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How to Achieve Consumer-Creator Balance

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Do you often find yourself completely overwhelmed with the amount of information that’s coming at you every day?

This article is for you.

Apologies/thanks to Hint Water for the image.

We’re going to go through a step-by-step process that will turn your consumption habits from a firehose to an irrigation system.

Because all of those email newsletter subscriptions, YouTube channels, blogs, and yes, even TikToks, should be adding value to your life.

It’s OK if the value is pure entertainment, but you should be cognizant of the percentage that is pure entertainment vs learning or business growth. Awareness is half the battle in taming the content shock beast.

Step One – What Am I Consuming?

Set aside 15-20 minutes and make a list of your subscriptions.

That should include newsletters, major media outlets you visit a lot, social channels that send you update notifications, etc.

Make sure you specifically focus on content that you receive on a regular schedule. These are sometimes the big time thieves that go unnoticed. Are there newsletters that you routinely delete or archive without reading them?

You may be over-consuming content, and putting your brain on information overload.

Step Two – Sort the Useful from the Non-Useful

Take a moment to look at each item in your list. For each one, ask yourself these questions:

  • What value, if any, is this adding to my life? (I’m learning things, I laugh, I’m gaining business skills…)
  • Do I have a system in place that helps me apply the information I learn from this item? It’s not enough to just read and move on, if the content is something that gives you business lessons. You need to have a process where you can use those tips to grow.
  • After I read/view this content, do I feel better or worse? (yes, some content just brings you down)
  • Am I subscribed to other content in the same niche that is better written, more valuable, more focused? Is this redundant?

One way to manage this evaluation process is to mark each item with a plus, zero/neutral, or minus. That will inform the next and final phase of the digital decluttering.

Step Three – Unsubscribe, Delete, Refocus

Time to pull the plug on any recurring subscriptions or content notifications that are of no value, are detracting from your mindset, or are redundant. Hit the unsubscribe button and be free.

Run through your inboxes and delete anything you haven’t read yet, that’s older than 2 days ago. Grant yourself the grace of an empty notifications icon.

The Internet will go on without you. If it was important, they’ll reach back out again.

For the items you’ve retained, set up a spot to collect notes and tasks that emerge when you’re reading/viewing that content. I use NotePlan 3 as a simple space for notes, inspirations, and ideas to apply to my life and business. There are tons of other note-taking and task-tracking tools out there to suit your work flow.

Post-Cleanup

Once you’ve gone through this process, you might want to follow the one-in, one-out rule. Any time you’re tempted to subscribe to something, force yourself to unsubscribe to another item, especially if they’re in a similar niche.

Share in the comments how you deal with content overload!

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About the Author: Rosemary O’Neill is co-Founder/CMO of Crowdstack, the best indie space for your groups online.

How Will Business Productivity Change After COVID?

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By Kayla Matthews

COVID-19 has changed almost every aspect of daily lives across the globe. For businesses, especially, things look different now — working from home and quarantines have kept people apart to slow the spread. Now, you and others are looking for answers as to what comes next. For business productivity, things are going to shift.

From remote work to the integration of new technology, your company will likely see some changes. Though the pandemic is still in full swing, its current state and effects will influence what comes next. Business operations and productivity are going to adapt, but how that happens will depend on certain factors.

Regrouping

The first factor is the regrouping stage. Businesses will have to work out the details of working from home, unemployment levels and employee benefits. The coronavirus has affected each of these areas for businesses of all sizes. From here, your business will need to focus on how it gets back to work.

Remote work is likely to stick around for quite a while. Even after the pandemic passes, businesses and employees may reevaluate their work. If they don’t need to come into an office, they might continue to work from home. This decision saves on commuting time — which leads to the potential for different work hours.

As more and more people continue to work remotely, work hours may become more flexible. Some people may start earlier or later in the day and change their schedules to work with their personal lives post-virus.

Some businesses have laid people off due to the virus. While essential businesses have been able to remain in operation, non-essential enterprises have had to shut down. This change has led to record spikes in unemployment claims in the United States.

After COVID-19 passes, companies and organizations will then need to focus on hiring talent. To improve the hiring process, you’ll want to keep some things in mind.

First, new talent is going to question how your business handled employee benefits during the outbreak. Your company will need to have open and honest communication about the subject, as well as about the new hiring process. Additionally, certain businesses that need employees instantly will have to streamline the process.

New Technology

After regrouping, the second post-COVID phase will include businesses investing in newer technology. While human productivity has understandably decreased during this pandemic, machine productivity is shining through.

For many businesses, employees are only able to do so much from home. Places like science labs or restaurants can’t fully function remotely. However, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotics will all start to become more standard in businesses. Many larger corporations already use these innovations, but smaller and medium sized-enterprises will begin as well.

Technology can’t get sick. Thus, it’s reliable for continuing to generate revenue and keep business productivity up. Certain businesses, like restaurants, may not be able to fully use technology to operate.

Other aspects of these innovations, though, like automation and data analytics will come in handy. This technology powers tools from chatbots to voice-automated customer service to predictive data. Your business may be able to use these resources and this information to continue to operate as best as it can for future pandemics or situations.

Technology can also operate at all hours of the day. To keep a business going in a pandemic, it needs to be available at all times for sales and assistance. As innovations continue to emerge that make accessibility possible, businesses will integrate them. More pandemics or unforeseen situations may come after COVID-19. This pandemic has caused businesses to rethink their productivity both for the present and the future.

New Productivity

The meaning of business productivity has shifted during this time. Employees are juggling the transition to working from home, the stress of the situation and staying on top of their work. In the future, you will be seeing changes like these come to businesses of all sizes, but especially medium and smaller ones.

Transitioning back to normal life won’t be entirely the same as it was. Using these changes to your advantage, though, is the best bet for staying on top. Productivity will fluctuate and take on new forms, like technology and working from home. Depending on how fast scientists develop a vaccine, these changes will continue to solidify in the meantime.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash

What is Workplace Personalization?

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By Kayla Matthews

If you traveled back in time and picked up an office worker from the 1950s, they wouldn’t recognize the modern office space as somewhere that you’re supposed to work. The cookie-cutter cube farm is a thing of the past, in favor of open spaces, natural lighting, and workplace personalization. What is workplace personalization and what are the benefits of personalizing your workspace?

What is Workplace Personalization?

If you’re not familiar with the concept, what is workplace personalization?  This is one question that if you ask 100 different people, you’ll receive 100 different answers, but most of them agree on one point — that personalization is all about comfort.  That can mean different things to different people.

Some might be more comfortable in a private office with a set of noise-canceling headphones while others might be at their most productive in an open-floorplan office where conversations mingle with business discussions.

To us, workplace personalization means making your workspace your own, so it’s a place where you want to spend all your time.  The average worker spends upwards of 90,000 hours working throughout their lifetime.  What sounds more appealing — spending 90,000 hours in a stark office space or spending that time in an office that you’ve customized to make it your own?

Benefits of Workplace Personalization

What are the benefits of workplace personalization? It can vary from office to office, but in general, workplace personalization can:

  • Encourage Productivity — People thrive in different environments. For some that noisy open-floorplan office is ideal, while for others it’s detrimental to their productivity. With that in mind, employees can bring noise-canceling headphones or even take steps to diminish noise in the office so they can be as productive as possible without interfering with others.
  • Improve Communication — It can be tricky to stay on task while you’ve got people walking past your desk or talking to you all day long.  Allowing employees to personalize their work space gives them the tools to communicate more effectively, whether that means putting a sign up that says “E-mail Only” or restricting communication to specific times during their scheduled workday.
  • Creates a Staff-Led Office Culture — Workplace personalization helps to foster a relationship between employees and employers that makes the employees feel special, creating an office culture that’s led by the employees rather than by management.
  • Keeps Costs Down — In some situations, personalization means bringing in your own tech and equipment from home, as long as it works with workplace security. This can be an incredible benefit for small businesses and startups that might be looking for a way to cut costs since they won’t need to provide expensive equipment.
  • Makes People Want to Come to Work — Finally, while it isn’t the only thing you can do as an employer to make people want to come to work, it definitely helps.

How to Personalize Your Workspace

If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ideas to help you personalize your workspace so you’re comfortable in the office.

  1. Make it feel like you. Add knick-knacks to your desk, hang pictures on the walls, whatever it takes to personalize your space and make it feel like part of you.  What you bring might depend on how secure your space is and how well you trust your coworkers, but you get the idea.
  2. Make it work for you. If you can’t stand being interrupted during your day or ambient conversations bother you, soundproof your office or invest in some noise-canceling headphones and hang a sign on your door telling people to email or message you.
  3. Encourage others to do the same. If your employer is encouraging people to personalize their space, they might be hesitant to be the first to jump on that train.  Blaze the trail and others will follow.

Looking Forward

Office personalization is a new and emerging trend but it is one that will likely gain more popularity in the future.  However you look at it, those cube-farms that were so popular during previous generations are a thing of the past. We won’t be seeing them again anytime soon.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

What Is Ergonomics, and Why Is It Important for Productivity?

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By Kayla Matthews

Some may ask why is ergonomics important, but the reasons become apparent if you’ve worked in an office that doesn’t accommodate for it. Harsh lighting, excessive ambient noise and loud, multi-colored walls can all be the downfall of employee productivity.

Efficiency is king in the modern world, and many employers implement new technologies and methods to maintain it — but employee comfort isn’t always at the forefront. Reconstructing a workspace for ergonomics is simple, though, and it benefits everyone in the long run.

Learn about the core elements of ergonomics and why they’re important — then check out some ways to make your workspace more bearable. Wave goodbye to the days of lost productivity, because you’ll be back on the ball in no time.

The Basics of Ergonomics

Ergonomics studies efficiency, productivity and comfort within the workplace. It looks at what makes employees comfortable and what doesn’t, allowing employers to adjust the environment accordingly. When you think about ergonomics, you consider elements like lighting, temperature and desk positioning. All of these can make or break a workplace, taking it from a warm, friendly environment to a chilly, dimly lit dungeon.

Consider the different ways that acceptable or poor ergonomics can impact your environment:

  • Lighting: Natural light is better than harsh fluorescents or dim bulbs. It reduces stress and anxiety, promotes better concentration and improves your mood. Dim lighting causes eye strain and fatigue, while fluorescent lights cause blurry vision and migraines. Natural light boosts your vitamin D levels and regulates your circadian rhythm, helping you sleep better at night.
  • Temperature and humidity: You know how it feels when you’re freezing and can barely move your body — now imagine that while trying to complete office tasks. A cold workplace can impede typing, writing and verbal and mathematical tasks, which hurts efficiency even if you don’t immediately notice it. Warmer is typically better, but a hot, humid space makes workers sticky and uncomfortable. An appropriate temperature balance is crucial.
  • Color: Anyone with a history in marketing knows the importance of color schemes on the human psyche. A lack of color can make employees feel like they’re in a sterile, cold environment. Red can seem angry and bold, while pink and orange are fun but distracting. Blue is the safest option for many companies due to its calming, dependable characteristics.
  • Desk, chair and computer positioning: Sitting all day — especially with improper posture — can cause back and shoulder strain and fatigue. Prolonged sitting has ties to premature death and cardiovascular disease, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture when compounded with the sedentary lifestyle many people already lead. Plus, a monitor that’s too close can headaches and myopia.

Employee Comfort and Productivity

Although every employer doesn’t plan their workplace around ergonomics, it displays its importance with efficiency rates. It’s difficult to concentrate in an office unsupportive of employee satisfaction. An open-plan office works for some, but others struggle to focus with so many distractions around. Others like a cold space, but some freeze and find it hard to accomplish tasks. Pleasing everyone is unrealistic, but your work environment should at least aim to heed the requests of the majority.

A study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed that workers spend 62% of their day in a chair. This percentage alone raises concerns, but worries become greater when considering how many workers have improperly aligned chairs and desks. Your computer should ideally be 20 to 30 inches away from your eyes, and your arms and hands should be parallel to the floor. Your chair also needs to provide adequate lumbar support and a proper recline level.

A study of 388 special education teachers and teacher’s aides showed that 86% of them suffered musculoskeletal disorders resulting from their work. Caring for disabled students often involves lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling, which results in teachers sustaining similar injuries as more labor-intensive jobs.

Any job involving repetitive movement and awkward positions — such as manual labor, office jobs and nursing and doctoral professions — pose a risk for musculoskeletal disorders. This risk increases when ergonomics are ignored.

How to Implement It

If you’re unable to suggest a workplace-wide revamp, do small things within your space to make work more comfortable. Keep a small space heater if your workplace is too cold or a fan if it’s hot. Some employees keep blankets at their desks, though you may have to ask your employer first. Dress warmer by storing a sweater or cardigan in your bag.

Buy a natural light lamp if your workplace is dim or painfully bright. Position your lamp to provide enough light without causing a glare on your screen — this prevents eye strain. Ask about turning your workspace into a standing desk set-up. Some offices integrate sitting and standing desks in the same area for employees to choose their preferable work style.

Keep your desk decor sparse, and leave only the essentials within view — such as your laptop, writing utensils and paper. You’ll save time searching for documents and help your mind flow by minimizing clutter. Any decor you decide to keep should be in colors that make you feel relaxed and ready to work, such as blue or purple.

Ergonomics Provides Numerous Benefits

Employee comfort has an undeniable impact on the workplace. Workers have been making small improvements at their cubicles for decades, but it’s time for many employers to catch onto the game. Ergonomics is important in maintaining happy employees, and happy employees make for smooth operations.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Photo by Lee Campbell on Unsplash

What Are the Phases of Project Management?

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By Kayla Matthews

Project management involves using a team’s knowledge, skills and resources to accomplish a common goal — the successful completion of a project with a specific beginning and end date.

The phases of project management, from initiation to closure, are designed to help team members understand their roles and how functions intersect. Research has revealed companies who implement project management initiatives save 28 times more money than their non-planning counterparts.

While a solid strategy can’t solve every problem that may arise, it can ensure the processes runs as smoothly as possible.

Phase 1: Initiation

The initiation phase comes before planning a project. This is where you identify a specific need, problem or challenge and how your team can solve it. Brainstorm ideas, get creative and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. During this time, it’s essential to figure out your project’s objective — what you hope to accomplish.

You should also use this phase to determine the feasibility of a project. Is the timeline workable and how much will the implementation cost? According to one study, one in six projects sees an average budget overrun of 200 percent. Identify which resources your team will need to successfully bring the project to fruition.

Phase 2: Planning

Project management techniques are used by 28% of businesses — and only 2.5% complete 100% of projects successfully. The planning phase, the most crucial, is when you identify goals to break the project up into actionable chunks. Each should be specific, realistic and measurable. Unobtainable or unrealistic goals are a recipe for failure.

One person, a project manager, should take reins of the team and control operations. Use a schedule to determine task durations and set deadlines for completion. Decide on the best means to communicate progress and unexpected set-backs. Before moving into execution, learn what risks might arise, how they can impact the project and how they can get resolved.

Phase 3: Execution

Your plan has been developed and approved. Now it’s time for team members to take action. Project managers will need to maintain constant communication with employees to ensure the project is moving along as planned. Help team members stay organized and hit deadlines by sending updates regularly.

Other responsibilities of a project manager include:

  • Briefing team members
  • Monitoring work quality
  • Organizing tasks with workflows
  • Allocate spending and resources
  • Communicating with management

As the project develops, project managers will need to follow the pre-created plan, assign new tasks and assess ongoing progress with project management tools. PMs also interact closely with clients to update them about the project and ease any concerns or questions about development.

Phase 4: Monitoring

Every project — no matter if it lasts one hour or one year — should be closely monitored. Project managers should look at work quality, costs, risks, scope, changes and more. Out of all high-performing projects, 77% use project management software to track progress and provide detailed reports. These metrics determine if a project is meeting budget and timeline requirements.

Project management software can be used to monitor all moving parts of a project, including time tracking, task distribution, budgeting, resource planning, cloud-based collaboration and much more — but only 22% of businesses take advantage of it. Project managers use this software to monitor team members and communicate wants and needs, but many companies lack access to real-time key performance indicators.

Phase 5: Closure

No project is complete without closure. Has your project been a success or a failure? Most project managers determine a project’s success based on the ability to stay within budget. Other factors to consider include the quality of the end product and client satisfaction. Carefully listen to any feedback to determine areas of improvement.

Once the project is analyzed as a whole, the project manager should also determine the output of individual team members. Did they meet goals? Did they produce high-quality work? Interview team members and ask about their experience. What did they learn? What could be done better next time? What could make their role easier?

The phases of project management are in place to ensure higher chances of success. From initiation to closure, team members should have a clear outline of goals, expectations and deadlines. Success is ultimately determined by a project’s quality, timeline and budget.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured Image: https://unsplash.com/photos/_pc8aMbI9UQ

Is the Personal Development Trend Killing Teamwork?

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By Wendy Dessler

In this day and age, it’s all about focusing on your own growth. How can you improve your career outlook? How can you push farther in your personal life? You have to put yourself first, but is this really the best mentality when it comes to success?

At least in the western world, things are increasingly built “for one.” It’s not uncommon to see solo-travelers, solo-workers, solo-diners, and so on. While, in the past, doing things alone might not have been seen as normal, recent trends are skewing in the opposite direction.

It turns out this might not be bad thing. There are a lot of benefits to wanting alone time. This isn’t just personal observations, but actually science-backed evidence. For example, there’s ample evidence supporting the idea that being surrounded by people actually reduces productivity. So is personal development really killing teamwork?

Let’s take a closer look at this trend to see what it means for the workforce today.

man sitting at desk

Image via Pexels

The Rise of Solo-Living

First, let’s take a look at this rise of solo-living culture. What exactly is solo-living culture? Basically, there’s a push for people to take more control of their lives and more control of their future. This spans both professional and personal life. It’s no longer uncommon to see workers cutting ties with their 9-5 and starting their own business. Similarly, you might see people dining alone at a restaurant or just going through lives on their own.

This is seen most acutely in solo travel. While solo travel would have been too expensive and intimidating for most people in the past, the world is smaller than ever. A study from the Solo Traveler Blog reveals that 80% of respondents prefer independent solo travel. Independent travel is empowering, and it might lead people to make more solo-decisions throughout the rest of their lives.

Solo-living is also seen in people choosing to hold off on marriage and other coupling milestones. The average age of married couples is getting older and older, and many people are putting big life decisions on hold until they’re later in life. As you can see, there are a lot of solo-living changes that are affecting the way we live today. These stem from the personal development movement. We all want to live better, but does that mean we have to do things alone?

woman at laptop

Image via Pexels

A New World of Solo-Businesses

One of the biggest professional trends in this solo-living landscape is the new world of solo-businesses. What do we mean by solo-businesses? We mean businesses that are intended to be run by a single person. Usually, these include freelancing and consulting businesses. In the digital age, these are more popular and accessible than ever before.

People are becoming increasingly unhappy in “traditional” office jobs. They want their freedom to set their own hours, work from anywhere, and be their own boss. Basically, people are thriving on their own without the structure of a team.

One potential challenge to this trend is the concern over health insurance, but even that is being overcome. Many people were afraid to leave their employer because it would leave them without health insurance benefits. However, it’s now possible to find full group health insurance for self-employed individuals. While health insurance might still be complicated for the self-employed, new legislation and changes are making it more affordable and accessible.

Ultimately, all of these changes in the professional workforce are making it easier for people to strike out on their own. While a full team might have been needed in the past to run a business successfully, the internet makes tools and networking easier than ever. All of these changes are continuing to impact business as we know it.

The Evolution of Teamwork

To answer the original question: is personal development killing teamwork? In short, no. However, teamwork is changing. On the surface it might seem like teamwork is becoming less and less needed as more people focus on themselves both in their personal and professional lives. While this might be true on some level, teamwork is popping up in new ways.

For instance, more people are working together digitally than ever before. Remote work is on the rise, and while freelancers, contractors, and self-employed professionals might not physically work together in the same office space, they’re still contributing to the same projects, helping others, and working in a cohesive way.

Ultimately, teamwork is evolving to fit our new way of life. Yes, it’s true the work is changing. People are choosing to focus on themselves in different ways than we’ve seen in the past, and some of this is due to the way technology gives us other ways to connect with people from around the world. Only time will tell how this personal development trend affects us as a community. As of now, teamwork is still very much alive and well, though it’s taking a new shape that we’ve never seen before.

 

About the Author: Wendy Dessler frequently writes about the latest advancements in tech and digital marketing. She currently focuses on helping SaaS businesses create a better world for our kids.