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If there’s one thing about time, it’s that it keeps moving along. Whether you’re in flow with its onward movement is up to you. Staying productive means knowing how to manage your time and sticking to a plan.

It’s where people often struggle, especially in an age where distractions are so prevalent. Think social media, the clothes in the dryer, and the co-worker who wants to chat. No matter where you work, distractions can easily throw you off your game. But so can perfectionism, which takes you out of the flow instead of keeping you in it. Because you’re so worried about being on target, your mind immobilizes you, preventing you from taking action.

Are you looking to improve your time management approach before 2024 begins? Read on. This article discusses four techniques to help you stay focused. You’ll boost your productivity without feeling the classic time crunch.

1. Use Automated Scheduling Tools

Scheduling is a huge part of time management. It might be why humans invented calendars. As a handy tool, calendars help keep track of appointments, to-do list reminders, and important deadlines. On paper, calendars can be an efficient way to centralize everything you’ve got going on. But those paper-based versions can also get a tad messy and become inconvenient to carry around.

Digital versions are undoubtedly better. You can set up notifications, sync your personal and work obligations, and make changes on the fly. Yet, how do you get everyone’s calendars on the same page in a team environment? You can play the email game, sending invite messages back and forth. Or you can try an automated meeting scheduling app like Calendar, which lets teams choose meeting times according to everyone’s availability.

Automated scheduling tools and workflow automation in general can streamline the process, making it more efficient. The software also integrates with popular meeting and collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams. With the ability to share custom links to your calendar, you don’t even have to initiate the process. Those inside and outside your organization can request meeting times based on your preferences.

2. Establish Time Blocks

Time blocking is a technique used to maintain focus on specific tasks throughout your workday. Some people also refer to this method as time boxing because you establish time limits for each set of tasks. The technique can work if you know how to categorize and prioritize your responsibilities.

It’s also ideal for roles where your responsibilities tend to be task-driven and somewhat repetitive. A role as an insurance claims handler is an example. Say you work for Progressive as an auto injury claims adjuster. A typical day involves reviewing new claims, attorney demands, and incoming correspondence. You also handle phone calls, liability investigations, and status letters.

Getting to new claims and attorney demands are your top priorities. Incoming correspondence and phone calls come second. The remainder of your tasks fall into less urgent categories. With the time-blocking technique, you could devote two hours in the morning to the highest priorities. After the two hours are up, you move on to your medium priorities for another two hours. Toward the end of the day, you tackle your least urgent tasks.

The key to time blocking is to stick to your established routine. Don’t let distractions steer you off track. And adhere to the hard stops you’ve put in place so you can move on to your next block. Time blocking helps you juggle multiple competing priorities, but you have to stay within its boundaries to see results.

3. Embrace the Art of Single-Tasking

In fast-paced environments, multitasking appears to be the norm. It seems like a way to keep your head above water as you swim against the tide. Switching between tasks to accomplish more in less time can be effective. But only if you’re good at it. And research shows a mere 2.5% of the population is.

For the majority, multitasking increases stress levels, compromises executive brain functions, and lowers motivation. Experts also link multitasking to depression and memory loss. It’s kind of scary if you think about it. Something you believe is helping you excel professionally may be compromising your health and work performance.

Breaking the habit can be challenging. You might find yourself multitasking in your personal life as well. Perhaps you scroll through your inbox on your phone while you’re watching TV. Or worse, you text as you’re driving. Taking small steps to switch to single-tasking will help you get into a healthier, more productive groove.

When you focus on one task at a time, it gets your full attention. Plus, you’ll finish it faster than you would if you were working on another assignment simultaneously. The quality of your work will increase, so you won’t have to go back to correct mistakes. You also won’t have to constantly recalibrate your brain to what’s in front of you. Moving sequentially from start to finish makes it easier to remember all the steps.

4. Define Success

Productivity success will look different among roles, companies, and individuals. Comparing yourself to others is natural, but the tendency can derail your goals. Say you’re in your first year as a community outreach manager for T-Mobile. Your peers have been in the same role for at least 10 years. As the new kid on the block, you’ve reached out to them for pointers.

In the process, you’ve noticed they seem to be much more productive than you. As a result, you feel as though your time management skills and performance aren’t up to par. What you need to remember is to give yourself grace as you go. Since you’re learning the ins and outs of a new role, you’ll develop your own efficiencies with practice.

When adopting time management techniques, one you may overlook is defining what productivity means to you. It may mean letting go of unrealistic expectations, such as being “always on” and never taking breaks. Expecting perfection from the get-go is another unrealistic target. You may need to experiment with a few hacks before you find what’s right. Be willing to adjust your definition of effective time management so it doesn’t become a source of stress.

Conclusion   

Mastering time management is an ongoing process. Sometimes, you learn what works by finding out what doesn’t. And what doesn’t work well usually involves flying by the seat of your pants. Hoping everything will come out OK in the wash isn’t a solid plan.

While juggling competing priorities at a breathtaking pace is challenging, effectively managing them is possible. Productivity hacks like automated scheduling apps and time-blocking methods are there to help. By planning to embrace them as the new year begins, you can move with time instead of against it.

Featured Image by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash                

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Corporate leaders and hiring managers are being pressed to exhibit tremendous patience, creativity, and determination right now. As of May 2023, the U.S. labor market is experiencing a serious glut of job seekers. According to government statistics, there are more than four million positions than there are available workers. In other words, it’s still very difficult to get people to even apply for advertisements, let alone fill seats.

There are countless reasons for the labor shortage. The Great Resignation (or Migration, as some call it), has certainly affected recruitment efforts. When people know they’re needed, they’re less likely to accept the first job they’re offered. And though mass resignations are expected to drop by the end of 2023, they’re still happening. Another factor has been a change in the way professionals want to work. When Slack conducted a survey on virtual work arrangements, 94% of respondents said they wanted remote options. That’s a hard sell for some companies and in specific careers like healthcare and manufacturing.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you’re without choices if you have openings to fill. You just need to acknowledge your biggest recruitment challenges and then find ways to bypass them. To help you start, consider the following hiring conundrums and how to overcome them.

Challenge #1: You can’t find qualified applicants.

You post on all the same job boards that have worked like a charm before. But your results? Well, they’re not exactly what you want. You keep getting hits from candidates who don’t even have the basic skills or experience you need. That’s a problem, because you can’t wait forever to build out your dream team and start to scale.

The first strategy to take if you’re in this boat is to consider hiring people overseas. As long as the work can be done anywhere by the right person, you’re good to go global. The only potential snag is that you’ll want to plan ahead. Bringing aboard employees from other countries requires a knowledgeable partner’s legal and financial savvy. For example, Oyster offers automated global hiring management assistance for its customers. Join forces with a global employment platform like Oyster and you won’t have to worry about being compliant with foreign regulations and rules. You’ll just get to expand your talent pool while mitigating your risks. 

The second strategy is to try novel recruitment methods. You might want to search for potentially qualified people on LinkedIn and send them a “cold call” note. Or, you could try smaller, niche job sites like those aimed at minority worker groups. Even if you get just a few more hits than usual, you’ll be ahead of where you would have been.

Challenge #2: You lose tons of candidates throughout the interview process.

It’s happened again: You’ve found some amazing applicants who’ve submitted their resumes. As your hiring team looks over all the candidates’ information, you get pretty excited. Why wouldn’t you, when you have so many possibilities? Yet by the time you reach the one-on-one interview stage, most of those candidates have gone elsewhere. The result? You have to start the process over again — and you’ve lost lots of time.

If this challenge sounds far too familiar, you probably have to take a look at your hiring journey. Many corporations have made it very time-consuming to move applicants through the hiring process. They’re not trying to be difficult, of course. They want to make sure they don’t end up with a bad fit. Nevertheless, their hesitation winds up hurting them in the long run because candidates don’t want to wait. According to Indeed, the average after-interview response time from company to interviewee is 24 days. Even if you’re in that sweet spot, consider moving more quickly.

With so many jobs available, high performers will take the best offer they get. Even if you can only shave a few days or a week off your hiring, you could see instant improvement. Be sure not to scale back too much, but do consider where you can tighten everything.

Challenge #3: Applicants don’t have the skill sets you want.

You’ve been advertising some positions for weeks. You’re getting resumes, which is good. However, you’re not getting anyone with all the skill sets you want. Although you’ve made requirements clear in your advertisement, you’re not seeing those requirements reflected in applications. What gives?

The answer may not be one you want to hear, but it’s one you need to consider: Your bar may be too high. In other words, you’re trying to get a unicorn employee. Do unicorn employees exist? Perhaps in some universe, but your chances of seeing one may be lower than you presumed. Consequently, you’re better off looking for someone who can be trained on the skill sets you want.

Think of this as a switch to hiring based on a talent’s potential. You’re seeking someone not with all the qualifications intact but with the characteristics to learn. It’s not a matter of lowering your standards, though. You’ll need to set up a training plan for the person you hire. That’s okay and may actually make you a more appealing prospective employer. More than six out of 10 workers would trade their loyalty for the opportunity to upskill on their company’s dime.

Challenge #4: Diverse candidates just don’t seem to be interested in working at your company.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have become an important part of the mission of many companies. Yet it’s hard to foster support for DEI initiatives if you’re not hiring people from historically underrepresented populations. If you’ve seen no uptick in the diversity of your candidates, you may need to make some changes.

Initially, look at your job description. Are you using biased language unintentionally? Your advertisements and postings could sound perfectly reasonable to you but be a “turnoff” to diverse candidates. Even using terms like “rockstar” or adding gendered language to your job postings could be having an adverse effect. Now may be the perfect time to review everything you’re posting to spot any unintentionally biased or coded phrasings.

Next, revamp your worker sourcing. Look for untapped candidate pools that focus on Black candidates, Latinx candidates, veterans, LGBTQ+ applicants, and job seekers from other diverse communities. You may even want to consider advertising on specific diverse platforms or to social media groups. Done well, this can boost your application numbers representing more diverse talent backgrounds and abilities.

Recruiting isn’t the easiest task in the world, that’s certain. However, it’s possible to refine your processes so you can fill positions more dependably and with great people.

Image by yanalya on Freepik

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AI probably isn’t going to take over the world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t taking the world by storm. ChatGPT, one of the newest tech tools around, is getting lots of press — and for good reasons. As people explore the platform, they’re finding plenty of creative ways to incorporate its best features into their businesses.

This doesn’t mean that organizations are getting rid of workers left and right, either. In most use cases for ChatGPT, companies are allowing the system to make their people more efficient. Handled appropriately and pragmatically, ChatGPT can free up employee time normally spent on “busy work.” More time on their hands means more team members who are able to work on higher-level assignments and duties. There are many ChatGPT alternatives that does provides the same benefits that ChatGPT provides to companies.

Perplexed about how you can use ChatGPT? Look at the many unique ways experimentation is happening on the ground to get some ideas. Below are some of the more interesting ways that professionals are putting ChatGPT through its paces. After reading through them, you might be inspired to do likewise.

1. Fleshing out content outlines.

It’s safe to say that most content is best created with an outline in mind. Having an outline to follow keeps the writer on course. It also makes sure all relevant topics are covered, especially ones connected to juicy keywords.

ChatGPT can be used to not only construct but “beef up” content outlines. MarketMuse, a content quality platform, has released a proprietary ChatGPT integration. As a result, MarketMuse users can incorporate the topic model data in the ChatGPT prompts to build quality outlines fast. Since it’s an integration within the MarketMuse system, they never have to switch logins or tabs. They just need to pop questions into the platform and wait for ChatGPT’s responses to systematically populate.

The ChatGPT answers can come in the form of an outline, of course. However, the outline may be thin or lacking topics. By gauging the outline against a keyword assessment, users can more thoroughly design thoughtful outlines. In this way, ChatGPT helps marketers ensure their content has as much pertinence and value to readers as possible.

2. Making coding more streamlined.

No one ever claimed that writing code was easy, fun, or fast. Certainly, it can be rewarding. However, pulling together app code can be tedious at times. Plus, it can be prone to problems for newer, less experienced code writers.

One of the most remarkable uses for ChatGPT has come as a coding assistant. Recently, none other than Goldman Sachs announced that its developers were coding with ChatGPT. The concept is not to push software developers out the door, though. It’s to allow them to write faster and therefore produce more output than they would otherwise be able to.

As Goldman Sachs has noted, they’re just dabbling at this point. And most other big-name financial institutions haven’t yet jumped into the ChatGPT game. Nevertheless, coding with the help of ChatGPT is happening across many other industries. In the future, it may be a way for companies to construct minimally viable apps quickly and cheaply.

3. Educating people on foreign languages.

Duolingo has been known for years as one of the breakthrough platforms for language learning. To augment its platform and tools, the company has unveiled what it calls Duolingo Max. Duolingo Max is designed to leverage ChatGPT in different ways to ramp up recall and understanding of grammar and vocabulary.

The Duolingo Max product allows users to engage in an AI-focused back-and-forth roleplay. Additionally, Duolingo Max is set up to explain what went wrong when users make errors. The give-and-take affords users the opportunity to better improve their language proficiency.

This creative way to use ChatGPT was meant for foreign language learners. However, it might have applications for students who are learning the structure of the English language in school. Being able to “gamify” learning has always been advantageous. With ChatGPT, it may be even simpler to set up.

4. Writing no-frills emails.

Every day, professionals write and send countless emails. Some emails almost write themselves. What about emails that are important or more complex, such as to sales leads? Those emails deserve more energy and thought, but not necessarily at the initial writing stage.

ChatGPT can be useful for generating bare-bones emails based on general questions and prompts. These emails can then become the structural basis for more conversational, personalized ones. Many leaders like to put their finishing touches on all the content that goes out under their names, anyway. ChatGPT just provides a faster way to get to the personality-incorporating part of email writing.

Salesforce is just one of the many organizations trying out email writing this way. It’s also exploring ways to fold some instant customization into the mix. Most employees will still want to put their eyes on the final product before hitting “send”. Still, the opportunities seem to be endless for taking away the time-consuming sting of routine corporate email writing.

5. Enhancing (and personalizing) digital flashcard sessions.

Most students and teachers have encountered the tool called Quizlet throughout their learning journeys. Quizlets are online flashcards that promote learning through the use of repetition. In early 2023, Quizlet augmented its offerings with Q-Chat, based on ChatGPT.

How does Q-Chat make the flashcard construction process a little smoother? Quizlet says that by giving Q-Chat access to its vast library, Q-Chat can serve as a virtual tutor. Students can drill down deeper on topics of interest, getting more learning power from each flashcard session.

Quizlet refers to itself as an “early adopter” of ChatGPT technology and touts its other uses of AI. Though Q-Chat isn’t ready for full-blown release, its first-run edition will be available to those ages 18+. After working out any issues, Q-Chat is poised to become part of Quizlet’s wide range of product offerings.

We’re only scratching the surface of what ChatGPT is capable of doing. As more individuals and organizations think innovatively about generative AI, they’ll find new methods of using it. Who knows? One day, you may find yourself seeing ChatGPT as one of the most important assets in your toolkit.

Photo by Levart_Photographer on Unsplash

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The internet is vast, full of potential …and dangerous. As the world becomes more dependent on digital activity, hacks and breaches are becoming more common.

Even elite cybersecurity firms aren’t immune to the risks. In 2022, the popular password manager LastPass reported that cybercriminals had broken into its password vaults and stolen encrypted data, leaving customers unsettled and worried.

As 2023 gains momentum, business owners must be on guard to protect both themselves and their clientele from this growing threat. One of the best ways they can do so is through multi-factor authentication.

What Is Multi-Factor Authentication?

The LastPass data breach serves as a reminder that the digital world is always evolving — and business leaders and customers alike must evolve with it if they want to stay secure. Multifactor Authentication (MFA) offers an effective way to complicate the hacking process by using more than one level of security depending on the situation.

For instance, the data security experts at Okta explain that MFA “blends at least two separate factors.” The identity provider details that one of these factors is usually a username and password — but that on its own is no longer enough.

MFA adds an additional level of security. This could be a physical possession, like a phone or keycard. It could also be a physical location based on GPS. In situations where more safety is desired, it could also include a personal identifier like a fingerprint or iris scan.

Multi-factor authentication can feel like a hassle on the surface. However, in many cases, it can actually have a positive impact on the speed of logging in. In fact, the simple act of adding another step to the login process can provide a slew of other worthwhile benefits to businesses and customers alike.

The Benefits of MFA in Business Transactions

MFA takes some time to implement — but that is true with any defense system. Even Medieval castles expanded the building time of a home to as much as a decade, all in the name of creating an elite defense system for something that had value.

If you’re hesitating over whether MFA is worth it, here are a few of the major benefits to consider for both you and your business.

MFA Provides Peace of Mind

One of the most obvious benefits of multi-factor authentication is that it provides peace of mind. 

Businesses are in a constant race to take advantage of technological solutions to give them an edge over the competition. The ability to aggressively invest in digital software and applications without worrying about compromising on security is worth its metaphorical weight in gold.

MFA Means Less Long-Term Clean-Up Work

According to research reported by the University of North Georgia, 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses. The odds of facing a web-based attack, a phishing scam, or another attempt to hack your system are serious and significant.

Proactively establishing better security for your business means you’re putting a little work in early. However, once MFA is in place, you’re also avoiding the need to spend a significant amount of time, energy, and resources later on when a likely attack would have taken place.

MFA Is an Adaptable Security Solution

The world was already shifting to a decentralized office before the pandemic exponentially sped up the evolution of the workplace. In the wake of the crisis, offices are shifting to a combination of in-person, hybrid, and fully remote workplace settings. Sometimes all three of these are present within a single workforce.

With so much in flux (and many workers trying to access company software remotely), the complexity of security is changing. MFA is a strong and adaptable solution that can meet the security needs of this new workforce.

MFA Is User-Friendly

No one likes memorizing passwords (or resetting them when they forget). With that in mind, the thought of creating an even more complex cybersecurity network can sound daunting — but it isn’t.

In fact, MFA removes much of the need for passwords. Instead, things like physical locations and facial recognition can serve in their place. This makes it easier to create strong authentication processes that are still user-friendly (for employees and customers alike).

MFA Enhances Customer Trust

From peace of mind to adaptability, MFA has many direct and applicable advantages for a business. In addition, its user-friendly nature is a boon to both employees and customers.

Another area where customers come out on top is the trust and loyalty that MFA can create. When a customer knows that a business is going above and beyond to create a safe environment for them, it can help them feel safe and secure as they interact with you. 

As far as your business is concerned, fostering customer trust translates to things like loyalty, repeat business, and word-of-mouth advertising — all of which positively impact revenue.

MFA Is the Future of Cybersecurity

Individual complex and nuanced security solutions are useful for a while. Eventually, though, cybercriminals figure things out.

MFA deploys an organic, impossible-to-overcome complexity to the security process: layers. By complicating a username and password with additional biometric, geographic, and possession-based factors, it naturally creates a level of security that can let business owners, employees, and customers alike operate in peace, no matter what ups and downs the digital future may hold.

Featured Image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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Podcasting is a lot of work. It doesn’t matter if you produce a show consisting of a single individual reading from a script or a round table discussion with half a dozen guests. 

Brainstorming topics, conducting research, writing scripts, practicing, recording, editing, publishing, and promoting all take time. And that doesn’t even take into account the costs that come from investing in equipment and software.

It can be discouraging to put all of that time, effort, and resources into a project and see little-to-no financial results. Money isn’t everything, but it sure can make it easier to continue pouring your passions and energy into a podcast.

If you’re getting the downloads and building your audience, but the balance sheet isn’t lining up, here are a few suggestions for ways to make your podcast pay off.

1. Start With a Quality Audit

Before you start monetizing, it’s important to consider what you’re monetizing. The team at the podcast collaboration SaaS platform SquadCast emphasizes how important this is. Brands with advertising money to spend (more on that further down) are looking for podcasts that align with their mission, image …and quality.

If you aren’t producing high-quality content, you probably aren’t going to be able to take advantage of as many monetization opportunities as you’d like. So, begin the process by conducting a quality audit. Is your audio crystal clear? Are your volume levels even? Do you release podcasts on a predictable schedule (or at least one that is acceptable for your audience)? 

Make sure you have a product worth monetizing before you ask others to support it with their hard-earned cash.

2. Set Up a Support Page

One of the simplest ways to make your podcast start to pay off is by creating a support page. These are quick to set up and, in most cases, free to run. 

You could do something as simple as a PayPal donation button. There are also entire sites, like Buy Me a Coffee, that are set up for accepting donations. You can create a unique landing page just for your show, along with donation tiers. 

If you’re wondering what the cost of these services is, well, nothing in life is free. Fortunately, with most options, they are no costs to set them up, but you do pay a small fee per transaction.

3. Try Affiliate Marketing

If you have a targeted audience (and let’s be real, most podcasts are extremely niche), there’s a good chance that your audience is interested in the same things. This can open up the doors for you to promote certain products that go along with your shared interests — and if you’re going to do that, you should get a cut of the proceedings.

That’s where affiliate marketing can make a difference. As the people behind the e-commerce giant Shopify explain, affiliate marketing consists of publishers promoting a product or service made by another brand. They typically use an affiliate link, which connects any traffic they send to the partner’s site to their podcast. When visitors make a purchase, the affiliate earns a percentage of the proceeds. 

Working with affiliate partners is a sweet-and-simple way to create a win-win-win scenario that generates value for yourself, your affiliate partners, and your audience.

4. Try Sponsors and Ads

Sponsors are another classic way to monetize your podcast. We’ve all heard the Audible.com ads that are repeated ad nauseam on every podcast in existence, but you can go much further than that.

Look for companies who aren’t competitors but who align with your show and its audience’s interests. You can approach these and see if they’re willing to pay for a sponsored ad on your show (you can create the ad, or they can create it, whatever works better).

If you’re wondering how much money you can generate through ads, Influencer Marketing Hub has a nifty calculator to help. All you have to do is plug in your download, ad, episode, and fill rate numbers to get an idea of what you can generate.

5. Create Exclusive Content

Last but not least, there’s the option of creating exclusive content. This one can be work-intensive, but it can also really pay off if you do it right.

The basic idea is that you split your content creation into two categories. There is your primary content, which goes up on your regular feed and is available for your entire audience to download. 

Along with this, you also create batches of secondary content that are only available for monetary supporters. For example, the fan support platform Patreon offers an exclusive Lens access option. You can use this to create content (audio or visual) that only certain tiers of supporters can see.

Making fresh audio content (which can be exhausting) isn’t the only way to use this monetization tip. You can also retire old episodes and make them only available for a fee. Merch also falls under this category. If you have a popular show, you can make merch to sell. This physical content can be either sold perpetually or in one-off “get them while they’re available” batches.

Helping Your Podcast Support Itself

Podcasting can be a very rewarding activity. However, if you don’t make an effort to monetize it, a pod can remain an expensive and time-intensive part of your life.

The good news is that, as the audio medium continues to grow in popularity, there are a growing number of ways to make a podcast profitable. From support pages and exclusive content to affiliate marketing and sponsored ads, consider how you can turn your show from a liability into an asset — and, of course, start by ensuring that you’re creating top-notch quality content.

It’s okay to make money on something as fun as a podcast. The important thing to remember as you do so is that you’re not just trying to make a quick buck. You’re creating a profitable structure that can enable you to continue creating awesome content far into the future.

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