Five Ways to Add Some Fun to Your Workday

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

No matter where you work, you probably suffer from time to time through days that seem as if they're never going to end. Since you spend a large majority of your life at work, it's important to enjoy the process! You can lighten your spirits by adding an element of fun to your workday. Here are some ideas:

• Work in a perk. When you plan your day, include one item that you can look forward to: lunch with your best friend, your favorite candy bar at the afternoon break, or a brisk, refreshing walk at noon.
• Breathe. Several times during the day, pause for three slow, deep, relaxing breaths. This helps clear your mind and calm your thoughts. Throw in a few good stretches for good measure.
• Keep stress relievers on hand. During a break, perform a fun activity that will let you rest the serious, logical part of your brain. A computer puzzle, or a quick game of "shooting hoops" in your wastebasket using a wadded-up sheet of scrap paper can rejuvenate your energy level. You might even want to keep your favorite joke book on hand for super-stressful times.
• Celebrate small victories. Throw a five-minute party with a treat from home, or quickly write out a thank you note for a coworker. Both you and your colleague will get a much-needed lift.
• Review your successes at the end of the day. Think about what you did well. Dwelling on your mistakes and failures will magnify their importance unfairly. 

 Remember, the most important thing your job provides is time to have magic moments with your friends and family, and pursue hobbies and other things you love to do. Enjoy your time at work, as much as you can. Then, enjoy your success and the money you make every chance you get!

Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"

Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.

Spring Break "Hangover"

Welcome back from Spring Break. You probably enjoyed time away from the daily grind of emails, phone calls, appointments, contracts, meetings, and more meetings. You most likely have “vacation hang-over” which can lead to a slow start, sluggish activity, and a lack of enthusiasm.

Here’s how you can jump-start the momentum you enjoyed before your break:

Schedule every minute of your day. Before you enter the office, schedule time for each your The Core Four business activities: business development, work product, keeping current clients happy and administrative tasks. With a "to do" list full of purpose, you will know what needs to be done and what gets scheduled, gets done.

Schedule every minute of your week. Schedule the activities every day of your first week back that make all the difference: 

• Review your prospective client list and set some appointments. The best time to close a sale is when you just closed a sale, so go close a sale. 
• Schedule time to knock out some work product. Doing work you can bill for always feels great. 
• Call a few clients who don’t expect to hear from you, just to say hello. This will do great things for your relationship. 
• Turn in expense reports, enter your billing, and clean out your inbox. One of my clients calls this the “crip, crap, crud” and I agree … but it still needs to be done. Schedule it and get it done.

Schedule your next break. The light at the end of the tunnel needs to be something you’re looking forward to, not feel like an on-coming train. Plan your next three-day weekend, or three-week African safari. Give yourself something to look forward to, and the work you do to get there will make the time fly by.

Breaks and vacations can be a double-edged sword: they allow you to rest and recharge, and yet time away can increase stress when done without proper planning and execution. Put intention back in your days and you’ll step forward into your successful future with ease.

Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"

Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.

8 tips for polite communication in today’s technological world

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

You want my attention right now, this instant. I get it, I really do. But I wasn’t sitting here just waiting for you to send me a text, email or VideoChat connection request. No, I was already busy when you decided you needed my full focus. The same is true for you, I’m sure. You are constantly interrupted throughout your work day, making focus time and productivity a virtual impossibility.

In today’s world, instant gratification is the expectation, yet it doesn’t allow for optimal productivity, and it certainly can cause problems when done the wrong way. Your preferred form of communication isn’t always how the person you are communicating with prefers to receive your communication. A mouthful, I know! Said another way, it’s important to know how your colleagues and clients prefer to hear from you.

What if you could communicate in a way that makes your client or colleague open and receptive to you and your message? In Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages, we learn that every person has a preferred method for giving and receiving love. Expressed the right way, love flourishes. Expressed the wrong way, soon you’re single. The same is true in business: Communicate in a way that causes the recipient of your message to be receptive, and you increase the likelihood of success for the rest of the conversation … and the relationship.

There are now almost a dozen common methods of communication: phone, fax, email, mail, text, Skype, VideoChat or iChat. Everyone has their preference, including you.