HEALTHNetflix Is Coming For Your Sleep
Americans don’t get enough sleep, and while stress, changing work habits and health issues are partly to blame, so is the fact many of us simply can’t tear ourselves away from our screens. Not that the big tech companies are helping. “The ex-CEO of Netflix said his biggest competition wasn’t Disney+, but sleep,” notes Dr. Neil Stanley, the author of How to Sleep Well. “So he deliberately shortened the time between episodes from 15 seconds to fewer than seven. We all have a sleep gate, the ideal time for us to go to sleep. Miss it and it may be harder to get to sleep, you may wake in the middle of the night or you may wake up earlier. Decide when you need to go to bed — and go.”
SELLINGPractice Out Loud
According to sales trainer Brian Tracy, something many sales pros don’t do enough of is practice their scripts out loud. He says doing so is the best way to gain confidence, improve communication skills and increase conversion rates. “There is something between the connection of your thoughts and articulating that, in a stressful situation, you need to practice, ideally with someone else who can give you feedback,” the author of Sales Success explains.
COMMUNICATIONJujitsu Those Insults
If an angry customer abuses you, pause for a second, look at them and ask, “Are you OK?” According to Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, such a response can throw the insulter off guard, disrupt their negative energy and often lead to a more constructive conversation. “It also demonstrates emotional intelligence by addressing the underlying issues that may have prompted the insult, rather than escalating hostility,” he says.
PRODUCTIVITYUp and at ‘Em
5 a.m. starts, cold showers, early exposure to sunshine … we seem to be in an era of jarring morning routines as advocated by productivity hacksters. But here’s one you don’t even have to get out of bed for: Simply lie there and rub your palms together vigorously before getting up. “It might sound strange, but doing this for a minute or two each morning increases energy levels, helping us to perform with more efficiency. It’s a good starting point for anyone who is feeling stiff or struggling with mobility,” Miranda McCarthy, an accessible yoga specialist, told The Guardian newspaper.
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MARKETINGPin Your Documents
Yes, Pinterest is image based, but that doesn’t mean there’s no play for the written word. Indeed, it’s a great place to pin your newsletters, Tamsin Fox-Davies, senior development manager at Constant Contact, says. Writing on the email marketing company’s blog, she explains how to do it: First, pick out a key image from your latest newsletter and pin it to one of your Pinterest boards. Then, and this is the important bit, link it back to your archived newsletters. “It will give you extra exposure and some nice SEO benefits, too,” she adds.
MANAGEMENTThere Is a Place For Negative Feedback
Don’t buy into the argument that there is no room for negative feedback in the workplace, social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson says. Yes, be effusive with praise when someone is learning a new skill — it boosts their confidence and their commitment to the task — but don’t shy from offering “informative” criticism to a seasoned hand. “Negative feedback (e.g., Here’s where you went wrong…), tells you where you need to spend your effort and offers insight into how you might improve,” she writes on HeidiGrantHalvorson.com.
MARKETINGGoogle Search Tip
Do you search Google to see where your business website ranks? If so, make sure you click on your link: “Every time your business appears in the rankings and is not clicked, there is a chance that will actually lower your ranking for that term since it is assumed your site did not appear to offer what the searcher was looking for,” a contributor told Marketing Research Review.
PRODUCTIVITYReframe Your Day as an Adventure
“At med school, I started using a productivity technique where you identify your one most important task for the day, to help [you] focus,” says Ali Abdaal, doctor and author of Feel Good Productivity. “But after a while, it started to make things feel heavy.” Now, instead, he makes a ritual of asking himself “What is today’s adventure?” each morning, reframing his key task as something fun to explore rather than something to grind on. Simply working from a new coffee shop rather than at your desk or walking a different route to your business will energize you, he says. “Injecting a sense of discovery, however small, will help you feel more positive and avoid procrastination.”
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PRODUCTIVITYInstead of Assembling a Puzzle, Plan Your Life With a Palette and Brush
In Kendra Adachi’s bestselling book The Plan, she imparts productivity insight and advice with women in mind. After all, she reports, men write 93% of all time-management books and most from a vastly different perspective. When creating their ideal life, Adachi points out, many men have a partner taking lead on responsibilities such as managing their home and family.
She recommends women take a “living where you are” approach that allows more for the many demands on their time and energy, a more creative and less analytical path. Adachi writes:
“Living is painting a picture, but we’ve been taught it’s assembling a puzzle.
“I love puzzles, but my life isn’t one. I’m not trying to repeatedly recreate a static image, meticulously putting its pieces in place, starting with the edges and working my way in.
“Instead, I want my life to be like the act of painting.
“I hold my palette, full of all kinds of colors: moods, needs, simple hopes for the day. Then I take my brush, work with what I have, and paint. Depending on what I notice in the painting, I adjust the color. I pay attention to what is happening right in front of me and slowly usher in a beautiful image.
“Living where you are is like painting. Not assembling a puzzle. Not even paint-by-numbers. It’s painting: fluid, open, creative and human.”
Such a shift in thinking might benefit both women and men in life and business. Why not give it a try?