6 Playful Strategies to Beat Procrastination and Boost Your Productivity

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10 Simple Strategies to Wake Up Early

After almost 30 years of being an avid anti-morning person (I almost had protest signs made), I now wake up early every day – at 6am to be exact (including weekends!) While my attitude toward mornings changed overnight, getting to a point where I could wake up early without wanting to cry has taken over a year to accomplish.

It all started when I read Laura Vanderkam’s What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. This was at a time where I was fed up with my hectic lifestyle – a lifestyle we’re all made to feel we “should” want – so I began spending every spare moment learning various ways to get out of my rut. I learned not only who out of the insanely successful wake up early, but why, and how they spend that time. It sounded glorious!

So that settled it: I was going to become a morning person. Clearly you’d like to do the same or you wouldn’t be here. So, without further ado, here are 10 simple strategies to help you successfully wake up early:

Like me, you’ve probably spent years cultivating your “mornings are evil” attitude: hitting the snooze button 37,256 times, dragging yourself out of bed just to grunt like a cave person until your coffee’s ready, and sharing every “I hate mornings” meme you can find on Facebook.

Let it all go. Throw away every misconception embedded in you since school and start this process with a clean slate. The only way you’ll succeed is if your mind remains open and free of negativity.

This is one of those rare situations where you actually can make your fantasy a reality. Picture yourself as the morning person you want to become: what do your mornings consist of? Are you quietly drinking your coffee on the patio? Reading a book? Doing yoga?

Also, what’s the atmosphere like? This will help you lay the groundwork for what will later become your morning routine. For example, if you want to drink your coffee on the patio but your dog won’t even spend time on it, use days off to create an environment you’d want to wake up to.

At first, only share the changes you’d like to make with those you live with, since they too have to adjust to your new routine. Don’t tell anyone else until you’ve made considerable progress. Otherwise, their attitude toward mornings might negatively impact your frame of mind – or worse, their lack of follow-through in their own lives might rub off on you.

Don’t do what I did and attempt to set a deadline for when you’d like to wake up early – it won’t happen. You never know what circumstances will get in the way of your progress, whether it be emotional resistance, or personal or professional setbacks. Take your time.

Focus on one act at a time: take note of what time you wake up now and when you’d like to wake up from now on. Set your alarm for 15 to 30 minutes earlier, and once you’re comfortable getting up at that time, set it earlier again, and again, until you’re comfortably waking up at your new early time.

Some people have no problem with alarm clocks, but I find the beeping to be unnerving. I’m more comfortable waking up to the radio – it’s less abrupt and helps me transition into waking up, as opposed to startling me into an anxiety attack. Test out various alarm options and see which works best for you.

One thing we tend to lose as adults is the feeling of freedom we had as kids. When we had no sense of schedule, deadlines, goals, or pressure, we were always emotionally available and our imaginations made us feel like anything was possible. I’m not sure when this became “uncool,” but it’s truly the best way to start your day.

What are the things you always want to do but never get to do? Establish what you love to do into your morning routine and stop feeling guilty about it! Not only will you start your work day refreshed and motivated, you’re more likely to wake up early when you’re excited to do so. When I started doing exactly what I wanted to do in the morning, my attitude toward everything changed and I became better equipped to handle future stress and challenges.

There’s no better feeling than creating a protected pocket of time when you can do what you love for no other reason than you want to.

As you continue to adjust your sleep cycle, some days will be harder than others. There will be mornings where you’ll do everything to justify shutting off your alarm and going right back to sleep. Sometimes it will work, and you’ll want to slap yourself later for letting it happen.

During this rough patch, do what you can to make your mornings easier: if you’re so tired you even dread making coffee, program your coffee maker. If your home is cold in the morning, leave your housecoat and slippers beside your bed. If your mind flat lines when you try to decide on breakfast, decide the night before and prep the ingredients. Eventually, your abilities to wake up early and function will happen at the same time, but for now, throw yourself a bone.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the productivity hack “break the chain,” where you consider each day you accomplish your new habit a “chain link.” If you miss a day, you break the chain. It’s a great (and simple) way to stay motivated and push through the mornings you’d rather bathe with a toaster than wake up early.

One of the biggest motivators to continue waking up early is keeping track of what you accomplish when you first get up. By 9am, I have all of my major work accomplished while everyone else is just getting started. It gives a sense of calm to the rest of my day, because I don’t have to worry about interruptions or distractions preventing me from accomplishing my goals – they’re already met. Game. Set. Match.

If you’re struggling to break up with your snooze button, try this: during the day, setup your bedroom as if it’s early morning and your alarm’s about to go off. Set your alarm for a few minutes from now, and practice getting up when it goes off sans snooze button. Alarm goes off, stand up. Alarm goes off, stand up, and so forth. This practice will eventually translate into you waking up early – and successfully.

To successfully wake up early, changes to your sleep habits are also necessary: 10 Common Sleep Mistakes to Avoid

Featured photo credit: black alarm clock and man via Shutterstock

Krissy Brady is a freelance and screenwriter. She writes for and about women who are a smorgasbord of emotional baggage (you know, like her). Get in touch with Krissy through her website and follow her stream of consciousness on Twitter.

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Healthy Eating: 5 Killer Strategies to Lose Weight to Live Longer and Happier

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4 Strategies for Conquering Online Job Application Systems

If you’re like the majority of job seekers, you spend quite a bit of time searching for jobs online. While there are lots of other job search methods—networking, company research, career fairs, recruiters, and the like—once you finally find a job opening, many companies will direct you to their online job application process no matter how you found it in the first place.

Online job application systems, also known as applicant tracking systems (ATS), are used by large and small companies alike to compile job applicants and their information in one big database, where they can quickly search for and find what they need. Companies also argue that using ATS helps them to put job seekers on a level playing field so they can make unbiased decisions.

However you arrive at an ATS, the prospect of entering your professional information into a computer system and sending it into a seemingly large black hole is both scary and exhausting, but there are things you can do to make your application stand out, both to the computer system AND to human beings at the other end. Here are 4 tips to maximize your applications in these large online job application systems:

This might seem time-consuming but it makes a big difference because when a recruiter searches their ATS for specific resume keywords, yours will actually come up! Additionally, some ATS are set up to auto-sort applicants based on specific keywords, so these help the computer identify you as a qualified applicant as well. The job description is a great place to mine for keywords, and you can place them throughout your resume wherever they make sense. And, though it hopefully goes without saying, use only the keywords that are true to your professional experience.

Recruiters admit that when they search an ATS for potential candidates, they stop after they find what they need. It’s just like when you search the web for information: do you go past the first one or two pages of search results, or do you stick with whatever results came up in those first pages? If your resume isn’t one of the first to pop up, the odds are low that they’ll search long enough to find your application. Use the variety of alerts that most job search websites offer —texts, emails, etc.—to be alerted as soon as a new job is posted so that you can apply right away.

Depending on how companies and recruiters have their ATS set up, they may only require certain boxes and information be filled out. This doesn’t mean that you should skip the non-required boxes: the reason you should fill out every piece of information is that the more content you add to your application, the more searchable content you’ve given. This can help your application wind its way through the system and make it to the recruiter.

Resumes have received quite the makeover in the last few years: from infographic styles to beautifully-designed, graphic-heavy versions, resumes are looking pretty good! Unfortunately, ATS are simply no good at reading these fancy resumes, and the less text they can identify, the lower your chances of making it past the computer to a human being.

To make sure your resume is formatted for a computer reader, ditch the graphics and special characters, use web-safe fonts like Arial, Georgia, and Tahoma, beef up your skills section with lots of keywords and industry-specific qualifications, spell out abbreviations and acronyms in addition to using the acronyms, and check your spelling: computers can’t read keywords that are misspelled!

Ultimately, the key is to help computers realize that you are a well-qualified candidate, and these tips should help your online job applications navigate the black hole of applicant-tracking systems so that they eventually reach a human being.

Featured photo credit:  short depth of field focus on a job application via Shutterstock

Brie Weiler Reynolds is the Director of Content and Social Media at FlexJobs, the award-winning site for telecommuting and flexible job listings, and a former career advisor. At FlexJobs, Brie offers job search and career advice, and work-life balance tips through the FlexJobs Blog and social media. Learn more at http://www.flexjobs.com/.

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Speaking Strategies: 5 Tips to Power Up Your Presentation

Quite often when you are listening to a speaker, teacher or seminar leader, you are thinking to yourself that this person is either a really good presenter or a boring one. For some reasons you are not totally sure of, you have put that person in your mind in one of these two classifications.

Of course, if you are ever to be asked to do a presentation in front of people either at work or at a social event like a wedding, you definitely want to do your best so that you are not in turn, labeled as a boring presenter. As a trained speaker, I can let you in on a few secrets and tricks that will help you make it over to the good presenters group if this is one of your goals for the New Year.

Too often poor presenters are looking straight ahead, straight down to the floor, at their notes, or at the screen if using PowerPoint slides for most of their presentations. This loss of eye contact makes it very hard for audiences to have any real connection with a speaker. As a presenter, you should make an effort to have eye contact with all members of the audience. This includes those sitting on the extreme left and right ends, as well as those in the back of the room. Make brief eye contact with different parts of your audience by turning your head towards their direction throughout your talk.

Boring speakers talk with a monotone drone in public. This puts audiences to sleep quickly, especially in darkened rooms. Instead, try to speak with a variety of tones in your voice and with different rhythms in the phrasing of your words. Make important words stand out and have pauses after key points to let audiences reflect on them for brief moments. Rushing through your talks without pauses will lose your audience.

Communication in front of people is not just about using your voice. Use appropriate hand gestures to further enhance certain phrases in your presentation. A combination of vocal and visual elements makes for a more effective talk. For example, if making a reference to something that is rising or going up, use your finger and point up towards the ceiling as you verbalize your point. As a general rule of thumb, the larger your audience, the bigger your gestures should be since small gestures may not be visible to people sitting in the back of large audiences.

Words like “um” or “ah” during a presentation or even in normal conversation, are known in the speaker world as crutch words. They are also sometimes known as “filler words” since they have no meaning and people tend to use them to fill in dead space in between phrases. Try to reduce your use of such words by speaking a bit slower. Although the odd filler word is not a major issue, excessive use of them during presentations can be quite irritating to the ears of the audience.

If you are speaking from a stage or front of a room where there is enough space and you are not stuck behind a podium microphone, make good use of the available room. Audiences react better to speakers who move around the stage rather than those who just stand in one spot during entire talks. However, pacing back and forth endlessly is not effective either. Instead, move with purpose towards a certain part of the audience to connect more with them during certain parts of your talk. You can also use movement to enhance parts of your presentation.

These skills are the physical techniques that will help you become a better presenter in front of any audience. It is highly recommended that you rehearse any presentations that you have to make in public well in advance. Also, rehearse your talks with these physical techniques as if you have an imaginary audience in front of you rather than just reciting them verbally at your desk.

The physical techniques mentioned here along with good writing forms the secrets of great presenters.

(Photo credit: Microphone on Stage via Shutterstock)

Clint Cora is a motivational speaker, author & Karate World Champion based near Toronto, Canada. Get his FREE 3-part Personal Development Video Series on how to expand your comfort zone and finally conquer even your most daunting goals in life.

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5 Workplace Strategies to Supercharge Team Productivity

Extraordinary management requires extraordinary thinking, and these creative workplace strategies are proven to supercharge team productivity over a sustained period. The following are innovative ideas used in companies all over the world to help high-performance teams crank efficiency up a few notches.

Australian software company Atlassian holds what it calls FedEx Days once per quarter to drive employee motivation and productivity. During these intense 24-hour periods, employees can work on whatever project they want so long as it doesn’t fall under their normal job responsibilities. The only other stipulation is that they must present their completed project to their colleagues the next day.

Atlassian cranks things up even further by enabling employees to vote on each other’s projects, giving an award to the winner and, in some cases, green-lighting top ideas for full production. The influence of FedEx Days on employee motivation and overall productivity is so strong that author Daniel Pink recommended it in his book “Drive.”

Second Life founder Philip Rosedale improved company culture by incentivizing employee recognition with the Love Machine. This series of video monitors lets workers leave short messages for specific individuals to recognize work well done, help given and other timely accolades. This system, as Rosedale explained, enables teammates to “tip each other for good work, and also to keep a very high degree of awareness about what everyone was doing, even as the company grew.”

Not all employees can function at their peak during the 9-to-5 workday; similarly, not all employees can focus in an office environment. A ROWE, or a results-only work environment, enables workers to essentially set their own hours and work wherever they feel most comfortable. Employees are measured solely on results, and preset quotas of vacation days, sick days or core hours are all thrown out the window.

The ROWE concept was devised by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson of CultureRx for Best Buy; CultureRx has since helped 40 more U.S. companies transition to this innovative workplace strategy. Michael Reynolds, the president and CEO of SpinWeb, saw productivity double after his company enacted a ROWE.

Another Second Life workplace strategy Rosedale revealed is that of employee-driven bonuses. Each teammate gets $1,000 per year to allocate to coworkers as he or she pleases. This peer performance review takes the onus of dividing bonuses away from managers, who may not be as closely connected with office leaders and peak performers.

Barry Glassman of Glassman Wealth Services doesn’t send his employees to pricey conferences; instead, he sends them home for a day once per quarter, with pay, to watch presentations on Ted.com and brainstorm ideas for the business. Glassman also dedicates a half-day each quarter to an all-staff meeting in which each employee presents his or her favorite Ted.com presentation.

Glassman reports that Thinking Days have supercharged team productivity and new ideas. They’ve also raised employee morale, kept teams connected and exposed workers to a bevy of keynotes from the world’s top thinkers.

The GWS Thinking Days also play on a phenomenon studied by Simone Ritter and his fellow researchers at the Radboud University Behavioral Science Institute: the role of the unconscious mind in creative output. Ritter asked two groups of university students to devise solutions to an everyday problem. One group spent 2 minutes on a distracting task before compiling their answers, while the other group got to work immediately.

Both groups came up with about the same number of creative ideas, but the first group was far better at picking its most creative idea than the second group. This pattern held up in subsequent experiments, leading the researchers to believe that the unconscious mind helps us determine which of our ideas are worth pursuing.

One of the toughest tasks managers have is fostering employee productivity and efficiency over an extended period. These strategies promote a productive office culture that organically motivates workers.

(Photo credit: Closeup portrait of group of business people with hands together via Shutterstock)

Marissa Brassfield is ridiculously efficient. She's a productivity expert, high-performance author and communication efficiency specialist whose workshops help cutting-edge teams do more in less time. Connect with Marissa on Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

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7 Epic Strategies for Introverts (by Introverts) to Ignite Your Social Skills

Life, to me, is all about human connections.

No, it’s not so much about the “professional networking” aspect or building a social media network full of fans and promoters. Even in our increasingly tech-laden world, it’s those pure, totally uninhibited, simply “human” face-to-face connections that mean the absolute most in life.

There’s something so unique and special about the bonds we forge over laughter and smiles, as well as those shared over tears and during moments of adversity when communities unite to overcome sorrow.

However, if you’re more of an “introvert” like me and not a Type-A, extroverted personality, those human connections feel a bit tougher to come by. I’d rather listen that talk, ask questions than rattle off answers. It takes some real courage for me to enter a social setting that I’m unfamiliar with, or especially (gasp!) a social scene where I don’t know anybody else beforehand.

Are you the same way?

No matter the extent of your social skills, introverted personality, or even if you deal with social anxiety in certain situations, I’ve assembled some of the easiest and most effective tips for introverts — provided by introverts, themselves! — from across the web and Twittersphere for you to try out at your next networking event or at the local watering hole this weekend!

“I have to force myself to get out there. It’s hard to do. But I join organizations, talk to business people… Engaging people first through social media has helped make the transition to real life interactions easier: It sets up a wonderful comfort level.” calkundra, on Twitter

Honestly, what would we do without the wisdom of Nike’s infamous catch-phrase? Simply force yourself to step outside of your comfort zones. You can even use social media like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to facilitate face-to-face connections in a way that provide an initial level of familiarity and comfort with new people.

Did you know that modern scientific and psychological studies prove that when you interpret difficult, uncomfortable situations as “challenges” and “adventures,” we are better able to cope with stress and anxiety?

Get creative and push yourself to extend your boundaries. View each interaction, and each new social setting as a unique challenge, opportunity and adventure to meet new and wonderful people — who knows who you’ll meet, what you’ll learn, and what good could come to a stranger’s life thanks to your friendly smile.

“Warmth. Getting relaxed as possible prior.” playwithamy, on Twitter

Outside of using social media to get yourself more familiar with people who will be in attendance at upcoming networking and social events, you can even visit the venue itself to get familiar with the “lay of the land.” I don’t know about you, but I get all sorts of flustered when I get lost heading to a new venue or struggle to find parking for my car (or, in Boston where I’m currently living, figuring there’s a good chance of getting ticketed and/or towed!).

Watch a funny movie or TV show ahead of time, too.

Your happy, smiling, fun-loving state will carry over into the event and help you radiate with attractive, positive energy and invite new people to approach you for conversation.

“Speak to one stranger per day! Trust and embrace the unknown!” outwardnick, on Twitter

Focus on setting simple goals. Meeting one new person every day — or even just one person in any social setting — helps to build your confidence, gather forward momentum and create a sensation of steady growth within you.

You can meet just one stranger per day, can’t you? :)

“I think having at least one very extroverted friend helps. When I’m with mine, you’d never know how shy and introverted I am.” aprilsmithma, on Twitter

This is an awesome bit of advice. Who are your most outgoing, social friends? You can “ride their coat-tails” and tag along with them to events you might not otherwise feel comfortable attending, and begin meeting new people through their naturally extroverted personality.

Don’t feel intimidated by your friend if he or she woos the room and you feel like you’ve taken a back seat or are hiding in the shadows. Remain confident and smiling. You can even ask your friend outright for help meeting people — they will happily oblige.

I use this strategy myself!

“Be scared, uncomfortable, and do it anyway. Stretch boundaries slowly, desensitize one awkward situation at a time! :)” jwitcraft, on Twitter

You’re nervous? Good. You’re alive.

Like any skill, socializing takes practice. I’ve gotten better and better at it over time, and in spite of your nerves, stretching your boundaries step-by-step will help you grow to become pretty good at witty banter and that typical back-and-forth of conversations when meeting new people.

“Focus on the other person. Asking ppl about themselves & being interested makes them think you’re a great conversationalist. :D” cordeliacallsit, on Twitter

I personally LOVE this tip. In any uncomfortable situation, an introvert’s best strategy is to simply take the attention off yourself by asking questions, becoming invested in the words the other person is saying, and deeply listening to their stories.

Take the attention off of yourself by making your interaction with someone about them and not you, and you won’t feel like you’re buckling under the pressure of “putting on a show.”

This technique will also make you feel more comfortable to open up yourself and get familiarized with the group of people with whom you’re spending time.

This tip is my own!

Personally, I’m really not sure when I “finally” realized I was an introverted personality. But if the decision was an “either/or” between introvert and extrovert, it’s not like I had much of a choice, anyway!

I’m not sure that it makes any sense to completely reduce our deeply complex personalities to such a black-or-white, introvert or extrovert, one-or-the-other label: one that ingrains an idea within our own minds of our personal skills, talents, abilities, and — equally as powerful — our perceived limitations.

Truly, each of our individual personalities (combined with our unique living experiences) should remind us that each of our personalities represent one of “one million-shades of gray.”

Just drop the “introvert” label and remind yourself that every person is really in the same boat as a human being looking to share those same unique and special human connections with others.

After all, that’s what life is really about.

Dave Ursillo is a 25-year old writer, thought-leader and life-explorer at DaveUrsillo.com. Dave is also a leadership speaker and founder of the Lead Without Followers alternative leadership movement. Follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.

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5 Quietly Powerful Strategies To ‘Press Play’ On Your Dream Life

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GROW! Ten Strategies for Maximizing your Leadership Potential

Do you want to increase your influence? Are you looking for practical ways to improve your leadership? Effective leaders recognize the importance of continuous learning and personal development. They are also dedicated to empowering and training others. Based on the fourth factor of effective leadership, improvement, this seminar offers ten proven methods for leadership development, including five strategies for personal growth and five strategies for developing other leaders.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Price: $99.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

GROW! Ten Strategies for Maximizing your Leadership Potential

Do you want to increase your influence? Are you looking for practical ways to improve your leadership? Effective leaders recognize the importance of continuous learning and personal development. They are also dedicated to empowering and training others. Based on the fourth factor of effective leadership, improvement, this seminar offers ten proven methods for leadership development, including five strategies for personal growth and five strategies for developing other leaders.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Price: $99.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

9 Strategies to Make Selling Your Ideas More Successful

A frequent question from people in all career phases is what a person can do to better sell a new idea, whether to a customer or inside an organization. As much as it would be nice to have a standard formula that always works, success really depends on the particulars of your situation.

There are, however, a number of common strategies you can consider. Your best course of action is to be adept at using a variety of approaches to make your ideas more powerful and compelling. These nine strategies are a strong start to include in your idea-selling toolkit:

1. Get the Facts in Place behind Your Idea

Make sure you build fact-based, logical support as the underpinning for your idea. If the facts aren’t readily available, look for new or nontraditional information sources. Assemble the information you need to develop a fact-based case for why your idea will deliver results the organization needs.

2. Link Emotions to the Facts Supporting Your Idea

Think about the world’s great stories. Very few are made up solely of facts. They all are strongly rooted in characters and emotions. Develop the most compelling storyline which makes sense with your idea and creates emotional connections to it among potential supporters.

3. Depict Your Idea

Based on whatever is appropriate, create an early mock up of what you’re trying to accomplish. It could be a picture, a storyboard, a video, or an actual prototype, among other things. Help others buy-in to your idea by making it easy to interact with an early version of the end result you’re attempting to deliver.

4. Create a Clear Implementation Roadmap

If there aren’t obvious steps for how an idea can become reality, it may be dead on arrival in an organization. Break down the “how-to’s” behind your idea so key stakeholders can clearly see the effort and investment necessary to bring an idea to fruition.

5. Make Your Idea Easier to Support

Do the groundwork to make choosing your idea easy for decision makers by removing as many obstacles as possible. Think about whether it makes sense to break your idea up into easier to digest (i.e., support, fund, implement) pieces. Maybe you can better sell your idea by going the Goldilocks route, with “too much” and “too little” versions surrounding the option you want. Push for the BIG idea, but be happy to settle for the “just right” option in between.

6. Quietly Build Your Support One-by-One

Rather than waiting for a big meeting to introduce your idea and see how things go, build your support person-by-person ahead of time. Talk to individuals in advance, share where you’re headed, and solicit both input and support. If someone is supportive individually but becomes antagonistic or noncommittal in a later “big meeting,” you can always tactfully refresh their memory about an earlier favorable position.

7. Be Ready for the Right Moment

Some ideas will be ahead of their time when you’re working on them. Keep going. Perform all the preparation, get your assumptions and ideas challenged by others, and make refinements. Then read the organizational or market tea leaves as best you can so you’re ready to introduce the idea when it’s really the right time.

8. Secure Visible Third-Party Validation for Your Idea

It always helps to have an influential spokesperson backing your idea. Inside an organization, your third-party validation may not be from a TV star; it’s likely to come from senior leaders willing to expend their political capital to support good things for the organization. Identify who the key influencers are and start building their interest and support for your idea.

9. Pick a Different Salesperson

It could be someone else can run with your idea more effectively than you. If you think that’s the case, consider recruiting THAT person to be the salesperson. Or maybe even give the idea away to someone who can nurture and develop it better than you can. If you’re really interested in bettering the organization first and foremost, seeing the idea pushed forward and implemented by someone else should be more important than retaining ownership of a great idea which never sees the light of day.

Summary

These strategies are a starting point. Adapt, combine, or pull them apart so they’ll work most effectively in your organization to take full advantage of successful new ideas.

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