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Tentpole Days
By: Mike Vardy
Tags: Attention, Intentions, Time Management, Productivity

Photo by Xiaolong Wong on Unsplash

Black Friday and Boxing Day have a couple of things in common:

They are tacked on to a holiday, resulting in them becoming a holiday themselves (to a degree). They are both associated with goods and services going on sale for a limited time.

I want to focus on that second point for a moment.

If i was looking at which of the two days was a more productive one based on that point alone, I’d say Black Friday wins out. Why? Because the sales happening before Christmas are proactive. On Boxing Day they are reactive, with the idea that stores need to offload stock they didn’t sell leading up to Christmas.

But business owners are a savvy bunch. They work Boxing Day sales into their plans, meaning that they don’t necessarily lose money through sales on that day. Instead, they are selective about orders and positioning of products for their Boxing Day sales. If they plan accordingly, Boxing Day can be a solid day for them — even their best sales day of the year.

These two days — Black Friday and Boxing Day — are tentpole days for many retailers (some don’t observe either, such as Costco). When handled wisely, these days can be looked forward to with less anxiety and more anticipation. When handled poorly, they can do the opposite of their intent — keep a business from going into the black, instead leaning (or careening) into the red.

You have tentpole days like this in your life. New Year’s Day could be one. Your birthday could be another. Take some time to plan them accordingly so that they are as profitable — and as productive — as possible.
I’m worried about going on a Career Break and here’s how I am planning to make the most of it
By: Tanvir A. Uddin
Tags: Career Break, PhD, Wellbeing, Time Management, Productivity

Fast forward a month, and last week, I embarked the first few days of my Career Break. This is what the Head of People & Culture at Brighte, where I worked for the past two and a half years called this. As my request was greater than 3 months, a career break is the most casual and limited employment link with my old workplace. My tenure is stalled and there are no reserved roles for me except that I have the option to contact my boss and the company 6–8 weeks before I wished to return.

As I shared my plans for the year ahead at the final company “All-Hands” and caught up with colleagues (some of whom I would now call “friends”), there was one common remark that everyone made:

“I’m so excited for you!”

Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash

Excitement is not the first word that comes to my mind as I think about the year ahead. I’m definitely joyous and pleased to embark on this move. Though more than excited, I am both relieved at reducing the pace of my days and fairly nervous.

I do not know of anyone among my friends and closest associates who had taken an extended period of time away from work other than the usual disruptions such as maternal leave, redundancy, or a gap between jobs (which are rarely a year-long). This could be due to a sampling bias that it is quite unheard of among first-generation migrants with their relatively more conservative approaches to work and life. However, according to an ABC article, increasingly more and more people are taking career breaks in Australia.

That is not to say that the decision comes easy nor are there worries about what happens on the other end. As I cleaned my desk and handed back my work item many questions and thoughts were racing through my mind: Is this the best thing for my future career? What if I completely waste my time and not achieve or learn anything? I do not even have any scholarship funding finalised at this point (the decision will be made in February 2021). But first, let’s back up a bit to the motivation for this.
6 Ways Time is Cheating on You
By: Ciaran Rushton
Tags: Lifehacks, Nonfiction, Time Management, Productivity

You Can’t Write a Book at a Dinner Party

Let’s contextualise with another segment from one of the greats, James Altucher:

I’ll go out to dinner with people and they’ll say “oh, you know, I can’t wait to work on my book, finally.”. And I’ll be like okay, I’m done eating now, I’m ready to go home now but they’ll keep going until one, two in the morning. When are you gonna write your book? Your gonna wake up at eleven and it’s going to be too late to write your book in the morning, and then your day’s going to happen then at night you’re going out again…the time is there. James Altucher Show — 645: Conquering Your Comfort Zone with Ed Latimore.

If you’re talking about your impending book at some social event, but you’re still on page one after three months, something isn’t right. I’m certainly not in the thought bubble that you should go and cross out every social event from your calendar…you’ll go insane. However, social meet-ups don’t need to be in excess, i.e. every night, more so if they involve getting pitted. Why? I think Altucher sums it up pretty well:

You’ll come home late. You’ll be behind as soon as you wake up the following day (the possibility of a hangover could be existent). It’s late morning. It’s almost midday. When are you going to cross off those tasks that get your book closer to publication? The day is going, full steam, and now your son wants to go to the park, or your husband is starving because you slept until eleven and he’s been waiting to have breakfast with you. The lads drop you a text: Up for dinner tonight?

It’s a messy, perpetuating cycle. The solution is nothing more than pulling back on so many of these events so that you can hone in on those goals.

But wait! I’m a damsel-in-distress extrovert who needs people all of the time!

Yes, and everybody needs downtime. Go enjoy those meals out, as long as they don’t consume all evenings. If you’re getting lured into going out with people you despise, bail, because it’s both a throwaway of time and a way to work yourself up.

To make time for those you like, maximise your productivity time (we’ll talk about that in a second). Moreover, socialising doesn’t have to always include a meal and copious amounts of wine. Join a cycling club. Do some group study. When the lads drop you a text about the pub, suggest a jog around the park instead. Unless you’re having dinner with Elon Musk, you’ll probably get more out of those than going out for the sixth time this week.

One sentence: Being the boat race champion every night at your pub won’t increase the word count of your novel.
Overcome The Presentation Nerves
By: Heba Abusedou
Tags: Notes, Presentations, Design, Public Speaking, Time Management

I recently realized that there is something that could play an important role in the presentation design process to support the speaker before and during the presentation — speaker notes. Especially now that nobody has to present in front of an audience, speaker notes can you help you deliver your virtual presentation effectively.

What are the speaker notes and why should you use them?

Depending on the presentation tool that you’re using, it’s usually an option that you need to enable. Once enabled, you’ll see two different versions of your presentation on two different screens — presentation and speaker notes.

While preparing for your presentation, speaker notes help you organize your thoughts. Writing them down helps keep your presentation to time (read more about time management here). During your presentation, you could use them to remain on topic and sometimes display content that is outside of your slides without having to interrupt the flow of your presentation.

I find speaker notes to be great for storytelling because they help you keep a natural flow between your slides and connect them together organically. What’s even more interesting is that you could use the notes to prepare answers for some of the questions you might get asked by your audience. Remember that you don’t always have to put everything on your slides. Sometimes it’s useful to use speaking notes instead.

Finally, speaker notes can come in handy after your presentation. You can use these notes to send an offline version of your presentation afterwards. Read more about speaker notes here.

Our pro-tip of the day for you is . . .

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Presentations Pro-Tips

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The 3 Elements of Productivity You Need According to Ali Abdaal
By: Abdullah Nadeem
Tags: Startup, Happiness, Success, Time Management, Productivity

The 3 Elements of Productivity You Need According to Ali Abdaal

As a UK based doctor, YouTuber, instructor, and podcaster, Ali Abdaal is one of the most productive people on the internet.

In one of his recent videos, Ali shares his take on how to maximise output through a unique analogy.

There are three elements of productivity and a nice metaphor he likes to use is that “there is a pilot, the plane and the engineer”.

The pilot is the person who sets the course.

The plane is the machine that is executing the orders of the pilot.

The engineer is the person whose job it is to make the whole process more efficient.
Day 2 of 180: Christmas Eve
Tags: Reflections, Phd Dissertation, Life Improvement, Challenge, Time Management

A warm Christmas Eve tis has been!

Managed to get an hour of work done today, which was impressive with all the other plans that I had lined up. Meeting the family, going for a 4 hour walk in the city, wrapping presents, attending my Thursday poetry night event and prepping the Christmas day decorations!

I realized working after 8pm is not a good idea, because I get very focused at that time my brain isn’t ready to go to bed even though I may be very tired! Also at that point in time I am more likely to have to repeat a step because my thoughts aren’t as clear as the morning time. So ideally I should always work on my PhD in the mornings. It’s easy for the next few days because I don’t have work, the tough part will be getting up around 5am on my work days. We’ll fight that battle when we get there, not gonna build up any thoughts at this point in time!

On a lighter note I was reminded how much I love walking around the city and the beauty of being surrounded my nature, old buildings, cool architecture, pretty lights, animals, and people (even if they are masked!). It was 56 F today which is very warm for the east coast this time of the year but meant a very enjoyable walk.

Off to read “uncomfortable conversations with a black man” for my Jan book club.
Remember Things Using Memory Library.
By: Elite Kamel
Tags: Self Improvement, Memory Management, Time Management, Memory Improvement

You always feel better when you remember the things you want to do and also the things that you have to keep in mind are at the right place.

!Memory Library!!! What is it. It is not something very hard for one If he is doing this for long time at first this might take some time to get worked up.

I had personal experiences using memory library.

So, getting right to the point what and why use it.

At first I would like to tell you this is nothing more than usual mind map but this one is trivially superficial and infinitely better than simple one.

So, Let’s say you are studying physics so clear up your mind if you like some visuals then do it add some visuals you walking in deep space library with only few books there. Then what just create one book and place it there and now when you are reading the thing just after every specific thing (here specific mean important point) finished just get in mind library again and add those contents there and try to remember some of the contents. It might seem impossible at first.

Not only while studying but also while you are travelling pick a new book magically create it and place the contents into it. The problem with modern reading environment is that information is presented in very fast manner which hinders you remembering the right things in right context. So, It is always better to read with focus and add it in your memory library.

Few more things to get you boosted while you read.

— — Always read one page at one time don’t hope between pages even that might be webpages on google. Don’t just rigorously put multiple tabs at once and try to read them altogether read them one by one.

— — After every addition in your Memory Library make one commit statement to yourself. Just like simple bookmark.

Thanks and Hope this article helps you.
NOTE TO YOURSELF: Creating A Wedding Time Capsule
By: Sharing Ideas, Thoughts With Karlos
Tags: Wedding Photographer, Wedding Planning, Weddings, Wedding Dress, Time Management

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

One of the wedding trends that’s really revving up brides today is the addition of a time capsule to the wedding prep proceedings. Yes, the wedding time capsule is a growing trend — to the point where you can buy a pre-made kit from many web sites.

In kit form, your wedding time capsule takes the form of an attractive tin, in which you place various mementos — photos, videos — as well as predictions for the future; then, you seal it all up with some festive stickers, to help discourage premature peeking. You decide ahead of time how long you’ll wait until you open it again — your 10th anniversary? 25th anniversary? And then you write a stern directive to yourself on the tin to help you keep to the agreement.

Although most people equate “time capsule” with “something you bury in the ground,” burying your wedding time capsule isn’t a great idea. Not only does that subject the contents to extreme temperature variations, but with the US Census recently reporting that the average American moves every five years, chances of you leaving behind a buried capsule before the hoped-for anniversary rolls around are high indeed. Instead, keep yours out of the elements and somewhere relatively kind — avoid damp attics, but a climate-controlled closet would be just perfect.

Some of us just like to do things our own way, and a wedding time capsule is no exception. Of course, you can create your own! And a great way to do that is to get close friends and relatives in on the fun. Have them scribble up some predictions — or perhaps marital advice. Take advantage of a pre-wedding party to snap photos of your intimates, and tuck the photos into the capsule. If you really want to motivate people to get involved, hold some kind of drawing for participants, such as a wedding raffle — give away a box of fine cigars, a bottle of bubbly, or even an afternoon at a spa.

While you’re letting others in on the action, there is a number of ways to go about it. One is to compose a list of predictions for everyone to guess at — the whole experience is similar to filling out a junior high slam book, and just as fun. For example, ask participants to predict:

How many children you’ll have, what kind of household robots you’ll have, how many career changes you’ve gone through, what major nation we’re closest to, and which one we’re mad at, what animal is the trendiest pet, … and so on.

Another is to ask your wedding party and close friends to compose short letters to you. Give them each envelope, and instruct them to tell you on the outside when it’s time to open the envelope. Some will simply say “fifth anniversary,” “10th anniversary,” or “when your first child is born.” Others will get more creative — and you’ll probably find it's terrific fun to stretch out the time capsule concept in this inventive, unpredictable way. visit our site for free eBooks!
4 แนวทางช่วย Focus
By: Pawit Nopparuch
Tags: Focus, Time Management

Experience designer who passion in exploring new business model, new value proposition that will truly become the new innovation
Do Not Call Registry
By: Stephen J. Lalla
Tags: Advice, Efficiency, Optimization, Time Management, Productivity

The Optimal Life, It’s Not Perfect, Just Better!

Do Not Call Registry

No one wants to be interrupted by an unwanted phone or text solicitation. Life’s far too busy to deal with that. Add your name to the Do Not Call Registry to eliminate unwanted calls and texts. Even though it’s been around for a while, many have yet to take advantage of this.

Unfortunately, some companies do not honor your request, so it’s up to you to report them. It will take time but it’s the only way to stop them. Plus, you should also block those calls on your mobile device.

You can register your phone number in the USA, check to see if you’re already registered, and report any unwanted calls. A little time now will benefit you in the future. Other countries also have a registry.

USA DO NOT CALL Registry
the Best present
By: Phil Wall
Tags: Christmas, Attitude, Family, Time Management, Personal Development

LIFE LESSONS

the Best present

My wife understands. My kids, not so much.

The author and his family, Christmas 2020

I think the best present I can give to my family at Christmas is being present.

My wife gets that gift. My kids, sometimes not so much.

My kids are young and don’t immediately get the significance of this.

There will always be tasks, people, or things competing for your 24 hours.

It doesn’t matter who you are, what’s in your bank account. Somebody somewhere wants your time.

If you were to peek in on my life, you would think that somebody wants my time more than I’m willing to fight to keep it.

I have my moments of being overwhelmed with stuff. It gets the better of me sometimes. And being present with my family can suffer.

So I take a step back, do a 15-minute workout, take a walk, or have a 10-minute nap with music in my ears.

Rejuvenated, now I’m ready to step back onto the battlefield.

That’s how it is. It’s a battlefield, and either you’ll win and take control of your time, or someone will.

I take responsibility to protect my time. If I don’t, somebody or some valueless task will steal it.

So here we are at Christmastime. What’s the best present to give to my family?

According to Google, $1536USD is the average amount of money spent each Christmas on gifts per household.

22% of Americans believe their Christmas spending will leave them in debt.

Buying a present is almost effortless.

Thanks to Amazon, it’s down to 2 or 3 swipes, 1 click, and 1 more swipe, and the present is on its way.

I’m not against spending money on presents. I’m against NOT being present.

My kids have a bunch of gifts wrapped and ready to go. But the gifts I wrapped aren’t the most important kind.

The best present I give to my family this Christmas and every day forward is being present.

I recommit that when I’m with my family, I’ll be with my family.

More than having social media turned off, I mentally turn the world off. If that means temporarily deleting certain apps and alarms and notifications, so be it.

It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

I schedule it. I schedule work hours; why wouldn’t I schedule time with my family?

Mental prep.

This is not like a separate task. I mentally get excited throughout the day about the things we have planned, about the time I’m spending with my fam-jam.

It could be board games, chess, hanging out, reading, talking, movies, going for a walk, working out together, snacking… whatever it is, I think about it, smile about it, I get excited about being with my family.

Yes, I should be excited to spend time with family, but sometimes life gets in the way.

Sometimes I’m off my game, and that’s ok as long as I get back at it quickly.

What’s not ok is having a lazy attitude towards the people that matter most to me. They deserve better. They deserve the present of presence.

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How To Get MORE Done In A Day!
Tags: Self Improvement, Time Management, Motivation, Motivational Speaker

We all have 24 hours, Yet some people can get everything done so quickly, While other people get only one or two tasks done. How can we improve our productivity so we can get more done in a day?

STOP MULTITASKING

Not only do you stress yourself out more, But you cannot possibly get more done by multitasking. By working on one project at a time, You can increase your overall productivity.

Eliminate Some of your to-do list

We tend to have ridiculous to-do lists. They start to get super long and out of hand. Can we realistically do all of that crap in one day? Probably not. So why do we try and trick ourselves into thinking that we can? By having long to do lists, we are only causing ourselves unnecessary stress. By knocking out whats not important, We can focus on only important tasks. Which will help us relieve stress?

Say No

We can’t say “yes” To everything, Most of us already have plenty on our plate. Say no sometimes; It’s healthy. If people aren’t understanding, Then maybe you should evaluate on whether they are necessary for your life. You shouldn’t have to feel bad about saying no sometimes.

Getting through the Grueling Projects.

Some items on your to-do May be extremely fun, While others may be extremely tedious. You know you need to get them done, But sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated.

Set a Timer

Give yourself only a certain amount of time to work on the project, And do not exceed that limit. This will force you to work faster Plus if it’s a task you don’t like, You’ll be done soon. So you cant complain. This will also let you get a lot of different things done. Just don’t let yourself be too strong of a perfectionist on it!

Shorter time frames are best!

Be Optimistic

Remind yourself why you are doing it. What benefits will it give you, and encourage yourself to keep going? If you are negative, It will drag out even more.

Use A Time Table

To analyze where your current time is going. You’ll be surprised how much time you spend just messing with your phone. There are free timetables you can print off google.

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Boost Your Productivity In Sprints With The Pomodoro Technique
By: Sandra Of All Trades
Tags: Pomodoro Method, Pomodoro, Pomodoro Technique, Time Management, Productivity

What freelancers and self-employed people have known for a long time, more and more people are learning the hard way: Procrastination is easy and productivity is hard, especially when working from home and on your own. With many more people working from home these days, productivity is becoming a buzzword. That is where the Pomodoro Technique comes in to help tackle this issue. What sounds like a kitchen recipe is in fact a surefire recipe for success.

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

In a nutshell, it is about working in concentrated sprints and then taking short breaks. If you want to follow the formula, you start with 25 minutes of working on one task. This is then followed by a five-minute break before you tackle the next task in a 25-minute chunk. After repeating these so-called pomodoros four times, you take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes.

How does the Pomodoro Technique increase productivity?

By being very clear and focusing on one single task per Pomodoro session, you are cutting out any distractions. Also, by going with 25-minute sessions, you are creating a sense of urgency to keep you motivated. Once a pomodoro session is done, you also have a sense of achievement.

How to do it?

There are different apps as well as free timers available on the internet or you can simply use the stopwatch on your phone to keep yourself in check. And if you need extra motivation or someone to keep you accountable, there are many videos on YouTube that you can watch and work along to.
Today’s Quote
By: Destiny S. Harris
Tags: Quotes About Life, Quotes, Quote Of The Day, Relationships, Time Management

Web: destinyh.com

Facebook: @textdestiny

Instagram: @textdestiny

Read: Mental Rescue Series

Read: Overcoming BS Series

Read: Building Wealth Series

Read: When You’re Feeling Series

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Maximize Your Minutes
By: Mike Vardy
Tags: Attention, Prioritization, Intentions, Time Management, Productivity

Photo by Daniele Franchi on Unsplash

In professional sports, the phrase “maximize your minutes’’ comes up frequently. The idea is that athletes should make the most of their time on the field, the ice, whatever. It’s a good practice, but it doesn’t mean the same thing to every athlete.

For example, for one athlete maximizing their minutes might mean that they concern themselves with every facet of the game instead of padding their own stats. They spend some (or most) of their time learning so that they can execute better over the long haul.

Another athlete might consider maximizing their minutes to mean that they want to be a big part of every play, no matter how. They go-all out on each and every instant, because that’s what maximizing their minutes means to them.

A third athlete may very well think a hybrid of the two aforementioned approaches is the way to go.

In professional wrestling, maximizing minutes means that when the spotlight is shining on you that you make sure you do a whole lot of shining as well. The spotlight moves around pretty frequently in that industry, so maximizing minutes isn’t something that happens in an “ebb and flow” sort of way. For many pro wrestlers, they only get one shot at the spotlight. They need to do whatever it takes –no matter what– to make that shot count.

I don’t always maximize my minutes. I need to be better at that. But before that happens, I need to decide what that means. Otherwise I could very well be squandering my time instead of making the most of it.

And you need to do the same.
Work from home and productivity
By: Unnanu Blog
Tags: Benefits, Work From Home, Work Life Balance, Time Management, Productivity

2020 made a huge impact on peoples’ lives in a variety of ways. Everyone has gotten used to living with the COVID19 pandemic and adapted to this new hectic lifestyle. Remote work or work from home is no longer a new concept to anyone. At the beginning of the year, everyone was discussing the things they should consider while working from home. Now everything has become normal, and almost everyone loves working remotely. Moreover, apart from the disadvantages, the majority agrees that there are many upsides for the individuals and the companies as well. Because of this, most of the companies will likely continue this in the future. Here are some benefits of remote work.

Effect on work-life balance

Many employees face conflicts when trying to balance work and their personal life. Many get stressed with work and regret not focusing on their personal lives. But working from home has given them the means to balance their lives. People have learned to organize and prioritize their work. They know how to switch between getting office work done and taking care of their kids. Remote workers can now manage their professional work while focusing on their families. You can now feel the satisfaction of being closer to family without the stress.

Outcomes

Many employees that work from home find it is easy to manage their work and complete all their tasks daily, without having them stack up the next day. Remote work enhances performance because of many reasons. For example, employees get fewer distractions from their colleagues. No one comes to talk with you unless it is regarding a business matter. If you need to chat with your co-workers, there are plenty of online platforms such as zoom and slack. If you need to concentrate, you can switch on keep-away options, which make it easier to focus on tasks. All these things make it easy for you to prioritize your work, allowing you to become more productive.

Time and money

For any busy person, time management is essential. Surprisingly, remote work has helped people a lot in managing time. Since they don’t need to travel to their workplaces, a lot of time is saved. Moreover, they don’t get tired of waiting in long traffic jams. This makes it comfortable for you to work anywhere that you prefer, without considering your work attire. When you feel comfortable, you are motivated to finish up all the work you have before their deadlines. All these things help you save time and money. This helps companies save money as well. They get more productive workers, everything becomes more effective and efficient, and they can save their money on workspaces and infrastructure facilities.
The Pomodoro Technique-Ultimate Productivity Hack
By: Avni Vij
Tags: Productivity Hacks, Work From Home, Pomodoro Technique, Time Management, Productivity

Photo by Bonneval Sebastien on Unsplash

After almost 9 months of enforced work from home, my older time management and productivity tools had become rusty. I was experiencing a slump identified with a lack of energy, motivation, and having no sense of time. While I stuck to my routines more or less, I was not accomplishing a lot. My bullet journal pages were empty and I did not pick up my ukulele. I did stick through my gratitude journal but I missed many days. My workout routine was all over the place. I was overwhelmed, overworked, and simply exhausted.

I tried everything to get out of it- putting my to-do lists right in front of me where I can see them, setting alarms, and telling myself, let’s get on with it! Nothing seemed to work. I struggled and then I let go.

I accepted it was only normal for me to feel this way. We were still very much in the pandemic. And it is bound to affect me. It was okay to not be on top of things. Once I accepted this reality, slowly (and I mean it real slowly) I started finding my rhythm back. I got back to my 30 mins of workout and writing in my gratitude journal, I also picked up a book to read and took out time in the day to sit and just read. Yet, I was struggling with my work. I wasn’t on top of that. And then, a miracle happened! Something that turned this around.

A youtube playlist!

A youtube playlist with Pomodoro Study Sessions.

I have used the Pomodoro Technique in its more infant form- that is I didn't have a youtube playlist tracking my time!- while studying for college exams. It worked then and it definitely worked now.

If you are new to Pomodoro Technique, read below to find out what it is and how it can help you too- whether you are struggling to focus on your studies, your work, or on a project.
Winder Solstice 2020
By: Luke Delalio
Tags: Self Help, Time Management, Winter Solstice, Poetry

This long night

Is waiting like whoever drove to the emergency room after the accident

Checking its watch at the sound of a red eye out of Kennedy

Do words have the power to unmake the damage? These words, tapped into a phone?

On the other side, consider what is done in each second, and which are left empty

While hovering over the bed watching the doctors put you back together

It’s the winter ritual that goes back

Back further than It’s a Wonderful Life,

Back to mammoths and meat and staring into a fire

Consider what is done in each second

At 7:15 the sun returns — see it climb over the houses and climb with it.
Leaders, It's Funny How We View Time
By: Jeff Garrison
Tags: Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy, Business, Time Management

Have you ever seen a roll of quarters? There are 40 quarters in a roll and it’s worth ten bucks. It’s heavy and feels substantial, but what happens when you unravel it? And how is this a metaphor for hitting your long-term goals?

It’s funny how we view time. Odds are, you have a checklist of things you want to get done today. You know…a “to-do” list. Maybe you have a list for the week. I suspect we make lists like this because we feel like we can plan and control our effort and focus, and the distractions during these small bits of time that are a day or a week.

That being said, I’ll say it again, it’s funny how we view time. We treat the hours in our days much like we treat pennies. They have value of course, but if you were to lose a few it’s no big deal, right?

Now, let’s get back to the roll of quarters and consider how we view time on a bigger scale. Each quarter in the roll represents one quarter on the calendar and taken together, adds up to ten years.

I know ten years sounds like a long-time, but when we unravel it, ten years is only forty quarters.

In fact, we speak in terms of quarters at Results On Purpose because it sounds more urgent than years. And what this illustration shows is that over the next ten years, if you are setting goals and measuring quarterly, you will only get forty blocks of time in which to plan your goals and execute them. Doesn’t it sound a lot different AND URGENT when we put it that way?

Amazing things can be accomplished if your team does not squander these forty quarters with a lack of planning, execution, and accountability. To put a fine point on it, look back at the last 8, 12, or 16 quarters. How many “working on the business” goals were accomplished that moved your business towards your long-term objectives? And how many quarters were squandered as if they were mere pennies?

I’ll say it one last time. It’s funny how we view time.

Of course, the past is the past. The future is what matters. If you want to move faster, take the opportunity now to plan the next quarter well, figure out how to support everyone, and hold them accountable, execute, and repeat. In other words, change how it is that you view time.
Michael-
Tags: Ideas, Inspiration, Activity Management, Time Management, Productivity

Michael-

I believe you and Melanie were sharing the same muse when writing your respective articles and I am in full agreement with both of you about “boxes.”

Writing and creativity don’t belong in boxes. However, we can use boxes or blocks of time to increase our potential of accomplishing our writing goals whatever they may be.

I recently learned about a 9 box concept for managing a 3 hour block of time. The great thing is the flexibility and consistency of the boxes.

You can divide the three boxes for each hour up however you see fit based on what works best for you!

10, 20, 30 • 20, 10, 30 • 20, 20, 20 • 30, 10, 20 • 10, 10, 40…

The idea is to simply schedule whatever activities are important to you during the time of day you know to be most productive for you individually.

I’ve just started using this method and am already reaping the benefits of structured unstructured time…

I love that you shared your routine with us so we can evaluate if we can implement a similar strategy that works for us.

Thanks for sharing!

#Grateful
The Sanity of Sameness
By: Mike Vardy
Tags: Decision Making, Ritual, Routine, Time Management, Productivity

Photo by La Partida Eterna on Unsplash

I decided not too long ago that it was time I went to bed at the same time every weeknight. The same goes for when I wake up on weekdays.

Much like I have an evening routine I use to end my day and a simple morning routine to kick off my day, I felt as if having the same time for waking up and bedtime during the workweek was a smart play.

There’s a sanity that you get from doing things the same. Not everything, but some things.

The thing is, those things are going to be different for everyone. But I believe having some things taking place at the same time (or even some things on the same days, like I do with my Daily Themes) creates a level of certainty that is needed to navigate an uncertain world.

The things that you do the same or ensure happen at the same time will also change over the course of your life. Some will change as elements of your life changes, like becoming a parent or starting a new career. Others will change based on seasons, such as when to exercise and who is in your social circle.

Just like we all need to be open to experiencing different things, we should do the same for, well, experiencing things that stay the same.

Or, better still, being okay with keeping some things the same.
The Power of Annual Reviews
By: Jozsef Garab
Tags: Writing, Goals, Time Management, Productivity

This year I write my fifth annual review based on the above mentioned questions. Although I am not a writer or an influencer, I do it for myself. I decided to write in my free time in few years ago. Unfortunately, I could not manage to establish stable writing habits. But I read a lot of books and articles.

However, I did not produce content for the world, I make weekly journals and each year I write my Annual Review.

I like the weekly journals because, I can check what was in my head at the same time in one or more years ago. The time flies, and it is good, that I can recall my feelings.

However, the power of writing the annual reviews are broaden the horizon. I can judge my life. I see my life in helicopter view.

The most important that the thoughts are written. You can put your yourself in your shoes in the past.

I believe in the process of thinking, planning and execution. You can influence your life significantly. I am sure that education can give you a chance. I know, that a smart and hardworking person can achieve a lot. I encourage everybody to work towards the dreams.

However, I am a bit fatalist as well. And your fate is reflected in your annual reviews.

When you are reviewing your former annual reviews, you recognize some life changing events. Maybe you decided to make a career change. Or you met somebody who made a big influence on you. You established a family. You started a new hobby or healthy routines.

I enjoyed recall my last five years with the read of the Annual Reviews. I inspire everyone to write the Annual Review.Writing your thoughts is always beneficial. Because you do it only once a year, you can free up some time for it.

It is the end of December, 2020. Great time to do your first one.
6 Productivity Tips For Working From Home Lifestyle
By: Ghani Mengal
Tags: Unique, Self Improvement, Work From Home, Time Management, Productivity

6 Productivity Tips For Working From Home Lifestyle

Photo by XPS on Unsplash

We all love working from home, but now in 2020 due to Covid-19, we are forced to work from home. We love working from home but not necessarily do we need to work from home because we are social animals, we all need social interactions.

With working from home now we are trapped with working from home and that’s the biggest reason why we are not being productive because we are forced to work from home, not by our own intuitions.

By the way, challenges make us stronger, working from home is not a bad idea, but we must solve the productivity and time management problems, so we can get more out of our workdays.
My TOP 5 Productivity Apps for Planning Your 2021
By: Anshul Kumar, Top Writer In Productivity
Tags: Apps, 2021, Planning, Time Management, Productivity

Whether you’re working solo or as part of a team, you need the right tools to identify and overcome productivity — so, in this article, I’ve got 5 of the best time management and productivity apps to help you get more done.

1. Focus Your Energy on The Right Things With Todoist — The Most Popular Task Management App Today. Sign-up Free.

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2. Write Free from Distraction, Collect Information, Find What You Need & Write Anything & Everything You Want with The Grandfather of All Note-Taking Apps — Evernote

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3. Your Busy Life Deserves This! Crush Your 2021 Goals With Any.Do And Start Getting Things Done

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4. Read & Learn with The Most Promising Tool Of 2020–21. Powered by AI & Smart Tech — Readwise

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5. Forget When You Had to Hire A Designer! Canva Is A Designer Tool for Non-Designers. Start Free Today!
The art of saying “NO”
By: Madhav Bahl
Tags: Personal Development, Efficiency, Time Management, Personal Growth, Productivity

Method 2: Defer The Request

By postponing the event and holding the other person accountable for follow up, you can test how serious they are about it

I feel that there is nothing wrong with a direct “No”, but sometimes deferring the request can prove to be more clever and advantageous,

By putting off the request by weeks/months, and making the other person accountable for a quick follow up, you can find out who all are actually serious about the purpose. Let me give you my own example,

I receive a lot of requests to speak in college events, and majorly my calendar on weekends remains filled with events, so whenever I get a new request, I have to put it off by at least 2–3 weeks (Not by choice, since my calendar doesn’t accommodate it),

But, by doing so, I find that less than 20% of the organizers/people follow up.

The reasons might vary, they might have found another speaker, or they might have forgotten, but it gives me a very clear sense of who all were actually serious about having me as a speaker.

The whole point here is that this method gives you a clear sense of whether or not you should give your time. (But the method is not recommended for urgent requests).

How to do it?

Simple, just tell them in a polite way that you are occupied right now but you will be free after a definite amount of time, and tell them to follow up after that period of time.

A simple example —
Debug a Generic IIS internal server error on an Azure Web App in 5 minutes
By: Matthew Hart
Tags: Azure App Service, Iis, Azure, 500 Internal Server Error

Have you come across this unhelpful IIS server error? Perhaps when making a .NET Web release to an Azure Web App for the first time?

Usually this occurs because something is not set correctly in the Web.Config. Such as an element missing a rogue chevron > or in my case a duplicate httpCookies element. In this post I will show how you can very quickly figure out what is causing the error.

First turn on Application Logging and Detailed error messages for the affected Web App by scrolling down to App Service Logs and turn on the settings, make sure your level is set to Error:

This will enable Application logging and start writing to log files into D:\home\LogFiles\Application. However we will be using the Log Stream to view our error message instead of digging into the file system.

To view our Application Log, just below App Service logs click Log stream. Give it a moment to warm up and then attempt to refresh the page of the affected site. Make sure you are viewing the Application logs and not the Web Server logs. It should start to stream in the html of the error page.

Note: The screenshot contains a different error and is shown for instructional purposes. In this case a rogue chevron has made it into the web.config

Highlight, copy the html and paste it into an editor such as VSCode. Then apply some formatting to make it easier to read or save it as a html file and open it in your browser.

Looks like I have two httpCookies elements in my Web.Config. Opening the App Service Editor I can see that there are indeed two httpCookies elements set. I found these were introduced by the Web.Release.Config transform during deployment.

After removing the duplicate element, the site now loads.
How To Run a Vue.js App As a Container On Azure VM
By: Bhargav Bachina
Tags: JavaScript, Cloud Computing, Web Development, Programming, Azure

How To Run a Vue.js App As a Container On Azure VM

There is a number of ways you can run your applications nowadays. It’s very common to containerize your application and run it on Docker runtime. You have several options in Microsoft Azure such as App Service, AKS, etc. But, you have limited control over the underlying architecture when you use these options. If you want complete control over the underlying architecture you can install Docker on Azure VM and run your application on it.

In this post, we will see how we can install Docker on Azure VM and run a Vue.js application as a container on it.

Prerequisites

Example Project

Set up a VM and Install Docker

Run the Container

Access From the Browser

Summary

Conclusion

Prerequisites

There are some prerequisites for this article. You need to have nodejs installed on your laptop and how http works. If you want to practice and run this on your laptop you need to have these on your laptop.

Azure Prerequisites

You should have a Microsoft Azure Account. You can get a free account for one year. You should see the below screen after you login.

Azure Home Screen

You need to create a subscription for your account. The most common is Pay As You Go subscription.

Subscription Offers

Pay-As-You-Go Subscription

You need a subscription to be associated with your tenant so that all the cost is billed to this subscription.

Install Azure CLI and Configure

Once you have the Azure Account you can install Azure CLI. You can go to the below documentation and install Azure CLI based on your operation system. You can configure Azure CLI with your subscription.

az login

Let’s list the subscription with the following command
Architecting DevOps workflow
Tags: Ansible, Docker, Gitlab, DevOps, Azure

Want to GET a global overview about #DevOps ( CI/CD + #GitOps) check my Architecture, it is based on #gitlab #gitlabci and #azure to deliver applications and provision AKS clusters and Servers, All of them are described by code placed into a Gitlab Repos alongside with a workflow to pass from dev -> pre-prod to production.

Feel free to contact me for any feedback.

DevOps architecture

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How did I Passed the Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate…
By: Mayank Chourasia
Tags: AWS, Multi Cloud, Aviatrix, Google Cloud Platform, Azure

Hello Everyone, Hope you are well..!!

Are you preparing for the Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate Exam? Many questions would be hovering into your mind like what will be the difficulty level of the exam? On which Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking topics should I spend more time? and so on.

Don’t worry! I also had these questions in my mind while preparing for my Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate Exam certification. I got over these questions and finally passed the certification exam. Yes, I’m a Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate now!

I was working on Google Cloud Platform for almost 1 year. Microsoft Azure for 3 months And while working I believed giving this exam would double validate my knowledge on the subject.

Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate Exam

I believe it’s a good start to enter the Aviatrix World. Passing the certification would give you some confidence to Aviatrix services and its technology. As the name suggests Aviatrix ACE is one of the basic exams that covers some general knowledge about Networking Services in Cloud.

Aviatrix Systems is a software company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the heart of Silicon Valley. Aviatrix software provides a platform for companies to build networking and security infrastructure in the public cloud. The platform provides architecture applicable to both single and multiple public cloud deployments. Currently, the software supports public clouds such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI. Aviatrix Systems was the recipient of the Gartner Cool Vendor award in Cloud Computing in 2017 and is the pioneer of Multi-Cloud Network Architecture (MCNA).

What are the Important Topics for the Aviatrix ACE (Aviatrix Certified Engineer) Multi-Cloud Networking Associate Exam Preparation?

There are a lots of resources to help with your exam preparation. Aviatrix recommends using its online platform, Aviatrix Learn, which provides learning paths and modules you can read at your own pace for free.

All these steps were enough to let me pass the Aviatrix Certified Engineer.

Stay tuned till the next blog

If you Want to Connect with Me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayank-chourasia-38421a134/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChourasiaMayank

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