Ways to Cultivate a Productive Work Environment

Technological progress has allowed a lot of people to work from almost anywhere. A huge advantage, it provides immense flexibility, where you want to work from home or from far-flung places as a ‘digital nomad’. However, it’s important to remember that work environments can have a major impact on a person’s productivity. Julia Roy, the founder of WorkHacks, wrote an article for Fast Company about where and how you should work to create a productive work environment. We had a look at her proposals.

Designate Work-Only Zones
Although modern technologies enable location-independence, it’s a good idea to connect places to their purpose. Our subconscious mind, as the author writes, functions exactly the same now as it did in the pre-laptop-and-smartphone-times and connects certain environmental triggers to behaviors. If you work, eat, and watch movies in bed, your brain will connect being in bed with all these things. This causes a serious problem in that it’s more difficult for your brain to focus on just one thing in an environment that it connects to multiple activities. For example, working in bed might suddenly affect your ability to sleep in it. A sleep specialist once said: only sleep and sex should be allowed in bed – nothing else is should get in.

So, it makes sense then to assign specific areas for certain activities. Your desk could be kept for administrative tasks. In turn, you could designate a different place for creative ideation – this could be the office sofa, the kitchen, or the meeting room. Ultimately, you need to analyze which places work best for completing certain tasks, and stick to that pattern. Keep underlining those mental associations: this is the place for writing, this is the place for coming up with ideas, this is the place for sleep.

How toTrain Your Brain to Be Optimistic

Optimism isn't always automatic. Sometimes you must create it for yourself.

Many people struggle to stay optimistic, especially in the workplace. After all, there are many reasons to be pessimistic: a difficult economy, global competition, a business ethos that seems to reward criminals and penalize truth-tellers.

Nevertheless, your ability to succeed depends heavily on your ability to remain optimistic. I'm not talking about seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. I'm talking about trusting your ability to cope, regardless of what life throws at you.

Pessimists don't just miss opportunities, they can't take advantage of opportunities that drop into their laps. They're so convinced that everything is awful that they can't figure out how to make things better.

The Life Mess Part 2

Can you recall the last time you faced a setback or an obstacle that really weighed you down?

Whether it was in your past, or you’re presently facing an obstacle, we all have to deal with them. Though, however unpleasant, these obstacles that come our way are necessary for growth. If we never had to face any adversities, blockers, setbacks or failures in life, our experiences would be cake! We’d have it so easy.

The downside? We would never be forced to adapt and mature.

So, in theory, having to face obstacles in life is actually desirable. The more obstacles you’ve faced, the greater the likelihood that you are quite mature and adaptable.

Though, not everyone tackles obstacles enthusiastically and head on. Some people go to great lengths to avoid them… or go into denial about their existence. And, others let obstacles overwhelm them, and they feel defeated.

Most think of obstacles as a negative; but, if you can maintain an opportunistic attitude when facing your obstacles or limitations, you’ll have an even more impressive result once you finally reach your goals!

Now, think about what obstacles are currently in your way.

What might you be faced with? Often, it’s time and/or money limitations.

To successfully overcome adversities and reach your goals, you have to embrace the obstacles that come your way.

You certainly don’t have to celebrate or welcome them with open arms, but rather accept and believe that these obstacles will push you to be stronger, help you grow and mature, and shape you to be more resilient.

Your attitude towards setbacks will define the outcome of whether you rise from the challenge, or remain stuck in it. 

BECOME BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF

Look around you – how many people do you think are actually happy with the way their lives have shaped up? Chances are very few of them.

Most of us are filled with regrets and angst. We wish we did things differently. If we could go back in time and change our actions or reactions, we would. But the truth is, what’s gone is gone.

What you have is the present moment and the good news is that it is never too late to change. After all, we hold the reins of our life and have the power to change its course.

So, stop complaining and asking, “how do I change for the better?” because it is time to act. Here are  things to start doing today and become a better version of yourself:

1. Train Your Brain to Be Optimistic

Everything that life throws at us is not in our control. The only thing we can control are our thoughts, attitude and reactions. Would you rather be cynical about the world or adopt a positive mindset and live a more peaceful life instead?

Being optimistic is not as easy as it sounds. It requires practice and a lot of mental conditioning but it sure is a step forward towards a happier you.

So, stop feeding your brain with all the pointless, negative self-talk and replace them with these positive affirmations instead. Start a gratitude journal too, it’ll help.

In this imperfect world we live in, the least you can do is have hope and believe that the best will happen.

YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL, AVOID THESE 5 IMPOSTERS

There are such a significant number of methods for survival as an individual. Everybody has those high and low times in life, when you need to abandon everything. The main reason why you feel this way is because of the people you have around you, the people you choose to be friends with and the people you choose to have a say in your life. To make progress, you need to surrender a couple of terrible attributes. This article will give you knowledge on what to slice off in life to accomplish those objectives.

1. Negativity

Never say never. Never convince yourself that you cannot make it. If you believe that you will never make it in life, then maybe you would not. The words of the mouth are strong. Try it first and see for yourself before you jump into conclusion.

2. Bad friends

We all know it is difficult to live a life without friends, how lonely and sad our lives would be to live alone. But the truth is, to achieve success and be happy, bad friends are the first set of people you cut off. Not all friends want you happy. I am sure you have that one friend who always discourages you when you mention that big leap you want to take. Send that friend packing. You will be fine without them.

3. Procrastination

This is one major backlash to achieve success. When you procrastinate, it makes you lazy and before you know what’s happening, you might end up not doing what you wanted to do in the first place. Procrastination leads to laziness and we all know that nothing can be achieved if you are lazy. That is one of the worst traits to imbibe to achieve success. Always be on the move to achieve your goals.

The Life Mess

Sunny Okonkwo

Don’t let yourself get caught up in the trap of comparison. You know what I’m talking about. Ignore the silly under 30 list that the internet throws at you before you’ve even had your morning cup of Tea.

So, know this. You’re going to continue to evolve in unforeseen ways. You are full of complexities and wonders that haven’t even begun to surface. Life’s unpredictability will draw these out, and what defines you now will be mere shades and hues of a more vibrant you over the next five, 10, 50 years. Honestly, I can’t even think of anything more liberating than that. Knowing that life will look differently than you think it will.

So think big. Show up early. Stay late, and bust your asses. But stay focused so that your change in growth is intentional. Don’t let who you’re becoming be shaped by disappointments. Also, don’t let yourself be shaped by achievements either.. If you could meet with triumph and disaster, but treat those two imposters just the same. Keep moving forward, and don’t be frustrated when your path gets messy because it will get messy. You’ll fall, and you’ll fail along the way, wildly.

Sunny Okonkwo

Kick Your Fear of Failure to the Curb

 

Everyone can do it!

Do you have a fear of failure when it comes to quitting your job, growing your business, and achieving your dreams?

You’re not alone.

In fact, MOST people let this fear and its partner-in-crime, the fear of what people will think, control their ENTIRE lives.

In fact, the most common regret at the end of peoples’ lives, according to Bronnie Ware, a lifelong hospice nurse and author of the bestseller The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing?

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

Don’t let that be you! Today, you can choose to start moving past it. How do you conquer this super-common fear? It’s simple, but not necessarily easy: by TRYING THINGS.

Choose something small, like setting a timer and doing something that’s been scaring you for 5 minutes today, like:

• Reaching out to a potential customer
• Following up with one
• Making a post on your personal page
• Introducing (or re-introducing) yourself in your favorite FB group
• Going on Facebook Live
• Putting pen to paper to process through your biggest goal or fear right now
• Figuring out how you can pay for that business investment you’ve been wanting to make but scared to let yourself have
• Making a connection with someone you admire
• Being honest with someone close to you about your entrepreneurial dreams
• Deciding on a price for your offer
• Posting your offer on your business page

Try that one thing for just 5 minutes, and experience the rush that comes from completing it.

Build that trust in yourself that you CAN accomplish things, and when the big stuff comes, you’ll be more sooooooo confident and ready to give them a go.

What will you do for 5 minutes today?

Or have you overcome this fear? How have you moved through it? Share below and let us cheer you on!

Battle Negative Thinking and Win

When life doesn’t go as planned or feels out of control, it’s tempting to fall into a downward spiral of negative thinking. Your mind goes into a tailspin of what-ifs and worst-case-scenarios. Fear and worry take over.

Constantly battling those self-defeating thoughts is both draining and stressful. And think of the ways that energy would be better spent — whether it’s accomplishing goals, setting new ones, or just enjoying life.

Even if you’re not dealing with a major challenge like a break-up, job loss, or a health problem, a negativity spiral has the power to paralyze. Whatever the cause, your happiness depends on being able to stop those critical or defeatist forces in their tracks.

Fear As A Source Of Motivation

Every human being houses some dreading events and occurrence in life. The ability to imagine such horror and mishaps lead to what is known as fear.  However, the thoughts this failure, horror, mishaps, embarrassment, disaster, fiasco and all sorts of disappointments; bring a new hope, optimism and motivation to do better and savage those thoughts of fear.  Fears give

birth to motivation as it also leads to success.

The question anyone would be interested in is how does fear motivate or stimulate one. You will find out as we proceed below.

Living a Creative Life

Creativity is a tricky word. Consultants peddle it, brands promise it, and we all strive for it, often without really knowing quite what “it” really is. Put simply, there’s a lot of snake oil around creativity. We’re all creative souls already, we just need to figure out how to harness inspiration and unleash the creative spirit within. Here, are best pieces of advice for living a meaningfully creative life.

1. If you’re alive, you’re a creative person.

How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body?” It’s like somebody handed that person that placard to wear when they were nine, and they’ve been wearing it around their neck ever since. But rather than challenging them on that, because then they’ll dig in their heels, I ask them to take the word “creative” out of the sentence and replace it with the word “curious,” just to see how ridiculous it sounds. If you can just release yourself from the anxiety and burden that might be associated with the word “creativity,” because you’ve fallen for the myth that it only belongs to the special, the tormented and the professional, and you insert the word “curious,” you’ll see, in fact, that you are an enormously creative person, because all creativity begins with curiosity. And once you tap into your curiosity and allow yourself permission to follow it wherever it takes you, you will find very quickly that you are living a much more creative life than you were last year.

2. You’re not a genius, you have a genius.

The magical thinking that I use to engage with creativity is this idea that inspiration does not come from me, it comes to me. And the reason I choose to believe that is because one, that’s what it feels like, and two, that’s how pretty much every human being before the Age of Enlightenment described inspiration. Even really rational, scientific people will say, “And then this idea came to me.” They’ll use that language, even though if you were to push them on it they would then deny it and would tell you what part of their cerebral cortex it actually came from. In other words, they would disenchant it, and they would make it really boring rather than kind of Hogwarts-y, and I prefer to keep it Hogwarts-y because I feel like the only realm in our lives where it’s safe and actually beneficial to have magical thinking is in the realm of creativity.

3. Make something, do something, do anything.

If you have a creative mind, it’s a little bit like owning a border collie. You have to give it something to do or it will find something to do, and you will not like the thing it finds to do. So if you go to work and you leave your border collie unattended and unexercised in your apartment, you’re going to come home and find out that that border collie gave itself a job, and the job that it gave itself was probably to empty all of the stuffing out of your couch or to take every single piece of toilet paper off the roll, because it needs a job. A creative mind is exactly the same. My experience with having a creative mind is that if I don’t give it a task, a ball to chase, a stick to run after, some ducks to herd, I don’t know, something, it will turn on itself. It’s really important for my mental health that I keep this dog running. So give your dog a job, and don’t worry about whether the outcome is magnificent or eternal, whether it changes people’s lives, whether it changes the world, whether it changes you, whether it’s original, whether it’s groundbreaking, whether it’s marketable. Just give the dog a job, and you’ll have a much happier life, regardless of how it turns out.