World's Important Days

January 01  Global Family Day 

January 05  World Environment Day 

January 06  World Day   War Orphans 

January 24  National Girl Child Day of India January 24

January 26  International Customs day

January 27  International Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 28  Data Protection Day

January 30  World Leprosy Eradication Day

 

February 02  World Wetland Day

February 04  World Cancer Day

February 05  Kashmir Day

February 06  International Day against Female Genital Mutilation 

February 12  Darwin Day

February 12  World Day of the Sick

February 20  World Day of Social Justice

February 21  International Mother Language Day

February 22  World Scout Day 

February 23  World Peace's and Understanding Day 

 

March 04  World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation

March 08  International Women's' Day

March 08  International Literacy Day

March 13  World Kidney Day

March 13  World Rotaract Day

March 15  World Disabled Day

March 15  World Consumer Rights Day

March 20  International Day of the Francophone

March 20  World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People

March 21  World Sleep Day

March 21  World Forestry Day

March 21  International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

March 22  World Water Day

March 23  World Meteorological Day

March 24  World TB Day

March 24  International Day for Achievers

March 25  International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade

March 27  World Drama Day

 

April 02  World Autism Awareness Day

April 04  International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

April 07  World Health Day

April 07  International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda

April 12  World Aviation & Cosmonautics Day

April 17  World Hemophilia Day

April 18  World Heritage Day

April 21  World Creativity and Innovation Day

April 22  Earth Day

April 23  World Book and Copyright Day

April 24  World Lab Animals Day

April 25  World Malaria Day

April 26  World Intellectual Property Day

April 28  International Worker 's Memorial Day

April 29  World Dance Day

 

May 01  May day - Labor Day

May 03  Press Freedom Day

May 03  International Sun Day

May 03  World Asthma Day

May 04  Coal Miners Day

May 04  International Firefighters' Day

May 05  First Sunday in May World laughter Day   First Sunday in May

May 05  World Athletics Day

May 08  World Red Cross Day and Red Crescent Day

May 08  Remembrance and Reconciliation for Lost Lives Second World War

May 09  World Thalassemia Day

May 10  World Mother Day

May 12  International Nurses Day

May 13  International Criminal Court Day

May 14  Bone and Joint Day

May 15  International Day of the Families

May 17  World Information Society Day

May 18  World Hyper Tension Day

May 18  World Museum Day

May 19  World Hepatitis Day

May 20  World Metrology Day

May 21  World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

May 22  International Day for Biological Diversity

May 23  World Turtle Day

May 24  Commonwealth Day

May 28  Anti Narcotics Day

May 28  Engineers Day

May 29  International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

May 31  World Anti Tobacco Day

 

June 01  International Children's Day

June 04  International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

June 05  World Environment Day

June 08  World Brain Tumors Day

June 08  World Ocean Day

June 12  World Day Against Child Labor

June 14  World Blood Donor Day

June 15  World Father's Day

June 16  International Integration Day

June 17  World Combat Day to Desertification and Drought

June 18  International Picnic Day

June 20  World Refugee Day

June 21  World Music Day

June 23  International Olympic Day

June 23  United Nations Public Service Day

June 26  International Day against Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking

June 26  International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

 

July 01  International Joke Day

July 01  Doctor's Day

July 02  World Sports Journalists Day

July 06  World Zoonosis Day

July 11  World Population Day

July 28  World Nature Conservation Day

1st Saturday of July International Day of Cooperatives

 

August 01  World Breast feeding Week

August 03  Friendship Day

August 06  Anti Nuclear Day

August 06  Hiroshima Day

August 09  Nagasaki Day

August 09  International Day of the World 's Indigenous People

August 12  International Youth Day

August 13  World Left Hander's Day

August 15  International Mourning Day

August 19  World Humanitarian Day

August 19  World Photography Day

August 20  World Mosquito Day

August 23  International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition

August 26  Namibia Day

 

September 02  Coconut Day

September 08  World Literacy Day

September 10  World Anti Suicide Day

September 11  World First Aid Day

September 15  International Day of Democracy

September 15  International Day of Engineers

September 16  World Ozone Day

September 19  International Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 21  World Peace Day

September 21  World Alzheimer's Day

September 22  World Car Free Day

September 22  World Rose Day   Welfare of Cancer Patients

September 22  Car Free Day

September 24  World Heart Day

September 24  World Clean up Day

September 25  International Grab Hand Day

September 26  Day of the Deaf

September 26  European Day of Languages

September 27  World Tourism Day

September 28  Right to Know Day

September 28  World Rabies Day

Last week of September World Maritime Day

 

October 01  World Vegetarian Day

October 01  International Day of the Elderly

October 01  World Hepatitis Day

October 02  World Animal Day

October 02  World Ostony Day

October 02  International Day of Non Violence

October 03  World Habitat Day

October 04  World Animal Welfare Day

October 05  World and International Teacher 's Day

October 06 (or second Saturday of October) World Hospice and Palliative Care Day

October 08  World Humanitarian Action Day

October 09  World Postal Day

October 10  World Mental Health Day

October 12  World Sight Day

October 12  World Arthritis Day

October 13  International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction

October 14  World Standards Day

October 15  Global Hand Washing Day

October 15  World White Cane Day guiding the Blind

October 15  International Day of Rural Women

October 16  World Food Day

October 16  World Anesthesiologists Day

October 17  World Trauma Day

October 20  World Osteoporosis Day

October 24  UN Day

October 24  World Development Information Day

October 24  World Polio Day

October 30  World Thrift Day

 

November 01  World Vegan Day

November 05  World Interact Day

November 06  International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

November 08  World Radiographer Day

November 09  World Freedom Day

November 14  World Diabetes Day

November 16  International Day for Tolerance

November 17  International Students Day

November 19  World Toilet Day

November 19  International Men's Day

November 20  Universal Children 's Day

November 20  Africa Industrialization Day

November 21  World Fisheries Day

November 21  World Hello Day

November 21  World Television Day

November 25  International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

November 25  International Meatless

November 29  International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People

Third Sunday of November World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

 

December 01  World AIDS Day

December 02  World Computer Literacy Day

December 02  International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

December 03  International Day of Disabled People

December 03  World Conservation Day

December 05  International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development

December 07  International Civil Aviation Day

December 09  The International Day Against Corruption

December 10  International Day of Broadcasting

December 10  Human Rights Day

December 11  International Mountain Day

December 14  World Energy Day

December 18  International Migrants Day

December 20  International Human Solidarity Day

December 29  International Biodiversity Day 

 

Thanks to Dr. Balasubramanian Kalyanaraman

 

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Make Your Meetings Hyper-Productive And Fun

Let's enter fantasyland for a moment. What if you went home from work today and told your spouse that the best thing that happened at the office in months was a team meeting that ran all day? That you got more done in that day than in a normal month -- and to top it off, it was really fun.

Contrast this vision -- which probably sounds delusional -- with most team meetings. As someone who has studied this up close as both an academic and as a consultant, I've said for years that most businesses would be better off if all meetings were disbanded. The reason is that three-quarters of tribal meetings are so nonfunctional that you'd be better off taking a nap instead.

Thanks to input from three friends, our meetings at CultureSync are like the fantasy I described. Two of the friends are from the Agile/Scrum world, Daniel Mezick and Si Alhir. The third is Robert Richman from Zappos Insights, whose excitement for what Daniel had accomplished at Zappos was so pure and joyful that it reminded me of my three-year-old daughter when she gets ice cream.

Let's be clear on the benefits of following the guidance in this blog post. Your meetings will transform from slow marches in the snow without food or water into hyper-productive sessions in which -- are you sitting down? -- people love the process and can't wait for the next session. At Robert's suggestion, our CultureSync team invited Daniel Mezick to put us through a boot camp based on the principles of Scrum.

The result: We got more done in two days than in two months. People who normally hate meetings (I'm raising my hand here) were almost speechless with how productive and fun they were. By the end, Si's words were ringing in my ears: "Tribal Leadership and Scrum are perfect for each other." (Daniel and Robert had said the same thing, but I'm a slow learner.)

So how can you make your meetings like ours? You should immediately pre-order Daniel's book, The Culture Game. (Full disclosure: I endorsed the book, and it quotes Tribal Leadership many times, but I have no financial interest in the book doing well -- except that if companies actually did what Daniel recommends, they would become so productive that the stock market would double.) Until your book arrives, here are several steps you can take right away to make your meetings more fun and productive. It's all in the details here, so please follow every step exactly.

First, start your next meeting by designating three roles. One is "Facilitator." (In real Scrum, this role should be the "Scrum Master," but doing so requires training outside the scope of this blog post.) The second is the "Product Owner," the person who defines what qualifies as the "deliverable." Scrum has very few rules, but one is that the Facilitator (Scrum Master) cannot also be the Product Owner. The third role is the team, and that's everyone else.

Second, start your next meeting with the Facilitator helping the group establish working agreements. Do this by asking people how they respond when others bury their nose in their laptops or multitask with their smartphones. Don't be surprised if the chief offenders here (I'm holding my hand up again) may say that they find it annoying. Then, as a temporary working agreement, ask what the group is willing to commit to. Most will say "no cell phones," "no computers," "no phone calls," etc. The Facilitator should post these on the wall or whiteboard, where they are visible to everyone. Note that they will say this -- it requires no confrontation on the part of the Facilitator.

Also, some people during this process may disclose that they have some reason to break the rules, and these exceptions go up on the list. In our meetings, I mentioned two people by name whose calls I would take. I then pushed my cell phone to the center of the conference table so everyone else could verify that I would take a call only from those people -- and not from my bookie.

Third, set a schedule. For an extended meeting, like one going all morning, establish clear breaks. We settled on 50-minute work cycles with 10-minute breaks. During the breaks, people can email, text, use the restroom, refill their coffee cup, or anything else -- including going outside for some fresh air. The blocks of work are called "iterations." The psychological impact of knowing that a break is just a few minutes away transforms the iterations from possibly pointless meetings into goal-directed bursts of activity. People know that even a wandering, off-purpose iteration will end. You'll find that everyone will be far more able to stay engaged and avoid the beeps and vibrations from their electronic friends.

Fourth, start each iteration with a big countdown clock, visible to everyone -- and start it. As it begins to click down, ask the group to define what constitutes "done" for that iteration. Even if the group spends 15 of its 50 minutes on this question, that's a great investment. In one of our meetings, we defined "done" as determining all of our company priorities, assigning them to a group with a lead person, and getting all of this set up on project boards. We had struggled to do exactly that for months, and we did it in a single 50-minute iteration, which included the time to define "done." The team members may ask the Product Owner questions of clarification or scope.

Fifth, do the work to get to "done." Anyone is free to make suggestions or point out that "15:33 is left on the clock." Some groups will start by outlining a set of steps to get to done, and others will jump in. The Facilitator may interrupt and ask if the group knows how it will get to done, but these interruptions should be minimal. This system puts everyone in a flat meeting, without rank. I've implemented this simple form of Scrum in meetings when the CEO came in to check on our progress. In one case, he began to critique the meeting while also playing with his iPhone. In one of the best moments of my professional life, a subordinate pointed out that the CEO was welcome to join, but only as a team member (technically, he was "de-authorized from speaking as the CEO"). And, she added, our rules require no gadgets, so the boss had to please either put down the phone or exit the meeting. He complied and sat down, as a participating team member. He later said that the meeting was the most productive he had ever attended.

Sixth, end the iteration when the clock times out. Alternatively, take a break when the Facilitator calls an end to the session. If you have time before the clock hits zero, ask: "Did we get to done?"

Seventh, after the break, start with a five-minute "retro" on what worked and didn't work in the last meeting. Based on this brief reflection, the Facilitator may ask if the group wants to amend the ground rules, such as "no sidebar conversations." Then start the process again. Begin with a check in on rules and assignment of roles (these likely won't change), and move through establishing "done," doing the work, ending the process, and taking a break.

When I saw this simple form of Scrum work in executive settings, I watched meetings dominated by "I'm great" (and you're not)" tones flip into fully functioning, high-performance tribes. Robert, Daniel and Si, you were right. Sorry it took me so long to catch up.

What I'm outlining here is perhaps only 1 percent of Scrum. If you want to glance at the other 99 percent, check out my personal blog, which has lots of links to Scrum resources and properly credits the people who helped start this movement. This blog also highlights what could be the most important development in executive management since Peter Drucker's ideas.

Imagine 20 facilitators, fully trained in Scrum and Tribal Leadership deployed throughout your company. If you decided to do this, please let me know, so I can buy stock in your company and short your competitors.

Thanks to Dave Logan / CBS News / CBS Interactive Inc.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57365121/make-your-meetings-hyper-productive-and-fun/

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How Employee Incentives Can Backfire

I've spent much of my life studying -- both as an academic and as a consultant -- how companies use incentives. The vast majority of companies mess this issue up, resulting in confusion, frustration, and often, the opposite of what they intended. There are four ways that companies get incentives horribly wrong:

1. Incentivize workers to do things they feel they cannot do. I've been in hundreds of meetings over the years when an executive will stand up and announce, with excitement in his or her voice, that the incentive paid to salespeople will double for each new customer they bring in. The result: Passive astonishment and dismay. Why? People feel they are trying to sell stuff all day, and customers aren't buying. The problem isn't sales staff motivation, it's that the company's products and services aren't compelling. The announcement of the new incentive plan seems to blame salespeople, and deflect accountability for what is really a failed strategy. Goal: Sell more. Result: Salespeople started looking for other jobs.

2. Address a problem with a handful of workers through a new incentive system that everyone has to follow. One company had a problem that some of their web development employees were abusing the work-from-home privilege, so the head of human resources announced that workers in that department had to keep track of their days at home, and this record had to be signed by the employee's supervisor. If the number of days at home exceeded a threshold, the offenders would not receive a performance bonus. Everyone knew the problem was about a small group -- maybe four people out of over 100. Rather than go to the offenders, management instead instituted new rules that added paperwork and bureaucracy for everyone. The result: The number of days worked at home shot up, with almost every employee working the maximum number of allowable days. Management seemed spineless and out of touch. The view among employees was that working from home was not fun -- but was a way of making fast progress on important projects. By the company treating it as a perk, employees worked from home much more, and I strongly suspect a lot of this "at home" time was actually spent watching TV or running personal errands. Goal: Increase time in the office. Result: Decrease in time in the office, and in overall performance.

3. Incentivize workers to do something that they believe violates their values. Group medical practices commonly reward doctors for seeing more patients. The goal of more productivity isn't bad -- in fact, it's necessary. Yet in several surveys, the result is a temporary jump in compliance, and then a slow decline to where the level was at the beginning, and often even lower. Why? The way the plan is implemented in many companies sends the message that doctors won't, unless bribed, do their best. This perception offends them. Over time, many see the incentive as a signal that they should spend less time per patient, which means not practicing good medicine. As the doctors talk, someone will point out that they see the maximum number of patients while maintaining professional ethics. The money they leave on the table is a "tax for doing the right thing." It comes across as honorable to do less, with doctors high-fiving each other for seeing fewer patients. Goal: Increase productivity (number of patients seen per doctor). Long term result: Lower productivity.

4. Announce a new strategy in the form of a new incentive plan. One company I worked with announced that any new projects done for Asian-based companies would result in a bonus for everyone -- sales staff and technical workers. This announcement shocked people, who had left other jobs to work for this organization in part because of their focus on the U.S. market. Many people had chosen this company because they wouldn't have to travel internationally. Many had small children and didn't want to be away for days or weeks at a time. Goal: Increase Asian client base. Result: No increase in Asian client base, and low motivation among the sales staff.

In every one of these situations, the problem wasn't the incentive itself, it was the way the incentive was implemented. It was heavy-handed, unilateral, and came as a surprise. According to research published in The Three Laws of Performance, people always behave in ways that are consistent with how situations "occur" to them. If an incentive occurs as manipulative, people will ignore it, and often look for work at the same time. If the new pay system occurs as out-of-touch, people will ignore it and spend much of their time complaining about the clueless people in charge. If an incentive plan occurs as random, people won't comply with it because it may change tomorrow.

Making incentives work isn't hard, but the steps to getting it right are counterintuitive. I talk about one proven system in my personal blog.

Have you been jerked around by an incentive plan? If so, I hope you'll add a comment below, so we can learn from the mistakes of others.

Thanks to Dave Logan / CBS News / CBS Interactive Inc.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57377682/how-employee-incentives-can-backfire/

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Establishing The Timeline For The 360-Degree Feedback Process

"How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time."    Fred Brooks

Most 360-degree feedback processes share a common timeline. The recommended process below will give you an idea of how long each step in a complete 360-degree feedback process might take, although it is highly dependent on the company culture, the purpose of the 360-degree intervention, and the availability of raters.

• Communication of 360-degree feedback process: (1-2 weeks, if in-house meetings are conducted with participants, invited raters, and managers)
• Selecting raters: (1-2 weeks, if participants discuss their rater pool with their manager)
• Distribution of online questionnaires: (1 week)
• Completion of online questionnaires: (2-4 weeks, but this depends on the nature of the project and organization)
• Processing of 360-degree feedback reports: (1-2 days)
• Feedback meetings: (1-2 hours for each participant)
• Completion of development plan: (1-2 weeks)
• Progress Pulse: (6-12 months)
• Reassessment: (12-18 months)

Coach's Critique:
When clients call us up to ask about the timeline of a typical 360, we lay out the information above. What I find ironic, is that although many organizations seem to display urgency to get the 360 system going, they seem to back off throughout the process of implementing 360s, which can lead to several months off schedule towards completion. Even then, many organization don't even go through the completion of it, and generally tend to lag when it comes to development planning and reassessment.

So, in order to maintain the scheduled 360 process timeline, it is important for all 360 implementers and stakeholders (e.g. HR rep., coach, consultant, executive stakeholder, manager, etc.) to be proactive in making sure all steps are accomplished.

First, it is important to make sure when the 360 is implemented to be clear about the deadline. Often times, participants lag with getting them done, sometime can throw the process off by a month. Second, when the 360 report is generated, stakeholders need to ensure the immediate step of setting up development plans. Often times, when time passes after a participant reviews his or her report, he or she never ends up getting to planning the development goals. Third, goals need to be tracked on time, to ensure accountability.Finally, when too much time is allocated to completing goals, sometimes participants are likely to lose motivation in completing them. Other work priorities may interfere, and participants are likely to place their development plans on the "back burner".

So, time is of value in the 360 degree process! Delaying the steps within the process can actually minimize its effectiveness and reduce the motivation of constituents to stay up to par with completing the process.

What has been your experience with the timeline of 360-degree feedback process? Do you see "lags" taking place? If so, what causes them?

Thanks to Sandra Mashihi / Result Envisia Learning / Envisia Learning
http://results.envisialearning.com/establishing-the-timeline-for-the-360-degree-feedback-process/

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15 Ways To Stay Focused At Work

It's normal.

You're bent on finishing the work at hand, and suddenly something comes up. You don't give thought to how pressing any distraction is — you just give it attention.

Five minutes, ten minutes. Sometimes it goes to over an hour.

When you get back to work — boom — you've no idea where you left off or why you couldn't get your mind and heart into it. You can't stay focused at work anymore and are becoming less productive. There goes your valuable time and effort. There goes your momentum and peak of creativity.

Because there's no chance of shutting out the world while you're busy, the decision to stay focused at work is in your hands. It's about finding the right techniques, knowing your priorities, and sticking to them.

Stuck for ideas? Well, here are 15 ways to stay focused at work:

1. Always find what you do inspiring and fun

Any meaningful task or routine takes a large part of one's focus. Before starting anything, ask yourself why you should do it. With your answer, there will be that output you so desire — and so you value the task. Then find ways for the task to become fun, like allowing your creativity and imagination to play in the process. Don't stick within borders of "approved" output; have your options opened for new, fun ideas.

When you make something you can call your own, you're more likely to stay focused at work.

2. Choose a great chair-and-table combo

Many people find working physically strenuous even if it's done seated most of the time.

Don't lose precious time and be distracted with discomfort. Get a really good chair with great back support; make sure your desk or worktable is well-structured as well. That way you can work for many hours and not find your body and eyes getting strained.

3. Get your work station organized

Too much stuff within arms' reach or atop your desk can prove to be really distracting. To stay focused at work, only have the things you need neatly piled on your desk — put the rest away properly, like in a desk drawer or shelves. Have an area for food and drinks, your bag or purse, and other personal items.

But have them within reach so you can just grab a drink without losing focus on what you're doing.

4. Make your computer distraction-free

This is very important for people who use PC for work: Have shortcuts for all routinely used programs.

Put in just one folder all files related to each project or task. Then ensure your PC is always virus-free to saved you the hassle of checks and repairs. Instances such as these cause stress and will wane your interest to finish the tasks.

5. Have enough water nearby

Drinking water isn't only healthy, it refreshes you as well. Once you feel the first sign of fatigue or hunger, a glass of water can push them away. Then you can finish what you're doing and rest at a later time. Besides, not all stomach rumblings are signs of hunger, and drinking a glass of water usually deals with it.

Just make sure you have water within arms' reach. That way you stay focused at work instead of walking to the water station — and becoming prey to distractions!

6. Bring in the snacks

Like having water close by, the food that could settle a grumbling stomach must always be at hand. For the same reason of having 90% of your attention at work, eating within your workspace area will not expose you to unrelated activities. So make sure your snacks are within arms reach too!

7. Make a daily "to-do" list and keep it nearby

It's always helpful when you have your list of tasks beside your PC (or at any conspicuous place in the work area). Having it in your PC or mobile phones often opens doors to checking other trivial tabs or windows, or responding to unimportant SMS messages.

So put your "to-do today" list where you can always see it, and cross out the "done" tasks. That way, you won't be digging through your bag or finding that page where you wrote them.

8. Prioritize the tasks

The first hour at work is where most people are productive. This is because all energies are yet to be spent. So put all the taxing, difficult and challenging tasks on your agenda during the first hour. Follow these with the less pressing work, and then end with those routine tasks that you find boring.

Such methods makes you stay focused at work, without spending precious time on doing tasks you don't like. Do this and you won't be stressed with important projects at the end of the workday.

9. Let others know of your strict personal policies

If you're bent on making your personal working system work, let others know it. Chances are, you'd be left alone on the hours where you're focused on the really big, important work. When people at work know you're on your "free time", they will pose questions and talk during such periods. Unless there's a very urgent matter at hand, they'll leave you at work.

After all, they want the same.

10. Put on the headphones

In most offices, there are various sources of sounds that can prove distracting — like the floor polisher, the mail cart, workmates talking, phones ringing, and sounds of things dropped on the floor. Protect yourself with headphones so you can stay focused at work. The headphones will ward off surprising sounds — and those that get your mind wandering.

11. Be unreachable, busy, away…or "invisible"

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

As for instant messaging, set the status to indicate you're "busy" or stay "invisible" while you work. If you still get IMs, then just turn the program off and turn it on later when your current task isn't as pressing.

12. Stay away from social networking sites

These sites aren't meant to be checked all the time. So discipline yourself to log in only when you have extra minutes free.

There's a strong tendency that you'll stay much longer than planned 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.

13. Organize your emails

Another really stressful and distracting activity is email. Let's face it: You get a lot. Likely a heavy mix of personal and work correspondence, promos and updates from your sites, and 9undoubtedly) spam.

One good way to avoid this is to have a separate email address for work and one for your personal email. Have them both powered to filter all emails. Once you have free time on hand, check emails again and unsubscribe from senders who you could live without. Then, organize the emails you'd attend to later. Delete the rest.

Finally, check your emails only when you're done with the most important task of the day. Make sure you limit your email time as well.

14. Redesign your phone use

Phones are meant for important concerns, chats about the previous night's date are meant for long lunch breaks. Observing such rule would help you stay focused at work. You could also request your workmates to inform your callers you'd get back to them at a later time 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.

15. Choose suitable music

The point of having music in the background while you're working is to provide ease and inspiration. For some, listening to music pumps up their adrenaline so they can work with greater energy.

But not all kinds of music are pleasant for everyone — and some are not suited for one's mood. So organize your music library accordingly. Apart from helping you stay focused at work, no distractions should take place. There's nothing more jarring than suddenly hearing loud, heavy metal screaming after some relaxing jazz music.

Final Thoughts

Just remember — you are surrounded by events and people at work that could cut off your momentum. You can help keep these at bay and stay focused at work with any of the 15 great ways mentioned above.

Do you have any other ways you stay focused at work? Share them in the comments below.

Thanks to Arina Nikitina / Life Hack / Stepcase Life Hack
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/15-ways-to-stay-focused-at-work.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LifeHack+%28lifehack.org%29

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20 Signs You Might Be A Typical American Worker

Once upon a time, anyone that was relatively competent and willing to work hard could go out and easily get a job that would enable that person to financially support a family.  Unfortunately, that is simply no longer true anymore.  Well paying "middle income jobs" are being rapidly replaced with "low income jobs" and part-time jobs.  As the economy crumbles, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the typical American worker to survive from month to month.  The number of companies that provide benefits such as health insurance has fallen steadily over the past ten years, and paychecks have not been keeping up with the rising prices of food and gas.  Average American families are seeing their budgets squeezed like never before, and many of them are going into huge amounts of debt in order to make up the difference.  Sadly, this is a problem that has developed over an extended period of time and that is not going to be reversed overnight.  Over the past four decades, the ratio of wages and salaries to GDP in America has fallen dramatically.  The typical American worker is not as valued as much as he or she used to be, and if current trends continue even more of us will be working part-time jobs or "low income jobs" in the years ahead.

In America today there is a great deal of focus on the unemployed, but there are also millions upon millions of Americans that are working part-time jobs because that is all that they can find.

It can be absolutely soul crushing to go all the way through school getting good grades, spend a ton of money on an education, and then work for 8 bucks an hour doing meaningless work for some predator corporation that simply does not care about how talented you are.

Today, an astounding 48 percent of all Americans are considered to be either "low income" or are living in poverty.

According to the New York Times, approximately 100 million Americans are either living in poverty or in "the fretful zone just above it".

A lot of those people actually do have jobs.  Unfortunately, a part-time job that pays 8 or 9 dollars an hour just will not get you anywhere close to getting over the poverty line.

This is not the way that the U.S. economy used to work.  Back in the old days, good paying jobs that would allow you to live "the American Dream" were plentiful.

But now millions upon millions of Americans are scrambling for anything that they can get.  According to a recent survey conducted by Gallup, the percentage of Americans that are working part-time jobs but that would like full-time jobs is now higher than it has been at any other time in the last two years.

In this economy, a good paying full-time job is incredibly precious.  If you still have one, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate.

Check out the following chart.  It is a chart that shows the level of wages and salaries as a percentage of GDP in the United States since the late 1940s.  As you can see, the slice of the pie being taken home by American workers has been dropping like a rock since about 1970….

Is that a clear trend or what?

And it is going to continue year after year as long as we continue to pursue the same foolish economic policies.

As our politicians continue to allow millions of American jobs to be shipped overseas, competition for the jobs that remain inside this country is becoming extremely intense.

Back in 1967, 97 percent of all U.S. men with a high school degree between the ages of 30 and 50 had jobs.  Today, that figure is down to 76 percent.

As you read this, there are hordes of hard working American workers sitting at home staring at their televisions as they wonder why nobody will hire them.

Right now, if you gathered together all of the unemployed people in the United States, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the world.

That is absolutely insane.

But even if you do have a job that does not mean that you are in good shape.  The percentage of "low income jobs" just continues to climb.  Back in 1980,less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs.  Today,more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

Many Americans work as hard as they can and still find that they must turn to the government for financial assistance.  According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

And that number is just going to keep climbing unless we change what we are doing as a nation.

Perhaps you are working a "low income job" right now.  Most of us have worked a job like that at least once in our lives.  Hopefully you will find the following list amusing.  Yes, I have exaggerated a few things slightly, but I think you will get the point.

The following are 20 signs you might be a typical American worker….

#1 If you are working three jobs and you still don't have enough money at the end of the month, you might be a typical American worker.

#2 If your job involves asking the question "Would you like fries with that?", you might be a typical American worker.

#3 If you shop at the dollar store because Wal-Mart is too expensive, you might be a typical American worker.

#4 If your job requires you to wear a smock, a brightly colored polo shirt orlots of "flair", you might be a typical American worker.

#5 If people are constantly asking you where the restroom is while you are at work, you might be a typical American worker.

#6 If your employer hires extra part-time workers in order to avoid giving anyone full-time hours, you might be a typical American worker.

#7 If you are required to watch a mindless "training video" after being hired, you might be a typical American worker.

#8 If the company you work for is owned by someone on the other side of the world, you might be a typical American worker.

#9 If a trained seal could do your job and you feel like your expensive education is going to waste, you might be at typical American worker.

#10 If you don't have any health insurance at all, you might be a typical American worker.  Only about 25 percent of all part-time workers in the United States receive employee benefits such as health insurance or paid sick leave.

#11 If your car is older than your kids are, you might be a typical American worker.

#12 If you can't afford to buy the things that you are selling to the public, you might be a typical American worker.

#13 If the balances on your credit cards are larger than your bank accounts are, you might be a typical American worker.

#14 If going to Burger King is your idea of "fine dining", then you might be a typical American worker.

#15 If it costs more to fill up your car with gas than you will make at your job today, you might be a typical American worker.  The price of gasoline has increased by 83 percent since Barack Obama first took office, and the average cost of a gallon of gas in the United States is now up to $3.52.

#16 If you eat your cereal with a fork so that you can save milk, you might be a typical American worker.

#17 If your electricity bill keeps going up but your paycheck never does, you might be a typical American worker.

#18 If it feels like you are losing an organ every time you pay for health insurance each month, you might be a typical American worker.

#19 If you feel like your employer is constantly tempted to replace you with someone younger and cheaper, then you might be a typical American worker.

#20 If you are so poor that you cannot even afford to pay attention, you might be a typical American worker.

Unfortunately, a lot more Americans are going to be forced into working these kinds of jobs if current trends continue.

Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs even though our population has increased by more than 30 million since then.  In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States, but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

The lack of good jobs in America has some very real consequences.  In particular, our young adults are really feeling the pain of not being able to find quality employment.

According to a recent poll conducted by Generation Opportunity, huge numbers of Americans in the 18 to 29 year old age bracket are delaying major life decisions due to the poor economy….

-44% are delaying buying a home

-28% are delaying saving for retirement

-27% are delaying paying off student loans or other debt

-27% are delaying going back to school or getting more education

-23% are delaying starting a family

-18% are delaying getting married

All of those things take a lot of money, and if you simply don't have the money it makes things really tough.

Sadly, the economy is about to get even worse.

As I have written about previously, what is going on in Greece right now is awarning sign for the rest of the world, and we are on the precipice of another major global financial crisis.

There are an increasing number of voices in the financial world that believe that we are going to see a Greek default in March.  So will this actually happen?  I certainly don't know.  But what some folks are currently saying about the situation sure does make for interesting reading.

In the old days, you could graduate from college, get a good job, work for the same company for 30 years, save up for retirement and count on a comfortable life in your old age.

That paradigm is now totally shattered.  The entire global economic system is in a state of chaos and things change faster today than they ever have before.

If you have a job today, it may be gone tomorrow.

The financial institution or insurance company that you are working with today may be out of business by next month.

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable.  That is why it is imperative to try to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on the system.

It is tough to plan in such an environment, but one thing is for sure – tough times are coming and things are not going to get any easier than they are now.

Thanks to The Economic Collapse Blog / Yolo Hub
http://www.yolohub.com/economy/20-signs-you-might-be-a-typical-american-worker

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Social Media In 1940

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image via US Library of Congress

Thanks to Harold Jarche / Jarche / Harold Jarche
http://www.jarche.com/2012/02/social-media-in-1940/

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7 Cool Resumes We Found On Pinterest

Today everyone is using social media in their job search.

People make connections and share their work on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter — and with the recent explosion of Pinterest, there's a new player in the game.

The visual nature of Pinterest, which allows users to create virtual boards onto which they can pin images, is perfect for showing prospective employers what you've done so far.

Tons of users have pinned web images of creative resumes for inspiration. But a few innovative souls — graphic designers, photographers — have already started using Pinterest to extend their personal brand, uploading their resumes, linking to their work and creating an online portfolio. We got permission from these 7 people to post their resumes on Business Insider.

This lady designed and then pinned her husband's resume, which compares his work history to human evolution

Kate Moore / Pinterest

See the resume here.

 

Aly Sharette uploaded a complex-looking resume, which breaks down her experience working with graphic design software

Aly Sharette / Flickr

See the resume here.

 

Michael Mahle is "looking for a high-level communications position in the wine world"

Michael Mahle / Pinterest

See the resume here.

 

This colorful resume is loaded with information

Michelle Magoffin/ Pinterest

See the resume here.

 

The description under this pin simply says: "My resume. You should probably offer me a job."

Molly Wallner / Pinterest

See the resume here.

 

Richard Gonzalez's portfolio pin board features this resume, as well as samples of his work

Richard Gonzales/ Flickr

See the resume here.

 

Krissy Marheine pinned her resume onto her board called "job stuff"

Krissy M/ Flickr

See the resume here.

Thanks to Jhaneel Lockhart / Business Insider / Business Insider, Inc.

http://www.businessinsider.com/7-cool-resumes-we-found-on-pinterest-2012-2?op=1

 

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