Here are some of the best articles in the month of April:
8 Ways Leaders Waste Valuable Time and Energy
Time is a valuable, nonrenewable resource that is distributed equally to each of us. We all get the same 1,440 minutes every day. Are you using your time successfully, or are you wasting your time and draining your energy? Here are eight of the most common ways leaders waste time:
1. Being distracted.
Leaders who have a lot to do are easily distracted. No one can stay on task 100 percent of the time, but distraction can pose a serious obstacle to getting things done. It eats away at your time and causes unnecessary stress. Limit distraction by being mindful of how you organize your time and work environment and by preparing yourself to accomplish what needs doing. Develop habits and strategies to minimize your access to distraction, keep your focus on the task at hand, and improve your overall ability to concentrate. Read more here.
Supercharge your productivity with 3 simple steps!
As an entrepreneur, time management has been one of the hardest challenges for me. When I first transitioned from working as a corporate employee to owning my own business, I thought, “Wow! I’ll be so productive now because I have a full eight hours every day to dedicate to my own company instead of someone else’s.” It didn’t take me long to figure out that I was wrong. It’s not how many hours you have in the day but how you use them that makes the difference!
After months of working hard but not seeing the results I wanted in my business, I realized that I needed to control my day better. So I read books and blogs and I listened to podcasts about productivity. Then I tried out several different approaches to figure out what worked for me. I found how you start your morning sets the stage for the rest of your day. This is why having a morning routine is essential. Here are a couple of the best practices to start off with..read more here.
8 Keys to Coming Off as the Expert in Whatever You Sell
The most successful salespeople in the world don’t come across as salespeople at all. Instead, they carry themselves as experts in their industry who can solve key challenges for their ideal prospects. Simply put, if you’re in the business of selling, then you’re an expert in whatever you sell. It’s up to you to make sure your prospects know it.
While your prospects only see what’s going on at their own companies, you can offer them a valuable bird’s eye view of trends across the entire industry. But do your customers see it that way? If not, it’s because you’re coming off as salesy instead of as an expert. The following eight simple keys will help you build a reputation as an expert in whatever you sell, so you can earn prospects’ trust and start to crush your sales goals: read more here.
How to Implement a Successful Employee Onboarding Process
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost of hire is $4,129 and the average amount of time to hire a new employee is 42 days. Up to 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days.
Turnover is expensive and one of the ways to ensure your new employee stays is to implement an effective onboarding process. Onboarding your new hires to your small business is important. You have spent time recruiting them, now you need to spend time orientating and training them professionally to ensure they become productive quickly. How many times in your career have you started a new job only to wait that first day for someone to meet with you? Or give you the new hire paperwork? How many times have people seemed impatient and trying to hurry because they have a job to do? Onboarding needs to be a process divided up between different people and it should be done in an effective, organized manner. It shouldn’t be a rushed job. Read more here.
How Ordinary People Become Extraordinary
Elon Musk has been quoted as saying, “I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” Now, whether you view him as the real-life Tony Stark, most of us view him as an exception among the humble stock of this planet. But even Elon Iron-Man Musk believes that any ordinary person — you included — can become extraordinary.
As someone who was far below average, I had to scratch and claw just to reach mediocrity. But by that point I had put so much effort in that I figured, “Why not just go all the way?” So I improved my skills as a writer and coach with a goal of never-stopping, and I succeeded in making an excellent living doing what I loved most.
I like to call this process extraordinification. And if you’ll stick with me for an article, I’ll teach you it to you. Spoiler alert: You definitely won’t turn into Musk/Stark, and you probably won’t amass a hundredth of his fortune. But that’s not the point. The point is to maximize your God-given talents to create an extraordinary impact in the ways that only you can. This might involve millions of dollars; it might not. But it will lead to the happiest and most significant version of you possible. Read more here.
If you missed last month’s roundup, we had some great articles featured:
[Small Business Link Roundup for March]
Author: Raya Khashab
Raya is the CEO and co-founder of ezClocker. She is passionate about customers and building products that change the way people run their business. She is also a big supporter of the startup community and helping people achieve their dreams.
