Expert advice for keeping on task

Our friends at Under30CEO polled a number of successful entrepreneurs to find out what they do to keep on task, even with hectic schedules. Some of the ideas are technologies, others are behaviors, some are attitudes. Enjoy the list:

1. Turn off the Dopamine Drip — Break your addiction to email and social media. Use them wisely.
2. Make Yourself Accountable — A challenge when you are the boss and don’t have someone to hold you accountable. As Nike says, “Just Do It.”
3. Segment Time into Tasks — Focus on the most important things and dedicate time to them.
4. Keep Certain Rituals — Regularly doing things such as planning your next day the night before can help you make sure you are prepared.
5. Manage Tasks with ANY.DO — An Android-based task list
6. Work Well with Wunderlist — I use this one on my Apple products, iPad, iPhone, and MacBook Air. You can even share lists with team members.
7. Leave it all to Asana — an online productivity app. I’ve not played with it yet, but it looks interesting…
8. Touch Base with the Team — keeping people in the loop daily helps keep coordinated and provide accountability
9. Learn to Reset Yourself — Figure out how to get back on track when distracted — then remember how you did it for the future!
10. Stick to a Critical Triad — Don’t mistake busy for productive, ask “What 3 critical tasks must I get done today?”
11. Multitasking is Overrated — It is best to try to focus on just one thing at a time. Try carving out time so you can do this…
12. Stay in the Moment — Don’t get overwhelmed with all you think you have to do. Just do what you need to now and attend to the other stuff in its turn.
13. Set Ground Rules — As a leader, you have to give time to others, but need time for what you must do, too. Make it clear when people can or should interact and hold them to it.

What things do you do to keep on task? Why not share them below?

13 Ways to Manage Your (Hectic) Schedule and Stay On Task at Under30CEO

Finding the Secret

I love the people at Under 30 CEO. They find really insightful people to share their secrets on any number of topics. Entrepreneur Chuck Wall, no longer an Under-30, but a sage none the less, has offered up The Secret to Your Business Success. Here are some he has considered. Can you guess the one he believes today?

• Listen to Customers
• Learn to Sell
• Mitigate Risk

His answer? Listen to your customers instead of yourself. (Did I fool you putting it first?)

When you think about it, doesn’t that really cover the other two? Good selling is about learning what it is your customers need and then giving it to them. By understanding what they really want you will cut your exposure, too. Chuck offers four tips to help you listen to your customers:

1. Get a clue
2. Listen to customers’ ideas about everything
3. Quit expecting to find the answers in Big Data alone
4. Discover the why in Big Insight

The Secret to Your Business Success at Under 30 CEO

 

 

The Job Hunting Front and Getting Noticed

Resume Bar for Nick Begley. Source: ABC News

I have seen several interesting job hunting-related articles and posts around the internet recently. Let me share some of them with you.

If you are looking to hire, are you looking at prospects’ social media? Much of it is accessible to the public. Our friends over at Under 30 CEO wrote a post in favor of studying a candidate’s social media. You will learn several things, including:

• Consistency. Do they say the same things to others they did to you?
• Communication style. Did they write that awesome resume? Really?
• What do others think?  …and they weren’t even asked…
• Modernity. The world is changing. Are they?
• Reputation. Yours, that is. Customers might run searches on people they are dealing with. Will the candidate embarrass you?

So, this is what employers might be doing. What are you doing to get noticed? You might turn your resume into a candy bar, just as Nick Begley did. Nick’s creativity and hard work paid off, too. I wrote about this and the job hunting environment in a recently published blog post, too. In the end, job hunting is about connection. Are you taking responsibility for your connections?

As you think creatively, be sure you get your story straight. This post by Maggie Tomas at Women of HR reminds us of some of the things we need to do to be ready for an interview. Key points:

• Know why you want to make the change. Tell your story in a positive way that focuses on the position in question.
• Be ready to prove your past success in the new role’s core competencies. You want to show that you really do have the goods. Don’t leave this to chance.
• Demonstrate that you have researched the company. You pay a high compliment to others when you get to know them. You might also be able to link your story to their passions, creating a stronger connection, and perhaps even a new job…

There are lots to think about in the job hunting world. But if you remember that it is about connection in the end, you will do the hard work to reach your goal.