<ul>
<li>Start the right behavior: Be clear that certain behaviors can be routines (requiring a deliberate effort) but can never become habits.</li>
<li>Allocate time: Set up an implementation intention to plan to do something, setting aside a specific time for the activity.</li>
<li>Embrace discomfort: Repeatedly doing new behaviors requires effort and perseverance. Reimagine your discomfort as a motivating factor, telling your mind that it is a necessary rite of passage.</li>
</ul>

The Process Of Forming A Habit

Trying to build good habits can often backfire. Here's why it's important to know how habits are formed and when it's better to stick with a routine instead. Habits are hot. Self-help articles extol the power of habits and books on the topic sell by the millions.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

The key to productivity is distinguishing 'habits' from 'routine'

The typical story of courage, of hero versus villain. Learn about the monster -> Train for battle -> Monster revealed -> Losing the battle -> Try different approach -> Defeat monster. Use it to display your problem solving skills: Tell a story about how you overcame a big problem at work and what you learned from trying a different approach.

Overcoming a Monster

The hero journeys to new lands, defeats darkness and return home wiser:Quiet life ->Transported to other world -> Explore new surroundings ->Feel uncomfortable -> Confront with darkness -> Escape and defeat evil -> Return home wiser.Use it to demonstrate you are able to step out of your comfort zone in order to learn new things.

Voyage and Return

The hero goes triumphantly from difficult circumstances to great success:Terrible early life -> Leave -> Minor struggle and small successes -> Hit rock bottom -> Defeat the crisis -> Win and get reward.Use it to show you are able to use your vulnerabilities to achieve results at work and how you overcame struggles through risks.

Rags to Riches

How to use stories to differentiate, connect, and influence

career

Career

communication

Communication

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

The Power of Storytelling

1 min read Giving presentations, whether during meetings with co-workers or to potential new clients, can often seem intimidating. But luckily, there are tried and true ways to organize your information so that it is both easy to present and clear to your audience.

7 Storytelling Structures to Improve Your Presentations (Infographic)

Companies will encounter a wide range of odd legalities in dealing with remote employees, especially with international folks.It definitely helps to have an HR department that is certified in immigration and visa issues. The same goes for finance departments. The taxation alone is a handful with multiple states/countries. You need an entity for each state, which requires considerable forethought. You also have to file payrolls properly and that varies depending on location.

Have your People and Finance Teams homed in on remote needs

We’ve already touched on this in the other blog posts, but it bears repeating: If one person in the meeting is remote, we’re all remote. If there are 5 people in a conference room and 2 people dialing in remotely, it is very easy for the folks in the meeting room to forget about the people dialed in. You can eliminate that problem by having everyone call in, if possible. Currently in the Stack Overflow NYC office it is really common to walk around and see two people on a hangout even though their offices are next to each other!

Remote first

Once a year, we bring all of our remote employees together for a week for some much needed face-time. It’s a different city each time, and there are usually 3 days of Executive Keynotes, Tiny Talks, and many many games of Werewolf. We talk about the state of the company and new projects and teams, but we vow not to make any huge decisions or business altering plans. The focus is on camaraderie, not profits. We look forward to it all year, and it’s definitely a blast.

Bring them all together

We have regular “Bev Bashes” and holiday parties in the offices, but what about the remotes? How do you give them fun stuff even though they are scattered all over the world? For starters, we have “Remote Bev Bashes” over <a href="https://www.zoom.us/?zcid=1173&gclid=CKXQhYvundYCFYtLDQodtcICtQ">Zoom </a>every Friday. The “Bev Baron” for that week (nominated by the last Bev Baron) schedules a Zoom call and sets a theme. Employees grab a beverage of their choice and just chat. You can stay for just a few minutes to say hi, or you can be a part of the entire thing.

Try to recreate office fun stuff in a remote capacity

When a new remote employee is hired, I contact them for their furniture choices. They get their choice of the exact same desks and chairs that we have in the offices, free of charge. We want them to be as comfortable as possible, and that means if they want to stand instead of sit, no problem. Our IT dept sets them up with all of their tech, and I set them up with everything else. Need a filing cabinet? Cool. You want a different type of desk that is bright pink and sings? Hey, it’s your house. We re-create the in-office set-ups as much as possible so that our remote employees never feel less valued than everyone else.

Make their home workspaces as awesome as the offices

This is definitely the most important piece of the remote puzzle. You need a person whose stated job is to make sure that remote employees have a specific person for questions, concerns, and problems. When we <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/jobs/remote-developer-jobs?utm_source=so-owned&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=dev-c4al&utm_content=c4al-link">hire a new remote employee </a>, I tell them that they can come to me with any type of question, and I will try my best to answer it, or at least point them in the right direction. I get aaaaaall kinds of questions and requests. For instance, I now know how to buy and ship Belgian beer to Poland for an employee that wasn’t able to attend a work event because of a surgery. Also FYI, Uruguay has very strict restrictions on voltage of household items, so getting a crank-lever standing desk to Montevideo was fun (read: not fun). There also needs to be someone on the executive team (it’s better if there is more than one someone) consistently asking “What about the remotes?” When you have a new “x,” the execs should be thinking about how that impacts all employees, including remotes.

Have a dedicated remote person (like me!) to be the point person for remote needs.

By now you’ve probably heard about Stack Overflow’s commitment to making remote work, well… work. If not, you can read about it <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2013/02/01/why-we-still-believe-in-working-remotely/">here </a>, <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/04/14/cant-afford-private-offices/">here </a>, and a whole page of links <a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/tags/remote-work/">here </a>. Seriously, we care about it a LOT. At Stack Overflow we want to hire the best person for the job, even if that person is in Salt Lake City, Utah; Berlin, Germany; or São Paulo, Brazil. Promoting remote work promotes diversity, and we are committed to improving both.

The logistics of Stack Overflow’s remote-first philosophy

remotework

Remote Work

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

teamwork

Teamwork

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Making Remote Work: Behind the Scenes at Stack Overflow

To enhance your time perception, begin by maintaining a list of your tasks. Log all down, even though it’s just social media surfing. When you have a good vision of how you are spending your time, build a plan that outlines how you would like to look at your days. Note, this is a timeline that promotes recreation, not efficiency. To encourage yourself to be completely lazy and inefficient, set aside a bunch of time each day.

Check Where Your Time Goes

Oddly, our fascination with changing our lives has made us more lonely, unhealthier, and anxious than ever before. The remedy to this state of affairs is easy: make time in your life for genuine pleasure and just do nothing.

“A welcome antidote to our toxic hustle culture of burnout.”—Arianna Huffington “This book is so important and could truly save lives.”—Elizabeth Gilbert “A clarion call to work smarter [and] accomplish more by doing less.”—Adam Grant We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why are we so miserable? Despite our constant search for new ways to optimize our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just take a break? In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside, and start living instead of doing. As it turns out, we’re searching for external solutions to an internal problem. We won’t find what we’re searching for in punishing diets, productivity apps, or the latest self-improvement schemes. Yet all is not lost—we just need to learn how to take time for ourselves, without agenda or profit, and redefine what is truly worthwhile. Pulling together threads from history, neuroscience, social science, and even paleontology, Headlee examines long-held assumptions about time use, idleness, hard work, and even our ultimate goals. Her research reveals that the habits we cling to are doing us harm; they developed recently in human history, which means they are habits that can, and must, be broken. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive, and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.

productivity

Productivity

books

Books

“A welcome antidote to our toxic hustle culture of burnout.”—Arianna Huffington “This book is so important and could truly save lives.”—Elizabeth Gilbert “A clarion call to work smarter [and] accomplish more by doing less.”—Adam Grant   We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why are we so miserable?   Despite our constant search for new ways to optimize our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just take a break?   In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside, and start living instead of doing. As it turns out, we’re searching for external solutions to an internal problem. We won’t find what we’re searching for in punishing diets, productivity apps, or the latest self-improvement schemes. Yet all is not lost—we just need to learn how to take time for ourselves, without agenda or profit, and redefine what is truly worthwhile.   Pulling together threads from history, neuroscience, social science, and even paleontology, Headlee examines long-held assumptions about time use, idleness, hard work, and even our ultimate goals. Her research reveals that the habits we cling to are doing us harm; they developed recently in human history, which means they are habits that can, and must, be broken. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive, and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.

Celeste Headlee is an American radio journalist, author, public speaker, and co-host of the weekly series Retro Report on PBS. In her 20-year career in public radio, Headlee has served as the host of the Georgia Public Broadcasting program "On Second Thought" and co-host of the national morning news show The Takeaway.

Celeste Headlee

Do Nothing

Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving

<ul><li>You already know plenty of people in your own industry, so approach contacts before you head off, either directly or via networking sites like LinkedIn. Let people know that you’re going freelance and looking for work.</li><li>Most people have a string of talents that could be leveraged to make money while they travel. Do you play guitar? Why not offer online lessons?</li><li>Consider taking refresher courses before you set off, so your business skills are in tune with what clients are currently looking for. And keep an eye out for new skills that could grow your business once you’re on the road.</li></ul>

Using Your Existing Skills

Dreaming of working from anywhere? Here are the key things you need to know about starting your digital nomad journey

mentalhealth

Mental Health

travel

Travel

How To Become A Digital Nomad

Escape the nine-to five and learn how to live and work on the road with the latest addition to Lonely Planet's Handbook series, a practical guide inspiring and motivating people to achieve their goal of travelling more, starting a whole new way of living and creating a flexible work/life balance.

Escape the nine-to five and learn how to live and work on the road with the latest addition to Lonely Planet's Handbook series, a practical guide inspiring and motivating people to achieve their goal of travelling more, starting a whole new way of living and creating a flexible work/life balance. Divided into two sections, this informative book firstly explains the practicalities of working on the road, such as income generation, managing career changes, keeping in touch with family and maintaining relationships, what to do with your stuff, overcoming common pre-departure fears, keeping healthy on the road and much more. The second showcases a number of ideal destinations for digital nomads, offering invaluable travel insights and information about the location in question, pros and cons, as well as inspirational tales from digital nomads out on the road. From the palm-fringed beaches of blissful Bali to the bright, neon-lights of dynamic Seoul, aspiring nomads will be inspired to make the move and start a whole new way of living. Written by some of Lonely Planet's very own nomadic experts, this book is packed with top tips, insights and real life tales on what it's really like to be working on the road. Chapters throughout include: <ul> <li>10 perks of being a digital nomad</li> <li>What jobs do digital nomads do?</li> <li>15 items every digital nomad should carry</li> <li>10 ways to overcome loneliness</li> <li>Top destinations for digital nomads</li> <li>Learning the lingo</li> </ul> About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

The key to productivity is distinguishing 'habits' from 'routine'

7 Storytelling Structures to Improve Your Presentations (Infographic)

Making Remote Work: Behind the Scenes at Stack Overflow

It's time to
Read like a Pro.

Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving

CURATED BY

The key to productivity is distinguishing 'habits' from 'routine'

7 Storytelling Structures to Improve Your Presentations (Infographic)

Making Remote Work: Behind the Scenes at Stack Overflow

It's time to Read like a Pro.

Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving

CURATED BY

It's time to
Read like a Pro.