All posts tagged productivity

Motivation 101: How to Love Your Job More

Posted by on September 13, 2016

” Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do” -Steve Jobs

 

If every person in the planet was lucky, he or she would be doing what he or she loves best and get paid for it. Unfortunately, some of us are constrained to mediocre jobs that do pay well in order to survive day to day. However, if you loved your job, you would find yourself looking forward to going to work whether you may be working in a retail conglomerate or in seo consulting services .In fact, a wise and popular maxim coined by Confucius has had a rather interesting view on jobs and professional careers. He has said that if a man chooses a job that he loves, he will never have to work a day in his life. Similarly, Simon Sinek has asserted that stress results from working for something we do not care about, while working for something we love is called passion.  Without a doubt, a huge fraction of our lives is spent working, so it is only natural for us to desire doing something we do love and get paid for it. Though seeking a job you inherently love is incredibly laudable, albeit a bit hard to do, it is not exactly realistic nor is it practical. People may complain about being discontent with their 9-5 jobs, but you do not exactly see a mass exodus of employees seeking better jobs elsewhere, making radical career changes or doing freelance work all in the name of passion.

Leaving our jobs where we generate steady income to chase our passions is detrimental to stability. Not to mention that it breeds uncertainty for the future and may not exactly provide food for the table to eat. This is not to say that all those who do are not awe-inspiring –they are, but in most cases, we have to be realistic and think about what would serve us better day to day.  Fortunately though, there are countless and commendable ways to love your job more and in such a way that would motivate you to work even better.

 

1.) Realize that the job you have does not define you.

However, realize that how you perform it does. When it comes to your job, there is a lot that can be said for attitude. You can be smart and have the right set of skills, but all this will be for naught if you do not have the right kind of attitude complemented with the right kind of work ethic. Despite what many might think, any job can be done exceptionally well if it is done with compassion and done with care. Your attitude in going about your work has a leverage on what kind of work output you do. How you treat people, your mood does not go unnoticed and it has a profound effect on the people you work with it. Admittedly, there are inevitable scenarios wherein you cannot control the situation but you can always choose how to react and live with it.

 

2.) Stop focusing on the money

You might be in the job because it pays well, or you might have taken a job you disliked because the salary offer was rather exorbitant. But what you need to keep in mind is that for unfathomable reason, money will never be sufficient enough so stop using it or the lack of it for that matter as an excuse. Whatever income you might have at the end of the day, there will always be things you had wanted to do or you could have done had there been more. If this is the kind of tack you are used to, then try tracking the money you make and see where your money is really going. This can aid you to focus on thing that you really want. Sure, having an income might be one of the biggest lures of a job, but is only one small aspect of what you do. At the end of the day, your work should be more than just a paycheck in order for it to be fulfilling.

3.)  Find significance in what you do

Contemplate and do some introspection.  Finding meaning and significance in what you do may require you to think outside the box and give some thought about what you have been doing. Take some time to ask yourself pivotal questions as well. Do you provide essential service? Do you get to see the finished product? Do you direct how things are done? Do you feel like you are going anywhere? Then ask yourself this imperative question: How can I make this job better or done differently just because I am the one doing it? Thinking outside the box and asking yourself some reflective questions would put things in perspective. As a result, satisfaction increases as well as a sense of well-being. Remember why you took the job in the first place and what drew you to it.

 

4.) Ask yourself if it is really worth it

When you have gone through the three phases above and still could not find any aspect in your job that is amiable to you, then consider the reasons why there is nothing in your job that you love. Is it turning you into a person you can never be or dislike? Do you see yourself not going anywhere? Perhaps, you do not need a new job but simply the direction. Do you like the person that you are while doing this job? If the answer is in the negative, then are there changes you can incorporate to change it? Or is the job itself the inherent problem?  Maybe it is not the job that you are doing which is unsatisfying, but rather the different course you have taken since you have started. You might have veered off course from your original responsibilities and are constrained to do something you find no value in doing. If this is the case, maybe all you would need to do is to refocus. As much as possible, try to say no in doing things which have nothing whatsoever to do with your current job. Do not simply attend meetings or events because it is expected of you. Attend them because you want to.

 

Having a self-awareness about your job gives you a realistic view of what you expect of it. It also assist you in warding off feelings of malcontent and dissatisfaction. More often than not, it is not that we no longer love the job we have, but rather we have been so used to it that we no longer appreciate what we do or have lost sight in the value of what we do. At the end of the day, when you are feeling rather unhappy with you job, instead of asking yourself “how can I get the job I love?” ask yourself, “How can I love the job I have?”

 

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Effective Ways to Stop Your Employees from Wasting Time

Posted by on June 30, 2016

Time is a created thing. To say, ‘I do not have time’, is like saying, ‘I do not want to.’ – Lao Tzu

Time is money.

Yet, we have often found ourselves wasting valuable time doing nothing necessary that would contribute to our work progress or do anything beneficial for our workload. Working in an office with people of diverse background may seem like a fun way to spend your time at work.

However, it is also an avenue for wasting valuable company time through the mindless chatter and gossip or activities that are in no way related to the workload.

More often than not, when employees waste time they tend to procrastinate work-related tasks and would have them pile up by the end of the week. As such, working overtime would ensue which would necessarily translate to employers being constrained to compensating them for the time they would not have needed to make up had they not wasted time in the first place. And yet, time wastage and procrastination remain as two realities in any corporate setting today.

Contrary to what most employees believe employers are well aware and privy to their time wasting habits. That is why they need to be inordinately creative when it comes to coming up with ways to prevent them from wasting any more time. This is because regardless of whether you are a retail conglomerate or an established SEO company (search engine optimization), any wasted time is potentially wasted profit.

So, if you are an employer looking for another alternative to put a stop finally to all the time wasted in your office, try and incorporate the eight strategies below into your daily work routine and see if you can make any significant difference.

Stop wasting time now

1) Work a daily huddle to your morning routine

If you want to see a spike in productivity in your workplace, work an office huddle into your everyday work routine. They do not have to last very long, but it is imperative that you outline the team’s primary objectives which you expect them to tackle for the entire day. Additionally, this is the ideal time to address any potential challenges your team may encounter, and it helps transmit necessary information your team may find essential. This ten to fifteen-minute discussion in the mornings would keep a team focused, ensure you are all working on the same page and would jump start a more productive day.

2) Manage conflict

Conflicts in the workplace may breed animosity within two employees. This can adversely affect a team’s productivity if two employees who are in conflict with each other are involved in the same group as they would want minimal contact with each other as possible. It is best if the problem is promptly mediated to avoid potential delays in workloads. Be diplomatic when it comes to managing conflicts and address them before they escalate into bigger issues. Take the resolution, find a way to have a healthy compromise and resolve the problems and then move on.

3) Terminate chronic problems

office problems

In any corporate setting, the 80-20 rule is effective in various instances and managing conflict is admittedly one of them. The reality is twenty percent of your staff would case approximately eighty percent of your problem. When this occurs, as an employer and as your employees’ primary supervisor, it is imperative that you confront the problem. If the problem persists, however, and an errant employee continues to stir up trouble consider letting them go.

4) Maintain an open communication

Do not always readily assume that the problem lies ONLY with your employees. Take a step back and contemplate that just maybe, you are the problem. Constantly solicit feedback from your employees regarding how you are doing as their spearhead. Their feedbacks, as well as the essential support you are giving them, are two pivotal components that would aid you in making changes before minor issues are given a chance to escalate. Lend a listening ear to your employees and while doing so, be reasonable as well as supportive.

5) Utilize your employees’ talents and skills

employee skills

Your office is composed of diverse individuals with different abilities and skill sets. In the same vein, they also have their inherent limitation. Know what your employees are capable of and what they are not. Take the time to observe them while they are doing their work. Placing individuals in departments wherein they cannot thrive drives them to waste time and stunt their professional growth. Instead, make sure you have employees working to their strengths rather than trying to overcome their weaknesses.

6) Trust your employees

If you are being constantly assaulted with inquiries from employees who are too anxious to proceed without your approval, you will be overwhelmed. It can also be a cardinal sign that your employees are tip-toeing on their every task and that the stakes might be just a little too high in your office. Acknowledge that mistakes can happen and that there is always room for improvement. Alternatively, you can afford your staff the opportunity for growth by allowing them to fix those mistakes. Trust your employees and do not instill too much fear in them or they will end up bungling event the simplest of tasks.

7) Give your employees a sense of ownership

employee sense of ownership

Give your employees an extra incentive in working by letting the profitability of the company become part of their personal benefit as well. They will be motivated to work better because it would mean that your success is their success as well. Whether the incentive granted may be in the form of a profit-sharing plan or a phantom equity is up to you, regardless, it will motivate them to work harder for you.

8) Praise your staff publicly

No matter what stage of life we are in, it can be universally gleaned that positive reinforcement goes a very long way. In the same way, it would work on your employees by reinforcing positive behaviors they have. Do not just stop at personal compliments and dole out public praises to them now and then. Praising employees publicly would likely encourage other employees to emulate that particular employee’s behavior making this situation a win-win for you. So, appreciate your employees where praise is due, and you see a significant positive change in their working habits.

Lastly, to ensure a productive day at the office, make sure your employees have adequate stimulating activities to enjoy. Provide a fun and enjoyable work environment with ample breaks in between to help them re-energize. Because wasting time boils down to how motivated your employee at work is, it is essential that they are provided with a workplace and work wherein, they can thrive. Incorporate the eight tips above into your daily work routine and see if there are any positive changes in your office environment.

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The Productivity Paradox – Hidden Costs of Being Productive

Posted by on June 3, 2016

 It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about? – Henry David Thoreau

The answer of which highly depends on your very own definition of what productivity is all about. More often than not, we associate the term ‘being productive’ to something that means doing more. This is technically correct considering how the word ‘productive’ originate from the term ‘produce.’

Lots of people at present, regular employees most especially, believes that being busy – juggling lots of tasks in a day – means that they are producing enough. As to whether or not the output is satisfactory remains debatable.

Mr. Thoreau’s statement echoes the very question many workers have in this digital age. Where more is demanded, more is produced. Yet where is the satisfaction and purpose? Producing more does not always mean you are practicing productivity for the right reason. If any, what you are doing is only depleting your energy for things that do not help you achieve your priorities.

There’s a paradox at work here – one that is easy to understand yet often ignored by many. It’s the paradox that tells us to take a step back, stop what we are doing, and reevaluate the quality and motivation we have for the task.

Productivity IS NOT always doing MORE.

Experience and researches have proven that being productive could also signify increasing one’s efficiency in performing the same quantity of tasks. It’s not necessarily doing more things, but rather becoming better at what you already do.

For those involved in digital works however, adhering with quantity-based requirement at a regular basis may be the only option. People like those who undergo SEO training Philippines sessions know that for their company to be at par or be ahead of the market competition, constant production of output is a must. This is where mindfulness and motivation comes in.

To continually keep up with the numbers while keeping your motivation up, understanding productivity’s hidden cost will help you prioritize and make the necessary adjustments fit for the values you uphold. Let’s take a quick look.

Time

Whether your job demands you to be stuck at your desk for hours or something more physical and outdoors, deciding to be more productive takes time.

More of which is attributed to the fact that certain habits are difficult to change. If you want to add one more activity to your regular workload for instance, that could mean sacrificing some of the habits to get more time.

Increasing productivity doesn’t have a one-day, instant trick. It’s a process, and it takes time. Those who manage to deal with it are the ones who see progress in the long run.

Motivation (or willpower)

Taking into consideration the fact that productivity takes time, it’s easy to understand why many find themselves discouraged at the lack of any tangible progress. There may come a point when you feel like your motivation to continue is sucked away, making it difficult to continue doing any productive routine.

Decreased motivation over time is nothing new, and it remains one of the most challenging factors among employees who struggle on keeping up their high quality work consistently. There are some general tips on how one could boost his or her self motivation towards work. But at the end of the day, it’s something unique to an individual.

Regardless of one’s personal strategy, experiencing some ups and downs on your willpower level is part of the price you pay for becoming more productive.

Creativity

“The more you do it, the more you get better at it,” so they say.

However, there’s a direct antithesis to this statement that also holds some truth. It’s that one thing that says, “The more you do it, the more you get tired of it.”

Productivity demands you to invest time in doing the similar task on a regular basis. It’s the only way to get you familiar with the task. Sadly, routine is also one thing that usually gets in the way of your creative muse.

Routine demands a process, something you must follow to finish a particular task. Creativity signifies more freedom and flexibility. This can be a real challenge especially for creative people who need a more dynamic environment to work at. In developing productivity, one may find himself holding back from the usual creative process he is accustomed to.

Value

You may be inclined to multitask. In fact, you may find more satisfaction at the thought of doing more. However, randomly juggling different tasks only tires you more than actually focusing on things that matter.

To make every hour of work count, setting up priorities is vital. And how do you exactly do this? You identify the values that matter to you most. For instance, a person who values success, adventure and learning will most likely prioritize different things compared to someone who prioritizes relationships and social life.

Delegating your focus and energy on things that matter most makes work more rewarding. More importantly, it saves you time from going over tasks that will not help you achieve your goal.

Reevaluating your personal values takes time and your list of priorities could go as many as thirty. One cost you pay in wanting to become more productive is to cut off some of those priorities and reduce them to those that matters soonest.

Productivity can have a lot of connotation depending on who you ask. Some define it from the occasional motivation boost they have that makes them perform better than the usual. Others consider it as a fleeting ideal, present now, gone later.

For digital marketers however, being productive has to be a requirement. The online world is so dynamic and information is passed across different channels in a matter of seconds. It doesn’t wait for your dosage of inspiration. Speed matters and productivity is a constant.

It is a choice, and you control how you wish to inspire yourself to work. Overcome the paradox by trying out different strategies and enjoy quality productivity!

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How to be Emotionally Intelligent

Posted by on March 3, 2016

(And Why It Is Important in Increasing Productivity)

emotional intelligence

Just recently, Google announces that it discovered what really makes a team productive through its Project Aristotle. Dubbed as psychological safety, a team member has to be nice so he or she can work in a team setting minus the misunderstandings and conflicts. Thus, it doesn’t matter if you are working for an SEO company, FMCG firm or online marketing agency. Bottom-line, you can never go wrong with kindness. And, this is where emotional intelligence comes in.

How can you become an emotionally intelligent employee? That’s the question. In a world full of speakers rather than listeners, answering this question can be a real challenge. The workplace is tormented with noises, so how can you even pay attention to your own emotions, let alone other people’s emotions? Stop right there. Haven’t you realized that emotional intelligence (and the lack of it) affects your productivity? Well, it does.

And what better way to combat this and improve productivity than through improving your EQ (emotional quotient). Before we teach you the process, let’s scrutinize what makes an emotionally intelligent staff.

 

The emotionally intelligent employee

An emotionally intelligent employee is capable of recognizing his emotions and that of others. The person is able to discriminate between his feelings and label such appropriately. Finally, the person uses this information to guide his thoughts and behaviors. According to Daniel Goleman, author of the groundbreaking book ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ an emotionally intelligent individual is personally and socially competent.

Further, the author also identified the five domains of EQ.

1) Knowing your emotions (Self-awareness)
2) Managing your own emotions (Self-regulation)
3) Motivating yourself (Self-motivation)
4) Recognizing and understanding other people’s emotions (Social awareness)
5) Managing relationships (Social skills)

Below is a video of Goleman tackling how and why emotional intelligence becomes the differentiator.

 

The productivity of an emotionally intelligent employee

Did you know that when it comes to performance, employees with average IQs outperform people with high IQs 70% of the time? The perfect combination seems like average IQ and high EQ. There are also studies that claim that 90% of top performers have higher EQ, not necessarily high IQ.

EQ is also examined by TalenSmart to determine how it compares to other critical workplace skills. The experiment concludes that EQ is the strongest predictor of performance with 58% success rate. Thus, EQ can be considered as the foundation of the skills since it impacts what a person says and does everyday and while at the workplace.

What’s more, employees with higher levels of EQ make more money compared to those with lower levels of such. A person with high EQ earns $29,000 more. The more that person increases her IQ, the more she will earn. An emotionally intelligent employee earns an additional of $1,300 with every increase in the EQ level.

Indeed, EQ affects performance and productivity and thus the personal and organizational success (read: bottom-line). That’s how important emotional intelligence is.

 

Becoming an emotionally intelligent employee

Here’s the good news: EQ is a learnable skill. A person can increase his or her emotional intelligence! Nevertheless, you cannot predict the EQ of a person based on how smart he is. Learning is the same regardless if the learner is 15 or 50 years old. EQ is different. Some are born with it. Some are natural at it. Some took years to learn it. Some even took more years to perfect it.

However, if you are going to start doing these things below, you’ll improve your EQ in no time. The items are random but are somehow connected to one another. Warning: Long list.

  • Observe your emotional tendencies
  • Understand and express how you feel exactly
  • Don’t let other people label your emotions for you
  • Don’t let others judge how you label your own emotions
  • Be specific with your choice of words to describe how you feel
  • Pay attention to people, things, events that make you feel that way
  • Understand how you feel connects with your behavior
  • Don’t judge your own feelings
  • Control your negative emotions
  • Don’t let negative feelings cloud your own judgment
  • Decide how to behave in face of a negative feeling
  • Share how you feel with other people
  • Be honest with what you really feel
  • Be more responsible for your own reactions
  • Act calmly and rationally
  • Be more receptive to feedback
  • Use criticisms wisely
  • Sense other people’s emotional needs
  • Listen more empathetically
  • Empathize with other individuals around you
  • Ask questions
  • Pay attention to other’s body language to uncover their feelings
  • Observe how your emotions manifest physically
  • Don’t hurt other people’s feelings
  • Know when you hurt someone’s feelings and apologize
  • Be open-minded
  • Don’t confine yourself to your own feelings and beliefs
  • Respect other people’s feelings
  • Appreciate the role of other people in your life
  • Try to understand where they are coming from
  • Be trustworthy especially when a person shares his or her feelings with you
  • Observe how other individuals react to certain situations
  • Compare other people’s emotions to your own emotions
  • Show genuine care and concern for people and their experiences
  • Be willing to help others
  • Be flexible and adaptable
  • Channel your emotions creatively
  • Have a personal strategy so negative emotions won’t get the best of you
  • Exert self-control by avoiding impulsive actions and expressions
  • Say no to someone if you really have to
  • Distance yourself from emotionally draining mistakes
  • Don’t dwell on negative circumstances
  • Let go of grudge
  • Approach toxic people rationally
  • Don’t let negative emotions fuel the chaos
  • Disconnect from time to time
  • Have a strong sense of your own feelings

Before you may put into practice your knowledge, it would be wise to determine your current EQ. There are many EQ assessment tools online, most of which are free. We recommend you assess your EQ first to know the areas that you need to improve best. The result will be your baseline, something to start your EQ improvement journey. Commit to improving the initial results and achieve those competencies that you lack. After all, it is your personal excellence that you are working on.

Good luck!

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Bad Leadership Habits That Ruin A Team’s Productivity

Posted by on February 12, 2016

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People have bad habits. We all do. But when you develop these bad habits in business, then it means trouble. The success of your business will always depend on how good you are as a leader – on how you manage every strategy effectively and successfully. But let’s face it, not all of us are born naturally to lead. It takes a lot of your time and effort to learn the basic steps of leaderships, and on how you can effectively lead your fellow marketers to do business with you.

When it comes to marketing, even an SEO company knows so well that every second count. That means every leader should strive hard to compete in the marketing world. And having a lousy performance is unacceptable. Poor leadership would also mean ruining the team’s productivity. Of course, how will you lead your team when you yourself can’t even handle simple situations on your business? Right? A lot of you here might have been pondering if they are a good leader or not, or if they have been leading their business in the right direction or not?

Yes, leading your team may be daunting and challenging. But it doesn’t give you the reason why you can’t be a good leader to them. Well, if you want to help boost your business, then you should stop doing these bad leadership habits below that definitely, can ruin your team’s productivity.

1. Managing the details

Every detail of each strategy, no matter how simple it is, is important. Failure comes in when a leader missed out the details. And as the leader, you should not just look at the bigger picture, you should also know how to look at the smaller ones that help make or break a good strategy. For instance, setting up a goal where you want your employees to achieve, it is up to them on how they can make the task work. However, if that particular employee can’t deliver his/her task, then you probably have the wrong person for the job.

Managing the details means going micro to macro. Before going to a bigger strategy, make sure that the smaller details are efficient enough to support the said strategy as a whole. Likewise, you have to know the reasons as to why that particular employee is not effective in that particular task. Perhaps, he/she is expert and effective in other particular field and not on the task that you just gave. When you miss out even with that small detail, then that might be the reason why you can’t properly deliver your strategies.

2. Neglecting the individual

When it comes to business, you have to know that each employee is an expert in their respective field. Although they may not be good at some point, but there will always be something that they are good at. However, when you tend to give them a task that is not in line with their expertise, it may not be a good idea. Yes, multitasking may be an advantage to every business, but there will also be a downfall to it. Employees can’t focus on enhancing their skills when they have so many things to do, which may result in being stagnant on their specific field.

As a leader, you also have to know the strength of your employees– on which field are they good at. Of course, it is also not enough when you just know about their skills, you also have to understand the way they make things done. With this strategy, you will have a strong team working together while integrating their own expertise in the business as a whole. Moreover, this is also one way to lessen mistakes in delivering the given task they have.

3. Not making your expectations clear

Expecting something is definitely not a bad thing at all. In fact, it is in your expectation you can foresee things that may be possible to happen in your business. On the other hand, making an assumption is definitely a risk to take. Yes, there are just times that businesses should take some risk to avoid facing bigger damages. But as a leader, you also have to make sure that you are not taking a risk just for nothing that can jeopardize the quality of your business.

When you assume, it means you are not sure of the things that are going to happen. When it comes to business, there should always be an assurance in every transaction that you make before jumping into conclusions or decisions. You can’t take your business to the next level when you don’t expect it to grow. But when you expect, you will have a clearer view of what is going to happen, and what strategies to make for the next step.

4. Indecisiveness

When you can’t have a firm decision, then you are not fit to become a leader. Basically, a leader should have an authority over his words. In business, feeling pressured especially when it comes to the decision making is inevitable, considering that you can’t take an unnecessary risk for your business. And we all do understand that making a decision is a crucial thing to do. However, it doesn’t give you the reason to be indecisive on the things you should do for your business. If you do, then your business is going to be at risk.

Having a firm decision is a must for the betterment of your business. But if you can’t come up with a strong one, then your business might face troubles in the marketing industry. And you definitely don’t want to see that crappy outcome, right?

5. Refusing to delegate

The feeling is indeed wonderful when your employees looked up to you as a leader, and on how they respect you for achieving great things for the business. Yes, the feeling is great. But this is also one of the reasons why some leaders refuse to delegate tasks since all they want is to get the praises of their employees for accomplishing another great thing. And yes, this might be good at some point, but you are already killing the productivity of your team. What else would they do when you all have the task of yourself? And I’m sure you can’t do it all alone, you need someone to help you grow your business.

A good leader knows how to delegate tasks to his/her employees. It is also your duty to know which employee is good on a particular task. Avoid doing all the work by yourself. When you do, you might settle for mediocrity since you can’t finish your task on the given deadline. Moreover, if you want to see a growth of your business, you also have to make sure that your employees are also growing through integrating their field of expertise on your business. With that, it will be much easier for you to grow together as a team.

Being a leader is not just a simple task. You’re handling employees who are also one of the factors that contribute to the success of your business. If you are not careful enough in handling your team, this might have an undesirable result. That means you don’t just lead, you also have to set yourself a good example to your employees, which they might consider you as their inspiration to work harder for the betterment of the business. 

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