LinkedIn with Karen Yankovich

Maximize Your Day with Productivity Habits

Introduction: Unlock Your Productivity Potential

Hey there, fellow productivity seekers! Ready to kick your daily routine into high gear? In this newsletter, we're diving deep into habits that can transform your average day into a powerhouse of productivity. From morning rituals to evening wind-downs, we've got 10 essential habits to share that'll supercharge your day. Let's dive in and make every moment count!

Habits that will make your day more productive.

1. Rise and Shine: The Power of Morning Rituals:Start your day off right with purposeful morning rituals that set a positive tone.Early Bird Gets the Worm: Wake Up with Purpose:Rise and shine with intention! Whether it's setting goals or practicing gratitude, starting your day with a clear mindset can set the stage for success.

2. Mastering Time Management: Key to Productivity:Time is precious—learn how to manage it effectively for maximum productivity.

3. Prioritize with Purpose: Harness the Power of To-Do Lists: Stay on track with to-do lists that prioritize tasks and keep you focused on what matters most. Break down big goals into actionable steps for a sense of accomplishment.

4. Embrace the Pomodoro Technique: Work Smarter, Not Harder: Say goodbye to procrastination! Embrace focused bursts of work with the Pomodoro Technique to maintain productivity and prevent burnout. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that helps you focus on a single task for short intervals, usually 25 minutes, followed by a short break, usually 5 minutes. The idea is to divide your work into manageable chunks and avoid distractions and procrastination.

5. Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Unlock Your Potential:Adopt a growth mindset to overcome obstacles and reach new heights.

6. Embrace Challenges: Turn Setbacks into Opportunities:View challenges as chances to grow and learn. Shift your perspective to see setbacks as steppingstones to success.

7. Continuous Learning: Expand Your Horizons:Commit to lifelong learning for personal and professional growth. Dive into books, courses, and mentorship opportunities to stay ahead of the curve.

8. Streamlining Your Environment: Set the Stage for Success: Optimize your surroundings for productivity by decluttering physical and digital spaces.

9. Clear the Clutter: Minimize DistractionsCreate a workspace free of distractions to enhance focus and productivity. A tidy environment leads to a clear mind.

10. Digital Detox: Unplug for Mental Refreshment:Take breaks from screens to recharge and foster creativity. Disconnecting from technology can boost mental clarity and overall well-being.

Conclusion: Elevate Your Productivity Today:And there you have it—10 game-changing habits to make your day more productive than ever! Whether you're a busy professional or just looking to optimize your routine, these habits will help you unlock your full potential. So why wait? Start implementing them today and watch your productivity soar!

FAQs

Q: How long does it take to form a new habit?

A: Research suggests it takes around 66 days, but everyone's journey is different!

Q: Can I adopt all 10 habits at once?

A: While it's possible, starting with one or two may lead to greater success.

Q: What if I fall off track with my habits?

A: Don't sweat it! Just refocus and keep moving forward.

Q: Are these habits suitable for everyone?

A: Absolutely! They're adaptable to any lifestyle or profession.

Q: How can I measure the effectiveness of these habits?

A: Try keeping a productivity journal to track your progress.

Q: Can these habits help with work-life balance?

A: Definitely! By maximizing productivity, you'll have more time for relaxation and fun.

Get started today and unlock your full potential with these powerful habits!

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Focus on the Doing

Focus on the Doing

Know Your Triggers

The likelihood of being distracted is directly related to the amount of pull something has on our attention. Increased self-observation and deep introspection help you identify where your boundaries lie.

There are three cues that you need to either set boundaries for or to raise your awareness when your boundaries slip:

Discomfort

Resentment

Guilt

You can’t always avoid every single distraction, but if you’re aware of your weaknesses, you have a better chance of putting the right systems in place to reduce exposure to distractions.

The first step in setting boundaries is knowing your triggers and limits – are they mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual?

Once you identify your triggers, you can set healthy boundaries to give you room to do what you want to focus on. Boundaries serve as the framework to focus your efforts and harness your energy so that you can do your best work.

Keep in mind that your limits are your own, so it’s likely to be different than the limits of others.

Our inability to set boundaries results from our fear of offending those around us. However, you have little to no obligation beyond your own guilt to be immediately available to everyone all the time. Once you set boundaries, stand by them.

Eliminate Digital Distractions

If you’re like most workers, you don’t spend all of your hours at work doing actual work. Be honest. During those perceived lulls at work, the temptation to surf the internet or double-check your notifications can be strong. Remove all digital distractions and reward yourself later.

Email Usage

Emails can be extremely distracting. Keeping our email open makes us think we are more connected to others. However, checking our emails often is unnecessary.

The average professional spends 28% of their workday checking emails and responding to emails.[2]

If there is an urgent matter, email would not be the first method of contact for you. People will call you instead.

What can you do to resist constantly checking your email?

Phone Use

Not all calls are about your apartment being burglarized or a loved one in a precarious situation. So turn off your mobile phone or put it on silent mode during hours when you need all your attention on your work. You can also opt to activate the voicemail service.

You could also request your workmates to inform your callers you will get back to them later instead of always tapping your back or shouting out that you’ve got a call at any time.

Once you’re done with work, call back the earlier callers and explain your situation briefly. In the next two minutes, ask about their concern, note it down and tell them you’d call them back for their needed action. Prepare and write all their needed details, bearing in mind their possible follow-up thoughts on the matter. Then, call them back and always limit the phone conversation to less than three minutes.

BE “INVISIBLE”

You can also set your instant messaging status to indicate you are “busy” or stay “invisible” while you work to remain focused on a task. If you still get IMs, just turn off the notification or program. Turn it on later when your current task is not as pressing.

Social Media

It’s usually hard to stay focused at work because something new, interesting, and perky always comes with most social networking sites. Not only will it defeat your purpose of staying focused at work, but there’s plenty of information there that could get your mind unnecessarily perturbed – like a friend’s status about her heartbreak or someone from work getting a raise.

Discipline yourself to log in only when you have extra minutes free. This will help you efficiently use your time to focus on work.

Focus on Short Bursts

The tried and true “Pomodoro technique” is a key strategy to improve how you focus at work. It understands that focusing on difficult tasks is both efficient and tiring. You can break it down like this 

How to do the Pomodoro Technique:

Choose your assignment/work to do

Set the timer to 25 minutes

Work until the timer rings

Take a five-minute break

Take longer breaks (15 to 30 minutes) for every four Pomodoro intervals

Article and Video Links

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/15-ways-to-stay-focused-at-work.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ITff1fIbSc

I am inviting you to check out my resources page. It is completely FREE and has a ton information and some downloads. You can find it at resources.xpansioncode.com.

I will be releasing new episode every Thursday!

Core Values with Jason Skeesick

About Jason

I am The Entrepreneurial Evangelist! 
I help passionate entrepreneurs build the foundations and frameworks they need to make a massive impact on the world. 

I have spent my life pursuing professionally those things that I most love personally and I love to spread that to the world! 
I am an entrepreneur, coach, and podcaster. I bring energy, experience, and curiosity to anything I do!

A few things about me:
- I am the host of The Spear and Clover Podcast. Our show is where Military Mindset meets The Spirit of the Puppy. We highlight renegade entrepreneurs who bet it all on their passions.
- I have coached and consulted with hundreds of entrepreneurs for the past 4 years. I love working with entrepreneurs and have NEVER gotten off of a coaching call with LESS energy than when I started.
- I have owned a large CrossFit gym in Chicago for the past 12-years. Here, I developed a love for building tribal communities. This has been one of the great passions of my life!
- I have a degree in finance and worked as a commercial banker to large companies. This means  I can speak to finances and break-down the fundamentals of business.
- I am a US Army Veteran and have served on two deployments to Iraq. I also was stationed in Germany!

https://www.spearandclover.com/

https://www.facebook.com/spearandclover

https://www.linkedin.com/company/spear-and-clover-podcast/

https://www.instagram.com/spearandclover/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/spearandclover

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLvCzSRy8vrhjflYJUq8yTw

 

I am inviting you to check out my resources page. It is completely FREE and has a ton information and some downloads. You can find it at resources.xpansioncode.com.

I have a YouTube channel that has snippets from my podcast. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVYzjRI9v-BCnSeB_mw-jA

I will be releasing new episode every Thursday!

Be Open To Outcome (BOTO)

Be Open To Outcome (BOTO)

BOTO is here to help us be open, rather than attached, to outcomes in our life. Openness and non-attachment let us recover the human resources of wisdom and objectivity.

Some cultures believe that wisdom is flexible and fluid. The way to tap into this is to be open to outcome and access wisdom by learning how to trust and be comfortable with states of not knowing.

Trust is the container out of which the qualities of wisdom grow clarity, objectivity, discernment, and detachment.

Trust: A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Clarity: The quality of being clear and easy to understand.

Objectivity: A person’s judgment not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and         representing facts.

Discernment: the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

Detachment: a feeling of not being emotionally involved.

The opposite of trust is control. The trickster figure found in many cultures functions to present surprise and the unexpected as a way of waking up people out of their routines and shocking them into seeing their attachments.

BE OPEN TO OUTCOME – What does that mean?

Being open to outcome means that you don’t always need to know for sure what is going to happen next – you are WISE enough and TRUSTING enough and FLEXIBLE enough to let what will happen, happen. It means if it is not the outcome you were hoping for, you can be RESILIENT enough to recover.

Resilient: a person able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.

I want to thank Angeles Arrien for the book “The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary.” This is where the concept of BOTO comes from. I also want to thank Beth and Ron Black and Cherokee Creek Boys School where I was introduced to BOTO.

I am inviting you to check out my resources page. It is completely FREE and has a ton information and some downloads. You can find it at resources.xpansioncode.com.

I will be releasing new episode every Thursday!

Things not to say to your customers

Things not to say to your customers!

1. “No Problem” or “Don’t worry about it” Saying that there is no problem might make the customer think that they were bothersome. “Don’t worry about it” implies that the customer needs to worry because we will not fix the problem. Instead, when providing a solution to an issue, take ownership of the problem and let the customer know that you are happy to help. You can say, “I am happy to help” or “I’ll do my best to help you resolve this.”
2. ‘It’s not a big deal” It may not be a big deal to you but rest assured if customers brought something to your attention — a problem, concern, or question — it’s a big deal to them. Instead, say “Tell me more.”
3. “I will be with you in a second or minute” Every customer knows this in an unrealistic time expectation, and it is very irritating. Instead use “I will be with you as soon as possible and thank you for your patience.” This sets up the expectation that you will be with them as quickly as you can and their patience is appreciated.
4. “I’m not sure, but I think . . . “ This phrase makes your customers feel like they can’t trust you to provide excellent customer service, which is not what you want them to think! A customer should be able to get help from customer service representatives with confidence. Instead of saying you are unsure about their question, you can say: “I’m happy to answer your questions today.” This customer service response will give customers the impression that you are knowledgeable and experienced.
5. “Calm down” If there is one sentence that has the power to exponentiate any flare of anger is this one. Telling someone to calm down is like adding oil to a hot pan, it’s explosive. The best thing you can do in stressful situations is just letting the customer speak it out. Let him say all that he has to say, all the problems and anxieties. Listen to all that he says and keep agreeing with sentences like “I understand…” or “I see…”. Sooner or later the customer will naturally start to calm down and prepare himself to listen to you. Your receptiveness will also convey that you care about what they have to say and that fact will give you extra points when trying to solve this customers’ issues, with an understanding mindset from his side.
6. “Your wrong” A customer should never be blamed for an issue. Even if it feels like the customer is at fault, avoid language that comes off sounding rude and judgmental. It’s best to avoid this phrase and instead acknowledge a customer’s feelings without blaming them. For example, you can say: “I appreciate your feedback” or “I can hear what you are saying.”  These sound more empathetic and respectful.
7. Do not swear at the customer. Swearing is or otherwise insulting the customer a sinful no-go. Remember: you are representing your company, not yourself. Swearing shows unprofessionalism and can be extremely offensive.
8. Silence – not responding to the customer Yes. Far worse than anything you can say is not saying anything. We're not talking about the "I am listening" type of silence, we are talking about the silence from an unanswered chat or phone call, from a never-ending waiting queue. Silence represents a lack of capacity to serve your customers, making them look for alternatives soon.
9. “I don’t know” Excellent customer service requires strong listening skills to understand the customer’s needs and concerns. Avoid simply saying that you don’t know the answer because this might suggest you are unwilling to help. Instead, show the customer what you are going to do to help them. You can use additional phrases such as “Let me check that for you” or “I’ll be glad to look into that for you.” It’s completely fine if you don’t know the answer,  just show the customer that you will make an effort to find out and help them.
10. Use “We” instead of “I” When talking to customers change your pronoun from “I” to ‘We”. We implies that the company as a whole is there to help the customer. That “We are in this together” is the feeling you are portraying to the customer. The term “We” is more inclusive.

I am inviting you to check out my resources page. It is completely FREE and has a ton information and some downloads. You can find it at resources.xpansioncode.com.

I have a YouTube channel that has snippets from my podcast. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVYzjRI9v-BCnSeB_mw-jA

I will be releasing a new episode every Thursday!