More Diverse Personalities Mean More Successful Teams

More Diverse Personalities Mean More Successful Teams More Diverse Personalities Mean More Successful Teams The success of a collaborative team in creating todays increasingly complex technological devices depends not only on the combined skill sets of the team members but also on their personalities and ways of approaching and solving problems. Almost a quarter-century of records of student design teams, mainly in Stanford Universitys mechanical engineering design program, indicate that performance improves when a team pays attention to its members individual personalities. In other words, teams do better when they are composed of people with the widest possible range of personalities, even though it takes longer for such psychologically diverse teams to achieve good cooperation. They must first cultivate an openness to opposing opinions and recognize the value of exploring a problem from various angles. While these principles have evolved from observing student project teams at work on realistic problems, the basics are likely to apply in corporations as well. Most compelling was the tripling of design prizes awarded by the Lincoln Foundation to one courses teams over a ten-year period when no factors were changing except personality composition. Especially convincing was one year when students composed their teams with no guidance from a personality questionnaire. That one year, only a quarter of the teams won anything, compared to three-quarters of the Stanford teams in the other years when a personality questionnaire was used. Corporations rarely have the flexibility of universities to construct teams freely without considering rank, seniority, experience, or specialty. Yet any team can benefit from cognitive mode information about its members. Extremely valuable is a preliminary meeting devoted entirely to what might be called the psychological organization of the team. Each team member examines a chart specifying eight cognitive modes and indicates his or her preferred modes. The team then decides whether to select a single person to be responsible for the mode or whether the job should be shared. The thinking is that team members handling preferred activities are likely to perform better. For any empty cells, team members should either designate a member to be responsible or to alternate responsibility among members to make sure the mode is not forgotten. After the meeting each person knows what to expect not only from the others, but also from herself or himself. Advantages of addressing cognitive modes include (1) drawing attention to the quieter introverted modes of knowledge, imagination, analysis, and evaluation, too often overshadowed by the more noticeable extraverted modes of experiment, ideation, organization, and community and (2) increasing the use of the information collection modes (experimentation, ideation, knowledge, and imagination), sometimes unintentionally overlooked by managers tending to concentrate on the decision-making modes (organization, community, analysis, and evaluation). An organization meeting increases the efficacy of individual team members and enhances team effectiveness, possibly because of each individuals increased understanding of his or her own roles. Since assignment to roles has been guided by each individuals preferences, that should encourage responsibility. According to psychologist Albert Bandura, author of Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, the belief in ones own capabilities is important for every team member because beliefs influence their course of action, how much effort they put forth, how long they persevere in the face of obstacles and failures, whether their thought patterns are self-hindering, how much stress and depression they experience, and the level of accomplishments they realize. Although the Lincoln awards ended a decade ago because of a reorganization of Stanford programs, teamology has continued to be studied at other universities. At the University of California at San Diego, a study of 150 lower-division science and engineering students in teams pursing robotics projects found that those in cognitively diverse groups said their teams felt less cohesive but generally their projects were deemed more creative. Preliminary experience with personality questionnaires has led to markedly improved performance of academic design teams, based on the number of awards won. Although corporate circumstances differ in many ways from a universitys, some of the academic experiences and ideas may help managers improve the effectiveness of their industrial teams. [Adapted from Personalities into Teams, by Doug Wilde for Mechanical Engineering, January 2010.] Corporations rarely have the flexibility of universities to construct teams freely without considering rank, seniority, experience, or specialty.

4 Fail-Proof Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Your Business Day

4 Fail-Proof Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Your Business Day 4 Fail-Proof Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Your Business Day Startup culture programs us to  think that it takes nearly nonstop work to make it to the top. People think of sleeping pods in offices, hackathons, and endless cups of  coffee. Sometimes, the pressure to always be on can disguise itself as  a flexible work schedule. In reality, the fact that you can work from anywhere  is just an invitation to work no matter where you are. As an entrepreneur building a lifestyle business, I find that directing a 100-percent  remote company can easily turn into an exercise in being a workaholic if I dont put limits on myself. I learned this the hard way with my first few businesses, where I used to work myself into the ground thinking that that was what productivity meant. No matter how driven you may be, your body simply wasnt made to be on 24/7. Pushing yourself beyond the point of fatigue is not a sustainable strategy in the long term. If you want your business to thrive, then you have to give it the very best of yourself. That doesnt mean putting in grueling 18-hour days amped up on caffeine, ordering fast food for its convenience, and sitting the whole time. It means giving your business focused, productive energy and doing whatever you need to do to replenish that energy. Stand by Your Quitting Time You should give your business a significant portion of your time every day, but you dont have to be on call all the time. Institute a hard stop every day. Mine is around 4:30 P.M.  After that, I spend time with my family or hang out with my friends. Its amazing what this has done for my productivity. Compared to when I was first starting out when I used to work any time I wasnt sleeping forcing myself to stick to a hard stop time gives my day more structure. I might put in fewer hours of work overall, but the ones that I do put in are hyperfocused. My overall productivity has remained the same, and I have more time to spend on other things I love. Sleep Studies show  that people who get between seven and  eight hours of sleep every night perform better on cognitive tests. Thats why Ive stopped believing in all-nighters. Ive found that the one-time increase in hours worked is something I wind up paying for days afterward. Its like sprinting the first two miles in a marathon: your overall movement becomes slower even though you really push it for a short stretch. Your business is like a big marathon for your brain, so do what you need to do to get enough sleep for your body and wake up rested. The quality of your sleep matters, too. Sleep in complete darkness and avoid  screen time before bed (that means no checking your phone or tablet while  the lights are off). Your brain maintains itself, heals,  and organizes information while youre asleep,  all of  which is crucial for your continued success as an entrepreneur. Exercise Exercise produces endorphins that boost your mental state and calm you down, helping you focus and make better decisions for your business. By improving your mood and lowering stress, youll avoid making rash decisions motivated by anxiety. Exercise also boosts energy and reduces fatigue by helping you sleep better.  This  study  shows that these benefits can even come from low-intensity exercise, as long as its regular. For me, playing with the kids, taking a brisk walk around the block, or even doing some yard work all count if Im moving around and I break a sweat. Make an effort to get fit  by exercising in the morning or  during the mid-afternoon slump, and youll have much more mental energy for your business. Reduce Decision Fatigue With Routine Decision fatigue is an inevitable result of having to make decisions every day. When the volume of decisions you have to make is  too high, your mental energy gets  depleted, and your brain experiences a short-term burnout. Entrepreneurs who try to work through decision fatigue experience great lapses in judgment, have difficulty staying focused, and tend to be more pessimistic. The key to reducing decision fatigue is to schedule all your important decision-making moments earlier in the day, when you have more mental energy. Then implement as many routines as you can in your workday so that you have to spend less mental energy elsewhere. I find that scheduling time to review my employees work, answering emails, and any other easy tasks are best done at the same time each day, ideally in the afternoon. At this point, because I know they come at the same time every day, those tasks are like brushing my teeth something I just do instead of deciding to do. No matter which of these techniques you choose for reducing mental fatigue, think  of these tips as energy boosts  instead of  breaks. Productivity doesnt come from being glued to the helm of your business every waking moment. It comes from energized, focused bouts of work, balanced with well-deserved rest. - This article originally appeared on BusinessCollective. Dave Nevogt is a cofounder of  Hubstaff, a time-tracking software for remote teams. Hubstaff allows managers to see time spent on projects, screenshots, activity levels, in-depth reports, and timesheets. Dave has been founding companies since 2004, with his first success coming at age 23. Follow him at @dnevogt.

How savings can impact your employees financial wellbeing

How savings can impact your employees financial wellbeing How savings can impact your employees financial wellbeing Finances can be a very personal thing to just about everyone. After all, it’s only natural to fiercely safeguard your finances and all the information surrounding it all. People rarely talk about things like earnings and debts unless they’re with an exceptionally trusted party. Others don’t confide in anyone at all.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!That said, your business can operate as that ‘exceptionally trusted party’ most people would crave when times get tough. When your employee’s overall financial wellbeing is improved, so too is that of your business!Consequently, here’s how savings can impact your employee’s financial wellbeing.Funding Contingency PlansSavings impact employee financial wellbeing by funding contingency plans. This means that if your workers start to rack up debts and other payment obligations, they should have money set aside to fix o r at least partially resolve those concerns.It ultimately means they have options on a way forward, providing them with a level of reassurance and consensus around their money.Without savings, employees can start to panic and, perhaps more relevant to you as an employer, be distracted on the job or take numerous sick days to deal with their issues.As professional and strong as some people seem, personal life problems will always bleed into the workspace and affect things like attendance, performance and productivity.Consequently, you should always take your employees savings seriously; whether it’s because you care for them as people (and you should) or simply want everyone to always stay on task.Workplace BenefitsWorkplace benefits can help contribute to your employees’ savings efforts. For example, if you’re running a lucrative retail venture, you could provide employee discounts on all your goods.Workers will subsequently save money in the long run by shopping with you, and you may also attract more business here by implementing these kinds of schemes as more people, even if they’re discounted employees, will use your products and services.These kinds of schemes can also reduce employee turnover and help keep staff loyal to the business. Over time, you’ll be building a robust relationship with your workers through these kinds of extra incentives, and eventually, you’ll be promoting a healthier atmosphere; both in terms of finances and mental health.Promote Saving CultureMany businesses don’t like getting involved with their workers’ personal affairs. However, it’s an indisputable fact that  most employees spend an extortionate amount of time together, so without sounding too cheesy, it’s important that everyone is there for each other. This is especially true when it comes to boss-worker relations and the efficiency of the HR department.As an employer, you should always try to encourage a positive attitude in the workplace. This can incl ude promoting saving culture in the workplace too! When workers feel that their financial struggles are being addressed by the company they work for, they may just feel more educated and cared for.This is especially true for younger employees who’re entering the workforce, and independently managing money, for the first time.This needn’t take the form of personal one-on-one meetings to discuss matters in detail, though it can if that’s your preference. You could also recommend or  utilize valuable resources online, including benefits for employees  to browse, or encourage them to speak to HR in the event of money concerns.Ultimately, promoting a helpful saving culture is infinitely more productive than doing nothing.This article first appeared on Your Coffee Break.  You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people

The Environmentally Friendly Garbage Can

The Environmentally Friendly Garbage Can The Environmentally Friendly Garbage Can We all know the saw about building a better mousetrap. But however good your rat trapper, people wont beat a path to your door, it turns out, until the timing is right. It doesnt catch mice, but a machine that destroys medical waste without polluting the atmosphere serves a different and important health purpose. When such a machine was patented, the inventor, Wolf von Lersner, found that nobody wanted to build it. In the late 1980s, medical waste was being routinely dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. Von Lersner had a vacation home in Avalon, on one of the south Jersey barrier islands, and when he heard that surgical dressings, disposable gloves, and used hypodermic syringes were washing up on the beaches of New Jersey and Long Island he began dreaming up a better disposal system. As director of engineering at Campbell Soup he understood methods of sterilization and systems using heat, and he was familiar with devices for food handling and disposal of food waste. He turned to Stephan Machinery GmbH, a company in Hameln, Germany, that manufactures machinery and plants for food processing, to devise an environmentally sound method of dealing with hospital waste. This configuration of Ecolotec stands 8 feet high and has a footprint of less than 36 square feet.The collaboration resulted in the Ecolotec, a large autoclave equipped with a system of blades to churn and chop. In 1993, when von Lersner received his patent, ocean dumping had been curbed, but many hospitals were burning their biohazards in incinerators on site. So no one stepped up to put Ecolotec into commercial production. Even in 1997, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act ordered hospitals to reduce emissions from their incinerators, von Lersners idea was still a tough sell. Hospitals could not bear the cost of emissions control and shut down their incinerators. Disposal services with fully compliant incinerators picked up the medical waste. Then, 13 years after the patent was issued, gas prices rose above $3 a gallon. Carting things was no longer cheap. A company in Alabama bet that rising costs in general, and of fuel in particular, would keep haulers fees sufficiently high to make Ecolotec an attractive method of waste disposal. The company now makes disposal systems for hospitals around the world. Inside the machine, a batch of waste is directed to a jacketed vessel and exposed to steam heated to 270F at a pressure of more than 45 psi. Blades called knife hammers rotate at 1,500 rpm to churn and shred the material. The action of the blades exposes more of the trash to the steam at one time and makes sterilization quicker. It also reduces waste to an unrecognizable mass to prevent accidental injury from sharps or blades and make it impossible for anyone to recycle a syringe or a scalpel from the trash. The chopping can reduce overall volume of waste by as much as 80 percent, and the sterilized mass coming out is ready for disposal in a conventional landfill. According to the company, trash in the hopper will reach complete sterilization in less than 10 minutes, and the system can process 200 pounds of waste an hour. Exhaust is triple-filtered, passing through a mechanical prefilter, a HEPA filter, and an activated carbon filter. The system stands eight feet high and has a footprint of just under 36 square feet. There are monitoring strips in the machine to test for sterilization after each batch. Ecolotecs executives say that, at an operating cost of 11 cents a pound, their machine costs considerably less than waste disposal services, who charging large-volume customers 21 to 29 cents a pound. Smaller hospitals may pay more. You cant always predict where the world will beat a path. Youd expect a cheaper, better, mousetrap would attract the path beaters. [Adapted from Its in the Timing, by Harry Hutchinson, Executive Editor, Mechanical Engineering, July 2006.] You can't always predict where the world will beat a path. You'd expect a cheaper, better, mousetrap would attract the path beaters.

5 Ways to Demonstrate Air Pressure to Children

5 Ways to Demonstrate Air Pressure to Children 5 Ways to Demonstrate Air Pressure to Children Note: A parent should always be presentboth physically and mentallywhen the children are conducting any science experiment at home. Even the simplest experiments have potential for trouble if done wrong. The ordinary pressure of the air surrounding us is 14.7 pounds per square inch, but the pressure can change when the wind blows or an object, like a car or airplane, accelerates. One important principle to remember is that wherever the air pressure is higher, there will be a stronger force or push against an object. Its also helpful to know that when an air particle speeds up, it actually pushes less. Imagine that fast-moving air particles are in so much of a hurry that they dont have time to apply force. This principle is used in airplane wings to make planes fly. When a plane moves along the runway, the air above the wing speeds up more, lowering the pressure, so that the air below the wing can push the plane upward. Also for You: How to Homeschool Engineering Students Do you want to see if these principles really work? Great! Try one or more of the following experiments: Water Glass Trick. Fill a cup one-third with water. Cover the entire mouth with an index card. Holding the card in place, take the cup to the sink and turn it upside down. Remove your hand from underneath. Voil! Because the water inside the cup is lighter than the air outside, the card is held in place by about 15 pounds of force from the air pushing up, while the force of the water pushing down is only about one pound of force. Fountain Bottle. Fill a 2-liter soda bottle half full of water. Take a long straw and insert it in the mouth. Wrap a lump of clay around the straw to form a seal. Blow hard into the strawthen stand back. Your blowing increases the air pressure inside the sealed bottle. This higher pressure pushes on the water and forces it up and out the straw. Ping-Pong Funnel. Put a ping-pong ball inside the wide part of a funnel and blow hard into the narrow end. Why doesnt the ball pop out? As you blow into the funnel, the air moves faster and lowers the air pressure underneath the ball. Because the air pressure is higher above the ball than below it, the ball is pushed down into the funnelno matter how hard you blow or which direction you point the funnel. The Million Dollar Bet. Take an empty water or soda bottle and lay it down horizontally on a table. Roll a piece of paper towel into a small ball about half the size of the opening. Tell a friend youll pay $1 million if he or she can blow the ball into the bottle. Dont worry about losing money because this is impossible. No matter how hard someone blows to try to force more air into the bottle, theres no room for it, so it will flow right out, pushing away the paper ball. Kissing Balloons. Blow up two balloons and attach a piece of string to each. Hold one balloon by the string in each hand and position the two balloons so that they are at your nose level and 6 inches apart. Blow hard into the space between the balloons. This lowers the air pressure. The pressure of the surrounding air is now higher and it will push the balloons together. [Adapted from Top Ten Air Pressure Experiments to Mystify Your Kids-Using Stuff From Around the House, by Aurora Lipper, for Mechanical Engineering, January 2008.] Read More: How to Mentor Young Engineers Experiential Learning and Cooperative Education Pay Off Engineering Education, Family Style

The morning routine experts recommend for peak productivity

The morning routine experts recommend for peak productivity The morning routine experts recommend for peak productivity What’s the best way to start your day so that you really get things done? Laura Vanderkam  studied the schedules of high-achievers. What did she find? Almost all  have a morning routine.I’ve  interviewed  a ton of top experts about their productivity secrets:  Tim Ferriss,  Cal Newport,  Dan Ariely,  Charles Duhigg, and others.But you’re busy. You don’t have time to read all that stuff. You need a plan.So many readers have written to me saying what my friend Jason always does: “I don’t have time. Eric, now that you’ve talked to all these people, what do  you  do?”Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!Okay, time to round up what the experts have said  and build a roadmap.1) Stop reactingGet up before the insanity starts. Don’t check your email or anything else that is going to dictate your behavior.When I spoke to productivity guru Tim Ferriss, bestselling autho r of  The 4-Hour Workweek,  what did he say?Here’s Tim:I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible. I think that a routine is necessary to feel in control and non-reactive, which reduces anxiety. It therefore also makes you more productive.Most of us get up and  it seems like things are already in motion. Gotta race to something. Emails coming in. We’re already behind.So  of course  you aren’t achieving your goals. You immediately started with what the world threw at you and then just reacted, reacted, reacted as new things came in until the day ended or you were too exhausted to do what was important.You need to wake  up before the insanity starts. Before demands are made on you. Before your goals for the day have competition.(For more from Tim Ferriss on what the most productive people do every day, click  here.)Okay, you’re ahead of the maelstrom. What do you need to do before things get thrown at you?2) Decide the 3 things that matter to dayCal Newport  is so productive it makes me cry. He’s a professor at Georgetown, cranks out academic papers, has written  4 books, and is a dad and a husband. And he’s done by 5:30PM every day. What did Cal have to say?All tasks are not created equal. Most of us  deal with two fundamentally different types of work, Shallow and Deep:Shallow work is little stuff like email, meetings, moving information around. Things that are not really using your talents. Deep work pushes your current abilities to their limits. It produces high value results and improves your skills.Shallow work stops you from getting fired - but deep work is what gets  you promoted. Deep work must get priority.In his book  The ONE Thing, Gary Keller applies the “Pareto principle” to the workday:Most of us get 80% of results from 20% of the work we do. So focus on that 20%.What really creates progress vs treading water?  What gives disproportionate results? Do  those  things.And don’t be vague. Specify wh at you need to get done. Research shows having  concrete  goals is  correlated with huge increases in confidence and feelings of control.Via  The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People:People who construct their goals in concrete terms are 50 percent more likely to feel confident they will attain their goals and 32 percent more likely to feel in control of their lives. â€" Howatt 1999(For more from Cal on how to stop being lazy and get more done, click  here.)Okay, you know  what  is important. Now you need to think about  when.3) Use your  â€œmagic hours” for your 3 goalsJust like all tasks aren’t created equal, all hours aren’t created equal either.Dan Ariely  is a behavioral economist at Duke University and the New York Times bestselling author of  Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.Dan says you  have 2-2.5 hours of peak productivity every  day. You may actually be 30% more effective at that time.  Here’s  Dan:…it turns out that most peo ple are productive in the first two hours of the morning. Not immediately after waking,  but if you get up  at 7 you’ll be most productive from around from 8-10:30.And Dan’s findings  line up with other research. I’ve posted before that  2.5 to 4 hours after waking is when your brain is sharpest.  You want to waste that on a conference call or a staff  meeting?Studies show that alertness and memory, the ability to think clearly and to learn, can vary by between 15 and 30 percent over the course of a day. Most of us are sharpest some two and a half to four hours after waking.But does this really work? In  studies of geniuses, most  did their best work early in the day.Those are the hours when you should be working on your  3 goals.  Designate that part of your day  as “protected time.”Maybe you know that you’re a night owl. Fine, then protect  those  hours. The important thing is to do your  key tasks during your key hours.(For more on the schedule the most successful peo ple use every day, click  here.)You know what’s important today and you know when your best hours are. But maybe you’re not motivated or you feel like procrastinating. How can you get going?4) Have a starting ritualCharles  Duhigg  is a reporter for the New York Times and author of the bestseller  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. What did he say about fighting procrastination and getting things done?Finishing things isn’t as much of a problem as just getting started in the first place.  Here’s Charles:One way to use habits to fight procrastination is to develop a habitualized response to starting. When people talk about procrastination, what they’re usually actually talking about is the first step. In general, if people can habitualize that first step, it makes it a lot easier.Maybe getting that cup of coffee is the signal that you’re getting down to business. Or do you have a spot where you’re usually productive? Go there.Wendy Wood, a pr ofessor at USC explains how your environment activates habits - without your conscious mind even noticing.Via  Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore:Habits emerge from the gradual learning of associations between an action and outcome, and the contexts that have been associated with them. Once the habit is formed, various elements from the context can serve as a cue to activate the behavior, independent of intention and absent of a particular goal… Very often, the conscious mind never gets engaged.(For more on the fun way to be more successful, click  here.)Some days it just isn’t going to happen. You can’t get going on that #1 task. What should you do when all else fails?5) Use “positive procrastination”Yes, procrastination can be a  good  thing  - but it has to be  the right kind of procrastination.When do you usually get 1000 things done?  When you’re avoiding that one thing that absolutely terrifies you.If you know you can’t do that scary thing right now, d o not turn to Facebook or video games. Tell yourself it’s okay to avoid it - as long as you’re doing the #2 thing  on your to-do list.Dr. John Perry, author of  The Art of Procrastination, explains a good method for  using this to trick yourself into massive productivity:The key to productivity…is to make  more  commitments - but to be methodical about it.  At the top of your to-do list, put a couple of daunting, if not impossible, tasks that are vaguely important-sounding (but really aren’t) and seem to have deadlines (but really don’t). Then, farther down the list, include some doable tasks that really matter.  â€œDoing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list,”  Dr. Perry writes.A similar tip is described by Piers Steel, author of  The Procrastination Equation:My best trick is to play my projects off against each other, procrastinating on one by working on another.Dr. Steel says it’s based on sound principles of behavioral psychology :We are willing to pursue any vile task as long as it allows us to avoid something worse.(To learn a Navy SEAL’s  secrets to grit and resilience when things get hard, click  here.)I know what some of you are saying:  Where are the bullet points? I need bullet points to follow!  No problem. Here you go:Sum upHere’s what we can put together from listening to all the experts: Stop reacting.  Get up before the world starts making demands so you can figure out what’s important to  you. Decide what matters today.  You won’t get everything done, so what will move the needle? What will let you end the day feeling like you accomplished something? No more than 3 goals. Use your “magic hours” for those three things.  Your peak productivity time is probably an hour or two after you wake up. If you know your best hours are at another time, fine. Protect your “magic hours.” Have a starting ritual.  Go to the place where you get stuff done. Get your coffee. Anything that tells your brain it’s time  to rock. When things go sideways, use “positive procrastination.”  If you can’t tackle the  super  scary thing,  do the  pretty  scary thing.  Designating a  super  scary thing in advance as a decoy can make that  pretty  scary thing much easier. We’re all trying to achieve  work-life balance. You’re not going to get everything done. But start the day right and you can definitely accomplish what matters.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:You can do anything once you stop trying to do everything.Join more than 320,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email  here.This article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree. The morning routine experts recommend for peak productivity What’s the best way to start your day so that you really get things done?Laura Vanderkam  studied the schedules of high-achievers. What did she find? Almost all  have a morning routine.I’ve  interviewed  a ton of top experts about their productivity secrets:  Tim Ferriss,  Cal Newport,  Dan Ariely,  Charles Duhigg, and others.Related from Ladders 8 morning habits of the most successful people Morning ritual: The 7 steps that will make you happy all day These are the workout routines of healthy billionaires But you’re busy. You don’t have time to read all that stuff. You need a plan.So many readers have written to me saying what my friend Jason always does: “I don’t have time. Eric, now that you’ve talked to all these people, what do  you  do?”Okay, time to round up what the experts have said  and build a roadmap.1) Stop reactingGet up before the insanity starts. Don’t check your email or anything else that is going to dictate your behavior.When I spoke to productivity guru Tim Ferriss, bestselling author of  The 4-Hour Workweek,  what did he say?Here’s Tim:I try to have the first 80 to 90 minutes of my day vary as little as possible. I think that a routine is necessary to feel in control and non-reactive, which reduces anxiety. It therefore also makes you more productive.Most of us get up and  it seems like things are already in motion. Gotta race to something. Emails coming in. We’re already behind.So  of course  you aren’t achieving your goals. You immediately sta rted with what the world threw at you and then just reacted, reacted, reacted as new things came in until the day ended or you were too exhausted to do what was important.You need to wake  up before the insanity starts. Before demands are made on you. Before your goals for the day have competition.(For more from Tim Ferriss on what the most productive people do every day, click  here.)Okay, you’re ahead of the maelstrom. What do you need to do before things get thrown at you?2) Decide the 3 things that matter todayCal Newport  is so productive it makes me cry. He’s a professor at Georgetown, cranks out academic papers, has written  4 books, and is a dad and a husband. And he’s done by 5:30PM every day. What did Cal have to say?All tasks are not created equal. Most of us  deal with two fundamentally different types of work, Shallow and Deep:Shallow work is little stuff like email, meetings, moving information around. Things that are not really using your talents. Deep work push es your current abilities to their limits. It produces high value results and improves your skills.Shallow work stops you from getting fired - but deep work is what gets  you promoted. Deep work must get priority.In his book  The ONE Thing, Gary Keller applies the “Pareto principle” to the workday:Most of us get 80% of results from 20% of the work we do. So focus on that 20%.What really creates progress vs treading water?  What gives disproportionate results? Do  those  things.And don’t be vague. Specify what you need to get done. Research shows having  concrete  goals is  correlated with huge increases in confidence and feelings of control.Via  The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People:People who construct their goals in concrete terms are 50 percent more likely to feel confident they will attain their goals and 32 percent more likely to feel in control of their lives. â€" Howatt 1999(For more from Cal on how to stop being lazy and get more done, click  here.)Okay, you kno w  what  is important. Now you need to think about  when.3) Use your  â€œmagic hours” for your 3 goalsJust like all tasks aren’t created equal, all hours aren’t created equal either.Dan Ariely  is a behavioral economist at Duke University and the New York Times bestselling author of  Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.Dan says you  have 2-2.5 hours of peak productivity every  day. You may actually be 30% more effective at that time.  Here’s  Dan:…it turns out that most people are productive in the first two hours of the morning. Not immediately after waking,  but if you get up  at 7 you’ll be most productive from around from 8-10:30.And Dan’s findings  line up with other research. I’ve posted before that  2.5 to 4 hours after waking is when your brain is sharpest.  You want to waste that on a conference call or a staff  meeting?Studies show that alertness and memory, the ability to think clearly and to learn, can vary by between 15 and 30 percent over the course of a day. Most of us are sharpest some two and a half to four hours after waking.But does this really work? In  studies of geniuses, most  did their best work early in the day.Those are the hours when you should be working on your  3 goals.  Designate that part of your day  as “protected time.”Maybe you know that you’re a night owl. Fine, then protect  those  hours. The important thing is to do your  key tasks during your key hours.(For more on the schedule the most successful people use every day, click  here.)You know what’s important today and you know when your best hours are. But maybe you’re not motivated or you feel like procrastinating. How can you get going?4) Have a starting ritualCharles  Duhigg  is a reporter for the New York Times and author of the bestseller  The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. What did he say about fighting procrastination and getting things done?Finishing things isn’t as much of a pro blem as just getting started in the first place.  Here’s Charles:One way to use habits to fight procrastination is to develop a habitualized response to starting. When people talk about procrastination, what they’re usually actually talking about is the first step. In general, if people can habitualize that first step, it makes it a lot easier.Maybe getting that cup of coffee is the signal that you’re getting down to business. Or do you have a spot where you’re usually productive? Go there.Wendy Wood, a professor at USC explains how your environment activates habits - without your conscious mind even noticing.Via  Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore:Habits emerge from the gradual learning of associations between an action and outcome, and the contexts that have been associated with them. Once the habit is formed, various elements from the context can serve as a cue to activate the behavior, independent of intention and absent of a particular goal… Very often, the conscious mind never gets engaged.(For more on the fun way to be more successful, click  here.)Some days it just isn’t going to happen. You can’t get going on that #1 task. What should you do when all else fails?5) Use “positive procrastination”Yes, procrastination can be a  good  thing  - but it has to be  the right kind of procrastination.When do you usually get 1000 things done?  When you’re avoiding that one thing that absolutely terrifies you.If you know you can’t do that scary thing right now, do not turn to Facebook or video games. Tell yourself it’s okay to avoid it - as long as you’re doing the #2 thing  on your to-do list.Dr. John Perry, author of  The Art of Procrastination, explains a good method for  using this to trick yourself into massive productivity:The key to productivity…is to make  more  commitments - but to be methodical about it.  At the top of your to-do list, put a couple of daunting, if not impossible, tasks that are vaguely important-s ounding (but really aren’t) and seem to have deadlines (but really don’t). Then, farther down the list, include some doable tasks that really matter.  â€œDoing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list,”  Dr. Perry writes.A similar tip is described by Piers Steel, author of  The Procrastination Equation:My best trick is to play my projects off against each other, procrastinating on one by working on another.Dr. Steel says it’s based on sound principles of behavioral psychology:We are willing to pursue any vile task as long as it allows us to avoid something worse.(To learn a Navy SEAL’s  secrets to grit and resilience when things get hard, click  here.)I know what some of you are saying:  Where are the bullet points? I need bullet points to follow!  No problem. Here you go:Sum upHere’s what we can put together from listening to all the experts: Stop reacting.  Get up before the world starts making demands so you can figure out what’s important to  you. Decide what matters today.  You won’t get everything done, so what will move the needle? What will let you end the day feeling like you accomplished something? No more than 3 goals. Use your “magic hours” for those three things.  Your peak productivity time is probably an hour or two after you wake up. If you know your best hours are at another time, fine. Protect your “magic hours.” Have a starting ritual.  Go to the place where you get stuff done. Get your coffee. Anything that tells your brain it’s time  to rock. When things go sideways, use “positive procrastination.”  If you can’t tackle the  super  scary thing,  do the  pretty  scary thing.  Designating a  super  scary thing in advance as a decoy can make that  pretty  scary thing much easier. We’re all trying to achieve  work-life balance. You’re not going to get everything done. But start the day right and you can definitely accomplish what matters.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:You can do anything once you stop trying to do everything.Join more than 320,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email  here.Related posts:6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You WantHow To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertHow To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done â€" 5 Expert TipsThis article first appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

Retail Salesperson - Career Information

Retail Salesperson - Career Information Retail Salesperson - Career Information A retail salesperson sells clothes, cars, electronics or other products directly to consumers. He or she helps customers find what they are looking for in a store or other retail establishment and gets them to make purchases by explaining how the merchandise will benefit them. They are not to be confused with sales representatives who sell products on behalf of manufacturers and wholesalers. Employment Facts Retail salespeople held about 4.2 million jobs in 2010. Clothing and clothing accessories stores employed close to a quarter of them. Many also worked for general merchandise stores. Retail salespeoples schedules include evenings and weekends. They sometimes have to work on holidays. For example, many stores are open on Thanksgiving Day in order to get a head start on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Another downside to this occupation is that workers spend a lot of time standing and can only take breaks when scheduled to do so. Educational Requirements This occupation doesnt have any formal educational requirements but many employers prefer to hire those who have a high school or equivalency diploma. New hires receive on-the-job training from their employers, learning about things such as customer service and store security. They become acquainted with an establishments policies and procedures. Those selling specialty products are instructed in their use. Other Requirements To succeed as a retail salesperson one must have good customer service skills which include the ability to respond to potential customers wants and needs. He or she must have good people skills such as the ability to relate to others. Good selling skills are required, as one may have to persuade customers to make purchases. Persistence may at times be needed in order to sell a product to a customer who may not be immediately interested in it. Advancement Retail salespeople with experience and seniority usually move to positions of greater responsibility and may be given their choice of departments in which to work. They often move to areas with potentially higher earnings and commissions. In larger stores salespeople may move into managerial positions, first becoming assistant managers. In smaller stores, these opportunities for advancement vary since store owners may handle all managerial responsibilities. Job Outlook This occupation, predicts the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, will grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2020. Due to a high rate of turnover, there will be more job openings in retail sales than in any other occupation. Earnings Retail salespeople earned a median annual salary of $21,010 and median hourly wages of $10.10 in 2009. Although the pay is relatively low, workers often receive employee discounts on purchases. Use the Salary Calculator at Salary.com to find out how much retail salespeople currently earn in your city. A Day in a Retail Salespersons Life On a typical day a retail salesperson will: try to figure out what a customer wants or needs by talking to or observing him or hertell customers about products features and demonstrate their useexplain differences between different models of a productanswer questions about products, services and store policieslook for individuals attempting to steal merchandise and report them to security personnelorder customized or out-of-stock itemsprepare sales receipts or contractsprocess payments for purchasesSet up and maintain merchandise displays Sources:  Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Retail Salespersons, on the Internet at bls.gov/ooh/sales/retail-sales-workers.htm (visited February 4, 2013). Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, O*NET Online, Retail Salespersons, on the Internet at onetonline.org/link/details/41-2031.00 (visited February 4, 2013).