A Cure for Procrastination—Don't Wait! (Work Management Roundup)
It's Friday! Time for the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we pull together recently published articles on productivity, work, and killer strategies to level up your awesomeness. Without further ado, here are this week's suggestions: Tutorials You Need to Read How to Cure Procrastination by Harnessing Temptations (Fast Company): By bundling an indulgent behavior with a productive behavior you can have your cake, and submit that report on time, too. It's backed by research from the Wharton School at UPenn. How to Write a Damn Good Email (Medium): An awesome tutorial on setting up a professional-looking email address and writing emails that get you a response, whether it's about a job, or you're pitching your guest blog post. Also, a reminder that a cool resume alone won't get you a job — a relationship does. How to Use Brain Dumps to Free Your Brain's Hidden Productivity Powers (Fast Company): Your brain was meant to solve problems, not hold endless lists of data, reminders, and to-do items. Here's how doing a brain dump can jumpstart creativity and make you more productive. How to Do a 30-Second Exercise That Will Improve Your Posture (James Clear): It's called the Thoracic Bridge. It's designed for people who stare at a screen all day, and it will immediately make your back, shoulders, and hips feel better without needing any equipment. Facts You May Not Know Americans Use Electronic Media 11+ Hours a Day (Statista): Did you know? According to Nielsen's Total Audience Report, Americans aged 18 and older spend more than 11 hours a day watching TV, listening to the radio, or using smartphones and other electronic devices. Maybe it's time to scale back? The No. 1 Predictor of Career Success According to Network Science (Medium): According to multiple research studies, simply being in an open network instead of a closed one is the best predictor of career success. More Work Management Must-Reads: Use These 4 Tools for Entrepreneurs to Improve Your Business (Susan Gilbert) Rookie Designer Podcast #145 – On Procrastination (Rookie Designer) 15 Free (and Almost Free) Tools Freelancers Need to be Using (Responsive Design Blog) What's Something I Can Do Right Now to Increase My Productivity? (Quora) 33 Websites That Will Make You a Genius (Medium) How to Make Stress Work in Your Favor (Fast Company) The Tools We Use for Transparency (SumAll) Think You're a Workaholic? Take This Quiz (TheMuse) Follow "Productivity Works!" on Flipboard Are you a Flipboard user? Then you need to follow our Productivity Works! magazine. We update daily with links to productivity-enhancing articles.
How to Fix the Fragmentation of Information in the Workplace
Welcome to the age of abundant yet fragmented information in the workplace. There is a very real fragmentation problem. Because, to put it bluntly, our work information is all over the place. And it is affecting our work speed and overall efficiency, both as individuals and as teams.
Tackle Big Problems in Small Chunks (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome to the Friday Work Management Roundup, where we bring together the week's best reads on productivity and work efficiency. You can also opt to read these links on our accompanying Flipboard mag. This week, we have links for doing more, learning more, and simply being more awesome. Read on. Top Recommendations This Week Solve Problems by Thinking Small (Conversation Agent): Big problems? Find a small part of it and tackle that with a child's curiosity. Why Happy Employees Are 12% More Productive (Fast Company): It's no surprise that workers harnessing positive emotions are more collaborative and productive. Meanwhile, their unhappy counterparts are 10% less productive than the average worker. Want a Better Pitch? Watch This (Medium): Elon Musk shows entrepreneurs 5 things that you should emulate in every pitch you give, no matter who's in the elevator. Do More 16 Entrepreneurs Share 16 Tools They Cannot Live Without (Medium): A listing of 16 work management tools that entrepreneurs recommend. And they're not just the cool tools on the block. 15 Must-Have Apps for Those Who Spend All Day on a Mac (MakeUseOf): Seriously good list of tools and apps for the Mac-based knowledge worker. Monospace Is a Distraction-Free Text Editor For Android (LifeHacker) Learn More 34 Educational Resources for Aspiring Entrepreneurs (Bplans): Building your startup? Check out this list of 34 resources broken into useful categories. The Top TED Talks That Will Change How You Work (The Telegraph): Looking for work inspiration? These TED talks on leadership, motivation, career, and more will challenge how you think and communicate at work. Top 10 Productivity Books on Amazon (SumoHacks): Book recommendations for the avid reader and productivity enthusiast. Even More Must-Reads in Work Management How Long It Takes to Get Back on Track After a Distraction (LifeHacker) How to Work and Manage at the Same Time (PM Tips) Want to be Productive? Take Scheduled Microbreaks (Tech.co) 10 Guaranteed Ways to #Fail at Content Marketing (Kruse Control) Follow Marketing Speak on Flipboard If you enjoy this roundup, we compile links to marketing articles all week long on Flipboard. Follow our Marketing Speak magazine to access more must-reads. Image credit: Mountain Study 1-2 by Gordon Tarpley on Flickr. Some rights reserved. Image edited for use.
Project Management Lessons from the Pluto Flyby (Work Management Roundup)
Now that it's Friday once again, we're here to deliver the best reads on managing work and teams. This week, we give you articles on long-term planning, team motivation, a 15-minute productivity routine, and tools for learning as well as managing a small business. Read on! And remember, you can also browse these articles on our accompanying Flipboard mag! Planning Long-Term: Lessons from the Team That Got Us to Pluto (Fast Company): Any project that lasts 9 years and travels more than 3 billion miles into space will involve huge risk management, strong leadership, and patience. Here's how the New Horizons team made it work. 10 Ways To Motivate Your Team When The Going Gets Tough (Employee Scheduling Pro): Morale will suffer, productivity will decrease. But when a crisis rocks your team, you can use these creative solutions to get them back on track. 7 Lessons Learned from Leading a Dysfunctional Team (Fast Company): Difficult leadership experiences can be opportunities to learn. Tips for managers of every kind. The 15-Minute Routine Anthony Trollope Used to Write 40+ Books (James Clear): The prolific author set a watch in front of his work area and produced 250 words in every 15-minute work sprint. How's that for productivity? Essential Freemium Tools for Small Businesses (Hiveage): A look at 8 essential freemium tools that can help get your small business up and running. Freemium means you can use most basic features for free, with additional features available upon upgrading. The 37 Best Websites To Learn Something New (Medium): Lifelong learning and skills improvement need not be expensive. Here's a huge list of online resources, classes, and courses you can take — most of them for free. More Work Management Must-Reads Why Desktop Apps Are Making a Comeback (Medium): Should you make a desktop version of your app? Yes. 50 Motivational Twitter Accounts Every Manager Should Be Following (Eden Springs): Quote lovers, rejoice! Introducing the Happy Startup Canvas (Medium): How different the business world would be if we made decisions for the long-term good of the business, rather than to keep shareholders happy. What Kind of Procrastinator Are You? - Infographic (ParcelHero): 5 types of procrastinators and how you can avoid being one of them. How to Organize Your Workplace for Better Productivity - Infographic (Omni Papers): An uncluttered desk is a productive workspace! Looking for more Startup Advice? Follow our Flipboard magazine Startup Spark Up for links to articles on emerging businesses, founder advice, and best practices for entrepreneurs. Image Credit: New Horizons Over Pluto by Kevin Gill on Flickr. Photo edited for use.
How Can You Spot an Excellent Employee? (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we gather and show off our collected news articles from around the world wide web — as if they were newly-hatched Pokemon. But seriously, we lead off with articles on excellent employees, and the kind of corporate culture that nurtures this type of excellence. Read on!
Don't Cancel Your One-on-One Meetings (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back and TGIFR! (Thank Goodness It's Friday's Roundup!) We've collected the week's essential reads on productivity, work management, and company culture so that you can attack work, get tasks done quickly, and advance your organization. Here we go: Canceling 1x1 Meetings Destroys Productivity (HBR): When you cancel your one-on-one time with your direct reports, they will find other, less effective ways to connect with you (i.e. email). Which means more distractions to prevent you from getting into the flow! The Ivy Lee Method of Getting Stuff Done (JamesClear): List your 6 most important tasks the day before and arrange them in priority order. How to Make Company Culture Stick (Fast Company): Take a look at advertising platform InMobi's unique approach to corporate culture. They've distilled their culture into 3 elements: [1] Scripts: how we should operate, [2] Rituals: what we do daily, and [3] Festivals: what we celebrate. 3 Simple Steps to Boost Your Memory (Fast Company): As we age, and as we get more stressed, memory begins to decline. The author of 2 Weeks To A Younger Brain reveals 3 simple memory boosting exercises anyone can do to keep their memory sharp. More Work Management Must-Reads: How I solved a nagging laptop problem for just $5 (CNET) — How a cheap IKEA stand can improve your laptop's ergonomics. Why We Miss Deadlines, and How to Stop (Zapier) The Weekly Review: How One Hour Can Save You A Week’s Worth of Hassle and Headache (Lifehacker) Invite the Right Amount of People to Your Meeting with the 8-18-1800 Rule (99U) Why Every Team Needs Work Management Tools: Infographic (Wrike) 10 Creative Ways to Use Flipboard to Promote Your Business (Medium) Follow "Productivity Works!" on Flipboard Are you a Flipboard user? Then you need to follow our Productivity Works! magazine. We update daily with links to productivity-enhancing articles. Photo credit: A Nice Place to Sit by Richard Walker on Flickr
Why Your Company Should Be Excited About Pokemon Go (Work Management Roundup)
This week, no other topic has quite captured the imaginations of millions around the world than the Pokemon Go mobile app craze. Don't dismiss it without realizing the app's success has opened up a whole new marketing opportunity for companies— even yours. Read on!
Why Every Team Needs Work Management Tools (Infographic)
Do you know how many minutes you and your team waste every day? I'm not talking about those "Oops, how did I end up on Facebook again?" occasions; I'm talking about the time wasted on inefficient work: Scouring through email looking for documents Accidentally using outdated information, causing necessary rework Waiting for someone to send you the information you need Answering "Can I ask you a quick question?" desk interruptions It's estimated that 25% of the average worker's day is wasted on inefficient work. That's huge. If you work an 8-hour day, that's 2 hours wasted every day. ...10 hours per week. ...520 hours per year. Do the math and you're paying the average worker for 65 days (over three months of work!) of "info gathering" every year. For every employee in your company. Shocked yet? Read more on the challenges teams and managers are facing in today's workforce in the infographic below: New work management tools are helping teams cut out these inefficiencies, so we can stop spending so much time on "info gathering" and start putting our time into actually getting work done. Whether you're a manager or a team member, it's time to help your company perform better. Try our work management tool free for the next two weeks, and challenge your team to get more done every day. Start a free 2-week trial of Wrike for your team now You can share this infographic on your blog. Copy and paste this embed code: Infographic brought to you by Wrike
The Art of the Handoff: What Soccer’s Tiki-Taka Teaches Us About Teamwork
Even if you’re not on a soccer field, your team needs to be able to quickly and effectively “pass the ball” to one another (just like Tiki-Taka!)—without things falling apart in the process. That latter part is where things can get a little sticky. So, let’s dive into some tips to make those project handoffs a little more streamlined.
Identify One Key Task Each Day (Work Management Roundup)
It's Friday once again! Time for the weekly Work Management Roundup where we pull together our favorite reads on productivity, the workplace, and strategies to work more efficiently. So grab your drink of choice and warm up your Wrike Chrome extension to bookmark the articles you'll want to read later on the train home. Here they are: How to Identify One Key Task Each Day to Make Consistent Progress: If you're drowning in to-do items and stressed over prioritizing them, identifying your “MIT”, or Most Important Task, the night before can help you move forward. How One CEO Achieves Inbox Zero Everyday: While Inbox Zero may be a dream for most of us, the CEO of PubMatic does it every single day. Here are his secrets to efficiently responding to and clearing out his emails. Handy List of Retrospective Techniques: Are you wrapping up a project? Then you may want to use one of these handy project retrospective techniques to look back, review what happened, and identify lessons your team learned. Coloring Books are Catching On for Adults: Looking to de-stress after a long day at work? Well, "coloring books for adults" are apparently all the rage right now, as they appeal to childhood nostalgia while allowing us to flex creative muscles using crayons, colored pencils, or markers. More Work Management Must-Reads: Our top pick! Hilarious Profanity-Filled Guided Meditation - Video (FastCo Create) — 2.5 minutes of letting the "horsesh*t of the external world fade from your awareness." Block Off Time Needed to Finish Tasks Instead of Just Setting Deadlines (Lifehacker) 6 Steps to Create a Project Plan from Your Mind Map (Project Management Tips) 16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done - Infographic (Wrike) 5 Unique Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity (Wrike) Follow Social Project Management on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then follow our magazine Social Project Management for links to project management technology, PM techniques, and tips on collaboration and team management.
Work/Life Balance — a Never-ending Debate (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup where we collect and curate articles from around the web that tackle work, promote productivity, or share advice on learning and self-improvement. This week, we tackle a potentially divisive topic: work-life balance.
Are You Productive or Merely Busy? (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome to the Friday Work Management Roundup where we scour the internet to gather useful articles that can help you work smarter, better, faster, stronger! So grab a mug of coffee and have your Wrike Chrome extension handy to bookmark the ones you'll want to read later. 11 Differences Between Busy vs Productive People: Lifehack has a great article on the honest differences between being busy and actually being productive. Find out which camp you fall into. The Best Time of Day to Do Everything at Work: Have you ever asked yourself "When is the best time to send this email and get a response?" Well, wonder no more. Here is a list of suggested times to do everything at work, including when to ask for a raise, and when to start that job interview. How to Stop Procrastinating and Boost Willpower by Using “Temptation Bundling”: Here's a useful life hack: bundle what you really want to do with something you know you should do. For example: watch your favorite TV show or read a book you really want to get to while on the treadmill. How Companies Make 4-Day Workweeks Feasible: Businesses who are offering 3-day weekends are seeing huge benefits. Fast Company lists six conditions to make it work. 16 Motivation Hacks for Getting to Work After a Holiday: How do you bounce back to work after a vacation (such as this weekend's July 4th celebration here in the States)? Well, it becomes a matter of motivation. You could try to trick your brain into getting into the flow via these 16 motivation hacks. More Must-Reads 7 Reasons to Bring Back the Lunch Break (Wrike) Maintaining Team Morale When Your Projects Get Tough (PM Hut) Hand Exercises for Gamers and Heavy Computer Users (Lifehacker) 5 Daily Habits to Improve Brain Growth (Fast Company) Browse The Work Management Roundup on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then you can choose to read these links via The Work Management Roundup magazine. And if you don't use Flipboard yet, this is the perfect time to give it a try: iTunes Store | Google Play Store Image credit: Mr Lego Goes to Work by Sonny Abesamis on Flickr
How’s Your Enterprise Doing on Digital Transformation?
Where is your organization in its journey of digital transformation? Just beginning or well into the process? It’s not a simple path, and there’s no one “right” way for every organization to follow. Whether you’re just starting or it seems your organization has transformed, Wrike’s recent webinar can offer some food for thought.
Finally Eliminate Online Distractions & More (Work Management Roundup)
It's Friday! Time for the weekly Work Management Roundup which pulls together our favorite reads on productivity, working, and strategies to work smarter. Without further ado, here they are: How to Finally Eliminate Online Distractions: One researcher thinks Inbox Zero is baloney, because the goal should not be to just keep up with all incoming information; rather the goal is to stay focused. This article gives some excellent tips on fighting distraction. Work Remotely via Robot: At MIT's business school, one or two students telecommute via roving robots with screens showing their faces. This could be the future of remote work. Must I Really GTD?: Our favorite question on Lifehacker this week has been "Do I Really Need to Learn a Productivity Method?" The answer is, "Not necessarily." But for us regular, disorganized humans, it sure makes life easier (and more efficient) if we have one system we can trust with our to-do items. 8 Things to Do Before 8AM: A list of 8 things to do first thing in the day. This is stuff that prepares you to have a great day, including: exercise, eat 30 grams of protein, take cold showers, and get 7+ hours of sleep. 6 Triggers to Gain Immediate Trust and Sell More: Read a list of 6 psychological triggers that gain the instant trust of a potential customer. Along with each trigger is a description and examples of how you can apply it in your work today. More Work Management Must-Reads: What to Do With Feedback About Your Work (99U) 12 Surefire Ways To Master Business-Life Balance (Sarah Von Bargen) How to Get Good Business Ideas (Medium) Watching cats on the Internet is good for you (Ars Technica) 5 Great ways to make time work for you (Jim's Marketing Blog) 5 Traits That Make You Nice But Unsuccessful (Lifehack.org) Timy Alarm Clock: Andoid App To Wake You With a Game (Lifehack.org) Author Henry Miller's 11 Commandments of Writing ... or any creative work, really (Unclutterer) Follow "Startup Sparkup" on Flipboard If you enjoy this roundup, we compile links to articles on startups and startup life all week long on Flipboard. Follow our Startup Sparkup magazine to get access to more must-reads. Image Credit: Cockpit Poser by Martin Terber on Flickr
5 Ways Collaborative Work Management Software Can Help You Build a Better Client Experience
An investment in improving client experience has guaranteed returns. While it’s true professional services firms face an uphill battle trying to differentiate themselves, the client experience is completely under your control. Learn how work management software can help you improve that experience.
What Brexit May Mean for Your Business (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we collect and curate links to articles on business, work, productivity, and careers. And what a tumultuous week it's been! One word for you: BREXIT. That's all anyone will be talking about for at least a month.
Why In-Person Meetings Aren't Going Away & More (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome to week 2 of our new Friday habit: the Work Management Roundup. We're sharing a handful of must-read links from around the web that will give you ideas to improve your habits, increase your productivity, and make work less tiresome. Read on: Vaynerchuk Says Face-to-Face Meetings Aren't Dead: Even with advanced technology available, face-to-face meetings convey more information and energy than a video conference call. That's why in-person meetings aren't going away anytime soon, as Gary Vaynerchuk claims. If your team relies on virtual meetings to function, it may be time to invest in some better video conferencing apps. The 6-Month Rule: According to this musician-turned-entrepreneur, it takes 6 months to master a new musical technique. The same thing goes for mastering a new skill that might just give you a competitive edge in your professional life. So, keep at it! Notebook Hacks & Communicating with Visuals: Here's a cool system for maximizing your paper journal if you prefer Moleskine (or similar) notebooks, handwritten notes, and to-do lists. And don't be afraid to include your doodles! Author Dan Roam has been telling us for years that humans communicate better with visuals. 300 Free Resources: Ever asked yourself if there's a free service that can do X? Well, head on over to this ultimate list of 300 free tools for everything from social media and productivity to logo design, stock photography, and education. More Work Management Must-Reads Using the ONE GOAL Strategy to Set Goals Once and Focus on Them Constantly (Medium) How Tracking What I Do Every Day Led to a Better Work/Life Balance (Lifehacker) Pursue Metrics that Matter (Cal Newport) This is How Men and Women Handle Email Differently (Esquire) When to Quit a Project... or a Career (99U) Follow Marketing Speak on Flipboard If you enjoy this roundup, we compile links to marketing articles all week long on Flipboard. Follow our Marketing Speak magazine to get access to more must-reads. Image credit: Untitled illustration for "Le Retour a la Terre" by MCAD Library on Flickr
Crazy Work Hours: the New, Unhealthy Status Symbol (Work Management Roundup)
Welcome back to the weekly Work Management Roundup, where we collect and curate the latest reads from around the web regarding work, productivity, and careers. This week, we focus on burnout, insane work hours, and caffeine — the three staples of exhausted knowledge workers around the globe. Read on! How Insane Work Hours Became a Mark of American Privilege (The Week): You probably have a coworker who brags about how s/he's working 60-hour weeks. (And if not, it's probably you.) According to research though, the jobs where people are most likely to work over 45 hours a week are highly-paid professional positions in law, business management, engineering, and finance. So yeah, it's become an unhealthy status symbol. The Start-Up Marathon: How One Founder Avoids Burnout (Fox News): Andrew Filev, CEO of Wrike, shares the 3 things that carried him through those initial 80-hour work weeks without burning out: his love for the mission, a sense of responsibility for the team, and managing his own limits. All That Coffee You're Guzzling Is Useless if You're Not Getting Enough Sleep, Study Says (Mic): And in case you're using coffee to fuel your insane work hours... well its effectiveness has limits. Apparently, if you're only getting around five hours of sleep a night, caffeine stops giving you a cognitive boost by the third day. Your parents knew what they were talking about when they said, "It's past your bedtime!" 5 Strategies for Forming Team Productivity Habits (Wrike): Not happy with how your team gets stuff done? Download our free eBook that outlining five concrete strategies for building a high-performance team, one habit at a time. 5 Ways to Love Your Open-Plan Office (QuietRev): Are you feeling vulnerable and beset by distractions in your open plan office? Here are 5 strategies you can use to subtly alter your space and make it work for you — without actually barricading your desk. 4 Helpful Books For Managing Remote Workers (Forbes): We all know managing remote team members is difficult ("Guys are we meeting on Skype, Zoom, Hangouts, or Slack?"), but these 4 books give you tips, insights, and powerful tools to help you make what may seem impossible actually quite doable — and maybe even enjoyable. Surreal artist Salvador Dali understands that fear will keep you from moving forward, especially if you aim for perfection right from the get-go. Face it, you won’t achieve perfection; but with enough effort, you will get to something great. And this is sometimes all the time we have before a new project lands on our desks. #creativity #quotes #Wrike A photo posted by Wrike (@wriketeam) on Jun 16, 2016 at 10:45am PDT More Work Management Reads Creativity/Productivity: The 1 Productivity-Killing Habit You Need to Stop Doing Now (Inc) - Stop thinking the hard, important things on our to-do lists take more time than less important items Top 11 Quotes To Get Your Creative Juices Flowing (Wrike) - Sometimes all you need to get inspired are wise words from creative geniuses How to Set Up Your Workspace for Maximum Productivity (Infographic) (Wrike) - Everything from lighting to posture to music to help you produce Business/Career: This Is The Real Reason Microsoft Bought LinkedIn (Forbes) -Not for its similarity to Facebook, but more for its similarity to Medium Meet the Companies Helping Moms Continue Career Building (Uncubed) - Helping women stay in or rejoin the workforce has become big business What LinkedIn Data Reveals About Who Will Help You Get Your Next Job (Fast Company) - Weak connections are sometimes more valuable than the people know you well + other networking mistakes Tools: 15 Productivity Tools Successful People Use to Work Less (When I Work) - Good listing of some new tools, plus the tried-and-true Browse Our Magazines on Flipboard If you use Flipboard on your mobile device, then you can read all the above links on The Work Management Roundup magazine. Check out some of our other magazines as well. View my Flipboard Magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine. View my Flipboard Magazine.
Why Visibility is Critical to Improving Your Team's Workflow
At any one time during a project, do you know who is doing what? What happens when your team experiences delays in turning work around, or mysterious bottlenecks in production? Can you figure out how to solve these problems?