7 Secrets of My Productivity

Productivity

Productivity is not rushing about to get things done or to skip meals or put in overtime just to do more. Productively is work completed in an orderly manner without having to do it in a hurry. Here are my 7 secrets of productivity:


1. Get up early: I start my day early. It gives me ample time to do stretching, deep breathing exercise, and a round of Tai Chi. There is still enough time to send my children to school and do my routine daily article posting in the morning I even have time to check my email before I leave home for the office.

2. To-do list: Every evening I get ready my to-do list for the following day. There is another list already prepared in the office before I go home. It means I have well taken care of all the things that I need to attend to the following day. My lists are short so that I am not overwhelmed. The to-do lists give me the following advantages:


• I get to do the right things the next day

• It is listed and I will not forget to do it.

• I get a sense of achievement when I cross out a completed task.

• Most important of all, it frees my mind from remembering all the chores that I have to do and I can concentrate on some creative thinking about ideas for my next article.


3. Keeping myself healthy and fit: Getting productive every day means keeping myself fit and healthy. A person cannot be productive when he is unfit and out of form.

4. Making unproductive time productive: As a good example, whenever I go to fetch my children from tuition classes, I take along some reading materials such as newspapers and magazines. While I am there waiting for the class to end I switch off the car engine and I spend the time usefully by reading the latest news in the papers and studying articles relating to my niche. I really pity other parents. They stay in the car with the engine running and doing nothing while waiting for their children.

5. Do the important things in the most productive hours: According to my biological clock morning is the most productive period in a day, so I schedule this time to do all the important work.

6. A contingency plan: I have an inventory of more than 14 articles at any one time. This is enough for me to do an auto-posting for more than two weeks. . The extra articles are to prepare myself to meet any unforeseen circumstances that I may not be able to write for many days. If that happens, I can still post an article a day for the next two weeks. This is productivity. Best of all, I can go for a blogging holiday without worrying about writing articles for my readers.

7. Productive working habits: I always make it a point to do the same task at the usual time. When it becomes a habit things get done automatically and productivity is maintained. There is no panic situation such as remembering to do something at the very last moment.

What are your productivity secrets? Share with our readers.

Help Your Child to Manage Emotions – 7 Effective Tips

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary emotion is a strong feeling such as love, fear, or anger; the part of a person’s character consists of feelings. Here are the tops tips that you can assist your child to manage emotions:

1. Help your child to identify emotions: Teach him to recognize his own emotions and identify the sources that stimulate emotions. Be sensitive and get to know the emotions of other people. This is the foundation of emotion management.

2. Motivation and positive reinforcement: As an example, praise him when he has done something right. Positive feedback promotes self-confidence and a sense of achievement in your child. Your child will experience a feeling of happiness.

3. Develop problem-solving skills: This is to help him solve emotional problems when he faces setbacks in life.

4. Set good examples: As an adult, you should set positive examples of emotion management for your child. Your child will observe your behavior and follow you.

5. Satisfy his physical and psychological needs: Cater to his basic needs to reduce negative emotion to manifest.

6. Teach your child to release negative emotions: Parents should accept negative emotions such as anger from his child and help him learn to express anger in positive and effective ways. Yelling when there is nobody around, punching bag, or running around the field are the right ways but not kicking the cats or throwing things in the house.

7. Cultivate a sense of humor and positive mental attitude in your child: A person's feeling is not only affected by external factors, but his own way of thinking will also affect his emotions. Build into your child a sense of humor and a positive mental attitude to deal with negative emotions.

The management of emotions can be learnt and the best time to do it is while the child is still young.

Related articles:

Help Your Children to Succeed at School -10 Top Tips

Quick and Easy Way to Read a Book - 7 Effective Steps

Read a Book

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We have too much information and too many books and articles to read. Yet we have very little time. We need to read efficiently and effectively in order to absorb the knowledge that is useful to us. The purpose of reading a book is to find answers to our questions. 

Here are the 7 steps to read a book: 

 1. Read the front cover and the back cover: From the covers, you will know the core subject of the book by looking at the title and subtitle. There is also a brief summary of the book and a write-up of the author. By checking the publication date you will also know how current is the book At this point you should decide if this book is what you are looking for.

 2. Introduction: In most books, you will find an introduction at the beginning together with the forward and preface. You can quickly read these three parts in full because the gist of the book and the writer’s purpose in writing the book can be found here. 

 3. Table of contents: Over here you will note that a book is divided into a few parts with each part having a few chapters. By reading this page you will get a glimpse of the actual contents. . 

4. Index: This area is important in the sense that whether the things that you are looking for are listed. Check the words, the names of people, and places. From the index, you will know the range of subjects covered in the book.

 5. First chapter, last chapter, and summary: Usually the first chapter and the last chapter are the most important parts of a book. Read these two chapters together with a summary at the end of the book, if it is available. The summary tells you the whole book in a nutshell. 

 6. Parts and chapters: Now you can read the heading of each part and each chapter and also the headlines and summary of each chapter and each part. You should do the same for the other parts and chapters until the last part and the last chapter. Take a look at the maps, illustrations, graphs, and charts. 

 7. What's Next? By following the 6 steps you will have surveyed the whole book. This is now time for you to read fully the sections, chapters, or parts that answer your questions or of special interest to you. You don't have to read a book from cover to cover. You only need to find the answers to the questions that you are looking for in a book. 

 Happy reading!

Baby Boomers – The 7 secrets of Joy and Happiness in Continuous Learning

According to Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company,” Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Learning something you are interested in and you apply what you have learnt in your daily life is the most delightful thing in life.

What are the joy and happiness in learning? These are some of the wonderful things that can happen to you when you continue to learn and practice what you have learnt:


1. Attending classes: When you go to a class, you meet new friends to enrich your social circle. Connecting with people is a great source of happiness.

2. Leaning a foreign language: You can communicate better with others when previously you wanted to, but you couldn’t. For example, you are able to talk more effectively to your doctor to describe your condition. When you are sightseeing in a different country you can put to good use your language skills.

3. Learn to use the computer and surf the Net: When your grandchildren are living far away, you can write on their walls and get closer to them when your profile, like your grandchildren, is also on Facebook and Friendster. Your grandchildren will be surprised and happy to chat with you over the Net.

4. Looking forward to more things in life: As an example, when you think of going to class the next day you are excited because you can learn new things and meet up with your friends.

5. Use the mobile phone more efficiently: Learn to use SMS faster and send messages to your grandchildren and friends. Be gadget-savvy.

6. Occupy your time meaningfully: Instead of doing nothing at home you learn new things to activate, stimulate and broaden your mind

7. Learning is a wonderful source of happiness: The ability to absorb new ideas makes you feel proud of yourself. Your self-respect and your self-esteem are boosted and a feeling of joyousness and happiness fills your heart.


I have fallen in love with blogging ever since I started writing and posting articles more than a year ago. The learning process is a great source of joy and happiness for me. It's mind-opening, fun, exciting, rewarding, and motivating. I want to be a great article writer/blogger and I look forward to being one.

“What skills will be required for tomorrow? Nobody knows. The important thing is to keep acquiring new ones. We’re in an environment where education - for life, for everyone - in the game.” These are the wise words of Tom Peters, a business writer, and speaker.


Related article: Baby Boomers – The 7 Ingredients of Happiness



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Motivating Employees – 27 Win-Win Tips

Motivating Employees To Higher Performance

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

Here are some of the ways to motivate the staff:

1. Show appreciation for work done: Mention it in the staff briefing or during meetings. Do it on a regular basis and don’t take the good performance of the workers for granted.

2. Quality of work: Offer jobs that are challenging, interesting, and stimulating. The jobs are well-defined and the staff can take responsibility for their performance and they are self-motivated by their results and there is job satisfaction among the staff.

3. Go to your workers: Visit your workers at their workstation and talk to them. Show interest in them; listen to their problems and ideas.

4. Avoid putting pressure on the staff: Make it easy for them to do their job. Applying pressure is counterproductive.

5. You are approachable: As a boss you are open-minded and the staff finds it easy to talk to you. The door to your office is open. You are always accessible.

6. Treat the staff equally: Let the staff know that you don’t play favoritism. There is teamwork when you treat the staff all the same.

7. Criticize in private: Do it constructively and tactfully.

8. Appraise the staff fairly: Appraise the staff in the same category uniformly so that it can be accepted by the staff. An appraisal should be performance-based and not on personality traits.

9. Clearly defined rules, regulations, policies, and objectives: It is easier for the staff to carry out their duties and responsibilities when they know precisely what they are supposed to do.

10. Pay raises based on performance: Offer merit increment to staff who meet expectations or exceeded expectations.

11. Encourage suggestions and broader involvement: Encourage ideas from the staff and implement their practical suggestions so that the staff will feel they belong to the company.

12. Compensate the staff adequately: Pay according to the market rate or better. You do not want the staff to think that their contribution to the company is not being valued or they are being taken for granted.

13. Random acts of kindness: When you go for your lunch and you happen to meet one of your staff, invite him to join you. When you are driving home you see some staff along the way you offer to take them home.

14. Promote staff morale: Nominate staff of the month and staff of the year. Display their profiles in public. Give them a certificate of recognition and a cash award each.

15. Highlight employees recommended by customers: When a happy customer sends a thank-you letter by commenting on a particular staff it should be publicized and the staff rewarded.

16. Be compassionate: Offer paid paternity leave, bereavement leave, and marriage leave and not to mention generous paid maternity leave, annual leave, and more. It tells the workers that the company has a heart too.

17. Social gathering: Organize annual staff party, outings, and excursions so that management and staff can have fun together and promote better connection.

18. Employee benefits: Ask the staff what is important to them and offer the benefits accordingly. It is more meaningful to the staff.

19. Treat the staff with respect: The staff wants to be treated the way you want to be treated.

20. Tie annual bonuses to the company’s financial results: Pay more to the staff when the company makes more and vice versa. Treat the staff like the stakeholders of the company. This will boost productivity among the staff because they know their bonuses are at stake.

21. Keep the staff posted: The staff wants to know the happenings within the company. Keeping staff well-informed is like treating them as members of the family.

22. Job security: Project an image that the company is solid and it is able to offer long-term employment to the staff. The staff will not worry about their future and they can just continue to do a good job.

23. Conducive working conditions: Make the workstation a safe place to work. Allow the staff to take breaks especially tea breaks in the afternoon. Taking short breaks to promote productivity and reduce job turnover.

24. A training and development program: The staff will know they are being looked after because the organization provides further education so the staff can develop competency in their job. The staff will also know this is a stepping stone for career advancement in the company.

25. A well-defined career path: Show the staff the way to progress and get promoted in the company.

26. Feedback: Provide regular feedback to the staff as they are interested to know their performance. Feedback clarifies expectations and goals. Staff can respond to feedback and adjust their performance.

27. Praise: Catch the staff doing something right and praise them.

Please add more to this list.

Deep Breathing Exercise and Your Health

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Every morning when I do my round of Tai Chi I also do deep breathing 10 times. This is how I do it:

I breathe in deeply into my lower abdomen to the count of 5
I hold my breath to the count of 20
Then I breathe out to the count of 10

I inhale as well as exhale through my nose. The ratio is 1, 4, and 2. You can take a deeper and longer inhalation, say, 6 inhale, 24 hold, and 12 exhale. While others exhale through their mouth I use my nose throughout the exercise.

The exercise is to cleanse your system and oxygenate the blood and activate your lymphatic system. When you do it regularly, it clears your mental cobwebs. You are more energetic, more alert, and more capable of warding off illnesses.


Lymphatic system

The lymph is often referred to as the body’s sewage system. Every cell in our body is surrounded by lymph. It removes dead cells, blood proteins, and other toxins and excretes them from the body. The lymph system is also able to destroy bacteria, viruses, and abnormal cells like cancer cells. The effectiveness of your immune system depends very much on your lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is only active by deep breathing because unlike our blood flow, the lymph system does not have a ‘pump’ to push the lymph fluids around the body.

How it works

Blood is pumped from the heart through the arteries to the thin, porous capillaries. The blood carries nutrients and oxygen to the capillaries, where they are diffused into this fluid around the cells called lymph. The cells take nutrients and oxygen for their health and then excrete toxins. The lymphatic system then removes excess fluid, dead cells, and other toxic material.

Article Writer/Blogger – 10 Qualities That Get You Hired

Article Writer

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An article writer may not be a blogger but a blogger is most probably an article writer unless he has already hired a ghostwriter. An article writer/blogger is someone who writes and has experience in blogging. What are the qualities of an article writer/blogger?

1. Interest and passion: You are someone who is fervently interested in writing and have your own style of writing. You are happy to write and you are self-motivated to write as you go on writing.

2. Perfect English: You are good at English with correct grammar and spelling.

3. Headlines: Able to create snappy, attention-grabbing article titles to attract the attention of readers.

4. Length of an article: It should be 500 words and above. Looks like 500 words are just good enough to allow readers to get a kick out of your article.

5. The most information in fewer words: The summary writing skills that you have learnt during school days come in handy.

6. Easily digestible format: Write in short paragraphs using headlines and bullet points.

7. Some knowledge of SEO: This is to allow search engines to locate easily the articles that you have written and posted.

8. Output: Write and post an article a day.

9. An awesome writer: You are able to deliver high-quality content on time and able to write in a friendly and professional style.

10. An active social networker: Your presence is felt in the blogosphere. Your profile can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. You are well-known as an article writer/blogger.

The point that I want to share with my readers is that the way we write our articles should closely adhere to all these requirements so that we can be successful as article writers/bloggers.