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.”
— Christopher Columbus

Staying Zen while working will not just happen all on its own. You have to focus mentally to get into this state, and eliminate all distractions that will keep you from finishing the job.

Since we all know that busy work can allow distractions to overtake these more mundane tasks, schedule a specific time for doing these types of activities. Keep your distraction plate clear while at work and save the busy tasks for another time.

Better yet, schedule your Zen time instead and stick to it.

4. Slow Down

Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once, and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.”
— Samuel Smiles

By slowing down and doing less, you can get more done. In fact, according to Dr. Stephen McKenzie, cognitive psychologist, most of us waste our workday by answering emails, sending status updates or tweets, and even eating our lunch mindlessly while in front of a screen.

He goes on to say that in order to be mindful you have to focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to multitask.

5. Question Why You Do Things

Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions Why am I doing it? What the results might be? and Will I be successful? Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.”
— Chanakya

When you’re stressed at work, it’s more difficult to focus. It can lead to reacting to situations, instead of thinking them through and logically coming to a decision.

Instead, how about challenging your beliefs so you can understand other viewpoints? For instance, why not start your day off being rational instead of letting your emotions dictate your actions?

—

Aside from the great feeling you will get by being Zen, your overall work day will be more pleasant as well. You’ll notice that you’ll start to get tasks done and more frequently, rather than losing focus.

Being Zen can be completely rewarding and satisfying. It’s important you realize this, appreciate it and practice it daily.

(Photo by Foundry / CC BY)

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Office Bullying Guide: 5 Tips for Managers

It’s scary but true.

A recent report by a law firm has revealed one-third of employees have been bullied in the workplace.

The repercussions are huge.

While a third of those affected say they did nothing for fear of losing their job or hurting their career prospects, a large number of victims are remonstrating in ways that have financial impact on the business.

Either by taking paid leave due to stress; resigning and, effectively, walking away from the career you’ve both invested in; or in extreme cases, beginning legal proceedings in which you, the business owner, are held accountable.

Therefore, bullying strikes a moral and financial blow. Which means it is your responsibility as a small business owner to be vigilant. What should you do?

1. Look at Yourself

Firstly know what bullying is, as you might be guilty of it. Workplace bullying is defined as the repetitive, prolonged abuse of power, resulting in humiliation, offense, intimidation and distress. It can take the form of:

• Rudeness
• Bitchy or gossipy behavior
• Shouting
• Finger pointing
• Swearing

It can be directed peer-to-peer, upwards from workers to managers, or downwards from directors to workers.

If you are a business owner who likes a joke or a bit of friendly ribbing, it might be worth taking a step back. Is your banter really harmless? Or could it be seen as an unacceptable way to behave?

2. Have a Policy in Place

We all want our companies to be nice places to work — to be environments where people prosper because you nurture their talents. So ensure staff feel supported by developing an anti-bullying policy.

Put together a guide that provides workers with a to-do list if they find themselves the target of a bully. The guide should list helpful tips, for example, suggesting they keep a diary of incidences before escalating the issue.

It should also name a person in the company they should approach as a mediator if they can’t confront the bully themselves. You should ensure this policy is visible and everyone knows it exists.

Insert it in the staff handbook, if you have one. Pin it to the kitchen noticeboard. Share it on the intranet. Just ensure your support is visible.

3. Be Approachable

If bullying is taking place, you need to ensure the victim feels they can talk to you. As the boss, you can make the buck stop, which is very important when the victim can’t see a resolution in sight.

Listen to what they say. Let them do the talking, which I know is not that easy when you’re naturally a problem solver.

Resist any urge to dismiss their claims, and be careful not to make any rash decisions. You need to be empathetic but you also need to know the full story. Which brings me to my fourth point …

4. Know the Facts

Bullying is a type of emotional abuse, and the forms it takes can be very subjective. For example, a daily swear-y tirade from your partner might be funny to you, but hugely intimidating to Sarah in Accounts.

It’s for this very reason you need to understand that there are two sides to every story. Is the bully really a bully? Is what’s being reported fair?

Ask the victim for examples of the bullying, perhaps in the form of a diary. Be kind and gentle when you ask them because, if their claim is genuine but they haven’t kept a diary, you’re basically forcing them to cope with continued harassment in their quest to obtain “evidence.” But you do need this information to deal with the matter fairly.

On the other hand, educate yourself on what doesn’t constitute bullying. For example, differences of opinion during a stressful period at work can leave staff feeling upset, but this shouldn’t be confused with bullying.

Similarly, you and your managers have a right to exercise authority, whether it’s to manage performance, deal with inappropriate behavior or just to set necessary deadlines. This is not tyranny though, just effective management. Finally, one incidence of unreasonable behavior is an isolated act, not bullying. (Though I would hasten to add, it should be addressed there and then, to avoid it escalating.)

5. Know What to Do Next

If a case of bullying exists in your office, call in some help. Either from your HR manager, your lawyer or someone you know who has personnel or legal know-how.

This situation is a potential minefield, and it needs to be handled very carefully. You want to be able to resolve it and retain the staff members involved, at the same time as ensuring little disruption to the business.

To achieve a successful resolution, you will need an expert’s helps to navigate what is likely be a lengthy process with the potential to explode, if not handled correctly.

—

Office bullying isn’t something that will disappear on its own. You must address these issues head-on in order to ensure a safe, happy, and therefore productive, workplace.

(Photo by PDPics / CC BY)

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How to Become a Leader

Leaders are usually admired and envied by everyone around.

However, there are some people who find it relieving that they don’t have to take on big responsibilities.

But this attitude is not really getting them far — only those who take chances are likely to succeed.

What holds individuals back from speaking their mind?

All sorts of fears hold them back, most of them unconscious. Here are some helpful solutions and guidelines for overcoming these obstacles.

What’s Holding You Back?

Lack of confidence. This problem affects a big part of the population worldwide. People with impressive talents and great skills are often afraid to come out and showcase their value. They don’t want to look ridiculous or be criticized. In the end, these people start believing they don’t do anything special, so they keep hiding and withholding brilliant ideas and useful contributions.

Fear. Fear keeps people away from tons of amazing things. As a child, it’s normal to hesitate or to refuse doing new scary activities. But adults have no real reason for not hunting for better positions or jobs. Yet they continue to be afraid of the unknown and of changes. Honestly speaking, no one can guarantee that the next boss will listen to you. But it is a certain fact that the actual one won’t change!

Routine. At least in here I know exactly what I have to do. This is what most people would say, motivating the refusal of asking for more. Routine clutters our mind and allow us to avoid wondering about other possibilities. Face it — adults have the same schedule, day after day, ensuring that we don’t seek out a better way of living. They are cozy enough with the present situation and don’t want the burden of being leaders.

How to Get Out of the Comfort Zone

Always ask questions. Inquiring minds are never satisfied with the actual state of things. They always try to improve and to innovate. So the first step is to start analyzing your life and see what there is to be changed. Small decisions are the best for getting used to this attitude. Question your responsibilities — why are you given these tasks, how are they helping the company, etc.

Keep an open mind. Let new things come to you! They bring in joy and the satisfaction of self-development. Don’t refuse tasks when don’t have the answer on the spot. Instead of thinking I don’t know how to do that, say I will learn the solution and apply it as best I can.

Accept challenges and think positive. You will be amazed at the outcomes. Some companies appreciate employees with bold initiatives and courage. If the one you are working for does not promote personal growth, it’s time to look for another one. Struggling just for a paycheck is not an option for future leaders.

Give others advice (and learn to take others). Don’t underestimate your skills. Even persons in their twenties can teach others life lessons. Find someone who needs personal or professional guidance and help him/her out.

These generous acts will boost your self-confidence! In time, you will grow to have bolder initiatives and a more professional attitude. Another good idea is to study famous leaders’ lives. See how they act to achieve success and to gain influence, and mimic that, essentially taking their advice.

Take on more responsibilities. The key to becoming a leader is to gather more and more tasks. Get involved in several projects, learn new things, volunteer for activities. In this way, you will get used to being responsible for major aspects of the company. Slowly, people will start depending on you and asking for advice. Take advantage of the situation and prove that you deserve to be trusted and put in a leading position.

Respect yourself. The first step toward gaining other’s respect is to respect yourself. Only accept jobs and tasks that will take you up and not down. Often, bosses abuse their power and impose ridiculous rules and schedules.

Employees are not obliged to put up with these miseries. They have two options — asking for decent working conditions or look for better jobs. Don’t be afraid to take a stand; you deserve to be happy! True leaders know their worth and accept nothing less.

Parting Words

In the end, no matter what field you may be working in, becoming a leader is a top priority. It’s not about being everybody’s boss, but about being the best of you.

Share your personal fears and ideas in the comment section below. Tell us about things that motivate and inspire you.

Help others by showing them that progress is possible when you have the courage to step into the unknown.

(Photo by U.S. Dept of Education / CC BY)

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5 Ways to Engage Your Employees

Failing to engage your employees is an unforgivable mistake.

Employees who are not engaged in the company can feel less important, and employees who feel less important don’t care as much about their jobs.

Creating the spirit of engagement in the work environment will strengthen many spokes in the company, from higher productivity to greater customer satisfaction.

Putting forth the effort will pay off exponentially, and it doesn’t have to be difficult to get the results you’re looking for.

1. Make Sure You’re on the Same Page

How clearly do you communicate the company’s core values, and would your employees know them as well as you do? You need to be able to confidently answer a resounding “yes” to that question.

If your employees aren’t certain of the vision they’re standing behind, they don’t know what they’re working for. Educate your employees about the company’s vision to inspire passion and motivate them.

It’s hard to do an excellent job when you’re not sure what you’re doing in the first place, so it is imperative to provide them with the information they need in order to be excellent.

2. Chat on the Job

Not enough emphasis can be placed on the powers of effective communication. The individuals working for you are spending a significant amount of time at the workplace, and their jobs are a major part of their daily life.

They’ve invested time for you, and you need to do the same for them. Tell them how the company is doing and afford them with the opportunity to see how their collective hard work is paying off.

Answer their questions, take their suggestions, and keep them informed about the happenings on the corporate end.

3. Give Them a Reason to Believe

How easy to approach and how credible any manager or supervisor appears to their employees will shape the employee’s perception of the company.

If your employees feel that the person above them on the chain is not a man or woman of their word or they are difficult to reason with, they’re going to go home at the end of the day with a bad taste in their mouths.

Make sure all supervisors are modeling behavior that will make your employees glad to be a part of your company and develop trust in the workplace.

4. Encourage Innovation

If your employees feel bound by strict paths that have been laid out for them, they’ll begin to feel like drones. Show that you appreciate their unique ideas and approaches.

Make note of their successes that occurred as a result of marching off the beaten path. This will let them know that they’re being heard.

Your employees have a different skill set than you do, and they know the nuances of their jobs better than anyone else. They’re more likely to take a vested interest in a company that values their unique contributions.

5. Show Them Their Worth

Why should your employee work for you if they can find someone else who will treat them better? Quite frankly, any wise person would accept an offer to do the same work for better pay and better benefits.

Staying competitive shows that you’re willing to do everything you can to retain your valuable employees, and it will keep your employees loyal to your company.

They’ll be more willing to familiarize themselves with your corporate culture if they know they’re receiving their worth, because this will encourage them to stick around for longer.

—

Engaged employees are worth their weight in gold. The effectiveness and productivity of your entire company hinges on them. Put in the effort and you’ll see the results.

(Photo by Unsplash / CC BY)

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5 of the Best Office Designs for Productivity

On the hunt for higher productivity levels, some businesses resort to superficial incentive schemes, enforced overtime and an oppressive approach to team management.

These extreme measures can do more harm than good in the long run — especially when the secret to eternal motivation is right in front of you: Make your office a place your employees love to be.

When it comes to work, happiness and productivity are inextricably linked.

Make the office environment your ultimate motivation tool.

Whether you’re building on your brand power or introducing some tried and tested productivity boosters, any steps you take to maximize motivation are steps in the right direction.

Before you can transform your office into every employee’s professional paradise, the question is this: Is your workspace an environment optimized for peak performance or an oppressive office that kills your team’s creativity?

Whatever the answer, we’ve got case studies from across the globe to give you some food for thought.

Airbnb, San Francisco

Airbnb’s 72,000 square-foot idea factory is a brand environment like no other — perfectly defining the company’s ethos and offering a functional tribute to the brand’s eventful timeline.

With rooms throughout the huge office building modeled on real apartments listed by Airbnb themselves, this workspace is nothing if not a lesson in brand storytelling.

Spending months in the existing office space to immerse themselves in the company’s working habits and behaviours, the designers at Gensler realized that mobility was a core part of Airbnb culture — creating a new space fit for thousands of on-the-go employees.

Co-founder Joe Gibbia defined his brief for the building as “the most creative place on earth” — and Airbnb’s shiny new SoMa office is nothing less than inspiration in a bottle.

Lloyds, London

The Lloyd’s Building is a London landmark and bastion of modern British architecture. Renowned worldwide for its dramatic Bowellist design, courtesy of pioneer Richard Rogers, the “inside-out” office building takes open plan to the extreme on a mission to maximize staff motivation.

An intricate mosaic of activity, the workspace is a shining example of space being utilized to full effect and serves as a truly staggering piece of functional design.

The enormous barrel-vaulted roof illuminates no less than 14 floors of modular office space, with every inch of the environment designed to drive productivity.

Zappos, Las Vegas

At Zappos, company culture is priority number one, and the brand’s vibrant campus is a testament to its irrepressible character. Fit to burst with exciting gimmicks and mental stimulants, Zappos HQ dials the personality up to 11 and puts space at a premium.

The online clothing store’s headquarters is in the heart of Vegas and, unlike many megacorp office buildings, is actually optimized for inconvenience. Zappos’ weird and wonderful office space has been strategically designed to encourage chance encounters between employees — a reflection on the intrinsically chaotic nature of creative thinking.

Selgas Cano, Madrid

Nestled in the woods of Madrid is the headquarters of Selgas Cano, the Spanish architectural practice with one of the world’s most extraordinary office spaces. The tunnel-shaped workspace is buried in the heart of Madrid’s wilderness and integrates the natural and manufactured worlds in a way that’s utterly unique and incredibly impactful.

Studies show that the presence of plant life increases office productivity by a sizeable 15 percent. And by that logic, Selgas Cano’s rural hideout is surely the productivity capital of the world.

The office is designed to shade employees from direct sunlight while offering natural ventilation throughout the day, making this one of the most fine-tuned working environments on earth.

Google, Mountain View

The big daddy of brand power, Google boasts a workspace closer to Wonka’s chocolate factory than the average office building. Positively dripping with personality from the conference room to the volleyball court, this almost unbelievable office is practical branding taken to the nth degree.

The aptly named “Googleplex” has been the company’s base of operations since 2004 and is an impossibly colourful, contained world of fitness centers, nap pods, micro-kitchens, massage rooms and much more.

Offering employees an entire universe in one colossal office space, the Googleplex is all about perks — guaranteeing the Google team wants for nothing, especially mental stimuli.

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You may not have a billion-dollar budget for your office space, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use some of the key ingredients to make yours a productivity powerhouse of its own.

By approaching the design with one eye on how you can keep your team engaged and motivated, you can take a leaf out of Google’s book and make your office environment an industry-leading workspace that puts productivity first.

Photo Credits: Nan Palmero, Tech Cocktail, 準建築人手札網站 Forgemind ArchiMedia, Robbie Shade

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Your Guide to Effective Time Management

A lot of people complain about not having enough time.

Sound familiar?

Truth be told, it isn’t minutes and hours they lack, but the proper organization of them.

There is a popular saying that we’re all given the same 24 hours in a day.

Think about it. Are you really getting the most from your time? If not, this article might be just what you need.

Why Is It Happening?

Misuse of time happens for a huge number of reasons. For instance, when considering employees, people can suffer from poor time management when:

• A job doesn’t suit them
• Abilities are overestimated
• A worker or the whole company lacks working plan
• There is no motivation to work
• They lack understanding about what their work means to the company

These are just some of the reasons that may lead to a time management crisis. In the real world there could be hundreds of factors that affect productivity negatively.

Remember it’s impossible to organize your time properly if you allow factors like those to go undetected and unresolved. Work on eliminating them — then get to your time planning.

Organizing Time

People face a lack of time in all sorts of different situations — at school while writing an essay or doing homework, or at home when a person can’t find time to clean up the house or go for a morning jog.

It is true: Time can be our enemy, and the best way to defeat it is to organize it.

There are numerous ways of organizing your time. Here are some of the methods that have proved themselves over time. Check them out and pick one that suits you most. Or try combining them. Who knows? Maybe you’ll create your very own method of time management.

The Eisenhower Method

I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
– Dwight D Eisenhower, 34^th President of United States

The idea behind this method is to determine whether the task you’re facing is important/unimportant and urgent/not urgent. It is recommended to draw a box with four equal sections and organize your tasks in following order:

• Important/Urgent (Upper Left Corner) — These are the tasks that should be done immediately, or the consequences will surely affect your health or well-being in a really bad way. Examples might be taking your medicine, meeting an impending deadline or handling an emergency project. These are the most important tasks that cannot wait and should be done immediately.
• Important/Not Urgent (Upper Right Corner) — Those tasks can wait but still should be done as soon as you finish the urgent tasks. It might be something like visiting your sick relative or doing exercise.
• Unimportant/Urgent (Lower Left Corner) — You encounter such situations all the time. It could be something like answering a call from a friend who just wants to chat or leaving the room for a smoke. Mostly they affect your work in a bad way. It is recommended to ignore such tasks during work hours.
• Unimportant/Not Urgent (Lower Right Corner) — These are tasks that you actually should cut out of your life. Basically, they’re just time wasters. Like browsing Facebook or trying to lift an apple using mind power. If you want to manage your time efficiently, you should forget about those activities. They consume too much time and have no positive effect on your life or work.

It is essential to be honest with yourself and give every task the label it really deserves. It may be hard, but it’s worth it. Eliminating time wasters and setting up priorities will drive you a long way.

Method Of Chronometry

The idea behind this method is to note every action a person does during the day and time spent on it. If you do this, you’ll get the list of your daily activities, that will look something like this:

• 9:00-9:15 a.m. — Browsing Instagram
• 9:15-9:35 a.m. — Drinking coffee and chatting with coworker
• 9:35-10:00 a.m. — Completing a report
• 10:00-10:15 a.m. — Browsing Facebook

It is easy to determine which of your actions should be eliminated from your daily timetable when you have such list on your hands. It may be inconvenient to record everything you do during the day, but the possible productivity gain is usually worth it.

Pomodoro Technique

You know the drill. Taking short brakes during work increases mental agility, and this technique takes advantage of that. Divide your work time into 25 minutes intervals, and take a short break (3-5 minutes) after every interval. After every four intervals, take a longer break (15-20 minutes).

Something to remember, however: After every 25-minute interval, write down the amount of work you’ve done. It will help you to understand how much time you need for completing particular tasks and will give you the opportunity to track your progress.

By the way, this technique is named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer the creator of this method, Francesco Cirillo, used when he was a university student. (“Pomodoro” — Italian word meaning “tomato.”)

Essential Rules Of Time-Management

Regardless of which techniques you use to manage your time, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Keep Your Workplace Clean. It is proven that people with messy desks spend up to 30 percent of work time on searching for some document or other item. Keep it clean and you will not only be respected by your colleagues but will also increase productivity.
• “No” Is the New “Yes.” It is important to be able to say “No” when needed. If a coworker lures you into a time-wasting conversation, it is better to politely reject his or her offer and get back to work. Let them know you have nothing against them — you just want to use your time effectively.
• Don’t Try to Do Too Much. It is much better to have some bonus time left than to be out of it. When planning your day, be sure not to take on too much work. Do as much as you are able to. And if you’ve completed all your tasks and still have time, you can always find something more to do before going home.

Remember you can apply those methods and rules not only to your work but to any aspect of your life, whether it’s studying, exercising or household chores.

Being productive is an important task if you want to succeed in life and build a notable career. It may sound funny, but just following the tips and trying the methods mentioned in this article may be a crucial factor in achieving your goals.

(Photo by StartupStockPhotos / CC BY)

Running a Medical Facility: New Methods to Increase Your Patient Reach

Though the medical industry is a billion dollar business, it is still important for doctors and medical facilities to continue to reach the general population.

Just like any business structure, medical facilities rely on funds from insurance companies and patients to stay afloat.

As such, patient retention and reach are of the utmost importance.

Keeping patients satisfied and bringing in new patients is the only way for medical practices to survive the competition. If you’ve found that your patient reach has slowed or become stagnant, implementing changes and new marketing strategies is always advised.

Developing an Online Presence

In this technological age, the average person uses the Internet as a means for learning more about their health.

Whether they are looking to be informed about an existing condition, learn about signs of potential medical conditions or to find a healthcare professional to receive treatment and care from, chances are this will all be done with the help of the Internet. As a result, it’s essential medical facilities develop a strong online presence.

Through developing this strong online presence, Internet users become familiar with medical professionals and facilities, thus opening the door for new relationships and potential new business. Below, are just a few examples of how medical professionals are staying connected and develop their brand through Internet marketing strategies.

1. Social Media

Social media has far surpassed the idea of simply being a platform for friends and family members to keep in touch. Businesses of all types have begun using social media as a means to develop their brand and reach the masses. Medical professionals and facilities can also utilize social media to their advantage.

By setting up an efficient social media page, medical facilities can easily share pertinent information, connect with members of their community, and interact with existing patients.

Through cultivating stronger relationships with the online community, medical facilities essentially make a name for themselves as authoritative figures within the medical community.

Social media users ideally become comfortable with a particular medical resource and feel more compelled to visit.

2. Website Creation

If you’re a medical facility without a website, this is something you really need to invest in sooner rather than later. With an average of one in three Americans searching the Internet for medical information and resources, you could improve your customer reach and thus improve your business.

Having a website loaded with tons of information in medical jargon is not going to suffice. It is imperative that when creating a website for your medical facility, the terminology used is easily understood by your target audience (the patients).

The easier the information is to understand and access, the more likely potential patients are to utilize your website as a valid medical resource. Ideally a highly optimized website will also improve your web presence, thus increasing your chances of being noticed by potential patients.

3.  Medical Profiles

As consumers rely more on the Internet and reviews to determine which medical practices they will consider, creating an online medical profile just makes sense. Healthgrades, an online medical resource used by millions, is such an example.

Medical professionals have the ability to create a profile that can display things that include educational and professional experience, quality of their healthcare facilities, and, more importantly, patient experience.

Such a profile can help both established and new medical professionals reach millions of potential customers in their area.

SolutionReach, a company specializing in cloud-based medical solutions for doctors and patients, has recently partnered with Healthgrades, thus giving all medical professionals (including out of network and independent doctors) the ability to promote their services.

The Healthgrades Premium Profile through Solutionreach is noted as ranking at the top of search engine results through Google when it comes to consumer reviews. Not only will factual and positive information about your practice rank high, but it will also provide you with an authoritative source to point to if you are looking to mend or improve your online reputation.

—

Long gone are the days where potential patients just come walking through the door because you’re a local doctor. In the age where information technology reigns, more and more patients are looking to the Internet to learn about medical professionals and weighing their options accordingly.

If you’re looking for ways to improve the number of patients in your medical practice, implementing some of the methods described above is ideal. Each of these methods helps to improve your online presence, brand, and eventually the success of your business.

(Photo by DarkoStojanovic/ CC BY)

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6 Tips to Be a Better Content Creator

Whether you’re a blogger, a podcaster or a vlogger, one of your main goals is to consistently produce new content — that’s why you’re called a content creator!

As a content creator myself, I’m always on the lookout for new tools and hacks that can help me be more productive and get things done.

In this post I discuss productivity hacks for content creators and tools that help you save up to a few hours each week.

I recently came across a system that has completely changed the way I approach my daily and weekly activities.

It’s also drastically increased my productivity and efficiency. Personally, I think the reason this one works so well, compared to others taught by “productivity gurus”, is that it has to do with the way we think.

I have to thank Jonathan Milligan, author of The 15 Success Traits of Pro-Bloggers for it.

In a recent interview for the 360 Entrepreneur Podcast, Jonathan discussed the four habits successful content creators — not only bloggers — have in common:

• Create: the use of text, audio or video to create and spread a message to your audience 
• Capture: the artful exchange of value for email addresses (in other words, creating lead-magnets that people can get access to, by signing up to your email list)
• Compile: the packaging of your knowledge into products and services
• Connect: building a community with other passionate influencers

In this post, I’m mainly going to focus on the Create habit.

1. Get Creative First

Before reading this book, I would start my day by doing tasks that wouldn’t require much thinking — since it’s morning, it’s better to give your brain the time to wake up, right?

That’s when I would reply to emails, edit podcast episodes and create visual content I’d use to promote blog posts and podcasts on social media. I would leave tasks such as writing new posts for my blog and guest posts for another moment of the day, usually the afternoon.

Jonathan’s approach is completely different.

“Do creative work FIRST,” he said during our interview. I listened, took his advice in and tried doing that for the following week.

What an impact it has had, I haven’t stopped doing that since!

The reason it works so well is that small wins fuel our passion. And passion helps us be more persistent and move forward with our journey.

Think about it: What if you have a blog and publish a few posts each week? How do you think you would feel if by 11 a.m. you already had a blog post under your belt and were done with the “creative-writing” aspect of your day?

2. Eliminate Procrastination & Distraction

In order to carry out this habit, however, you have to be in the right mindset and create space. Carve out some time, each day if possible, where you’re only focused on creating content. No distractions, no social media, no email, no TV shows …

Nada, zip, niente.

Make doing creative work part of your morning routine.

If you’re struggling with procrastination, I recommend using apps such as SelfControl, which allow you to temporarily block distracting websites. Think of how many times you have said, “I’ll quickly log into Facebook to check something” and found yourself spending 10, 20, 30 or even more minutes checking the timeline, etc.

That won’t happen with SelfControl.

Another app that can help you track how much time you spend on specific sites or using specific applications is RescueTime. Iif you’re a procrastinator, RescueTime can be a real eye-opener.

3. Use Pomodoro Selectively

Some time ago, I talked about the Pomodoro Technique with Foundr Magazine founder and editor Nathan Chan. In case you’re not familiar with it, the purpose of this productivity hack is to set up a period of time that is dedicated to work and one in which you take a break. You can do that using a timer or an app.

The blocks of time can vary from person to person. Nathan, for example, works for 55 minutes, followed by a 5-minute break. After that, he goes on to work for another 55 minutes and then takes a 30-minute break.

A hack that has helped me increase my productivity is not using the Pomodoro Technique for the Creation habit because the time to create high-quality content varies, depending on the type of content and its length. I use it for activities that don’t require much thinking instead.

4. Create in Bunches

We all know that using images on social media increases engagement and shares, so it’s important to have compelling visuals that go along with your blog posts, podcasts and social media posts.

If you’re doing that by yourself, chances are you’re using powerful tools like canva.com. If you aren’t yet, check it out!

When it comes to creating images, visual content marketing expert Donna Moritz says, “Create in bunches.” Instead of using Canva for five minutes and crafting a single image, spend some time to create images you’re going to be using over the next days or week(s).

That’s what I was doing in the morning because it’s a task that doesn’t require much thinking. The problem was that I sometimes found myself spending hours in Canva, and that would eat up a good chunk of my day.

Now, I use the Pomodoro Technique for activities like visual content creation and podcast editing. That allows me to be more disciplined and can get done as much as possible in the window of time I set.

An alternative to get rid of this “burden” is to simply outsource these types of tasks to your virtual assistant(s) or to freelancers on places like freelancer.com, Elance and (in some cases) Fiverr. If you need something done quickly, you should give Speedlancer a try (where freelancers get things done in four hours).

5. Rein in the Productivity Drain

Let’s talk about something else that can really be a productivity killer: your email. There are plenty of articles on the topic out there, but here are a few tips that help me.

• Turn the notifications off on your phone. You don’t need to receive an alert each time you receive an email.
• Manage Your Day-to-Day by 99u’s Jocelyn K. Glei has really helped me with this. We are all eager to reply to emails as soon as they hit our inbox. Put the sense of urgency aside and focus on what matters. Say you’re based in San Francisco and receive an email from a client in Australia. Is it really necessary to reply 2 a.m. his/her time?
• Apply the Pomodoro Technique to checking your mail. For example, you could set up 15-20 minutes after lunch and 15-20 minutes after dinner to do that. If you’re a commuter and use public transportation every day, you could use your time on the bus, train or subway.
• If you’re worried about sending your emails at a “good time” according to your addressee’s time zone, the Gmail plugin Boomerang is great for that — you schedule a date and time you want your email to be sent out.

6. Save 100+ Hours Per Month

I know — you’re probably skeptical after reading this heading. And do you know what the best part about all this is? Those aren’t my words, but those of content marketing and social media marketing expert Jeff Bullas.

When I interviewed him for the 360 Entrepreneur Podcast, we talked about a tool we both use that helps save Jeff more than 100 hours EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

As content curator your job goes beyond the creation process. Once your post, video or podcast is published, you have to put in place a marketing strategy that will bring your content to readers, listeners or viewers.

When it comes to social media marketing, many people use tools like Buffer and Hootsuite. Now, those are both great — I still use them — but there’s a big problem.

If you have evergreen content, you should aim at promoting it beyond the publishing date. Guy Kawasaki often sends out a tweet promoting the same piece of content four times a day.

With Buffer and Hootsuite this means that if you were to do something similar (and you should!), you would have to write a post or tweet and then copy & paste it into the app four different times. If you have more content, this starts to get messy pretty quickly!

Some time ago, I can across the one tool that has completely reshaped my social media marketing efforts: Socialoomph. What makes it a powerful and time-saving app is that it lets you promote your content in cycles — the so-called queues — without rewriting everything.

Let’s say you have a new podcast episode out each Wednesday. With Socialoomph, you could spend some time crafting tweets to promote the old episodes and have them consistently sent out.

Sure, if you have something like 50 episodes out and you’re reading this post, it may sound like a lot of work. But trust me, it’s going to pay off big time in the long run.

The reason why Socialoomph works so well is that you put in the heavy work at the beginning and then you let Socialoomph work its magic. After that you’ll then focus solely on the latest podcast episode, because all the previous ones are being promoted automatically on your various social media platforms.

This is how both Jeff Bullas and I managed to save more than 100 hours each month in content marketing! If for some reason you end up think Socialoomph is not for you, Edgar is another app that does similar things.

—

The productivity hacks and tools I have discussed in this post are going to help you, regardless of the type of content you create. You can implement them all, or simply pick one and focus on the area that is eating up the most of your time and preventing you from being more productive and getting things done. Good luck to you!

(Photo by Unsplash / CC BY)

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What Successful Companies Do Differently

What is your big organizational initiative right now?

Perhaps, you’re focused on increasing sales, decreasing production costs or streamlining internal processes.

Maybe you’re in the strategic planning process or in budget hell.

Successful companies have processes in place to continuously monitor the performance of every function of the business.

Resources are allocated to examine the status of finance, production, logistics, service, partnerships and even consumer perceptions of the brand or company.

However, many overlook the organizational L-word: Learning. Be honest, when was the last time you pulled your best and brightest people into the conference room to examine the way your company learns?

Generation Tension

Traditionally, the structure of learning has been a transfer of knowledge from the veterans at the top of the org chart that trickles down to the rookies at the bottom. However, changing demographics are creating an increasingly diverse and complex workplace.

For the first time in history, your human resources will be comprised of five different generations, and each subset is wildly different. This “generational tension” creates both obstacles and opportunities.

Consider, for example, the Millennials compared to their senior colleagues. While those seniors are gold mines of organizational history and industry knowledge, the rookies are technological wizards who traded their pacifiers for the device du jour.

They see limitless possibilities in the world around them and have very different expectations than their older counterparts. This rich wealth of experience combined with visionary optimism seems like a formula for success.

However, the “hire the rock stars and the rest will follow” philosophy is outdated and shortsighted. A building full of all-stars doesn’t just magically create an all-star team.

In a recent SHRM poll, 47 percent of Millennials identified their senior leaders as micro-managers who don’t value new ideas and are resistant to change. On the other hand, 33 percent of the veterans found a lack of respect, a need for supervision and an inappropriate level of informality in their younger colleagues.

Impacting Bottom Lines

The vast differences in skills, expectations, communication and learning styles can impact performance, engagement, innovation and the bottom line like never before.

An organization’s culture of learning, or lack thereof, has never been more significant. Unless younger employees and seasoned vets learn how to learn together, the ROI on even the most talented group of individuals will never actualize.

Today’s leading companies foster a culture of creative thinkers who can innovate, collaborate, troubleshoot and solve problems. They invest in their people and their ability to learn.

Learning how to learn is life’s most important skill.

Almost 30 years ago, at the inception of personal computing, Shoshana Zuboff delineated the difference between computer-mediated work from earlier generations of mechanization and automation.

She published her ideas in her book, In the Age of the Smart Machine. Her conclusion was that there would eventually be a blurring of the demarcation between “work” and “learning,” to ultimately create a cultural shift from a “division of labor” to a “division of learning.”

Operating in Information Markets

Fast forward to today. That shift seems remarkably obvious given that the evolution of technology in our daily lives has allowed rapid global communications, immediate access to an exponential explosion of information and the trend that market-changing disruptions will continue to accelerate.

We’re getting smarter faster and expectations of a competitive workforce align with that trajectory.

Between the birth of the world and 2003, there were five exabytes of information created. We now create five exabytes every two days. See why it’s so painful to operate in information markets?”

– Eric Schmidt, Google CEO

We’re long past the Taylorism principles of the industrial age. “You’re not paid to think; shut up and do your job.” Thinking, ideating, innovating and problem-solving are exactly what leaders expect from their best people. Yet, for many organizations, learning how to learn isn’t a priority.

Crippled by either the force of inertia or a deeply entrenched top-down culture that neither promotes nor nurtures opportunities for people at all levels to become better learners, these organizations are like the manufacturer who wants more parts faster but never stops to improve his machines.

Despite the wealth of recent brain-based research illuminating how we learn most effectively, many organizations fail to apply these findings and prioritize the practice of helping their employees become better learners.

The inevitable consequence of not learning how to learn is the inability to improve the way you learn.

Creating a Learning Culture

A culture of learning isn’t formed by a committee, and it isn’t an initiative delivered in a binder. It begins with understanding how we learn and an expectation to grow the collective capacity to learn.

It’s nurtured by providing people with multiple opportunities to contribute. People who feel valued for their contributions will seek out opportunities to learn and to share what they know with others.

Driven by intrinsic rewards, they create a learning culture — one of colleagues and co-learners who are inspired to learn and inspire others to learn.

You can’t learn anything if you’re busy trying to look like the smartest guy in the room. Effective leaders not only use the L-word and create the conditions that enable people to learn better, they set the course by demonstrating that they, too, value opportunities to learn.

By cultivating trust in the contributions of others and respecting the reciprocal rewards of a learning community regardless of where people sit on the org chart, they nurture healthy, high-performing teams that breed an atmosphere of success.

Those that are able to grow their “division of labor” into a “division of learning” will realize the powerful fusion of the gray knowledge with the green knowledge rather than sacrifice one for the other. They will enjoy far-reaching dividends long after the current project, product, or campaign is over.

(Photo by tvol / CC BY)

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Why You Still Work at a Job You Hate

You hate your job, don’t you?

You’re tired of the same schedule and the lousy pay.

You’re tired of busting your ass only for your boss to get all of the credit.

You’re tired of begging for days off. You’re sick of working when you’re sick. You’re fed up with having more work piled on you when you’re busy enough as it is.

I’ll bet you weren’t offered a raise when they said you have to take on more responsibility, were you?

You’ve thought about finding a new job or better yet, working for yourself. Perhaps you want to be the one calling the shots and own the whole damn thing. You dream about taking a day or a week or month off whenever you like.

You envision a future where you don’t have to worry about money. You long for the day when you can say that you “made it.”

How long have you been thinking like this?

• Weeks?
• Months?
• Years?

I know I was born, and I know that I’ll die, the in-between is mine. I am mine.”

I Am Mine by Pearl Jam

What Have You Done About It?

What action have you taken? You haven’t done anything? Oh sure, you’re on Google every night, looking up websites and information about “How to find the next Big Idea” or “How do I find my passion.” It’s a start you say!

Now, on the other side of the coin, there are people who are at the proverbial water’s edge, so to speak — all ready to go but they just can’t make the leap.

They’ve done the market research. They’ve figured out how they’re going to incorporate their business. They have a company name and logo and a domain name picked out.

They’ve written a business plan. Everything is in motion, but then they stop. Why?

Drumroll please ………………………. FEAR!

You Are Afraid

Now, don’t get it twisted. You might not be afraid consciously, but make no mistake — subconsciously you’re scared.

• What if I fail?
• What if I go broke?
• What will my wife or parents or friends think?
• How will I introduce myself at parties?

Here’s the good news. It’s not your fault!

Picture a baby that is developing in its womb. It is warm and sheltered. Its mother keeps it safe from danger. It is provided with the proper foods and nutrients it needs to grow. All of its needs are being met.

Now, picture a baby that has just been born. IT’S A MESS!

It is traumatized by the birth. It is born into a world where sound is too loud, and lights are too bright. It is cold and hungry.

It can no longer be fed automatically through the umbilical cord. It is no longer automatically sheltered by the womb inside its mother’s uterus. It is literally cut off from its mother. For all the baby knows, it is alone.

The baby must now rely on others for its survival. They must rely on parents or other adults to feed them and shelter them and provide clothing for them. They must rely on parents or other adults to keep predators away and protect them from disease.

This is where fear in each human being originates — from birth. You are born afraid. You need someone to take care of you.

Original Fear

Spend all of your time waiting, for that second chance, for a break that will make it okay”

– Angel by Sarah McLaughlin

This original fear is the basis for all of our fears. It’s why you wake up every day and dread going to the hell-hole you call a job again, yet you won’t quit.

It’s why you do the same thing every day and think that somehow something will change. Maybe this time it will be different. It won’t.

Take a look at how you got to where you are right now. You followed a pattern, didn’t you?

Pre-school to kindergarten to elementary school to junior high to high school. You were sent to these schools. You were told who your teachers would be, what you would learn, when you could go to the bathroom, when you could eat, when you could play and when you could leave.

All of these things were decided for you by others. You didn’t know any better because it’s literally what EVERYONE was doing. So you kept plugging away until you finally graduated high school.

Then what?

I’ll bet you were offered only two choices — go to college or get a job. If you look at it, it’s kind of really only one choice because the only reason MOST (not all) of us go to college anymore is because we think it will land us a better paying job. So really, the choices are:

• Get a job right away, or
• Get a job four to six years from now.

So it’s really the same choice with the difference being when you decide to join the work force.

Why Do You Work?

Now, why do we even need a job? Some say it’s because we need money for a house and cars and to pay back student loans and to buy food and have a retirement and blah blah blah. They’re right but they’re also wrong.

The reality is that we need others to take care of us. Just like we did when we were born.

A modern day corporation takes care of you by providing you:

• A paycheck
• Health insurance
• Retirement benefits
• Vacation days
• Sick days
• Comp time

All of these are designed to entice you to work there. In exchange, you do the same thing you did in school. You do what others decide for you.

After all of those years of school, you go right back to being told when you can arrive, when you can eat, who you can talk to, what you can wear, who you can date, when your absence is “excused,” what you can work on and when you can leave. You get to help make other people rich. Doesn’t that make you feel just grand inside?!?

The ‘Real World’ is a New Reality

We try to justify all of this by saying this is “the real world.” These are the sacrifices we have to make to have the things we want. Plus, everyone does this so what’s the big deal?

But do you know that this “reality” is only about 70 years old? Out of the thousands upon thousands of years humanity has roamed the Earth, the “real world” as we are told exists is only about 70-years-old, give or take a decade.

For most of human history, we didn’t go to college or even school. We didn’t work for corporations. We didn’t have flat screen TV’s and smartphones and self-driving cars.

We didn’t worry about retirement or mortgages or cable TV bills or cell phone bills. WE DIDN’T HAVE BILLS. We didn’t have any of these things.

We made simple houses and lived simple lives. We hunted our own food and made our own clothing. We built our own houses and made our own tools.

We banded together to help others in our own tribes. We came together to fight off predators and enemies. We still needed others for our survival but on a smaller and simpler level.

Did Ancient People Find Their Passion?

Do you think that a person who lived in, let’s say, Rome in the second century was overcome with angst because they didn’t know how to find their passion? I think “When am I going to eat again?” was probably a bigger concern.

That is the beauty of all of the things that we have now. We don’t have to worry, for the most part, about where our next meal is going to come from or if we are going to have enough clothes to stay warm.

It is a luxury afforded to some of us that we can even think or worrying about “finding our passion.” You can be passionate about a lot of things. Do them all!

We don’t have to rely on corporations to take of us anymore. All of the technological inventions that we have today have made it possible to do things that you used to need permission to do. The choices aren’t just college or a job anymore. You don’t need giant corporations to give you permission to do things anymore.

Take Control Of Your Life

Time to change has come and gone, watched your fears become your god. It’s your decision”

-Your Decision by Alice in Chains

Here’s a list of things that you can do now, on your own, that you used to have permission from a big corporation to do. You can:

• Publish your own books.
• Produce your own movies.
• Create a podcast.
• Create your own YouTube channel and have the equivalent of a weekly TV show.
• Create and promote your own music.
• Build your own websites.
• Create your own online courses.
• Learn how to code.
• Teach a new skill.
• Create a business — drop shipping, subscription businesses, consulting, product businesses, information products.
• Be a freelance writer or a freelance editor or a freelance web designer.

Find Your Inspiration

You can create websites where you don’t own a single thing on the website and make BILLIONS of dollars. These are called platforms. I’m sure you’ve heard of a few:

• Facebook
• Alibaba
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Uber
• AirBnB
• Craigslist

These companies do not own anything. Take Uber for example. You own the car and you are the one doing all of the work, Uber just gives you a chance to find a customer.

You own the room or the house and you are responsible for making sure it’s clean and looks nice, but AirBnB gives you a chance to find a customer. YouTube gives you a place to upload a video or watch others who have uploaded videos.

Facebook is just a place where everyone congregates and shares stories about their own lives. You can hire and outsource work on websites like Fiverr, Elance, Freelancer or Get Friday.

You can find someone who can do pretty much build or create anything you can think of. The technology is there to 3D print a prosthetic limb for Pete’s sake!

Give yourself room to fail. Take a chance. Hire a coach. Keep your day job and start a business on the side.

Take acting classes. Teach a class. Learn a foreign language. Learn how to code. Write that damn book!

There’s never been a better time to take control of your own life. You don’t need others to take care of you any longer.

The original fear you were born with does not need to hold you back any longer. Be responsible for yourself and your own future. Be fearless!

(Photo by Christian Guthier / CC BY)