Long hours == Success

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Long hours == Success is a fallacy. Moreover, it often leads to burnout. If the priority is right you can become successful both professionally and personally. Here’s how to prioritize your personal well-being without compromising your professional growth:

Find time to do nothing. One way to build in a moment of genuine disconnection from work is to take some time at the beginning or end of each day to journal or doodle your thoughts. Think of this as a daily reflection or brain dump to release the pressure of your work life.

Become more intentional about space. Dedicate specific places to your work and reserve others for relaxation and relationships. Drawing clear lines between your professional and personal lives will help you thrive in both.

Learn to say no. To get better at declining requests without feeling guilty, reframe saying no as setting boundaries. Ask yourself: Who am I willing (or not willing) to give time to? What do I want (or not want) to do or achieve? When do I need to protect time, and when do I want to make myself available? What kind of work will help me achieve my long-term goals?

Give or Take…

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Not every conversation we have is about give or take from others.

Sometimes it can be about old times shared together good or bad.

Sometimes it can be about pouring each others heart about the anomalies of life.

Sometimes it can be about lucky or unlucky stories in life.

Sometimes it can be cribbing about current times.

Sometimes it can be about being happy for older times.

So don’t always have conversations with give or take intent but have it for the sake of enjoying it.

Make your Team Work Smarter — Not Harder

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At times, we’ve all spent too much time and effort working on the wrong things, whether it’s putting hours into status updates that never get read, or prioritizing a presentation’s design over the message. As a manager, you can help your team avoid these pitfalls and prioritize the tasks that matter the most. 

First, set clear end dates for large initiatives, assign approximate hours for key project milestones, and coach people if they’re spending too much time on a specific task. At the same time, avoid crossing the line into micromanaging. 

Emphasize that perfect is often the enemy of good. Encourage team members to set timers for smaller tasks, like crafting emails or searching for images for presentations. Also, remind them that it’s okay to make mistakes; the typo in the newsletter or the file that wasn’t attached to the email will not make or break their career. 

Finally, help them make connections across the organization so they know who can help them and answer questions when necessary. Emphasize that you don’t expect them to go it alone and that collaborating with others can make sure that you all are collectively working on the right things on behalf of the organization.

In the end, focusing on these will help you and your team work smarter rather than harder.

Use Your Mobile Less. OK, But Why?

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It’s known that we should spend less time attached to our mobile. But to make a real change, we need to understand why? We will have a better chance of succeeding if we identify exactly what is motivating us. Here are three common reasons people want to unplug and tips for each:

To stop being rude. In social settings, turn your mobile off, disable notifications for tempting apps, or agree on a penalty for whoever checks their phone (maybe buying a round of drinks).

To focus better at home or work. Put your mobile on silent, turn off cellular data, or — best of all — keep it entirely out of sight.

To set better digital boundaries. Use a landline at work, ditch your smartphone for a more basic model, or create strict rules for your devices (say, no mobile during mealtimes).

How to get in the Flow…

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For getting into a flow of any activity, you need to have these 3 ingredients:

1. Clear goals: You need to have a clear purpose for the activity, I want to finish this story, I want to climb this rock, I want to play this song on guitar.

2. Something meaningful to you: You should be doing something meaningful to you in life. It can be something interesting or something which you live to earn money etc.

3. Edge of your abilities: You should be doing it at the edge, not very easy otherwise it will become dull, not very difficult otherwise it becomes demotivating. It should be on the edge of both.

In the state of flow your ego vanishes, you have merged with the task and you don’t bother about the time engaged in the activity.

To connect with someone, share stories of failure…

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Failure makes a better story than success. 

One of the main reasons is in failure people don’t feel threatened, in fact, they start correlating with some of their own failures.

Secondly, the failure story tells other people, we are down-to-earth human beings who can fail the same as they are.

So if you want to connect with someone best way is to share real stories of failure. Moreover, there is nothing ethically wrong with sharing failure stories.

Break down…

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What if we can break down the mega decisions into small bite-size decisions. 

Will it make it easier to decide? Yes and No.

Yes, in the cases you know in and out of the decision, you have the capability to break it down and take micro decisions.

No, where you don’t have any know-how, hence don’t know where to break or how to break, in this case, hire an expert that can help to break it down for you.

Running after money never works…

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If you think of running after the money and becoming rich, it does not work that way.

Here are the reasons why:

1. There are hundreds of different ways of making money and I mean proper, ethical ways of making money. So which one to choose? If you choose one path, while in the midst you will feel that the other path is easier. So you will start looking at other paths and regret choosing the current one and start failing in it.

2. Secondly, out of these ways, there are a few which will suit you. In general, we decide by current affair bias; Entrepreneurs are getting rich, I should become an entrepreneur, or doctors are rich people, I should become a doctor. But deciding by only looking at who has done what is foolish, and sooner you will realize that you are not cut out for it.

3. Third, if you are looking at money and what comes with it (Jealousy, Comparison, Stress, etc), you will in general do shallow work, not focusing on deep work, you will be more into worldly gain rather than reaching a life goal, and there are no short-cuts to reach substantial goals in any field. Hence it will lead to being mediocre in your area, ultimately not leading to the richness you want.

4. Lastly, you need to be persistent in one area to really reach the level. Only a few of the entrepreneurs have become rich, and a lot of the others are struggling and failing. There are a lot of doctors, but only a few are rich to the level. Persistency, hard work, and determination come from within, and it requires a lot of self-motivation, that comes from a lifelong goal to do something, to be something not just from the desire to earn money and become rich.

Put “Me Time” on Your Schedule…

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Many of us are so focused on doing it all that we forget to carve out time for ourselves. But ensuring your own health and happiness is critical. So give yourself permission to take care of yourself — now. 

If you put off self-care until work is less busy, your kids are back in school, your house is in order, or some other circumstances are exactly right, you may never get to it. 

Start with the basics: We all need sleep, food, and exercise. Ask yourself where you’re deficient and what you can do about it. 

Next, ensure self-care is your schedule. Determine how much time you have and what you can do with that time. Then block it off on your calendar — and stick to it. Be sure to prepare yourself for “me time” by eliminating potential distractions or friction between you and your goal. 

For example, set a sleep alarm on your phone or lay out your workout clothes the night before. Finally, set firm boundaries by being clear with others about when you’ll be turning your full attention to yourself.

When Your Focus Waxes and Wanes…

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If you’re like most people, you struggle to maintain focus throughout the day. Maybe you’re distracted by your phone buzzing at your desk, or you can’t seem to stay off email and Facebook during meetings. 

Instead of beating yourself up, take steps to better understand you’re patterns. For one week, pay attention to when your focus waxes and wanes. What times of day are you able to concentrate? When do you find your focus faltering? Most people’s focus peaks in the morning and dips to its lowest after lunch. The pattern varies from person to person, so learn your specific pattern and use it to plan your day. 

Make sure your most important activities and meetings are scheduled around the times when your focus is strongest. Tackle lower-priority items when your focus is weakest. And don’t give in to distractions — notice what kinds of things derail you and do your best to avoid them.