Struggling to balance your career and well-being? Check out this blog for tips and strategies on how to maintain and improve your wellness at work.
As part of National Employee Wellness Month, we’re excited to share some valuable tips and strategies on how you can enhance your overall wellness as an employee. Remember, investing in your own self-care and happiness not only benefits you personally but also leads to increased productivity and job satisfaction.
Take time to nurture your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Incorporate activities like exercise, meditation, hobbies, and spending quality time with loved ones into your routine. Setting aside time for self-care allows you to recharge and bring your best self to work.
Establish Work-Life Balance
Balancing work and personal life is crucial for maintaining overall wellness. Set boundaries between your professional and personal time, and make sure to disconnect from work when you’re off-duty—Prioritise leisure activities, family time, and hobbies that help you relax and rejuvenate.
Practice Mindfulness
Cultivating mindfulness can significantly impact your wellness. Practice being fully present in the moment, whether during a meeting, a lunch break, or a simple task. Mindfulness reduces stress, improves focus, and enhances decision-making abilities.
Foster Positive Relationships
Building positive relationships with colleagues and supervisors can significantly enhance your work experience. Take the initiative to collaborate, offer support, and appreciate the contributions of others. Cultivating a positive work environment promotes camaraderie and increases job satisfaction.
Take Breaks and Disconnect
It’s essential to take regular breaks throughout the workday to recharge and avoid burnout. Step away from your desk, stretch, or go for a short walk. Additionally, establish boundaries around technology usage outside of work hours to allow for true relaxation.
Seek Professional Growth Opportunities
Expanding your knowledge and skills not only benefits your career but also boosts your overall wellness. Look for opportunities to attend workshops, conferences, or webinars related to your field. Engaging in continuous learning can increase job satisfaction and open new doors for personal and professional growth.
Communicate Openly
Effective communication plays a vital role in workplace satisfaction. Express your ideas, concerns, and needs openly and respectfully. Regularly check in with your colleagues and supervisors to maintain open lines of communication and foster a supportive work environment.
Take Advantage of Wellness Programs
Many organisations offer wellness programs to support their employees’ wellness. Explore the wellness initiatives available in your workplace, such as fitness classes, mental health resources, and stress management workshops. Participating in these programs can positively impact your overall health and happiness.
Remember, your wellness matters, and investing time and effort into self-care ultimately benefits both you and your work environment. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be well on your way to improving your overall wellness as an employee.
Here at Infero, we run many technical courses that assist you in progressing your career journey, but also ones that will teach you how to do this healthily. These include;
Stress Management
Achieving Life Balance
Emotional Intelligence Works
Managing Conflict
Get in touch for more details, and we wish you a balanced and fulfilling work-life journey!
Unsurprisingly, presentations are a commonly dreaded method of communication, but it’s just a case of understanding the basics and putting them into practice.
Presentations are the default communication tool in the business world; more than 25% of people see at least one presentation daily. Nevertheless, if the thought of delivering a presentation gives you nightmares, don’t worry; that’s completely normal. Public speaking may seem daunting, but there are many strategies you can use to deliver a successful and engaging presentation.
“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.”
Lee Iacocca
Good presentations start with the content. It doesn’t matter what your message is; if it can’t be communicated, it just won’t work. Every audience is different, but if you research your topic and practice, practice, practice, you will connect with them successfully.
1. Qualities of Great Presentations
Some of the things that audiences appreciate in a presentation are:
Relevant content and well-organised content
Creativity
Audience involvement
Relevant examples
Time for questions
Reasonable duration
Interesting visuals
Humour
Clear and understandable language
2. Worries When Giving presentations
The most common worries people have in business presentations include the following:
Not being able to speak.
Forgetting your subject matter.
Having a heckler or know-it-all in the audience.
Having people notice your anxiety.
Not being able to answer an audience question.
But these concerns are all surmountable! The more presentations you deliver, the more you will know how to handle these issues.
3. Delivering an Effective Presentation
If you want to get your message across with impact, remember that how you deliver your presentation is as important as its content. Here are some tips to help with your next presentation and hopefully eliminate stress. Using these strategies, the audience will fully engage and leave positively, not feeling they have just endured another ‘Death by PowerPoint’.
Keep Presentations simple
Your presentation’s ideas must be accessible and easy to follow; simplicity is vital. Less is more, and you should try to keep the amount of text on any slide to an absolute minimum. Ensure you are clear on the key information you want people to take away. Keep your main ideas to three or fewer points, and repeat these at the start and end of your presentation so that your audience remembers the most important message.
Start Strong
A strong beginning draws people in, just as in a book or movie and a solid, entertaining opening makes it much more likely that your presentation will be well-received. Some ways to achieve this include:
Showing a video as the introduction to your presentation
Making a statement that surprises your audience
Posing an interesting question or problem
Using an interesting or thought-provoking quote
Having an unexpected statistic or image.
Remember, again, that whatever you use to start your presentation needs to be relevant and support the core message you are trying to convey.
Create an Easy-To-Follow Structure
A logical, easy-to-follow structure seems obvious, but we sometimes lose this when putting a presentation together. Try to put yourself in the position of an audience member who knows little or nothing about the subject. Make sure there is an organised flow and logic to the presentation. The best and simplest structure is to break your presentation into three sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Introduction – states your core message and explain why it’s useful or relevant to your audience.
Main body – provides the facts, quotes, and evidence to back up your main points.
Conclusion – reiterates your core message and tells the audience how they can put into practice what they’ve just learned.
Remember to be brutal with your material. Cut everything you don’t need and rearrange the presentation’s structure if necessary.
Use Visuals in Presentations
Integrating colours, images, graphs, video clips, photographs and infographics will add life to your presentation. If concepts can be better supported or explained using a visual aid, then use them in your presentation. You can often use a visual instead of a block of text. But don’t overload your slides with visuals or use them if they are irrelevant. Simplicity is key; if visuals make things more complex, leave them out. And, as a rule of thumb, avoid animations in slides.
Use Simple and Effective Slide Design
Good slide design can distinguish between a good presentation and one that fails. Simple considerations will improve your design:
Use colour sparingly and stick with one or two colours, so your presentation has a consistent look and feel.
Font consistently is key! Don’t switch between caps and lowercase. Stick with one font and size throughout your slide deck, although you can vary the size (sparingly) for emphasis.
Take time to format. Ensure your text is aligned and neat and that images are placed and spaced appropriately. And once again, keep it simple.
Tell Stories During Presentations
Telling a life story or some other anecdote makes you more relatable. Your audience will feel more connected and comfortable with you. This will also have the benefit of making you feel more relaxed. Stories add context and help the audience understand the points in the presentation, but ensure you only tell stories that support your main ideas.
Tailor it to Your Audience.
What do you know about your audience? The more you know, the better. What is their level of knowledge on the subject? Are they interested or involved in it? The key to landing a successful presentation is knowing ‘What’s In It For Them’. Many presenters seem to forget that the presentation is for the audience. It is not to showcase the presenter. Put your audience first, middle and last in everything when preparing your material.
Practice and Prepare Presentations
Practising a presentation may not be the most natural thing, but it is very helpful. You can try running through the presentation in front of a mirror or a small audience. Ask for honest feedback and take any comments on the board positively.
Try to run through the presentation a few times, at least once in the space where you will deliver it, if possible. Knowing the structure and content of the material will significantly benefit the delivery. Don’t try to memorise your speech verbatim, however. It is very easy to get hung up on getting a presentation word-for-word perfect, and forgetting something can throw you off track. Practice, as with everything, will make your presentation better.
Did you know that Steve Jobs used to take two days to prepare a 20-minute presentation?
Be Passionate About the Topic
Suppose you show you are genuinely excited about the subject and display your interest. In that case, this will engage the audience and capture their attention. People like to listen to presenters who are excited about sharing their knowledge.
Maintaining eye contact during your delivery also strengthens your connection with the audience. And smile. It will go a long, long way.
Take A Breath and Slow Things Down
When we are nervous, we tend to rush. If this happens, pause, take a breath and force yourself to go slower. It’s far better to go slower and take more time to get across everything you want to instead of leaving your audience more confused.
Be honest and authentic during your delivery, and be conversational with your audience. Always talk “to” your audience instead of “at” them.
Use a Remote
Using a remote will mean you can face the audience and not have to keep returning to your laptop to advance slides. It also helps you keep control of the pace of delivery.
Have Backup Material
You may need to fill in extra time or an activity if equipment goes wrong. You may find that your audience already knows some of the things you were going to tell them or that the material is irrelevant. Always prepare something extra to fall back on. Preparing for all eventualities will help soothe your nerves and allow you to feel more in control.
Be Yourself
People will quickly spot a lack of authenticity. Don’t attempt to impress the audience or be something you are not. Get the point across as you see it, simply and honestly. That is the whole point of the presentation.
If you can, use humour. Telling a funny story really makes a presentation work. It makes people remember your message, but if that’s not you or it is not working, then avoid this.
Finish Presentations on a High
Wrap up your presentation by focusing on the feeling you want the audience to take home.
“They might forget what you said, but they’ll never forget the way they made you feel”
Maya Angelou
If there is a message you want the audience to remember, then say it slowly and leave a pause at the end. Silence and pauses are much more powerful than you realise and make what you have said meaningful.
Also, using a call-to-action ends your presentation with strength and impact. Let your audience know precisely what you want them to do next.
Infero offers an Effective Presentations course that covers all you need to know to help you give the best presentations possible. For more tips and tricks on presentations, look at our blogs below!
Most adults struggle to maintain a healthy work-lifebalance at some point in their lifetime, but how can you tell if your scales are uneven?
Think about your hobbies. When was the last time you committed time or effort to them? Do you frequently feel like you can’t afford the time or energy to enjoy the rest of the day after work?
You’re not alone. Many of us struggle with this feeling; how did we ever have time for anything other than the mundane??
Time for ourselves seems fleeting with the growing responsibility as we get older and further in our careers. But how do we know if this is a natural realignment with changing values or a sign that something could be wrong?
What is a healthy work-life balance?
A healthy work-life balance is more than giving equal weight to our careers and the fun parts of our personal lives.
It’s about finding the balance between everything that constitutes a healthy and fulfilling lifestylewhich includes;
adequate sleep and rest,
balanced, nutritional meals,
regular exercise,
social interactions,
good hygiene and personal care,
a positive and self-supportive attitude.
However, this isn’t likely new or groundbreaking information.
We can all list the things that constitute a healthy lifestyle, but juggling this and work can be challenging.
This is especially true if you struggle with perfectionism, time management, health problems, or a demanding work environment/employer.
However, to have balance, we should give equal importance to the essential aspects of our lives, not investing all our energy in one thing and neglecting other significant parts.
It is also essential to understand that equal importance does not mean equal time.
It’s about dedicating enough time to each essential activity so that we feel we are content and achieving our goals.
A healthy work-life balance is, therefore, highly individual as it will vary from person to person depending on their responsibilities and ideals.
So how do you know if you have one?
What are the red flags you should be aware of
An excellent exercise to gauge your work-life balance is taking a step back and allowing time to pause, reflect and assess your current emotional, physical and mental well-being.
Do you feel content and that you’re leading a fulfilling life that aligns with your values, or do you relate more to the statements below?
1. Often experiencing emotional, physical and mental exhaustion.
2. Finding yourself increasingly negative, irritable and resentful.
3. Frequently feel overwhelmed, trapped, or pulled in different directions.
4. Struggling to or unable to maintain healthy relationships.
If the answer is a resounding yes, it might be time to explore whether you could improve your work-life balance and the quality ofyour life.
First Step: Realise to prioritise
If you relate strongly to the above statements, reflect further and envision your ideal life.
How does this look? What are you doing less of or more of? What values, experiences, interactions, or activities have you identified that contribute to your fulfilment?
Bare in mind that this is different to fantasising about what you would do if you won the lottery. It’s about reflecting on your life and the changes you can make that are achievable and within your means.
The next step is to analyse the list of things you find fulfilling and identify the ones that are essential and have the most significant value to you.
Once you understand what contributes to your ideal lifestyle, it is easier to prioritise how you spend your free time and the steps you can take to create a daily, monthly and yearly routine that fulfils your goals.
If you want more tips about achieving a healthy work-life balance, keep an eye out for our upcoming blogs discussing this and a deeper dive into why we can get trapped in the cycle of working too many hours.
For those who frequently suffer from burnout and feel like they want to make a change, we offer time and stress management courses that train you to support you in balancing life and work.
Automations are one of the biggest buzzwords around – we’d likely all love to automate our mundane tasks at home, but how can they help in the workplace?
So what are automations?
Automations essentially are the use of technology to replace or reduce manual human input, and they come in two main forms;
Physical devices Eg. the humble dishwasher
Digital software Eg. scheduling a repeat event in a calendar app
The latter, digital automation, has become increasingly popular in business, with the Covid-19 pandemic triggering a steep increase in the shift towards automated processes, especially by small businesses and solo business owners.
In fact, McKinsey states that:
“…recent data show that we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks.”
(Click here if you want to read more on the digital technology uptake during Covid-19)
But why the rise in popularity?
1. Automations save time
By reducing mindless, slow, recurring processes, there’s more time to focus on tasks that can’t be automated. For example, administrative work and responding to leads; two highly time-consuming aspects of business but don’t always require human input.
By automating these responsibilities, hours of an employee’s day can be saved. There is now more time available for your team to focus on devising and implementing innovative and creative solutions that will drive your business forward.
Not only this, but automations may also improve your employee’s morale.
It goes to stand that increasing the time taken on menial tasks means more an employee can achieve in a day. This greater productivity can lead to greater work satisfaction and fulfilment.
2. Quality assurance
Automations are also helpful with quality assurance and improving consistency by minimising the potential of human error.
Depending on the individual, people can sustain concentration anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Therefore, for tasks like data entry or those tending towards repetitive, frequent breaks are recommended to maintain focus.
Given the already significant to-do list most of us face on an average day, breaks are a commodity, with speed generally trumping accuracy. Mistakes are inevitable.
For example, a spreadsheet can be populated almost instantly using an automation. This is quicker than someone individually inputting data and reduces the chance of avoidable phase-out-induced mistakes.
3. Cost-effective
Automations are also a cost-effective solution for scaling up small businesses.
As discussed, employees can achieve more daily by reducing the time spent on repeatable tasks. The increase in efficiency leads to greater productivity in the workplace. Therefore companies can function at a higher rate without requiring an equal uptake of new employees.
By investing in automations, small businesses can put their resources to better use and compete with companies that operate with a larger workforce.
Not ready to invest in fully automating your company?
Don’t worry. There are a few free softwares that are simple to use and don’t require any coding experience that can get you started on creating some simple automations.
In fact, our previous blog discussed one such software. Click here to find out more!
It’s widely believed that our memories get worse at we get older. However, whilst it is true that the aging process causes changes in our brains that can mean that it takes longer to learn and recall information, we shouldn’t mistake this for true memory loss. It is normal to forget things once in a while as we age. But, however old we are, there are many things we can do it in our day-to-day lives to help keep our brain working at full capacity.
Here are five ways to help keep your memory sharp:
Sleep
Sleep is proven to be one the most important factors in having a good memory. It is during sleep that our brains perform the consolidation processes required to do things such as moving remembered events from short term to long term memory. Lack of sleep may cause issues with retaining new information and even make you struggle to recall information laid down in the past.
Research also suggests that getting a good night’s sleep before learning is also very advantageous, since sleep deprivation can affect our brain’s ability to memorise and consolidate any new information. Remember, before your next class, seminar or training day, try to be well-rested, as it will help you more than you think.
Exercise
Studies in human brains show that regular exercise can improve our memory. Fitness amongst older adults has even been shown to help to slow the decline of memory. Exercise is also helpful with spatial awareness, which will also improve your spatial memory. Spatial memory is the storage and retrieval of information within the brain needed to plan routes and to remember where objects are located.
The health benefits to exercising regularly are well known and documented, but regular exercise is shown to improve other cognitive abilities besides memory, so whilst you’re improving your health and your memory there are many other benefits.
Meditate
Regular meditation increases blood flow to the brain, which in turn strengthens the network of blood vessels in the cerebral cortex. This reinforces our memory capacity. A particular study has indicated that meditating for just 20 minutes a day boosts memory and concentration. Meditation can particularly help working memory, which stores information temporarily for short term use.
Research shows that participants with no experience in meditation can improve their memory recall in just eight weeks. As meditation also helps with concentration, it has been shown to improve test scores.
Test Yourself
Testing yourself can help your ability to retain information, since any re-visiting and repetition of a subject will always help to embed the knowledge. Ask a friend to test you or see if there are any online resources that will check your knowledge
Doing this you can consolidate your knowledge of a topic or area and transfer your learning to long-term memory, which will happen if you continue to actively use the information. As a bonus, it also helps you know what you don’t know and to determine which areas you need to revisit.
Write it down
Writing down new information is a practice that many people use to retain information. This works because writing by hand turns on parts of the brain involved in learning and memory. Taking notes by hand, rather than even using a keyboard, may boost how well new information is retained.
Studies have shown that writing notes by hand is much better for long-term memory of ideas, or conceptual information. This is vindication for all of us who have ever said “I remember it better when I write it down”.
Public speaking and presenting are very important skills to master, especially in the workplace. Presentation skills are increasingly important in almost every role. In fact, in surveys of employers, good communication skills, both written and verbal, are seen as two of the top five most desirable attributes of employees.
Here are our guidelines to help you improve your presentation skills:
Confidence
Confidence is one of the most important traits to have whilst presenting. A confident speaker will have an authority that reassures their audience that they know what they are talking about. They are also much more likely to get their message across. However, saying that you should be confident and actually being confident are two different things. Luckily, there are methods that you can use to help to build your confidence:
Preparation: The three most important things that you should do for your presentation are; preparation, preparation and preparation. There is no substitute for taking the time to thoroughly plan, prepare and write your presentation. Preparation will not only make you confident about the material, it will enable to craft a coherent structure for your presentation that will most effectively get your message across. Remember, the more that you prepare, the better that you know your material and the more confident you will be.
Rehearse your Presentation: Once you have written the presentation, rehearsal allows you to see if it actually works. It lets you see if the presentation slides are effective and also if the overall timing is correct. The more you can rehearse the better, especially if you can rehearse in the place where you are going to be delivering the presentation. An added bonus is if you can practice the presentation in front of others. Even practising in front of friends or family can help to build your confidence.
Know your Audience: Being familiar with your audience can greatly help your confidence. If possible, analyse your audience prior to the presentation using research and surveys. If this isn’t possible, you can always take time to talk to and get to know your audience immediately prior to your delivery. This isn’t always easy, but getting to know and understand those that your are delivering to can definitely boost your confidence.
Concise and simple
Another key thing to remember is to keep things simple. We have all been in presentations where the presenter has overwhelmed us with too much information. Another of the benefits of all that rehearsal that we talked about earlier is that it will enable you to spot and remove any unnecessary information.
It almost goes without saying that you should avoid jargon, especially when you are talking to a group of people unfamiliar with your topic. Even when you are talking to peers and experts, keep technical terms to a minimum. If you must use them, spend time so that you are able explain them in simply.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
– Albert Einstein
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm shows that you believe in your content. Enthusiasm is also infectious. If you care about your topic, your audience is liable to, too. It’s important, however, to convey that enthusiasm:
Change your Tone or Emphasis: It is vital that you vary the way you talk during the presentation. Speech is both verbal and vocal. How you say something is just as important as what you say. Emphasis for key words or concepts, pausing, speeding up or slowing down appropriately can all aid you greatly. This is somewhere else where rehearsal can help you greatly.
Speak Up: Vary the volume of your voice and the pitch. Again practice helps with this. You can even use emotion appropriately to convey your passion and enjoyment about the topic.
Research
It is almost redundant to say that you should have the best understanding possible for the topic you are discussing. If you are unsure, then this is likely to show. Knowing a subject well helps with your confidence too.
And don’t forget to prepare by researching potential questions that may come up. Not only will this help you to deal with these issues if they do occur, it is almost certain to improve your own understanding. Once again, you can ask colleagues or friends and family to mock-ask you possible questions to get practice answering them effectively.
Focus on your Audience Needs
Most importantly, you need to remember the prime reason you are doing the presentation in the first place and who it is for. The presentation is for your audience. It is not for you. When working and worrying about it, it is easy to forget this crucial point.
Always remember that it is what audience needs and wants to know, not what you can tell them, or want to tell them, that is of primary importance. And presentations are two way things, like all communication. As you deliver your presentation, always be focused on your audience’s reaction and respond appropriately to it.
Phones are constantly distracting us with their messages, notifications and updates. Sometimes the very gadgets that are meant to facilitate our productivity actually seem to stop us from working to our full potential and living our lives to the fullest. With all of the apps out there that are designed to steal your time and distract you, why not fight fire with fire and, instead, download one of the many that have been created to motivate and help us become more productive.
Here’s our list of the top 5 apps that can help you block out those distractions:
Forest:
Forest is an app that lets you grow your own virtual forest by staying focused on the tasks you should be doing, rather than procrastinating. It works by getting you to set a timer, for a period of your choice, in which you will concentrate on work activities. If you don’t disturb Forest in that time more trees grow, but leaving the app before the end of your ‘promise’ means it will kill off the trees; a perfect visual reminder to keep you focused.
Forest is designed to keep you away from your phone whilst working, as the longer your device is undisturbed the bigger your forest will be. A great feature of this app is that you can earn virtual coins by creating your forest. When you spend these, the team behind the app donate to real-life tree-planting organisations to help combat deforestation. Another great motivator, as it means you can have an real impact on the environment.
The app is free on Android or £1.99 on iOS. It is also available as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox.
Offtime
Offtime, does exactly what it says on the tin, giving you time off from specific apps with a feature that locks you out of social media during times you have set throughout the day. For example, if you set the app to not allow you to access Facebook between 12-2 pm then you will not be able to open the Facebook app during that time.
You can label these set periods such as “work time” or “family time” to help you keep track of your day and focused at all times. The app can even help you identify your biggest time wasters, by showing you the apps you use the most. It can screen calls, by only allowing those that you choose to get through, but be setup to send custom replies to callers while it is active. It will also record all messages and notifications until connectivity is restored, meaning you don’t miss anything.
The caveat is that Offtime will need to know when you have incoming calls and be able to access a lot of apps to mute them, so please make sure you have carefully read terms and conditions before using the app. There is a light version for iOS devices, at a small cost, but the free Android version is more comprehensive. Overall, Offtime is a good tool for keeping your tech use in check.
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Remember the Milk
Remember the Milk is a to-do-list app that lets you share tasks and lists with others. It can work across all of the devices and platforms you use and lets you create tasks, assign due dates and add other information to the tasks. The free version will allow you connect to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Evernote, but connecting to other services such as Outlook may require you to dig into your pocket for the paid for version. .
The free version of Remember the Milk allows you to share your to-do-lists with two other people, but the paid for version allows unlimited sharing and also allows you to share a task list with someone, but restrict their access to read-only, if you don’t want them to be able to edit these tasks.
Remember the Milk is available for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and browser extensions. It syncs across all devices, even when they’re offline and allows you to create an unlimited number of lists
Focus
Focus is an easy to understand app which helps you break down the day into smaller intervals, giving yourself a set time to complete a task before a short break. The idea behind this is to prevent users from being overwhelmed with a massive task list, by breaking activities into 15/30/60 minute chunks.
Focus lets you view your daily, weekly and monthly activity so you don’t lose sight of the big picture. It requires a subscription and can be used on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch, but is not, at time of writing, available on Android.
Noisli
Finally, we have Noisli, which is a little different to the other apps and offers a unique way of trying to keep people productive and focused by using ambient sound to create a working atmosphere.
If you’re unable work in silence and need a noisy environment, especially when working from home, then this app can help as it offers many sounds ranging from thunderstorms, to light rain, to a busy café and more.
November 1st is the start of stress awareness week, a time to reflect about how we can deal and prevent overwhelming stress.
Retreating to the island of Erraid in Scotland (Like Ben Fogle did) is one way to escape life’s stress, but maybe not a practical one, so here is a few things you can do to help you live a stress-free life.
Not being able to manage your time correctly can lead to a stressful life, whether that’s through procrastinating or simply not giving yourself a decent work-life balance.
Create a Schedule
Creating a schedule and planning your days in advance can be a great way to add structure to your life, allowing you to relax knowing that you have set times for yourself throughout the day. It also allows you to be productive whilst working since you already have planned what to do ahead of time, but remember to be flexible in case anything urgent appears.
Use Modern Apps
There are many applications to help you become a time management expert, whether it’s keeping it simple with calendars and journals, or trying some specialised apps such as ‘Rescue Time’, an app that gives you weekly reports on how you’ve spent your time each day.
Specialised help
If you are looking for a more in-depth course on how to manage your time and reduce stress, we offer high quality time management and stress management courses.
“Passion is the genesis of genius.” — Anthony Robbins
Surely you noticed that people who really succeed in their career or life have a strong passion for what they do. From the ancient time we were fascinated by the great leaders – from Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan to Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates – just a few of those who has had the passion and achieved their vision. I am sure you personally know ‘passionate’ people around you.
Passion is one of the competencies a great leader whether in professional career or personal life, and the first topic of discussion in our blog.
All copyrights for image belong to Disney and George Lucas Film.
All great achievements start with passion. Passion is an intense emotion that shapes the very core of who you are and the choices you make, whether your inspirations are coming from spiritual, intellectual, political, economic, social, or technological reasons. When you wake up in the morning and all you think about is the thing you want to create, then you are passionate about it.
For a leader, passion is a key element; once they have this powerful feeling, they become unstoppable. And even when things turn bitter, and difficulties and challenges take over, this does not crush leaders because the love towards what they do takes over any negative emotions. This ‘fever’ lets them overcome any difficulties and move towards their ultimate goal.
In Star Wars, passion is perhaps the most controversial subject between the Jedi and Sith.
Sith believe that everything starts with passion – they embrace it, and their Code sums this up in the following verse.
“Peace is a lie. There is only passion.
Through Passion, I gain strength.
Through Strength, I gain Power.
Through Power, I gain Victory.
Through Victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall set me free.”
Jedi on the other side do not believe in passion. Here is what they think of it.
“There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force. ”
It seems like that fundamentally if you have a passion for something then you turn to the Dark side. Sorry the creators of the worlds of Star Wars – I do not agree. I could never understand the dilemma in the most culminating moment in the 1st Star Wars Trilogy – the battle between Luke and his father the Darth Vader. I could never understand why he could not fight back, as he believed that fighting back will make him turn to the Dark side and become like his father. It feels that Luke was driven by fear of not becoming the ‘baddy’. What about fighting in the name of love and friendship – to save his sister, to save his friends from an imminent death?
Perhaps humans are more complex than Siths or Jedis.
Perhaps we can embrace both sides. Mother Theresa was a passionate woman whose passion was to help those less fortunate, and she certainly did not turn to the Dark side. So as Gandhi, who practiced nonviolence whilst fighting for independent India. And that does not include only missionaries or political figures but also entrepreneurs. By 2013 Bill Gates donated $28 billion of this fortune to his charity to fight poverty and improve healthcare, and continues his donations. In our human world if you want to achieve the great, you certainly need some passion.
What are you passionate about? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
How many of us put a music on whilst we are working? I certainly do when I work in a kitchen, whether I do dishes or cook a feast for my friends and family. Music puts me in a better mood and as a result makes me so productive.
However, a cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has a different opinion, which is described in his book ‘This is Your Brain on Music’. He believes that listening to music whilst working making us less productive since it negatively affects our memory and attentional capacity. However, for repetitive or monotonous tasks it has a positive effect since music helps to get rid of boredom. Looks like he is right with my kitchen work there.
Levitin explains that listening to music makes us less productive while working because we have fewer resources left for the task we are working on.
So what shall we do?
Levitin suggests listening to music for 10 to 15 minutes before we start working, like for studying or writing, and then work in a quiet environment with regular breaks. However for boring tasks, we should put the music on whilst we are working.
What is your experience with music whilst you are working? Leave us a comment and why not also let us know what type of music you listen when you work.
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