Without passion, you don’t have energy, without energy, you have nothing. – Donald Trump
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dimanche 30 novembre 2014
Before you “assume’, try this crazy method called “asking”.
Before you “assume’, try this crazy method called “asking”.
The post Before you “assume’, try this crazy method called “asking”. appeared first on Lifehack.
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Use This Effective Routine to Wrap Up Work for the Weekend
Routines help us move efficiently from one area of life to another. The end of a workweek is a transition that can leave us stressed and overwhelmed, and handling it poorly can make for a really unpleasant start to the next workweek.
Here’s an effective routine you can customize and use to wrap up work for a relaxing weekend and a great start to the next week.
1. Start the routine at lunch time on Friday with one very important question.
Here’s the question: What will I feel GREAT about getting done before the weekend?
Your answer should be only one or two items, not a whole bucket list full. You only have an afternoon left, but if you focus, you can get through some good work before it’s quitting time.
To help yourself do so, though, limit your work socializing on Friday. Everybody wants to move into weekend-mode, and that’s understandable; but it’s much better to stay focused at work for a few hours than to fritter the afternoon away on unproductive shuffling. You’ll still be at work, anyway; you might as well get some stuff done and enter the weekend feeling great about what you’ve accomplished.
2. Work hard on the answer to that question for the next few hours.
Stay as focused as you can and avoid distractions as much as possible. Remind yourself that you are prepping for a great weekend, and you’re going to enjoy it. You’ll enjoy it even more by focusing and using your hours at work well.
3. About an hour before quitting time, wrap up the task you’ve been working on.
Wherever you are on that task, find a stopping point, even if the task or project you’re working to accomplish is not yet complete.
Many, many tasks and projects are going to span multiple days and even weeks of work. What you should do right now is note the progress you’ve made on this particular task and any ideas or bits of info you’ll want when it’s time to start working on it again.
If you have finished up the task you assigned yourself for the afternoon, great! Wrap up the bits and pieces: papers, open files, and other related items. Don’t leave evidence strewn about or a mess to pick up on Monday.
4. Once you’ve wrapped up your task, update your task list.
Clear or mark off all the tasks you’ve accomplished in the workweek.
Delete any tasks that are no longer relevant; no point in allowing them to take up space on your list.
Delegate any tasks that don’t belong to you, or make a note to do so on Monday.
Move, migrate, or re-assign tasks that still need to be done, depending on how your task management system works.
5. Take a look at your calendar.
Once you’ve update your task list, you need to take five minutes to look at your calendar for the weekend and upcoming workweek.
The first purpose is just to get a quick overview of what’s coming up for you.
The second purpose is to notice anything big looming on Monday or Tuesday that you want to be prepared to handle. There’s nothing more unpleasant than coming in Monday morning only to be surprised by that report that’s due by Monday afternoon, or the big meeting you forgot about.
If you must, assign yourself one or two tasks to do over the weekend to prepare for your Monday events and workload. Clarify exactly what you need to do, and think about what weekend time you can use for those tasks; put it on your weekend calendar, and don’t worry about it until you get to the assigned time. Then focus, get through the tasks, and then get back to enjoying your weekend.
6. Give yourself notes and reminders for starting the next week.
When you’re in the middle of a project, everything is present and fresh. It doesn’t seem like you could forget the ideas and information coursing through your brain when you’re in the midst of the work.
But weekends come and new information and ideas take up that brain space. Part of why Monday is so difficult is that our brains are working to rewire themselves back to the “work-related” bits of information that are still hanging out in there but not as accessible because they’re buried by all the “weekend-related” stuff.
Do yourself a favor and leave yourself a breadcrumb trail to follow when you get back to work.
- For open projects: leave notes of some kind (physical or digital, whichever works best for the project) regarding the task you were doing, your thoughts on it, where you want to pick up, what you were thinking.
- For calendar items and events: leave information, ideas, reminders, and event details entered into the calendar item so you don’t have to go hunting for them. Set reminders before the calendar event to give yourself a heads up with enough time to do any preparation needed.
7. Wrap up any open communication.
Check your inbox for emails that need to be answered, and answer them quickly. If you need to take time to form your reply, start a response with your initial thoughts, save it as a draft, and mark it in your inbox as a priority so you don’t forget it next week.
Respond to other modes of communication – phone calls, texts, social media messages, and the like – as appropriate.
8. Back up your files and computer.
Run an back-up program to make sure your week’s work is saved and will be waiting for you when you come back on Monday.
9. Straighten up your physical space.
Throw away waste paper. Put your supplies and pens back in the drawer. Stack up books. File away papers.
Don’t leave yourself a mess. You don’t have to create a haven of perfection, but you can create order.
Your brain will thank you later.
10. Decompress as you move to the weekend.
Transitions are difficult, and routines help with that. Make a decompressing activity the last part of your routine. Exercise is probably the best method; even something as simple as a walk around the block or a set of jumping jacks can help you shake off the work and get energized for the weekend.
Other ideas?
- Listen to music on your commute home.
- Spend 10 minutes meditating.
- Go for a quick bicycle or car ride (if you work from home, you might need to give yourself a “commute” so you have some transition time).
- Turn the music up and dance!
- Lay down for a 15-minute power nap.
Now you’re ready for the weekend. You can relax and enjoy your time, knowing that you’ve left things in order and set yourself up for a great week when you get back to work.
Featured photo credit: Jackal1 via flickr.com
The post Use This Effective Routine to Wrap Up Work for the Weekend appeared first on Lifehack.
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The 10 Most Important Things In The World This Morning
Good morning! It's Cyber Monday! Here is everything you need to know before your first meeting of the day.
1. Police and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have clashed again. Police used pepper spray on the crowd. Thousands of activists forced the temporary closure of Hong Kong's government building. 40 arrested, Reuters reports.
2. Black Friday shopping appears to have declined 11% in the US. The Washington Post says: "The National Retail Federation reported that 55.1 percent of consumers shopped between Thursday and Sunday, according to a survey it conducted over the weekend. That is down from 58.7 percent the previous year. The NRF said total spending was $50.9 billion, an 11 percent decline from an estimated $57.4 billion in 2013." One theory: Shoppers no longer believe that deals will only be available on the Friday and are instead spreading their buying across the weeks leading up to Christmas.
3. UK manufacturers are moderating their growth expectations. A survey of manufacturers by EEF and BDO says companies predict growth of 3.5 per cent this year for the sector but that will slow to 2 per cent in 2015, the Financial Times says.
4. Chinese manufacturing looks weak. Business Insider's Linette Lopez reported: "Chinese manufacturing disappointed again in November. The country's manufacturing PMI missed expectations coming in at 50.3, analysts expected 50.5." It's the second straight month where PMI has been near 50. Any measure under 50 indicates the sector is contracting.
5. The Swiss have rejected the gold standard. In a national referendum on Sunday that was closely watched by gold bugs — people who believe that currency should be tied to the actual value of gold — Switzerland rejected a proposal to link the Swiss franc to gold reserves held by the country's central bank.
6. An American couple cleared of killing their daughter has nonetheless been barred from leaving Qatar. It's an unusual case: Prosecutors in the Muslim country accused the pair of starving to death their adopted daughter. The 8-year-old girl alternately starved and binged on food, a behaviour the couple was trying to correct. The Huangs are Asian and their adopted daughter was black — a situation prosecutors appeared not to understand. The couple spent a year in a Qatari jail before they were cleared by a court. Their passports were taken at the airport even though they were being escorted by the US ambassador.
7. Samsung is planning another new metal phone. The next iteration of its A series will have a screen bigger than 5 inches, Business Insider noted.
8. Samsung's mobile division chief kept his job! The company had been expected to axe Shin Jong-kyun because the company's phone sales have declined. But they left him in place in the annual reshuffle.
9. Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, has been told to tone it down. O'Leary is known for his media-friendly statements about charging passengers to use the toilet and turning up to press conferences in bizarre costumes. Now the company wants him to become a bit more "presidential" in his behaviour.
10. United Nations diplomats will gather in Lima to again attempt to persuade governments to restrict their emission of greenhouse gases. The problem is that we may have already passed the point of no return, and that the planet faces a future of "drought, food and water shortages, melting ice sheets, shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels and widespread flooding," according to The New York Times.
And finally ...
The organisers of an art project during which actor Shia Labeouf claims he was raped have spoken out against the woman who allegedly assaulted him. “Nowhere did we state that people could do whatever they wanted to Shia during #IAMSORRY", one of them tweeted. The Guardian reports: "#IAMSORRY involved LaBeouf sitting silently behind a desk in a room in LA’s Cohen gallery with a paper bag bearing the legend 'I am not famous anymore' over his head. For five days, members of the public queued to be able to sit alone with him in the room with a prop of their choice." One woman whipped him and took his clothes off, The Guardian says.
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