How Parents Should Spend Their Time With Kids Back in School

By Abby Miller | Time Management | No Comments

A lot of parents really look forward to the first day of school. Not only do they support growth and learning, but it’s also nice to have the house to themselves for a few hours each day. Summer can get pretty hectic, and school hours provide a much-needed respite.

For stay-at-home parents, those school hours provide a lot of opportunities. The question is, how do you fill up those empty hours in your Calendar? Here are a few ways parents can make the most of the time the kids are away at school this upcoming scholastic year:

Reverse the Damage of Summer

First things first, staying on top of messes during the summer can be quite tricky. However, now that your kids will be spending most of the day at school, you have plenty of time to pick up the slack left in housekeeping. Just a few days of elbow grease should be all you need to reverse the majority of the damage left by summer festivities.

Sure, it’s helpful and even developmentally beneficial to have your kids pitch in with the cleaning, especially if they’re responsible for the mess. However, school can often be a stressful time, and you don’t want to overload them too much if they’re struggling during their first week. Besides, you work much more efficiently than they do anyways.

Prepare the Afternoons

When your kids get home from school, they are going to be tired from sitting all day in a classroom and participating in any after-school activities they’re enrolled in. They won’t always be super agreeable or cooperative, especially if a long day was equally difficult. Preparing the afternoons for them is a great parenting gesture that requires little effort but goes a long way.

For example, let’s say you know one of your sons is coming home from football practice, and your other son is stressed about an application for the Honor Society. Before they even walk through the door, they have everything they need set up. Layout a change of clothes and set up a study area. The little things like this you can do will pave the way for your children to succeed no matter what they do.

Do Some Meal Planning

If there is anything kids can do well, it’s eating and eating often. Of course, they’ll be expecting dinner to be made for them as they return home and some sack lunches to take on a day when the cafeteria is serving mystery meat. So to avoid kitchen burnout, use your time while everyone is at school to do some meal planning.

By planning out your weekly meals, you can do your grocery shopping more efficiently and even cut down on cooking time. Leftover dinner can provide lunch for all your kids the next day or even provide some meal variations for the entire week. If you’re deciding what to cook at three in the afternoon, you’re already behind.

Nothing will make meal prep as easy as an online calendar. List out the meals you want to try throughout the week and plan around your shopping trips. You can even coordinate with other families to share meals with some of your kids’ friends.

Enjoy the Alone Time

Let’s face it; you’ve earned some ‘me time’ and should start cashing it in. The extensive family time in the summer is incredible but admittedly exhausting. So kick up your feet for a spell and enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet after months of chaos.

Try to make your alone time a little productive or at least enjoyable. Opt for reading a book or picking up an old hobby before binge-watching the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy. If it helps, use your Calendar to intentionally plan solitary activities that will ensure the entire afternoon isn’t spent napping.

Improve Yourself

As an extension to that alone time, you can take a page out of your kids’ schoolbooks and look for some ways to improve yourself. For example, you can brush up on your math skills to help with homework, or even continue your own education using the plethora of online classes available through universities around the country.

Other ways to improve yourself include getting more exercise or maintaining your mental health. With kids out of the house, it will be much easier to fit in a long daily workout or book a Calendar appointment with a counselor or therapist.

Not sure what challenge you want to face? Check out the app store on your phone for some simple ideas. Some apps can teach you new languages, give you creative writing prompts, or even how to do basic coding.

Start a Side Hustle

Being a stay-at-home parent is both admirable and awe-inspiring. However, it can be noted that some of these parents sometimes don’t feel completely fulfilled when their kids spend long hours away from home. One way to fill up the time while providing for both the family and society as a whole is to start a side hustle.

Some side hustles are easy to get into, like downloading a food delivery or ridesharing app and picking up the odd job around town. Others require more creativity but can be more rewarding, like selling arts and crafts online. There’s really no limit to what you can do, from baked goods and homespun clothing to lawn care and painting.

Thanks to the magic of technology, it’s also easier than ever for stay-at-home parents to pick up a part-time job. In addition, working remotely opens up many more doors from employment with flexible schedules for even the parents with jam-packed Calendars.

Challenge yourself to do more with the time you’re being given this school year. Set goals using your Calendar and work alongside your children to become better people every single day.

How Implementing New Tech Tools Can Improve Team Efficiency

By Jason Barnes | Time Management | No Comments

Everywhere you turn, there’s a new tech tool promising to offer you more time, energy, or sales. They sound amazing on the surface, but if you choose the wrong one, they can produce more frustration than solutions.

The good news is, there are productivity and efficiency tools that are worth your time. In this article, we’ll cover some new tech tools and how you can introduce them to your team. After you’re done reading, you’ll be inspired to integrate them into both your work and personal life.

Collaboration Tools

Organizing your team’s workload is essential to accomplishing your goals and should be the first place you pursue improved productivity. Adding collaboration software to your arsenal is a great way to harness the power of your team.

Team members today are often working remotely, off-site with clients, or scattered throughout the office. This makes managing workflow a challenge if you don’t use tech to bridge the gaps.

Project management tools like ClickUp and Asana break projects down into discrete tasks and allow you to assign responsible parties for each one. The entire team can see when deliverables are due, which tasks depend on others, and who gets the baton next. Prioritizing how team members collaborate, plan, and execute can be the difference in whether or not they reach their goals.

Calendar Management Tools

It’s no secret that time, the best-known nonrenewable resource, is gold when it comes to business and life. Calendar management can be a game-changer when it comes to wrangling the hours your team has available to work. Identifying the time spent in meetings, pursuing new business, or completing administrative tasks can pinpoint where to improve efficiency.

Giving team members and sales prospects the opportunity to self-schedule commitments can eliminate time waste as well. Just think, how many emails have you exchanged trying to find a mutually beneficial time to meet with a colleague or client? Using a tool to help tackle calendar chaos makes managing your team’s time, and efficiency, effortless.

List Management Tools

Oh, lists. Don’t we love them? They can be so satisfying to write down, check off, and — ideally — move on from.

But at what point do we step away from all of the list-making and get to the task-doing? Luckily, there are list management tools that tech pros praise and use to get their most important work done. The best part? Many of them integrate with other much-loved and -used tools that help you manage your schedule, team, and conversations.

Use list managers to keep track of work responsibilities, and you and your team will be checking off completed tasks in short order. Apps like Todoist and Any.Do even allow you to share tasks with another person and assign priority levels.

Messaging Tools

Say you’re working from home and so are your colleagues. What’s the most efficient way to reach out for a project status? If you send an email, chances are you’ll wait hours for a reply. When your team is spread out (and even when it’s not), real-time messaging platforms like Slack and Google Chat can be a godsend.

They’re also more efficient. How many times has a traditional check-in been derailed by a debate about the latest blockbuster? Messaging platforms provide channels where you can keep the sales team’s eyes on #sales and the teamwide discussion of “Black Widow” in #entertainment.

Messaging tools keep it simple, keep it focused, and — even better — keep a record. You can easily check back to what was said or committed to as a way of tracking progress and assignments. Employees can get instant answers to questions, removing obstacles to making progress. That’s a win-win, whether you’re in the office or working remotely.

How to Get Started

So you’ve decided to implement some of the new tech tools you’ve learned about with your team. But where do you begin? First, you’ll want to determine which ones you’d like to prioritize. As with any behavioral change, a clear message from team leadership is critical. For simplicity’s sake, it’s best to integrate one new tool at a time to have the best chances of it sticking.

Second, be intentional. Once you’ve chosen a tool, have a conversation with your team about why you want to implement it and how you think it will help. In high-performing teams, transparency, buy-in, and active listening are key.

Hold a meeting with a set agenda, leaving space for conversation and questions. At the meeting, share how you selected this new tool, provide research, and pitch its features and benefits. Be sure to establish expectations on how the team will use it and how you’ll monitor its effectiveness.

Finally, reinforce the new tool and be its champion. As the leader of your team, you’ll be looked to for guidance, pointers, and reassurance. Educate yourself, devise a plan, and execute it as you implement this tool and others with your team. With your new tech assistants, you’ll become productivity masters in no time.

What Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower Can Teach You About Time Management

By Max Palmer | Time Management | No Comments

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States of America. He was elected in 1953 and was elected for a second term in 1956. He would serve as President until 1961. He accomplished a number of things during his presidency, including the Federal Highway Act of 1956 and effectively ending the Korean War.

It’s worth noting that one of Eisenhower’s longest-lasting accomplishments didn’t come from his presidency, although it did influence his service. As a general in the US Army and in other military leadership positions, Eisenhower developed a system that helped him to prioritize his daily task list. This effective prioritization made him a better leader for both the military and his country.

The Urgent-Important Matrix, also known as the Eisenhower Matrix, will help you prioritize your task list and increase your daily efficiency and productivity. Let’s break down how it works and how you can implement it in your own life:

Learn the Quadrants

The Eisenhower Matrix works by dividing tasks into four quadrants. The rows and columns help you determine which tasks should go where. The columns represent urgent and non-urgent tasks, while the accompanying rows indicate important and non-important tasks. Combined together, you get these unique quadrants:

Quadrant 1: Do

The first quadrant contains all of your most important tasks for the day. This is the cross-section between urgent and important, so naturally, this is where your attention will primarily be focused. Next, this is the ‘do’ quadrant, meaning these tasks must be done as soon as possible.

Your previously designated deadlines will go here, especially the ones that don’t have any flexibility. That will include meetings with clients, scheduled flights, or fixed editorial deadlines. Tasks of this nature will get your attention first thing every morning.

Unplanned tasks can often creep their way into this quadrant, and you must be ready for them. For example, if your entire office loses internet, you’ll have to make room for this emergency in your schedule by shifting your priorities on the fly.

Quadrant 2: Decide

Some people will confuse important tasks with urgent ones. This second quadrant will help you keep the two apart. While these tasks are certainly important to you, they can be scheduled in their own due time instead of being forced into available spaces in your Calendar.

For example, maintaining your physical health is important, but it might not have the same urgency as a project deadline with a set due date. So take the time here to add times to go to the gym into your Calendar. This will help you ensure that you’re making time for your physical health without letting it become a stressful endeavor.

You can use this quadrant to schedule more intentional time with your family, time to pursue a personal hobby, or even read a leisurely book to unwind in the afternoons.

Quadrant 3: Delegate

Some tasks are urgent but not quite as important as those tasks that fill up quadrant number one. These are the tasks that you should delegate if possible to someone else. For those in a leadership capacity, this is a particularly important quadrant to focus on. Many leaders can get so wrapped up in the details that they spend too much time cramming quadrant one when they could be pushing some tasks off into quadrant three.

Just think about the types of assignments you would pass on to an assistant or a department lead. For example, scheduling appointments in your Calendar might be urgent, but won’t be as important as the meeting you’re on your way to attend. The responsibility of scheduling can be delegated to a secretary instead.

Quadrant 4: Disregard

Here lies the final quadrant of the Eisenhower Matrix. These tasks are neither urgent nor important and, as such, should be forgotten. Some will call this the ‘don’t do’ section or even the ‘delete’ section, as you have three other quadrants of far more important tasks to worry about first.

Some of these tasks won’t even make it onto your Calendar, such as scrolling through social media or taking a nap. These tasks just aren’t important or urgent in the grand scheme of things, even if they can be enticing. Part of why the Eisenhower Matrix works so well is that it shifts your attention away from these distractions to more productive projects.

Get Started With Your Matrix

Everyone will have a different matrix depending on their occupation, seniority, and choosing to prioritize their own tasks. However, here are a few steps you can take to get started:

List Out Your Tasks

Kick things off by listing every single task you hope to accomplish in the coming days. List out important deadlines, goals, and appointments. Feel free to add even the smallest items to this list, as you’re going to be sifting through it later.

As you’re getting used to using a matrix to prioritize your task list, don’t worry about which quadrants everything belongs in just yet. Instead, focus first on making sure you have all of your tasks laid out in front of you so you can determine how to organize it all.

Start at the Top

Now that you have your to-do list straightened out, it’s time to draw out your Eisenhower Matrix. You can draw one in a notebook or use an online program such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to do this. Your matrix will consist of four squares forming a larger square together.

Quadrant one, the ‘Do’ quadrant, will be positioned in the top left corner. Quadrant two will sit directly to the right, with quadrant three positioned directly below. The fourth and final quadrant will take up the remaining spot in the bottom right corner.

Once you’ve finished the simple drawing, start filling each quadrant with the tasks that fit. Start with the urgent and important tasks first, and slowly work your way down through all the quadrants. As you get more familiar with how the matrix works, you’ll better organize your tasks in such a manner.

Keep it With You

The Eisenhower Matrix isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it model unless you have an impeccable memory. As you’re getting started, keep your matrix with you so you can refer to it throughout the day. This can be easily done if you’re tracking it online and can access your matrix from any electronic device.

This is an important step since there will be times when your matrix might need to be adjusted, as was mentioned previously in the case of an unplanned crisis. Additionally, referring to your matrix often helps ensure that you’re adhering to the parameters you set for each task.

Now that you have a feel for how the Eisenhower Matrix is constructed, it’s time to put it to work. Give it a test run during the next week to get a feel for how prioritization changes your approach to work and affects your productivity.

5 Practical Tips for Keeping Your Team Organized

By Gunjan Saini | Business Tips | No Comments

Your business might be made up of an organized, established, everyday team, or you might be assembling a project-oriented team to address a specific issue. Whatever the case, we all know that throwing people together on a team can produce mixed results. Productivity and effectiveness can vary widely based on skills, experience, personality, or simply placing the wrong person in the driver’s seat.

Whether your team is permanent or temporary, there are some basic, commonsense principles to apply. The way you handle team expectations can make or break any initiative.

Here are five tips you can use or modify to suit specific team needs.

1. Pick your communication tools carefully and use them effectively.

Nowadays, there are a number of communication tools designed to help teams share issues and progress. Effective and timely communication often makes the difference between project completion and seemingly endless delays. If you’re not currently using something to facilitate communication within teams, you might consider looking for a solution that works well in your particular context. Here are some options:

Trello allows users to create “cards” that help organize a list of tasks to be completed. Each card may include a checklist to indicate progress. All of your team members have the ability to edit a card, which makes for easier collaboration.
Asana limits the number of team members to 15. It features user-friendly “like” and “thumbs up” functions. The ability to view the popularity of an entry at a glance can bring enhanced clarity for decision-making. It can also cut down dramatically on the need for meetings.
Slack functions as a chat room for teams. Team members can get quick responses from colleagues even when they are scattered across the globe. Businesses that implement Slack tend to notice a sharp drop-off in the need to send and receive emails.
Basecamp syncs to Google Drive and Google Calendar and offers a cloud-based solution that tracks both productivity and time spent on specific projects. Companies that bill based on staff time tend to use Basecamp to evaluate ROI by project, customer, and assigned staff.
Teamwork Projects works best by breaking down large tasks into bite-size chunks and assigning them out to individuals. Each subtask can be given specific milestones and deadlines.

2. Use a team calendar for organized project reporting.

Your team members are routinely walking around with more computing horsepower in their pocket than was necessary to put Apollo 11 on the moon. You should only leverage smartphone apps to keep team members on task without being intrusive. While these devices make it possible for your team members to work constantly, you also want to avoid burning them out.

Step one is to create a project calendar on a platform that provides easy access to all staff. Many apps offer a granular approach to permission setting such that various team members can merely comment while others can make deadline edits. When setting up your team calendar, make sure you select a resource that allows you to evaluate progress regularly.

3. Assign specific tasks to specific individuals.

The importance of giving team members both responsibility and ownership can hardly be overstated. When these are lacking, confusion reigns and employees are encouraged to play a perpetual game of Pass the Buck.

Making sure an individual knows and accepts responsibility for the completion of a specific task is an art. If you are too “soft” or otherwise unclear, this can serve as an invitation to not take deadlines and milestones seriously. Should you veer into the opposite ditch and become overly authoritarian, you stifle employees’ willingness to be creative.

If you notice specific tasks that are falling behind schedule, reach out to the responsible team member privately. It may be necessary to reassign that individual, but they will appreciate your not shaming them in a team meeting. Another benefit is that you will learn things in a one-on-one conversation that you will never hear in a group setting.

4. Make team responsibilities organized and abundantly clear.

Be clear on roles and responsibilities. If team members must come to you or another manager to address every problem that arises, you can expect the team to get bogged down in frequent delays. Head off this common issue by designating a team leader to handle team problems. Each task should have one identified person responsible for reporting back.

Resist micromanagement. Give team members the authority to create subchannels using your communications tool. Encourage efficiency by allowing people to communicate only with the people affected by a specific issue. Allowing subchannel chatter encourages people to take greater ownership and frees you from managing the minutiae of every task.

Establishing responsibilities in this manner will make your team more efficient, as people can keep working without stopping to ask permission for every move they make. Clarify which types of issues require your approval. The rest of the time, your team can take primary responsibility for the details.

5. Hold only necessary meetings and require actionable agendas.

Keep organized team meetings few and short. Experiment with allowing meetings to last no longer than 15 minutes. After all, the purpose of meetings is to decide upon a course of action. Far too many discussions end up devolving into purposeless chatter. Make it clear that each team member should leave every meeting with action items.

As many meetings now occur remotely, inform team members that being on time and well prepared are still requirements. Urge your meeting moderator to avoid statements such as, “We still have 10 minutes left. Is there anything else?” Such questions imply that the purpose of the meeting is to use up the time rather than create a to-do list.

Once you draw up the action items, dismiss everyone. Results-oriented discussions help make meetings painless.

Keep in mind that “Your mileage may vary.”

Every business is unique. Even upper-level franchise managers will tell you that “identical” locations can vary greatly from another simply due to issues of geography, culture, population, and climate. The organizational principles listed above may or may not work flawlessly in your setting, so feel free to experiment with the practices that draw the best response from your team.

Just Start — Reducing Anxiety

By Deanna Ritchie | Knowledge Base | No Comments

Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S.? In fact, anxiety affects 40 million adults in the United States each year, aged 18 and older. Or, to put it another way, 18.1% of the population each year. And, the COVID-19 pandemic has only further impacted our mental health.

There is some good news, however. And, that’s that anxiety disorders are highly treatable. For some, there may even be strategies that you can use right now that will offer immediate relief. But, for others, you may have to speak to a mental health professional.

In either case, if you want to reduce anxiety, then your first step is just to start. As tennis legend Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

Anxiety; Know your enemy.

Before getting too far ahead of ourselves, let’s quickly run down what anxiety is and why it shouldn’t be ignored.

I don’t like to even talk about mental health — and many people feel the same. My feelings are not because I don’t get anxious — but rather the fact that talking about it makes me feel worse. And — why do we have to use the word “mental?” Seriously, these things are as much physical as anything.

“Anxiety is our body’s normal reaction to stress,” explains the staff at McLean Hospital. “When we’re presented with potential danger, our bodies respond to that stress.”

A similar emotional response is fear. When our body responds to an actual or perceived threat, the result is anxiety. And, this is caused by anticipating what will happen in the future.

Examples include waiting to hear back from your doctor, preparing for a job interview, or speaking in front of a crowd. It’s completely normal to feel anxious. However, this can become a problem when anxiety is more than a temporary fear or worry.

“A person who has an anxiety disorder may always be anxious or may easily become anxious about many things,” explains McLean. “Temporary fear or worry is normal, but if the feelings associated with anxiety disorders linger, they can continue to get worse over time.”

Research has found that anxiety disorders can be caused by genetic and environmental factors. For example, being exposed to stressful events as a child. When left untreated, this can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including;

Bipolar disorder
Restlessness
Accelerated heart rate
Irritability
Headaches
Sweating
Irritable bowel syndrome
Feeling easily fatigued
Sleep disturbances
Difficulty contracting
Substance abuse

Overall, anxiety can have a negative impact on all areas of your life. As such, it should be addressed ASAP. And, you can use the following eleven techniques to get started.

1. Stay in your time zone.

Anxiety is a future-oriented emotion. To combat the worry of what might happen, “reel yourself back to the present,” says Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., a psychologist and author of Freeing Yourself from Anxiety. Ask yourself the following questions;

What’s happening right now?
Am I safe?
Is there something I need to do right now?

What helps me the most is asking, “What are you saying to yourself.” When I first learned about this technique, I had to tune into my inner voice. When I tuned in — I found I was feeling “imposter syndrome” and saying terrible things to myself. The inner convo was something like this: “You’re a piece of shit and don’t forget it,” and “you are nothing and never will be,” “you can’t do this job; you always let people down.”

You wouldn’t say any of those things to your worst enemy — so WHY would you say that to yourself?? Be aware of what you say to yourself.

If there is something you need to do for yourself — schedule another time to revisit your worries. Preferably, your revisiting plan and what you can do should be later in the day so those distant scenarios won’t throw you off track too much.

2. Just breathe.

Slow, deliberate belly breathing can help you calm your body almost instantly. What’s more, it’s easy to implement, free, and can be done anywhere. To get started, follow these five steps:

Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and breathe naturally
Put one hand on your belly, the other on your chest. As you breathe in deeply, count to four. Count to three as you hold your breath and four as you exhale. As you inhale, move your hand inward; while exhaling, move it outward.
Focus only on the sensation of your breath.
If your mind begins to wander, refocus on your breathing.
Repeat as necessary.

The reason why this is so effective is that breathing exercises encourage you to focus on the present. And it has the ability to slow down your heart rate.

Think about getting better at breathing and maybe turn this into a meditation.

3. Try the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique.

The 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique is another easy and fast way to help calm your anxiety whenever you feel overwhelmed.

It works like this:

Five. Name five things that you see. It can be anything from a bird outside your window to the artwork on your wall.
Four. Next, name four objects that you’re able to touch. Everything from a knickknack on your desk, hair, or the floor that your feet are touching is fair game.
Three. Pick out three things that you can hear. This could be birds chirping, a running air conditioner, or your breathing.
Two. Notice two things that you can smell, like the brewing coffee or your perfume or cologne.
One. Finally, take note of a taste, like the flavor of the gum you’re chewing.

When paired with deep, slow breathing, this technique works best.

4. Use power language.

“Mind-body research shows that the words you use can have a powerful effect on how you feel,” says Deanne Repich, Director: National Institute of Anxiety and Stress. “Most anxiety sufferers use negative words that destroy their self-esteem and promote a sense of loss of control,” aka “victim” words.

“Victim words perpetuate your anxiety and fear,” adds Repich. “They create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy that results in anxious thoughts and physical symptoms.”

How can you defeat victim words? Replace them with “power” language. These are words that promote your sense of self-worth.

As an example, converting “I can’t control my anxiety” into “I can control my anxiety, and I’m learning skills to conquer it.” Another would be rephasing “I shouldn’t be late for dinner” to “I may be late for dinner. It’s unfortunate, but it’s OK.”

“Think of your inner power like a muscle, just like any other muscle,” Repich says. “The more you use it, the more toned it becomes and the more you can accomplish.” And, with practice, you’ll be able to eliminate anxiety.

5. The throwback hack.

Georgia Foster and Virginia Alexandra, co-authors of “The 3 Minute Anxiety Fix.” suggest that you look at photos whenever you feel anxious or have anxiety. Ideally, it’s stored on your phone or the cloud so that it can be accessed whenever you need it. This is effective since it sparks a great memory.

They also say that your favorite songs and inspirational quotes can help transport you to a better place.

6. Download a relaxation app.

Mindfulness apps, such as Headspace and Calm, offer guided meditations to help release tension, focus, and sleep. Best of all? Most of these apps feature meditations that last only one to five minutes.

Believe it or not, it only takes a couple of minutes of mindfulness to reduce anxiety. I use Calm religiously because of the wide range of offerings on the app for varying moods and situations (yo! even storytime to listen to while you go to sleep).

7. File it.

Have you ever lied awake at night worrying about everything that needs to get done? If so, you can use the “File It” technique to keep track of these items while putting your mind to ease.

To perform this exercise, follow these steps:

Close your eyes and imagine folders on a table. But, there’s also a file cabinet on it.
Next, pick up each file and label it. For example, if you need to make a phone call put that in the right folder.
After naming the file, acknowledge the racing, why it’s important, and then file it away.
Repeat this process whenever a thought pops into your mind.

The idea behind this is that you’re acknowledging and naming your triggers. More importantly, you’re examining them, filing them by importance. As a result, you’re not ignoring your feelings. Instead, you’re developing a plan to deal with them at a better time.

8. Be mindful of what you’re eating and drinking.

If you consume too much caffeine, you may experience heart palpitations. Additionally, caffeine can trigger panic or anxiety attacks — especially if you suffer from an anxiety disorder. Palpitations can also be caused by hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.

Furthermore, it can also cause anxiety or panic attacks because sugar is an adrenal stimulant. For some — it’s paying attention to foods containing refined flour products and even wheat that may cause inflammation as well. And aside from caffeine and sugar, food allergies can also contribute to an overactive nervous system.

Basically, don’t worry too much about anything. My mantra — Eat right, sleep right, and exercise; and most things in your life will go much better. You’ll be better able to handle things.

9. Bring laughter into your life.

“It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body,” writes Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. “Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress.”

Also, there’s nothing that “works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh,” they add. “Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.”

When you feel a wave of anxiety, the authors recommend that you find opportunities to laugh, such as;

Watching a funny movie, sitcom, or YouTube video.
Reading the funny pages.
Remembering a moment that made you laugh.
Spending time with people who make you smile.
Playing with children or a pet.
Engaging in fun activities like mini-golf.

10. Get your body moving.

A study from 2017 showed that 77 percent of the participants were inactive for 12 hours a day. In addition to being physically unhealthy, being sedentary most of the day can also affect your mental health. And, thanks to the pandemic, this has only gotten worse.

If you begin to feel anxious, get up and move. Preferably, you want to elevate your heart rate for five minutes through vigorous exercises. I’ve gotten out of bed and zoomed around and around the block — fast, and it kicks off the anxiety — gone. Like the restless leg thing — with an around the block two or three times — gone –. Better if you can exercise well enough during the day, but hey, “we can’t always get what we want, right?”

11. Do something.

Do something, anything. Clean or organize your workspace. Grab a glass of water. Talk a short stroll outside. Start working. Just diving in and working (even if it’s working again at night is helpful for me).

Taking any sort of action will interrupt your thought pattern. And that action will distract you from worrying. Remember, self-care is the most important thing to do for yourself. The AA and NA use another mantra I always use — “Grant me the Serenity” and the NCBI — “HALT” — don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.

Please take care of yourself and you’ll start reducing anxiety — just start!

5 Tips for Keeping Your Team on Track During the Day

By Jon Bradshaw | Time Management | No Comments

As a manager, one of your top priorities every day is to make sure your team stays on the right track. Your responsibility is to assign tasks and projects and guide the work toward a set deadline. If a detour is necessary, you’re expected to be the guide.

With so many daily responsibilities, unexpected distractions, and the unpredictability of human nature, teams can easily get derailed and lose productivity. Teams need the right mindset paired with proper tools to ensure each day is a productive one from start to finish.

You need to keep your team members on track no matter what obstacles they face. Try a combination of these suggestions to help out even the trickiest of teams:

1. Leverage Productivity Software

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of apps and tools you can use to help keep your team on task and heading in the right direction. Many can be used for free as well. So you’re only harming yourself if you don’t take advantage of at least a few of them.

For example, time management is made easier using scheduling tools like Appointment. When time usage is a major concern, programs like this help to keep schedules structured around deadlines and milestones. Other tools like online calendars and time trackers enable employees to be more productive instead of watching the clock.

Another popular brand of productivity tool is project management software. With a program like ClickUp or Asana, you can assign tasks to different team members. You can also designate roles and break a project into progressive steps. Add in a communication tool like Slack, and you’ll have everything you need to streamline team operations.

2. Manage Your Meetings Better

Meetings can be a double-edged sword. Well-executed meetings provide needed direction and instruction for your team to improve and excel. However, poorly planned meetings can stop productivity in its tracks and do little to help your team move forward.

For starters, consider how often you should hold meetings. Meetings that are held too frequently become redundant and end up wasting time. Meetings that are held too far apart can become long and drawn out.

Every meeting should have a purpose. Do you need a weekly team meet-up to divide assignments and check on individual progress? That’s fine, but keep them concise. No one wants to sit in an hour-long meeting every week if the goal could be accomplished in a 15-minute team huddle.

3. Encourage and Empower

Let’s face it. Eight-hour workdays are long. It’s hard for just about anyone to maintain optimal productivity for that period of time. Fatigue, boredom, and frustration can easily derail productivity and get your team off course.

As a leader, part of your responsibility is to encourage your team to overcome these challenges. One way to accomplish this is by offering incentives. An alluring reward can help a team finish a project by the end of the workday with more vigor. Celebrating successes can increase job gratification and fulfillment and encourage team members to stay on track with their goals.

Another aspect of leadership is team empowerment. Put your team in a position to succeed. Provide flexibility so work-life balance isn’t a concern and provide the proper tools for the work environment. You can also make resources available for physical, mental, and academic needs.

4. Take a Break

Many managers focus on how to get their team to work as hard as possible around the clock. You might find more success by taking an alternate route. While hard work is an admirable virtue, it can lead to faster burnout and decreased motivation.

Instead, start by planning out your team’s breaks. Sufficient time for rest allows team members to regroup and recharge before jumping back into a project. Proper breaks improve critical thinking, which leads to greater efficiency. Providing adequate breaks also helps increase endurance over the course of a long shift.

It goes without saying, but just to be sure, don’t let breaks get out of hand. Break time is meant to reduce burnout, not burn out the clock by avoiding work altogether.

5. Examine Your Management Practices

We know you mean well, but keep an eye on your management techniques. While you might think you’re being helpful, you could be part of the reason that your team is getting off track.

Micromanagement is perhaps the greatest example of how one management technique can throw an entire team off course. A leader might have the perfect plan in mind and wants to lead their team every step of the way. However, excessive hand-holding is often frustrating for team members. The frustration that builds from being micromanaged constantly can lead to resentment and deliberately going off-script.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, having a too complacent leadership style can be just as debilitating. You can’t just hole yourself up in your office and hope your team gets a project done with no direction. Sometimes a leader needs to be there to shift a team into gear and get them motivated again.

Don’t expect your team to become a productivity powerhouse overnight. Aim for incremental progress and guide your team in the right direction. Keep an eye on those key performance indicators, as they will show you whther your efforts are paying off.

Are Mandatory Vaccines Legal in the Workplace?

By John Rampton | Knowledge Base | No Comments

As we ride out yet another COVID-19 wave, returning to the workplace is now in jeopardy. In fact, some businesses are delaying this until next year. Others, however, are still planning on bringing back employees in at least some capacity this fall.

As a result of the spread of the delta variant, physical safety concerns are making some employees reconsider their return to work plans. According to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, which was on behalf of Glassdoor, nearly 9 in 10 employees, 89%, still worry about returning to the office. In addition to their physical safety, employees are concerned about how they’ll interact with their employers, present themselves, and how they commute to and from work.

How can you address these concerns? Well, you may want to allow your team to work remotely. Or, at the very least, build and manage a hybrid team.

Even with a hybrid team, there will still be concerns about the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. And, one answer might be the controversial topic of requiring your team to get vaccinated. But, is this legal, and how can you have this discussion with your team?

Is There a Legal Precedent for Requiring Vaccines?

“There is Jacobson v. Massachusetts, [a Supreme Court case from 1905]. The case itself was about a vaccination mandate,” Lindsay Wily, a law professor at American University, told NPR.

“In the early 1900s, smallpox outbreaks were fairly frequent, and many people had been vaccinated earlier as children, but needed to be vaccinated as their immunity waned,” adds Professor Wily. “The state of Massachusetts passed a law that gave authority to local boards of health to decide at any given moment in response to an outbreak that smallpox vaccination should be mandatory for all residents of their local area if — in the opinion of the medical experts who were serving on the board — it was necessary to protect the public’s health.”

That decision was made by the city of Cambridge. After that, outreach efforts were undertaken to reach out to everyone in the community. When they approached Henning Jacobson, however, he objected. Vaccines, he said, are ineffective. According to Jacobson, they do not prevent transmission. Moreover, he argued that these practices are harmful.

“The court described those arguments as not seeking a medical exemption, but rather reciting the alternative views that differ from medical consensus and that those arguments did not warrant an exemption from the requirement to be vaccinated,” says Wiley.

But, what about private employers?

Flu shots and other shots are often required by employers in the health care industry. This is a precaution to protect patients, as well as to offer some protection for employees. “So, for example, many require hepatitis vaccinations in addition to flu shots and all of the kind of childhood vaccines that we tend to get as a condition of attending school,” explains Wiley.

“The other kind of common requirement applied to adults who are over the age of 18 has been university requirements — college attendance requirements,” Wily adds. “College students in many states are required by law, not just by the [decision] of the college, to get a meningitis vaccine because of a higher incidence of meningitis outbreaks in the kind of congregate setting on campuses.” So as far as vaccination requirements for COVID go, we’ve seen this group lead the charge.

Can Employers Make COVID-19 Vaccination Mandatory?

Short answer? Yes.

If you’re an employer, you can require your employees to be vaccinated. However, this is considered a “condition of employment,” which is equivalent to job qualification. And, while employees can refuse to get vaccinated, they don’t have much legal protection.

“Employers generally have wide scope” to create rules for their workplace, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine policies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. “It’s their business.”

But, wait a minute? Isn’t asking your team about their vaccination status a HIPPA violation? Despite what folks like Majorie Tayor Green and Dak Prescott have proclaimed, nope.

At the same time, there are valid exceptions that you certainly should be aware of.

“An employee with a religious objection or a disability may need to be excused from the mandate or otherwise accommodated,” clarifies John Lomax, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix. “Additionally, if an objecting employee is a union-represented employee, the employer may need to bargain and reach an agreement with the union before mandating vaccines.”

If you do have employees who can be exempt from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, try to make reasonable accommodations. The most obvious would be allowing them to work remotely or take a leave of absence. You could also have them sign waivers or work under specific conditions, like wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

“If an employee cannot get vaccinated because of a disability or sincerely held religious belief, and there is no reasonable accommodation possible, an employer could exclude the employee from physically entering the workplace,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, the Society for Human Resource Management’s president and chief executive officer. “But this doesn’t mean an individual can be automatically terminated. Employers will need to determine if any other rights apply under the EEO laws or other federal, state, and local authorities.”

Having a Conversation With Your Team About the COVID-19 Vaccine

Because this is such a controversial and polarizing issue, you must sit down with your team and discuss the COVID-19 vaccination. Afterward, the employee can then make a more informed decision.

Here are some pointers to keep in mind if you want to talk with employees about a supportive COVID-19 vaccination.

Set the stage.

You can talk to your team either one-on-one or as a group. You can then let them know why you want them to get vaccinated. Mainly to prevent illness, which is for the greater good of the team.

Address possible concerns.

You will no doubt come across numerous questions and concerns regarding the vaccine. Keep the following in mind to put your team at ease;

Consider flexible scheduling options that are not punitive (such as paid sick leave) for employees who experience side effects after vaccination.
Remind everyone, even if they’re young and healthy, that the vaccine is effective. While the research is ongoing, COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to be about 95 percent effective in preventing serious illness.
Not everyone enjoys getting jabbed. Assure them that the COVID-19 shot isn’t any worse than getting a flu shot.
Encourage them to seek out reputable information regarding the vaccine, aka not getting their info from social media. Steer them in the direction of the CDC, Johns Hopkins University, or the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC)
Host a vaccination clinic at your workplace to make this more convenient for your team. Contact your local health department for assistance.

Closing the conversation.

Finally, if you have team members who aren’t vaccinated, but plan to, find out what’s holding them back. Do they need further information? Or are they just afraid to ask for time off? Finding this out can help you assist them in getting vaccinated.

What if you have employees who still refuse to get vaccinated? Again, you could ask them why. You don’t need to press too much. But, it could be something as simple as them not wanting to take time off for work.

If they have valid reasons, try to accommodate them. If possible, for the time being, allow them to continue working from home. But, if that’s not possible, and they’re in jeopardy of the health and well-being of the rest of the team, you may have to let them go.

How to Prep Your Home Office This Summer for a Productive 2022

By Jason Barnes | Time Management | No Comments

Home offices saw a lot of use over the past year and a half. This is thanks in large part to the wave of remote workers who settled in at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Working from home kept individuals and families safe from the spread of the virus while still enabling them to get their jobs done.

Since restrictions have been lifted, numerous workers have opted to keep working remotely at least part of the time. Being closer to family, enjoying greater flexibility, and avoiding tedious commutes are some of the many reasons why more people are choosing to stay home. The rise of hybrid work — toiling at home some days and in the office on others — is an interesting trend to follow.

If hybrid work is calling to you, you’ll have some preparations to make. Your home office will be glad that you’re still putting it to use, but there are a few alterations you can make this summer to prepare for a brand-new year of work in 2022:

Deep Clean

When your home office becomes a part-time arrangement, the last thing you want to do is have to tidy it up on the days you work remotely. Since summer is usually more flexible, use the time you have to deep clean your home office so that it’s spotless and orderly for the winter months. As you settle into a hybrid schedule, you won’t have to worry about your office not being ready for use.

In addition to giving the physical space a deep clean, the computer system you use to stay connected with work could also use a reboot. Clear your computer of unused data or documents that might be slowing it down or taking up space. Cancel any software subscriptions that you’re no longer using or will no longer need as you transition away from full-time remote work.

Optimize Your Efficiency

After you’ve handled the tangible aspects of your home office, it’s time to work out the kinks in your system of operations. Quarantine habits aren’t always the greatest, and there are probably a few things about your home office that should be changed to ensure maximum productivity.

While sheltering in place, you might have gotten too accustomed to the flexibility of schedule you were able to enjoy. Clients, customers, and co-workers could call or message whenever because they could largely count on you being at home. Now that life and work are reverting back to normal, this won’t always be the case.

In this situation, you would benefit greatly from implementing appointment software into your system of operations. Use scheduling links and an online calendar to book meetings and phone calls so that your new hybrid schedule doesn’t get tangled up. Look for other tools to help improve your efficiency as well as productivity hacks that will make your hybrid work setup run smoothly.

Enable Easy Transitioning

During the long months of lockdown during the pandemic, workers settled into their home offices and got comfortable. Now many companies are expecting their employees to show up at least a few times a week to the main office. If you fall into this hybrid category, you’ll fare much better by arranging your home office for easy transitioning.

Start by determining how many things you need to take from home to your work location. If all you need to transfer is your laptop, this will be easy. However, if you have other materials and paperwork that need to be moved back and forth, you’ll need to be better organized.

For example, you can implement a filing system that allows you to quickly withdraw any needed paperwork from a folder or cabinet to take to the office. You won’t have to go hunting it down, and a neat folder can be easily slid into a backpack or briefcase. Keeping your favorite writing materials or other office supplies in a carrying case also enables easy transitioning from site to site.

Take Advantage of Back-to-School Sales

Classes are starting up again in August and September. Each year this means stores are putting on sales for all back-to-school essentials, from backpacks and three-hole punches to jackets and jeans. While these sales are geared toward students and their parents, you’ll be able to stock up on materials for your home office, too.

If your line of work relies on a number of paper products, hit up a back-to-school sale to stock up on everything you need at a more affordable price. This ensures that your home office will always be equipped even if you don’t know for certain the next time you’ll be working remotely.

Upgrade Your Video Technology

At the beginning of the pandemic, having poor video quality or a bad microphone was fine since the shift to remote work was new to many. Employees were doing the best they could to manage with the resources available during lockdown. Now that businesses are fully reopened, if you plan on working from home at all, you will be expected to do it right.

In anticipation of any team meetings or customer calls over videoconferencing software, amp up your home office with a better camera and mic system — if you haven’t already. You can purchase an inexpensive microphone with a USB plug-in that will work much better than your generic Apple earbuds or the microphone built into your computer. A simple webcam will give you an enhanced video feed, which will leave a better impression on any clients or shareholders you may ever meet with online.

As you continue to utilize your home office, don’t shy away making improvements to it this summer and beyond. It is yours to mold, and it doesn’t have the same restrictions a cubicle might. Above all else, prioritize productivity, and your home office will be the residence of one of America’s best workers.

Add These 11 Back-to-School Musts to Your Online Calendar

By Deanna Ritchie | Appointment | No Comments

Is back-to-school season stressing you out? There’s no better cure than your online calendar.

Before that first bell rings, there are a number of items that need your attention as a parent. First, sending your kids back to school involves so much more than dropping them off at the bus stop. If you want them to succeed, you have to cover your bases.

Back-to-School Musts to Your Online Calendar

Using an online calendar, you can make the return to school as seamless as possible. Here’s how:

Sign Up for Classes

You can’t attend school without signing up for classes. While younger kids may not need to choose their classes, there are some registration steps every student needs to take before their schedule is finalized.

Add key registration events, such as immunizations and parent-teacher introductions, to your online calendar, so you don’t miss them. Also, remember that any extracurriculars your kids might want to participate in may have their own registration dates.

School Shopping

School supplies will need restocking before classes resume. Be sure to replace those lost pencils and worn-down notebooks. Scheduling your back-to-school shopping ensures your children have everything they need.

Your online calendar can help you keep track of deals and shopping routes. You can also schedule an inventory day to double-check what you need before going on your spending spree.

Schedule a Haircut

Kids want to look their best for their school pictures, teachers, and friends. Getting a quick trim before school begins will give them the confidence they need for their first day back.

Scheduling a hair appointment in your online calendar is easier than Kindergarten math. However, if getting the kids out of the house on time is a challenge, set a reminder for 30 minutes beforehand.

Clean the House

Kids make messes, particularly when they’re home all summer. So before they head back to school, enlist their help, giving your house a deep clean.

Schedule a cleaning day in your online calendar with a list of everything that needs to be done. You’ll be glad you tackled all the tidying before the semester is in full swing again.

Attend Parent-Teacher Meetings

If your school holds a parent-teacher conference before classes officially start, make sure you take advantage of it. This is a chance for you to meet your kids’ teachers and talk through their expectations for the school year.

Don’t wait: These slots tend to fill up fast. Instead, use smart scheduling links to simplify finding a time that works for both you and your kids’ teachers.

Plan Meals

Have you thought about what you’ll do for breakfast in the mornings? Will you be packing your kids’ lunch, or will they be buying it? What’s the plan for dinners during that first week back?

Making sure your children eat well is critical for their growth and development. Putting together a meal plan before classes start ensures that your kids get the nutrition they need.

Talk Through Your Kids’ Goals

A lot of kids think of school as a waste of time. To keep your kids from feeling this way, sit down with them for a planning and goal-setting session before school starts.

Pick a date and time in your online calendar to talk through their priorities. Maybe their goal is to obtain certain grades or learn a particular skill. Perhaps it’s a long-term goal, such as choosing a career path. Whatever it is, please put it in writing to make it more concrete.

Get Used to the Early Schedule

Summer is a time to relax and have fun, which might mean you’ve been letting your kids sleep in for the past few months. If so, getting up for school as the sun comes up might be a tough transition.

With your online calendar, you can help your kids get back into a solid morning routine. Don’t wait until the night before: The sooner you start, the easier the reset will be.

Tune Up Your Car

Even if your kids ride the bus, you’ll need to shuttle them to extracurricular activities and friend’s houses. So make sure your car is in top shape before it breaks down on the way to soccer practice.

Before the school year begins, schedule a maintenance check for your vehicle. A mechanic will be able to spot problems before they become catastrophes. While you’re there, go ahead and get your oil changed and tires rotated. Knowing your vehicle is safe will give you peace of mind on every trip.

Visit the Doctor

Kids get sick. It’s inevitable, especially in the school environment. However, a check-up at the doctor can make sure your kids are healthy enough to keep germs and viruses at bay.

Add doctor’s appointments to your online calendar. After the appointment, add their recommendations to the notes section of the event. If your kids are planning to participate in sports, this is also a great time to take care of their routine physical evaluation.

Plan a Last Hurrah

Send off summer in style by adding a final day of fun to your online calendar. Planning a last hurrah is a great way to bring summer vacation to a close as school responsibilities take over.

You can plan a day trip, dinner, or other fun activity with the whole family. Consider inviting some of your kids’ friends from school so they can celebrate together. Let your kids get out their remaining summer energy before they’re stuck in a classroom again.

Don’t let the first day of school sneak up on you. Instead, fill up your online calendar with these necessities, and your kids will be ready for another year for fun and learning.

How Does Procrastination and Perfectionism Reduce Productivity?

By Deanna Ritchie | Appointment | No Comments

The legendary comic book artist, writer, and editor Jack Kirby once said, “Perfectionists are their own devils.” And, it’s 100% spot on — just like his indispensable contributions to the comic industry.

Note that the reason why that quote resonates with you is that when you’re a perfectionist, you’re actually a procrastinator in disguise. Yeah. You might be in denial — but it’s true.

How Does Procrastination and Perfectionism Reduce Productivity?

Despite the misconception that procrastinators are slackers, the reality is that you may be caught in the procrastination-perfectionism loop.

Starting a project or assignment is too frightening because you feel that it won’t be good enough.
You devote too much time in the planning phase instead of getting to work. As a result, you wait until the last minuted to work on the actual task since it won’t align with your “grand vision.”
Your emotions drive your actions, such as not starting a project because you’re not in the right headspace.
You prioritize easier and less intimidating tasks. In turn, this prevents you from focusing on more important responsibilities.

Once you’re in this loop of procrastination and perfectionism — you can expect dire consequences.

“The symptoms of procrastination commonly reflect the inability to finish tasks, meet deadlines, arrive on time, and keep promises,” writes Dr. Bill Cloke. “Poor concentration, negative internal messages, unrealistic expectations, and the inability to organize and work constructively are present with procrastination.”

Obviously, all of the above will hinder your productivity. However, in addition to chronic procrastination, being a perfectionist can also destroy your productivity in the following ways.

1. Causes anxiety and depression.

Is anxiety the cause of perfectionism? Or is perfectionism the cause of anxiety? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t always clear. However, multiple studies have found that perfectionism can lead to a myriad of problems, such as anxiety and depression.

“It’s something that cuts across everything, in terms of psychological problems,” says Sarah Egan, a senior research fellow at the Curtin University in Perth who specializes in perfectionism, eating disorders, and anxiety. “There aren’t that many other things that do that.

“There are studies that suggest that the higher the perfectionism is, the more psychological disorders you’re going to suffer.”

2. Lowers self-esteem.

Since perfectionists set impossibly high standards, they feel awful when they don’t meet those standards. As a consequence, this casts a shadow of self-doubt over them. And, eventually, this causes them to engage in negative self-talk.

This might sound like hyperbole. But, because perfectionists never live up to the bar they’ve set, they view themselves as failures. Without that confidence, you aren’t able to succeed and forge forward.

3. Impedes innovation.

Perfectionism often kills innovation. So, it’s not surprising that this would also impact your productivity. After all, as Calendar Co-Founder and CEO John Rampton previously wrote, innovation “encourages you to continually improves and stay on top of trends so that you’ll remain relevant.”

Here’s the problem, though. You dedicate a lot of time to brainstorm ideas. But, since you’re consumed by perfection, you toss those ideas into the trash like last week’s leftovers. And, that might mean that you’re leaving some excellent ideas on the cutting room floor.

As if that weren’t enough, this can also affect your self-confidence. The reason? Because you’re rejecting possible opportunities that can make you smarter, faster, better.

4. Causes health problems.

Several studies have found that perfectionism can shorten an individual’s lifespan.

The reason? It’s simple. Perfectionism can negatively influence an individual’s physical health.

Perfectionists may suffer from chronic headaches, fatigue, insomnia, and heartburn. Perfectionism can also lead to high levels of chronic stress, which are known to be linked to cardiovascular problems. It’s also possible for perfectionists to develop eating disorders.

More concerning? Perfectionism is causing more suicides.

5. Reluctantacy to make decisions.

“There’s an argument that, for unimportant decisions, you should either decide quickly or outsource the decision,” writes Alice Boyles for HBR.

“But perfectionists have a hard time designating decisions as unimportant,” she adds. “They like to be in control of everything.”

Why is this the case? “Because imperfections bother them more than they do other people. If something goes wrong, perfectionists might feel explosive frustration or a niggling sense of irritation that’s hard to ignore, and they don’t want to take that risk.”

“Sometimes, perfectionists are so accustomed to micromanaging that it doesn’t even occur to them that any decision is unimportant,” states Boyles. “They’re blind to it. So instead, they habitually and automatically classify everything as worthy of their full effort.”

6. Difficulty achieving goals.

Perfection may also make it more difficult to achieve your goals. The reason being is that the fear of failure freezes you in place. Obviously, this prevents you from progressing and moving forward.

Furthermore, that nagging negative self-talk occupies the back of your mind. And, that’s not exactly the best way to inspire and motivate you to pursue your goals.

And, since perfectionists have a tendency to quit easily, they often throw in the towel before the going gets tough.

7. Strains relationships.

Getting along with perfectionists isn’t for the faint of heart. Perfectionists may doubt their worth as they’ve convinced themselves that they’re failures. Additionally, perfectionists have difficulty being honest and transparent since they hide their mistakes and vulnerabilities. Eventually, this kind of behavior can be detrimental to relationships.

Also, some perfectionists expect others to live up to the unreasonably high expectations that they’ve set for themselves. And, when not reached, this causes disappointment and conflict when others do not meet these expectations.

8. Limits opportunities.

Finally, perfectionists are obsessed with failure and chasing unattainable expectations, preventing them from trying new things and meeting new people. As a consequence, they can miss out on new and exciting opportunities that can make them more productive.

How to Beat Procrastination and Perfectionism

There is a silver ling, though. It’s absolutely possible to break the dreaded procrastination and perfectionism loop. And, here are some pointers on how to make this possible;

Lower the bar. This is a process that won’t happen overnight. But, you lower standards by starting small, like not making your bed in the morning or proofreading an email.
Keep your tasks bite-sized. As the joke goes, “How do you eat an elephant?” By eating one bite at a time. Breaking large projects into smaller ones makes it feel not as daunting. And take these small steps helps build momentum.
Stop multitasking. As a reminder, the human brain wasn’t designed for multitasking. To fight back against this, try strategies like time blocking, eliminating distractions, and seeking feedback.
Practice self-compassion. When you need a pep talk, go back and review what you actually accomplished in the day.
Surround yourself with positive support. Remove toxic relationships and spend more time with those who are supportive.
Incorporate mindfulness. By being present and not busy, you can stay grounded and reduce anxiety.
Reduce your commitments. Practice the art of saying no so that you aren’t overextending yourself. In turn, this encourages you to focus on what’s important.
Reward yourself. When your complete a part of a large task, treat yourself to a walk or your favorite beverage from Starbucks.
Track your time. This lets you determine when you’re most productive. Knowing this, you can schedule your most important or challenging tasks at this time.

The most important takeaway? Know that you’re not alone. If procrastination and perfectionism interfere with your health and well-being, reach out to a mental health professional.