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Articles by Belle B. Cooper
Why ‘Dormant’ Connections May Be the Most Powerful Network You Have
When you’re working on a big project or making a tough decision at work and need some advice, you probably turn to those closest to you—your family, close friends, colleagues and mentors. I’d be surprised if you said you tend to call up friends or colleagues you haven’t spoken to in years when you’re in such a situation. It might sound counterintuitive, but doing just that, looking to old friends or colleagues when you need a favor, may actually be the best move more often than you think.
Onboarding Best Practices: How the Smartest Companies Turn New Hires Into Great Employees
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here Finding that perfect new employee to add to your staff can be tough. But after all that work you put into recruiting and closing the deal, it’s what comes next that can really make or break your growing team. When that new employee shows up for their first day, they begin the process of getting to know the team and your company’s culture, understanding their role, setting up their tools, and getting settled into their work.
Single Tasking: How to Improve Your Focus and Productivity
You’ve heard of multitasking, right? You might have even mentioned it on your resume or in job interviews (I know I have). Single-tasking, as you might have guessed, is the complete opposite. It means focusing all your attention on just one task at a time. It might sound incredibly inefficient to work this way. After all, if you could do several things at once, why wouldn’t you? But research shows single-tasking actually ends up faster than multitasking in the end.
Analog Methods For Getting Things Done—Superpower Your Productivity With Pen and Paper
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here As we’ve developed endless digital systems, software, and apps to help our lives run smoother, there’s a massive community of people who have opted to just strip them all away and go analog when it comes to productivity. It’s understandable, as all too often the notifications, updates, new tools, and abandoned tools tend to pile up and weigh us down.
Why We Procrastinate—and How to Stop Doing it - Foundr
To do good work, you need to do more than find good projects. Once you’ve found them, you have to get yourself to work on them, and that can be hard. — Paul Graham I have a vivid memory from a few years ago—my first year of college. I was sitting on the floor in my sister’s living room, my computer on my lap, my back (literally and figuratively) against the wall. It was late—I was watching the clock tick closer to midnight as I scrambled to finish a paper that was due before the clock struck 12.
How To Use A Pen And Paper To Level Up Your Productivity
As we’ve developed endless digital systems, software, and apps to help our lives run smoother, there’s a massive community of people who have opted to just strip them all away and go analog when it comes to productivity. It’s understandable, as all too often the notifications, updates, new tools, and abandoned tools tend to pile up and weigh us down. As much as I love using digital tools to help me get things done, sometimes there’s nothing like going analog.
50 Proud and Strong Indigenous Women
Strong women are so important for our next generation of girls. How can Indigenous and Non-Indigenous girls alike strive for success if they cannot look up and see strong and proud women who have overcome barriers to be successful in their chosen field or in times past survived insurmountable odds to survive? These women are role models for our daughters, they show through fortitude and belief in themselves that they can achieve.
How to Ruthlessly Prioritize Tasks to Get More Done
Checking items off your to-do list is a beautiful thing—but it's also easier said than done. The best way I've found to make sure you complete your tasks is through ruthless prioritization. That means deciding not to do things you'd really like to do. It also means deciding what's the most important task even when everything on your list feels crucial. But if you can prioritize until you have only one thing to focus on right now, you can't help but get to work.
Burnout: What Causes it and How to Overcome it
It’s common to feel tired after a long day at work or to need a holiday after a month-long sprint to finish a new feature. But sadly it’s also common to feel tired all the time. To lack enthusiasm about your work. To feel cynical and disengaged from what you do. These are all symptoms of burnout syndrome, which is becoming more common as our work lives become busier, more demanding, and more stressful. In this post I’ll explore what burnout is, what causes it, and how we can overcome it.
Why I'm leaving Micro.blog
I've come and gone from Micro.blog several times before. I joined long before the Kickstarter, when barely anyone was there. I tried it again after the Kickstarter, when the community looked more like it does today. And I came back again a few weeks ago for the most fun, if not the longest, period of time I've spent there. Like many other people, I really like the community on Micro.blog.
How to take more effective notes
Whether you’re a student, you’re taking down notes during meetings, or you’re a regular at industry lectures and conferences, effective note-taking is a skill you need for being more productive. Although we tend to take notes for years when we’re in school, most of us don’t ever learn how to take effective notes, and how much time we’re wasting on approaches that don’t work. And unfortunately, the most common approaches to taking notes really don’t work well.
How to Read More Books and Become a Voracious Reader
When I was 11, I won a yearlong school reading competition, having read the most books of anyone in my grade. Somehow, I never let go of the idea of myself as someone who loves to read, and does so at every opportunity. And yet, in 2013, I only read seven books all year! In 2014, I tried to get my reading habit back. I ended the year with 22 books under my belt.
The Morning Routines of 15 Successful Entrepreneurs
Ever since I started working remotely a few years ago, I’ve been testing and tweaking various morning routines. Having a routine is a clever way to make sure you always attend to your top priorities without having to think too much about it. It takes away the effort of making decisions, because you follow the same plan every day. As president, Barack Obama famously wore a suit every day in either gray or blue, so he didn’t use up mental energy deciding what to wear.
Simple, Science-Backed Ways to Motivate Yourself and Your Team
We’ve all felt the slump of having no motivation. You drag your feet, slouch at your desk, find ways to procrastinate. Twitter, refresh, Facebook, refresh, refresh etc. Sometimes we just can’t find the excitement we need for those parts of the job that are grueling, thankless, or boring. But for those times when the work has to get done, one way or another, it can be helpful to know how motivation works so we can harness it at the right time—and in the right way.
How to Improve Your Focus and Productivity with Single Tasking
You’ve heard of multitasking, right? You might have even mentioned it on your resume or in job interviews (I know I have). Single-tasking, as you might have guessed, is the complete opposite. It means focusing all your attention on just one task at a time. It might sound incredibly inefficient to work this way. After all, if you could do several things at once, why wouldn’t you? But research shows single-tasking actually ends up faster than multitasking in the end.
Tame That Inbox! How Successful People Deal With Email
Email is a blessing and a curse. Almost anyone who relies on email daily will tell you this. Like social media, it’s a modern-day convenience that we’d be disappointed to lose—in fact, some of us rely so heavily on email that our work would be crippled without this all-important tool. In a Pew Research survey, online workers ranked email as their most productive tool. It even beat out the internet and phone.
Get The Employee Onboarding Best Practices of Top Companies | Foundr
Finding that perfect new employee to add to your staff can be tough. But after all that work you put into recruiting and closing the deal, it’s what comes next that can really make or break your growing team. When that new employee shows up for their first day, they begin the process of getting to know the team and your company’s culture, understanding their role, setting up their tools, and getting settled into their work.
Why You Need a Creative Hobby, Even if You Think You're Too Busy
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here I find hand lettering really impressive, and have wanted to try it myself for years. A few months ago, I decided the time was right. I busted out some paper and pencils, took a free course in the basics to help me get started, and began a daily habit of practicing. This lasted about three days.
Why ‘Dormant’ Connections May Be the Most Powerful Network You Have
When you’re working on a big project or making a tough decision at work and need some advice, you probably turn to those closest to you—your family, close friends, colleagues and mentors. I’d be surprised if you said you tend to call up friends or colleagues you haven’t spoken to in years when you’re in such a situation. It might sound counterintuitive, but doing just that, looking to old friends or colleagues when you need a favor, may actually be the best move more often than you think.
Use A Pen and Paper To Do List to Increase Your Productivity (It Works!!)
As we’ve developed endless digital systems, software, and apps to help our lives run smoother, there’s a massive community of people who have opted to just strip them all away and go analog when it comes to productivity. It’s understandable, as all too often the notifications, updates, new tools, and abandoned tools tend to pile up and weigh us down. As much as I love using digital tools to help me get things done, sometimes there’s nothing like going analog.
How to Make Better Decisions and Live Without Regret
We make decisions every day, lots of them. From the little things, like , or what to eat for breakfast, to the big decisions like who to assign a major project to, or which new office building to rent. Making tough decisions can be , but it’s even worse when we struggle through, only to be filled with regret over a choice we’ve made. Regret is a miserable feeling, right? But it’s not inevitable. Turns out we can minimize the number of regretful decisions we make.
How to Avoid Burnout and Stay Sharp, Productive & Healthy
Running your own business is an all-encompassing pursuit. You need to wear many hats, and it’s easy to end up working far more than you would as an employee for someone else’s business. Even among average professionals, a Harvard Business School survey in 2008 found 94% of people who responded worked 50 hours or more per week, and nearly half worked more than 65 hours per week.
The Secrets To Starting And Building A Successful Side Project
The term side project comes across as a hobby, or half-serious pet project, or even wasteful distraction, but in the entrepreneurial world, such a thing often evolves into something career changing—heck, even world-changing. For example, some of the products I, and probably you, use day in and day out were started as side projects.
Four Ways To Finally Whip Your Morning Routine Into Shape
Some of the most successful people in history have relied on morning routines to help them start their day consistently. From Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, who famously starts her day with an hour of tennis, to author Cal Newport, who heads outside for a walk first thing, morning routines help artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and CEOs control how they start their days.
4 Ways To Protect Your Time (And Get More Done) - RescueTime
We’ve come to revere busyness, and to see it as being an indicator of high status. But busyness is harmful to our productivity and our health (and can even lead to things as horrible as burnout syndrome). It’s not something to aim for or be proud of. If you’re struggling with busyness and need to carve out more opportunities to do meaningful work, here are some tips for protecting your time from distractions and busywork.
Why You Need a Creative Hobby, Even if You Think You're Too Busy
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here I find hand lettering really impressive, and have wanted to try it myself for years. A few months ago, I decided the time was right. I busted out some paper and pencils, took a free course in the basics to help me get started, and began a daily habit of practicing. This lasted about three days.
How to Read More Books: Tips From the World's Most Prolific Readers
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here When I was 11, I won a yearlong school reading competition, having read the most books of anyone in my grade. Somehow, I never let go of the idea of myself as someone who loves to read, and does so at every opportunity. And yet, in 2013, I only read seven books all year! In 2014, I tried to get my reading habit back. I ended the year with 22 books under my belt.
How to Avoid Burnout: 5 Ways Successful People Stay Sharp, Productive, and Healthy
Want a heads up when a new story drops? Subscribe here Running your own business is an all-encompassing pursuit. You need to wear many hats, and it’s easy to end up working far more than you would as an employee for someone else’s business. Even among average professionals, a Harvard Business School survey in 2008 found 94% of people who responded worked 50 hours or more per week, and nearly half worked more than 65 hours per week.
How to Avoid Burnout and Stay Sharp, Productive & Healthy
Running your own business is an all-encompassing pursuit. You need to wear many hats, and it’s easy to end up working far more than you would as an employee for someone else’s business. Even among average professionals, a Harvard Business School survey in 2008 found 94% of people who responded worked 50 hours or more per week, and nearly half worked more than 65 hours per week.
9 Unsung Apps That Help You Write Better, Organize Work and Track Progress
From software giants like Word and Photoshop to newer tools like Evernote and Wunderlist, the powerful apps tend to get the most headlines. They're packed with features and usually find a place in each of our workflows at one time or another. But it's the simpler web apps, tools that live in your browser and only serve one purpose—but serve it well—that can be the most interesting. Sometimes you don't need all the features. Sometimes you need something simpler.
How to Generate More Good Ideas
It's been said many times that to have lots of good ideas, we need to have lots of bad ones, too. We need lots of ideas, period. What people often skip over when talking about producing ideas is the effort and skill required to filter out the bad ones and recognize the ones worth pursuing. How Ideas are Made If you've heard anyone say "nothing is original", you might feel frustrated when it comes to generating new ideas.
16 of the best ways to work smarter, not harder
When I really focus on what I'm doing and work hard, I'm usually surprised at how much I can get done. Something that should take half a day can be done in a couple of hours when I minimize distractions and concentrate. The more I pay attention to these short bursts of productivity, the more I realize working smarter, not harder, is the secret to efficiently getting work done.
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