44 Practical Ways to Improve Productivity

44 Practical Ways to Improve Productivity Ive got 44 problems but productivity isnt  one. If you want the most out of your day, you need to be prepared to push through several  barriers.  Now, were all guilty of wasting time.  Its  pretty  easy to  become  distracted from your work and subconsciously (or consciously) find ways to avoid putting in the hard yards.  Whether its scrolling aimlessly through  social media, chatting to a colleague or making your fifth coffee of the day, if  you feel  slack and lack  motivation,  finding ways to procrastinate wont be hard. Sure,  some energy-zappers  exist beyond our  control. For example, studies have shown  surprising links between carbon dioxide levels in some office environments  and decreased cognitive functioning. However  there are a lot of  things you can control  to  make sure you  smash your working day out of the ballpark. Best STL  has compiled an infographic showcasing  44 ways to make you  more productive, heres a  summary of the best bits: Before you leave  the house Wake up earlier. Its a tried and true tip: swap a rushed morning full of freak-outs for a relaxed one that comes with breakfast, some exercise or me time. Giving yourself enough time to get ready properly will mean youre less likely to start the day off in a stressed mood. If you just cant muster the energy to listen to your early alarm tone, try moving your  clock a few meters away so you have to get out of bed to stop it. Let natural light wake you up. For anyone living in a cold  or  grey climate this might seem like wishful thinking, but where possible, let  your body slowly come back to life naturally, and ditch the alarm clock altogether if you can. Establish a morning routine  and stick to it. Being strict on what time you get up, when you have your breakfast and what activities you need to get done before leaving the house will help you get back in control and feel ready to tackle the day ahead. Drink a tall glass of water. This one speaks for itself  really. Its so easy to become dehydrated start the day by flushing toxins out of your body and replenishing your H2O stores. If I was president, everyone would have to meditate for 10 minutes a day. Then you would get a smoothie. Ms. Ellie (@ellie_java) April 9, 2016 https://twitter.com/hannahhummel/status/722407265127526400?lang=en-gb While  you commute Pre-plan your entertainment before jumping on the bus or train, i.e. something other than mindless staring or phone-tinkering. Try downloading a podcast,  bringing a book or loading your Kindle with a  great read. Get physical.  Ditch the public transport and use your own two feet (or a bike) to get you to where you need to be! The open air will clear your head and pump you up for the day. Complete an online course or plan for a presentation.  Try using your  commute to get some mundane tasks done, or do some work-related reading.  Giving yourself a head start with work will fire you up and means youll be ready to crack on as soon as you walk into the office. BRB RIDING MY BIKE TO WORK STAYING HEALTHY! WOOOOOW!!~ ? (@floatingweeds_) April 19, 2016 Before you have lunch Dont check your emails for an hour. Use this time in the morning (when youre probably at your freshest) to create a plan of attack for the rest of the day, and really get stuck into some tasks you need to complete, without added pressures coming from distracting correspondence over email. Start at same time every day. Getting yourself into a routine like this will stop you from wasting valuable minutes  fluffing around at your desk. Commit to heads down at the same time every day, and be disciplined about it. Bite the bullet. Procrastination helps no one; if you have a hard task to complete, dont put it off, get it done first.  Time spent procrastinating is time spent not completing important things, and also time spent worrying about the fact that theyre not getting done. Kill two birds with one stone and get  stuck into it. https://twitter.com/TheRealistz/status/725316908715806720?lang=en-gb Its not even 10:30 and Ive basically finished work for the day. I could go be really productive or go for a nap. Tough choice. Tom (@TomMichaelJoy) April 29, 2016 After you have lunch Avoid large, heavy lunches.  The phrase you are what you eat is a good one to remember here; if you eat yucky things your mood and motivation levels will probably turn yucky too. Go for an afternoon stroll. Fresh air will do you the world of good, especially if you eat lunch at your desk. Its important to break up the day and give yourself a chance to rejuvenate and refocus. Take a power nap. Take a leaf from the Spaniards book and squeeze in a siesta, if you can. I appreciate this one might not be a very practical option, but finding a quiet spot and closing your eyes to rest for even just 5 minutes will help you relax,  stop your mind from racing ahead and feel in control again. What a great Tuesday afternoon, come on out get that afternoon walk in. #loveorlando pic.twitter.com/nR4BiREeRy Lake Eola (@LakeEolaPark) April 26, 2016 Before you go to bed Avoid heavy, fatty  meals that leave you feeling bloated. Sleeping on a stodgy stomach does no one any favours. Set  your phone to Do Not Disturb. Youve probably heard this one before, but it couldnt be more effective at allowing you to  switch off and get other things done. Use blackout curtains. If youre going to opt for waking up to natural sunlight, you can probabaly park this one. Otherwise, if you have trouble sleeping try blacking out all light from your room so you can sink into your own black hole of uninterrupted slumber. Stretch. Put on some comfy clothes and stretch to your hearts content. This will help you relieve tension building up inside you. Use this time to let go of the day that was, and loosen up for  the day ahead. Maisee, a 3 yr old bully mix, takes her last evening stretch before going to bed. #AdoptDontShop pic.twitter.com/jXJo1HSnY5 The Love Pit (@lovepitrescue) April 17, 2016 Top image: Shutterstock 44 ways to be more productive [Infographic] by the team at Best STL

Staff Accountant Job Description Sample - Algrim.co

Staff Accountant Job Description Sample - Algrim.co Staff Accountant Job Description Template Download our job description template in Word or PDF format. Instant download. No email required. Download Template Using Your Template Follow these instructions to use your new job description template Step one: Fill out all details in your job description template using the provided sample on this page. Step two: Customize your requirements or duties to anything special to your workplace. Be sure to speak with team members and managers to gauge what's required of the position. Step three: When the census of the team has agreed on the description of the work, add in a Equal Employment Opportunity statement to the bottom of your job description. Step four: Check with your legal department, management team, and other team members to ensure the job description looks correct before creating a job advertisement. Choose a job board that's specific to your needs. Related Hiring Resources Staff Accountant Resume Example

The Dos and Donts of Candidate Experience

The Dos and Donts of Candidate Experience With most candidates being rejected in any given  recruiting  process, plenty of people will have things to say about your company good, bad and sometimes ugly. One way to improve what is being said, is to focus on the candidate experience. Ive chatted with Kevin Grossman of the Talent Board  to get some details. Have a listen below, keep reading for a transcript and be sure to subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast. What is the definition of candidate experience? A lot of people have said a lot of things about candidate experience, also pretending that its important but not as important as its played out to be, but it really truly is though. So, from our perspective, candidate experience is about every single touch point, any touch point, any time throughout the recruiting process, which a lot of the time loops back on itself. Whether its on researching a job and dont apply or do apply, make it to interview or get disposition immediately, it affects everything that we do. And our whole thing is that were all perpetual candidates all the time. So we dont discriminate, at least from a mission and research perspective, the difference between an applicant and a candidate. Were just all candidates, period. What are the dos and donts of candidate experience? Referrals are bigger than theyve ever been, not just for companies, which its always been an important part of the hiring process for recruiting teams big and small. But now, candidates are leaning on their networks even more than theyve ever had before. In fact, thats gone up about 14% from 2015. Thats a big jump for candidates. You know, weve been harping on each other for years now to build and leverage our networks. Well, candidates seem to be doing that more. Communication feedback loops,  this continues to trend this way every year and its not unique again this year. Companies that are investing more in better automated and human communications, because obviously early on in the process, theres a lot more automated messages that go out, particularly when theyre dispositioned. But when theres more thought process put into that strategy, when theres more touching of candidates throughout. Also not providing feedback, which I know varies what you can and want to say around the world, the United States is heavy on the compliance side, so you have to be careful what you tell candidates of why theyre not moving on. But just giving them something thats, what I like to call, specifically ambiguous which is always a big hit at our workshops and then asking for feedback, thats a big difference right there. Candidates that have an overall 5-star experience on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 meaning pretty darn good overall and most of whom again didnt move on or get the job, theyre getting asked 30% of the time for feedback, which is really, really huge, except those on the other end of that, they have a 1-star report, overall candidate experience, 88% of them arent being asked for any feedback at all. Huge missed opportunity there. The number-one pitfall is to not do anything. We do workshops and educational webinars and things all throughout the year, and one of the things I hear again and again is, you know, Gosh, I cant touch everybody. I cant make everybody happy. You know, even we try to bring closer everybody, its hard to do. Well, it is a big task, but as much as you can do it and as much as you would invest and being consistent about it, and making sure that expectation setting is clear and communication is clear. And even asking for feedback while you can, not just for new hires, it goes a long way with fairness with candidates. Thats really all we want. Were gutted that we dont get the job, but if you are clear with me and you treated me fairly and then you said, you know, Sorry, were not going to pursue any further, I get it. Its the way it works and thats what makes a difference. How can we measure ROI  on candidate experience? Right now, after 6 years of doing this research globally, we can show that candidates that have an overall 5-star experience, most of them again didnt get the job at the end of the day. But through our research, they, 64% of the time, are willing to increase the business relationship with that company that they applied to. Now, that means apply again, it means buy stuff if youre a consumer-based business, and then it means refer, which is the big one. So thats a huge potential increase to the bottom line over time. And there are companies today ATT, many others that especially are really working hard to try to quantify what that is, because it will vary from company to company and industry to industry, but you know, it could be into the millions of dollars. Like theres an example with Virgin Media that its a pretty well-touted case study now that they actually did the quantification, and it was millions of dollars in lost revenue, consumer-based loss revenue, based on a poor candidate experience. These are companies that participate in our research are doing the same things today, and well be able to have more of that research out there. Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinWGrossman, download the  North American Candidate Experience Awards Research Report now and be sure to subscribe to the Employer Branding Podcast.

Should I apply now, or wait University of Manchester Careers Blog

Should I apply now, or wait University of Manchester Careers Blog The main recruitment fairs have been and gone (just the Postgrad Study Fair on 20th November and the Law Fair on 19th November still to go), the employer campus events are starting to thin out, and the whole Get your career together NOW! frenzy is calming down a bit. What if you havent done anything yet? Should you still try and apply for jobs right now, to have something lined up for next autumn? Should you just wait and start to look next summer, because all the good jobs will surely have gone by now? Well, I wondered that too, so I had a look at what were currently advertising on CareersLink to find out. Last week, there were 850 ads for full-time jobs on CareersLink. Of those: 396 ads were for jobs starting next summer or autumn 454 ads were for jobs starting now, or soon. This also includes all the jobs where recruitment is ongoing. So, lots of jobs are still being advertised for next autumn start dates. If you want to get ahead, there is still time to apply for these graduate schemes. But what if you want to wait? Well, theres one more bit of info you need whos recruiting when? This shows the size of the organisations who are recruiting right now for jobs starting next summer/autumn. Small = under 250 employees Large = 250+ employees and there are a few where its not clear (as these organisations arent big household or industrial names, theyre more likely to be small than large). As you can see, a large majority of these start next year jobs are for large organisations, including a lot of the ones youve heard of. Few small organisations are going to recruit so far in advance. This the picture for ads for an immediate start date, or for jobs which start before next summer. There are still some large well-known recruiters advertising for immediate start jobs, including some, like Shell, who advertise their recruitment as being ongoing, all year round. However, most jobs are working for small organisations (the majority of these are organisations with fewer than 50 people). Many of these jobs with smaller organisations are fantastic, working with specialist or niche employers, where youll get to see more of what goes on in the whole organisation. Youre also less likely to be in some sort of training scheme youll be doing a job from day 1. So, if youre in your final year and thinking about whether to apply now or leave it until this time next year, you need to ask yourself: Do I want to work for a large well-known employer, possibly on a graduate scheme? If so, youve a far better chance if you apply now. . Am I aiming at starting with a smaller employer, in a specific job? If so, you can probably afford to wait until closer to when you want to start work but dont miss out on the 50 or so smaller recruiters who are also advertising a year in advance. All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate Closing dates job market jobs

Resume Writing After Imprisonment

Resume Writing After ImprisonmentResume writing after incarceration has several common pitfalls that should be avoided. The inmate will write his resume with the goal of getting hired, but will be slow at the job interview. This means that the writer will either ask a lot of questions that drive him off the topic, or that he will be so nervous, that the answer is inadequate.When you write a resume for certain job applications, it will be critical to remember the mission statement that was established during the time of your incarceration. This will give you the focus you need to create a good resume.There are two ways to do this. You can write about the major projects that happened while you were incarcerated, or you can make them up as you go along. It will depend on how good the writing skills of the individual is.If you write a post incarceration resume, it will be necessary to take care to not take the project out of context. It is likely that your statement, or paragraph, will s how that you had a terrible time in prison. But you must also show that you were an exceptional student during that time, so the idea is to include all the experiences that were not relevant to the job.For example would be spending time with your girlfriend, your best friend and your sister. Any of these stories can be included.If the person you write the resume for received a specific prison sentence for a crime that was not a sex offense, or if you were convicted of drug trafficking, it is important to include all the facts. Again, the examples that come from the very tough places to write a resume should be followed.In order to make a good resume, it is important to know the nature of the positions that the companies are seeking. So you have to write the type of resume that will attract the employers' attention.The way to do this is to include the complete background on the candidate. So try to place your resume on the side of the paper that they will look at first. In the intere st of full disclosure, it is important to mention that many of the requirements to apply for the company were written by other employees who were in the same situation as you are now.

A Small Blogging Milestone Reached The Liebster Award! - Cubicle Chic

A Small Blogging Milestone Reached The Liebster Award! - Cubicle Chic A Small Blogging Milestone Reached: The Liebster Award! Uncategorized November 10, 2015 0 CommentsAs a 4 month old blogger with a fledgling blog, the news came as a surprise when my fellow blogger Cara at CaraMia Why forwarded her nomination of my blog for the Liebster Award. I am excited and honored, and I did a bit of homework to learn what this award is.  The Liebster Award is meant to help the internet discover new blogs while promoting connection and support within the blogosphere. So here is my shout out to Cara â€" thank you for your nomination!Liebster Award Q AWhat motivated you to finally start your blog?I’ve always read blogs, especially fashion blogs. The catalytic influence came from my experience with Poshmark, an online platform for women to shop and sell unused/used items from their closet. I started my journey with Poshmark in January 2013, and since then have grown my follower base to close to 250K. I attribute my sizable follower base to the exponential growth Poshmark has taken on organically on its own, but there a re definitely a lot of perks that comes with having a big follower base. One of which is that it allowed me to tap into this amazing online community that is supportive, encouraging, and all about each other’s growth and wellness. This is how I came across CaraMia’s blog, incidentally. It gave me courage and faith to start blogging, knowing I have this community to share my thoughts and content with.How did you come up with your domain name?I’ve been with my current employer for a little over four years now. I am in the marketing department, so much of my time is spent in the office, in an cubicle. Because of this, I am always looking for information that are particular to me, with this unique yet common environment, whether be it fashion advice, wardrobe tips and tricks, or things that you do to make the cubicle life more enjoyable and productive. I feel like there is a shortage of such information in the blogosphere and therefore decided to contribute by creating my own cont ent. Since my blog is mostly about fashion and outfits, I came up with the name Cubicle Chic.What are your blogging goals?This is the part about my blog that I still haven’t quite figured out. To be honest, I am content at the moment just having a creative outlet that allows me to express myself through fashion, outfit, and writing. Not to mention I am also connecting with people out there who share the same interest as mine… I can’t complain. I think eventually it would be nice to be able to work with prestigious brands, but in the short run I’d like to keep this as a fun hobby.What part of the country/world do you live in?I was born and raised in Taichung, Taiwan. I lived there until I was 15, and moved to Southern California to go to high school and have been a So Caller since then. As of February 2015, I’ve spent exactly half of my life in Taiwan and the other half in the U.S. I’ve always wondered what my mindset would be like once I reached this point, culturally sp eaking. And now I can firmly declare that I am a lot more American than I am Taiwanese, at least according to myself.I am also a fluent speaker and writer and avid reader in Mandarin Chinese.  ??????????????… ???????????,??????????!Are you an introvert or an extrovert?I like to consider myself a pretty healthy hybrid of the two, and even my Myers Briggs personality test agrees. I enjoy crowds, and don’t mind being the center of attention; but I have days when I just want to be quite and alone, and find comfort in activities such as reading and watching movies. In other words, I am a normal human being… ha.Who has been your life’s biggest inspiration?I find inspiration in books, podcasts, sometimes even encyclopedia. I think this came from the habit my Mom instilled in me since my childhood to always be curious about things,  have an open but critical mind about what I learn. I have read many books that I would consider inspirational but if I could only name one, it would b e Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind  by V. S. Ramachandran. This book inspired me to pick Psychology as one of my majors in college which later on lead to a career in marketing. The most amazing part is during my time at University of California, San Diego, where I received my bachelor degrees, I was fortunate enough to take a class one quarter lectured by Dr. Ramachandran himself. I have to admit I did not know UCSD was where he was teaching at that time.. so imagine my surprise!What are you most afraid of?Public speaking and modeling in front of a camera.The ironic thing is that these are two things that I get to do quite often in my life now, and have managed to grown an inkling of passion toward both… I consider myself very lucky.What, if anything, prevents you from pursuing your wildest dreams?I can’t say I am the type to have the wildest of dreams. But if I did, I think I would stand in the way of myself and those dreams… Hmm somehow these s cenarios could be one of the same. I do realize that. Ha.How would your best friend describe you?Loud, fun-loving,  full of emotions and passions, has too many ideas that I can afford to explore… emotional. Oh I said that already.NEXT â€" MY NOMINATIONS!!Brittney @ Beauty v. Brain This is beauty/fashion meets major brain. Brittney is a Harvard Law student and offers her very unique and sharp-witted opinion about various trends in fashion, or just things in general.Morgan @ Between The Racks Morgan and I met over the app Poshmark, and have become mutual fans of each other’s blog. Morgan is a high fashion thrift hunter, and you read it right.. this exists. She is all about designer items at super affordable (most of the time ridiculously affordable) prices. Head on over if you want to learn more about Poshmark too, she has written a ton about it.Valentina @ Pear of Heels Valentina and I also met over Poshmark. I found her closet and immediately began ogling over her super envy wor thy closet filled with designer stuff. She is young but has a very developed taste of what looks good. Her outfits are always on point and her heels are always high.. I’ll leave it at that.Rachel @  Weenie’s Guide to Cool Rachel is my little cousin who is no longer little. She blogs about her journey to become truly COOL in a totally sarcastic but not sarcastic  kind of way. She is very good at documenting all the little voices that we all deal with when we struggle to grow and become better versions of ourselves. The struggle is real, as they say.

Why job descriptions are useless - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Why job descriptions are useless - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Lets do a quick reality check on job descriptions. Ask yourself these three questions: When was the last time you read your job description? Do you remember what it says? When was the last time you did something at work that you could not have done without your job description? If your answers are 1) When I interviewed for the job, 2) Ehmmmm not really and 3) I dont think that has ever happened then maybe its time to rethink the value of job descriptions. I say job descriptions as they exist today amount to little more than organizational clutter and could easily be dropped altogether. Heres why we should loseem and what to do instead. Why lose the job descriptions 1: Nobody reads them anyway Do you? I thought not. I never did. Very few people do. Some companies dont even have them, and they seem to manage just fine. 2: Theyre always incomplete Nobodys job description contains all the crucial things they do or all their important resonsibilities. Theres always more to it than is captured on paper. If everybody in the company did only what it says in their job description, the company would soon grind to a halt. 3: Theyre a hassle to create and maintain Theyre actually a lot of work to write and especially to update. 4: Theyre usually obsolete Most peoples jobs change a lot faster than their job descriptions. In many cases the job description only says what the job used to be like a long time ago you know, way back in the last quarter. 5: They dont help people do their jobs I dont think a single person has ever told me today I accomplished something at work that I couldnt possibly have done without my job description. Theyre close to useless in day-to-day operations. Or have I overlooked something? Is there a reason why job descriptions are crucial (or merely useful) where you work? What to do instead But without job descriptions, how will people know what to do? Amazingly, most people still get their jobs done, even though the only time theyve read their job description was 4 years ago when they signed on. Or if gasp their workplace doesnt have job descriptions. A much more productive and useful system is to let each department or team work out their responsibilities together. Heres how a group of people who work together, eg. a department or a project team, can do something much more useful: 1: List the departments tasks Get the whole group together in front of a whiteboard. Give everyone a block of post-its and let each person write down their tasks and stickem on the whiteboard, one task one each post-it. Let everybody contribute to this list. Make the list as complete as possible. 2: Ask why 3 times For each task your department lists ask Why do we do this? In fact, for each item ask why three times. It might go something like this: Why are we making this report every week? Beacuse Bob in marketing wants it Why does Bob in marketing want it? (Somebody calls Bob) He gives it to the VP of marketing Why does the VP of marketing want it? (Somebody corners the VP and asks her) She doesnt really want it she says she only ever looks at the aggregate reports That would be a good opportunity to stop doing that report every week. For each item on the departments list, keep asking why until you know why your department does whatever it does. In many cases its obvious but some things are done simply because, well, weve always done it. 3: Group the tasks Try to group tasks together that are best done together. For instance Gathering data for sales report, Making sales report and Distributing sales report inside company may be tasks that it makes sense to do together. 4: Let people choose tasks Let people choose the tasks they would most like to work on. Let each employee go to the whiteboard in turn and pick out tasks they like to work on. Of course there are two problems that can occur here: 1: A task is popular more than one person wants to do it This might be handled by sharing the task so people work on it together or take turns doing it. Another solution is to give the task to the person who does it the best. Or the person who needs to learn to do it. Find a solution. 2: A tasks is so unpopular that no one wants to do it Take a close look at that task. Is it really necessary? If no, dont do it. If its absolutely necessary people can take turns doing it or work on it together (shared misery is lessened misery). If there are enough unpopular tasks, each person can take one or two, so theyre about evenly disitributed. If the department almost exclusively has tasks that no one wants, then something is very wrong :o) After all the tasks have been distributed, let each employee write a document containing his or her list of tasks and collect all the documents in a place where everyone can see them. A wiki would be a great place for these lists. 5: Repeat occasionally Repeat the exercise once or twice a year to drop tasks that are no longer necessary, to re-assign tasks so people get some varity in their jobs and to delegate whatever new tasks may appear. Why is this different from regular job descriptions? Its more complete and a truer reflection of what people really do Its easier to update Its more likely to be relevant to people in their jobs It results in the team working together on the departments tasks, rather than everyone working alone on their tasks The result of this exercise: The department eliminates unnecessary tasks People spend more of their time working on tasks that they like and have chosen for themselves remember that one persons chore is another persons dream job The group identifies unpopular tasks and distributes them evenly You avoid the situation where Johnson is always making the sales reports even though she hates doing them, while at the same time Smith, who loves making reports, is grumbling that Johnson always gets to do them Im betting that groups who do this or something similar will see: Vastly increased productivity Higher quality Lower absenteeism Lower employee turnover More happiness at work We did it at the IT-company I co-founded and to our great surprise we found that almost every single task was taken by someone who actively wanted to do it. For example, I got to write our newsletter, cause I really liked that challenge while Brian managed our intranet a task he relished. Because we liked doing what we did we did great work. If wed switched tasks, they would have been badly or not at all. This approach may be a bold move for some companies and a slam-dunk for others but it gives a group something far more useful, relevant and inspiring than traditional job descriptions! Sing it: Job descriptions Huh! What are they good for Absolutely nothing Say it again! In upcoming posts: Why we should also lose the org chart, the employee handbook and the business plan. If you liked this post, Im pretty sure youll also enjoy these: eXtreme Projects 5 business maxims that need to go The cult of overwork Why secret salaries are a baaaaaad idea Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related