Ultimately, to avoid burnout, it's good to establish boundaries for yourself and others around you. Choose your "office hours" and stick to them. 
By having one day off per week, it is less likely that you will experience burnout. Constant overworking will only cause your work and product to suffer.
When you have a clear understanding of your business financials, work efficiently, and prioritize your own time, you can tame the tendency to overwork.

Protect your personal time

Do you ever get anxious about whether or not the client hires you again? If you have, you have to battle thoughts like that away. This kind of mindset is what we call scarcity thinking.
To move forward from that mindset you should put more effort into your marketing. By keeping yourself consistent with work, you won't be as concerned about where the next job is going to come.

Avoid the scarcity thinking trap

As you operate your business, always be on the lookout for more efficient ways of working. 
If there are areas in your business that isn't working right then this is something that needs to be addressed.

Streamline your work

If you haven't tried it yet the time-blocking method of planning your day will help make time for more things in your life. 
Services like bookkeeping, scheduling, marketing, and other tasks can be automated or even outsourced. That way, you can spend time on the things that generate revenue, add value, and help make your business become stronger.

Block your time for the greatest efficiency

Think about your favorite clients, the ones that fit well with your business model, those who compensate you well, and those who you enjoy working with. 
Once you've figured out who your ideal clients are, these are the clients you should seek more of and replicate in your business.

Get clear about who you're serving

When running a business it's foolish to not have clear financial goals and benchmarks. Without these, you'll find yourself chasing projects after projects because you don't know if you've made enough to cover your salary, expenses, taxes, and other obligations. 
Take the time to create a clear picture of your financials, track them throughout the month to make sure that you don't go off-track.

Analyze your numbers

One of the first steps to taking back your time and avoid overworking that leads to burnot is to have a clear vision about the goals you want to reach with your business.
When you have a clear vision, it will help you set reasonable expectations and decide how you'll structure your business to give you more time for your personal life. 
Be conscious of your choices and make sure it fits the things that are important in your life.

Know your vision for your business

productivity

Productivity

career

Career

timemanagement

Time Management

7 burnout-busting tips for freelancers who work too much

Just like wrestling and football are both sports, their teams have very different kinds of dynamics, which in turn translates into saying that you need to know what you're team is comprised of and set goals accordingly.

Know What Kind of Team You're Leading

More often than not, what presents as a relationship problem -- people blaming one another, bad group dynamics in meetings --is the result of the manager failing to clarify the team's goals.

Managing teams is a difficult job; you have to deal with tough interpersonal dynamics, from trust issues to personality clashes to competing ambitions.
Managers need to ensure that team members understand the process for achieving the set goals along with empowering the team members who can make decisions -- this preempts disagreements ahead of time. 
With goals in flux and work processes revisited, managers will then dedicate their time into identifying any stressors that could bubble up that may disrupt team dynamics.

Know How to Establish Clear Goals

It's highly recommended to bring your team together quarterly to provide feedback on areas that can be measured such as: their progress toward their goals, how well they handle changes with work processes, or how they could have colleborated better on a project.
By incorporating team feedback into routines will have managers improve their effectiveness while keeping their team engaged.

Teams Need Feedback Too

To start, recognize that entire teams—and not just individuals—require clear feedback.

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

3 Skills New Managers Need to Succeed

<ul><li>Showing your employees that you appreciate their contribution to your company is a great way to up employee morale and increase employee retention. </li><li>A work party can be a wonderful stress-reliever and provide an opportunity for your employees to relax and have fun. </li><li>Employees develop interpersonal relationships.</li><li>Any sort of recreational activity allows employees to de-stress and regain the strength that they need to tackle challenges in the workplace.</li></ul>

Some of the potential upsides to work parties

Work parties are most likely to be a positive experience when you have a close-knit team that you know enjoys each other’s company. Work parties are also most likely to work when they have been carefully planned.Work parties are least likely to be a success if you have a large, diverse group of employees that already struggle to get along.

When are work parties most likely to work 

<ul>
<li>Mind the employees with specific dietary requirements. You should also be sensitive to employees’ religious and cultural backgrounds.</li>
<li>Keep it short and sweet. The longer that a work party draws on for, the more likely it is for employees to become bored.</li>
<li>Choose a convenient location, that all can travel to easily. </li>
<li>Do not make it obligatory. Your employees have a life outside of work. </li>
<li>Hand out special awards at your work party. These could be serious or simply fun and silly.</li>
</ul>

Tips for if you plan to throw a work party

<ul>
<li>Certain people feel excluded or feel obligated to attend.</li>
<li>Work parties can be breeding grounds for gossiping, bickering, and other forms of drama. </li>
<li>The question of alcohol is a big one that you will need to think about carefully if you plan to host a work party.</li>
<li>A work party can be quite a hefty company expense.</li>
<li>Allowing employees to bring their spouse or even entire family along can make the experience a lot more enjoyable and convenient for certain employees. But employees who do not have someone to bring along could feel very lonely. This will also add to the costs.</li>
</ul>

Potential downfalls of work parties

<ul>
<li>Give employees the day off. Everyone appreciates having a little extra time to spend with their loved ones. </li>
<li>Giving Christmas gifts or hampers shows that you have a bit of holiday spirit without the drama and downfalls involved with work parties.</li>
<li>Instead of spending a large amount of money on a work party, why not divide this money up amongst your employees and grant it to them as a 13th cheque or end-of-year bonus?</li>
<li>Have a very short end-of-year lunch at the office This is a great compromise as it can be seen as somewhat of a work party.</li>
</ul>

Alternatives to office parties

We thought we’d discuss some of the ins and outs of work parties so that you are better prepared to make decisions regarding this age-old office tradition.

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

teamwork

Teamwork

Work parties- Are they good or bad?

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

“Your life only gets better when you get better.”

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Ishan Dhakad

A RACI matrix, also called a RACI chart, is a type of responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) in project management. In practice, it’s a simple spreadsheet or table that lists all stakeholders on a project and their level involvement in each task, denoted with the letters R, A, C or I. Once these roles are defined, assignments can be attributed to the roles and work can begin.

RACI Matrix: Project Management Tool

The RACI matrix roles highlight the level at which a stakeholder or team member is involved with a particular task.<ol><li>Responsible: A manager or team member who is directly responsible for successfully completing a project task.</li><li>Accountable: The person with final authority over the successful completion of the specific task or deliverable.</li><li>Consulted: Someone with unique insights the team will consult.</li><li>Informed: A client or executive who isn’t directly involved, but you should keep up to speed.</li></ol>

What are the RACI Roles?

Pros:<ol><li>Maintain clear and open communication with all stakeholders.</li><li>Avoid overwhelming team members with tasks or unnecessary information.</li><li>Avoid “too many cooks” offering input on any task.</li><li>Help stakeholders prepare for a project’s future impact on their work.</li></ol>Cons:<ol><li>You might spend time unnecessarily creating the chart for simple projects.</li><li>Roles are rigid and might not fully illustrate a team member’s stake in a project.</li></ol>

Pros And Cons Of RACI

Use the RACI matrix for:<ul><li>Large-scale projects with clear-cut deliverables or workgroups</li><li>Organizations that have static roles and responsibilities</li><li>Projects with a wide variety of stakeholders for different aspects</li><li>Projects spanning multiple departments</li><li>Projects in highly regulated industries</li></ul>Don’t use the RACI matrix for:<ul><li>Small, single-department projects — it’s likely not necessary</li><li>Teams working with an Agile framework like Scrum</li></ul>

When To Use And Avoid

Projects require many people's involvement, but how do we avoid a situation where people are struggling against one another to do a task.

RACI defines each team member's role to manage cost and project duration. Learn how to incorporate RACI into your project now.

philosophy

Philosophy

problemsolving

Problem Solving

RACI Matrix | Understanding Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Why do some people accomplish so much more than others?Georgetown professor Cal Newport studied the lives of great thinkers in history and found a common theme.Many of these men and women went to great lengths to isolate themselves from distractions while they worked.

Productivity Hacks 

The average knowledge worker spends 30 percent of their time on email......and another 30 percent on team communication and internet activities.

Distractions Never Stop 

Emails and chats aren't deep work, which requires a complex task and uninterrupted focus.Email and similar tasks are what Newport calls shallow work.Shallow work is work that's done in small pieces and doesn't require your full attention.

What Can You Consider As Work ?

Even though it can make you feel busier than ever it won't lead to great achievement.But if you can manage shallow work efficiently and avoid distractions you can prioritize long periods of complex thinking

When You Seem Busy But ..

When you leave room for long period of complex thinking with no distractions you are on to something. Deep work is the practice of focusing on a complex task over an uninterrupted period. <ul><li>Eliminating distractions and practicing deep work is a key to great achievement.</li><li>To focus on deep work, you need to effectively manage shallow work. Shallow work isn't complex and doesn't create value. </li></ul>

Achieve More In Less Time 

I recommend reading the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. It will increase your work productivity tremendously if you are able to practice lessons gained from the book.

One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world. 'Cal Newport is exceptional in the realm of self-help authors' New York Times 'Deep work' is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Coined by author and professor Cal Newport on his popular blog Study Hacks, deep work will make you better at what you do, let you achieve more in less time and provide the sense of true fulfilment that comes from the mastery of a skill. In short, deep work is like a superpower in our increasingly competitive economy. And yet most people, whether knowledge workers in noisy open-plan offices or creatives struggling to sharpen their vision, have lost the ability to go deep - spending their days instead in a frantic blur of email and social media, not even realising there's a better way. A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, DEEP WORK takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories -- from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air -- and surprising suggestions, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Put simply: developing and cultivating a deep work practice is one of the best decisions you can make in an increasingly distracted world and this book will point the way.

business

Business

books

Books

Master one of our economy’s most rare skills and achieve groundbreaking results with this “exciting” book (Daniel H. Pink) from an “exceptional” author (New York Times Book Review). Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep Work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there's a better way. In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. 1. Work Deeply 2. Embrace Boredom 3. Quit Social Media 4. Drain the Shallows A mix of cultural criticism and actionable advice, Deep Work takes the reader on a journey through memorable stories-from Carl Jung building a stone tower in the woods to focus his mind, to a social media pioneer buying a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo to write a book free from distraction in the air-and no-nonsense advice, such as the claim that most serious professionals should quit social media and that you should practice being bored. Deep Work is an indispensable guide to anyone seeking focused success in a distracted world. An Amazon Best Book of 2016 Pick in Business & Leadership Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller A Business Book of the Week at 800-CEO-READ

Cal Newport is Provost’s Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and the author of seven books. His ideas and writing are frequently featured in major publications and on TV and radio.From his website: "I write about the intersection of digital technology and culture. I’m particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives."

Cal Newport

Deep Work

Our chronotype determines whether we’re early birds or night owls. Our chronotype is how our body reacts to the time of day. There are typically three chronotypes: morning, day, and night.<ul><li>Morning people are the early birds. They are awake, operate at peak efficiency in the morning, but usually can’t stay up for the late news.</li><li>Day people sleep a little later and are most effective in the afternoon.</li><li>Night owls sleep as late as possible and are up well past nightfall, into the wee hours of the morning.</li></ul>

Night Owls vs. Early Birds

Pros: <ol><li>More productive, especially at night.</li><li>Overall, night owls tend to be wealthier. </li><li>Intelligence: A study by the LSE found that night owls were more intelligent than early risers, scoring higher on IQ tests.</li><li>More creative than early birds. </li></ol>Cons: <ol><li>Sleep deprivation</li><li>Health issues: More prone to health issues, such as diabetes, neurological and psychological disorders, and obesity.</li><li>Depression: On average, night owls are more prone to depression than early risers, along with other mood disorders, due to social jetlag.</li></ol>

Pros And Cons Of Being A Night Owls

Pros:<ol><li>Intelligence</li><li>Positive personality</li><li>Healthier</li><li>Life balance</li></ol>Cons:<ol><li>Energy crash: Whereas night owls get a second burst of energy in the later hours of the day, early birds tend to lose productivity and energy as the day goes on without getting a natural energy boost to keep them going. </li><li>Tend to have higher levels of stress hormones, which can result in health issues like migraines, anxiety, and depression.</li><li>Less socialization: Because early birds are wired to begin feeling tired earlier during the night, they may have a more difficult time in their social sphere. </li></ol>

Pros and Cons of Being an Early Bird

At the end of the day, it matters most that we get the right amount of sleep to maintain good health. Below is the tips on how to change our sleep pattern:<ol><li>Gradually change our bedtime</li><li>Let lighting help we realign our body’s clock</li><li>Develop a soothing night time routine</li><li>Track the positive impacts</li><li>Reward ourselves for reaching incremental targets</li><li>Keep an eye on our larger, more aspirational goals</li><li>Don’t let eating habits undermine our progress</li><li>Incorporate exercise into our day</li><li>Give it time</li><li>Enlist the experts</li></ol>

Become A Morning Person

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who delight in hearing birdsong first thing in the morning, and people who groan, and wish birds had a mute button.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Early Birds vs. Night Owls

Toxic productivity is the outsized desire for productivity at all times and at the expense of our other priorities, from family life to hobbies.If we’re constantly working while rarely engaging in hobbies, which allow us the opportunity to destress, we can see how easily it is to eventually stop doing everything all together.<ul><li>Toxic productivity inevitably also leads us to feeling burnt out. By working ourselves to the point of exhaustion we eventually lose our will to do simple everyday things like texting someone back or cooking a meal. </li></ul>

Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Inability to turn off: We feel unable to shut off work-related tasks to rest, enjoy hobbies, or spend time with friends and family.</li><li>Guilt about productivity: We feel guilty about not getting enough work done, even when we are completing a reasonable amount of work-related tasks. </li><li>Problems with health or personal relationships: We begin to experience issues with our health or personal relationships due to the above issues. Significant others may feel they are getting less of our time or attention than work. </li></ol>

Sign If We're Suffering From Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Set realistic goals, adjust as needed</li><li>REST is not for the week, take breaks</li><li>Get some accountability</li><li>Define clearer work-life boundaries</li><li>Meditate to clear our head</li></ol>

How To Heal Toxic Productivity

Leave work feeling satisfied with what you’ve accomplished, with help of a few “productivity hacks”.

health

Health

Productivity Hacks

“I almost ended up working and doing more than in my usual office days, because I felt so anxious about losing that sense of stability. I became really frantic and obsessive,” ~ Clare

Toxic productivity causes dedicated individuals to bite off more than they can chew in order to climb a career ladder that doesn't exist.

mentalhealth

Mental Health

How Much Is Too Much: The Dangers of Toxic Productivity

Returning to in-person work can feel a bit awkward after working remotely for the last year and a half. While some may be eager to share experiences with coworkers, others may not be ready to talk about the emotional experiences they've been through. Personal interaction with other people may require more energy than expected and could feel like a drain. To reboot our in-person working relationships, we need to go back to the basics of human connection.

Adjusting to in-person working relationships

One of the most fundamental social skills is attunement - the ability to be aware of your own feelings while connecting with another individual and managing conflict. Attunement consists of four components that can help you stay in sync with others, especially in difficult conversations.<ol><li>Prepare your nervous system.</li><li>Listen to the other person and yourself.</li><li>Practice empathy</li><li>Keep expressing interest.</li></ol>

Attunement: In tune and in sync

You can cultivate a relaxed awareness, calm your nervous system and feel more grounded. <ul><li>Just before your next meeting, pause, tilt your chin down and feel as if your head is gently suspended from above.</li><li>Relax your shoulders</li><li>Feel your belly expand with your in-breath</li><li>Relax with your out-breath.</li><li>Tune in to your environment.</li></ul> Try to practice these steps daily on your own to help you in the heat of the moment at work.

Prepare your nervous system

Notice the other person's cues. Consider what they're saying and expressing as very valuable to you. As you listen, check in with yourself from time to time and notice your own feelings. If you feel tense, go to the first step - let your shoulders drop and relax as you take a mindful breath. Then focus on the other person.

Pay attention to the other person (and yourself)

We seldom have the same experiences or views as another person and should be tolerant of their perspectives. Cultivating self- and other-focused compassion can help in navigating conflict. Consider the obstacles that may prevent you from understanding the other person, such as assumptions you may be making, what you need from them, or your own reactivity.

Practice empathy

Communication is often more effective when we meet the other person where they are mentally and emotionally.  Allow the other person to start with what's on their mind. By being open and interested, you foster a greater connection. In turn, they may be more open and responsive to you.

Express interest

The return to in-person work can be overwhelming. These four strategies can help.

communication

Communication

Getting Back to the Basics of Human Connection

<ul><li>Your DNA dictates what you were born to do. Follow your passion, don’t listen to what society has to say about success.</li><li>There is enough success out there and if you want it badly enough, you will get it.</li><li>When building your personal brand, focus on the quality of the relationships with your followers and not on their numbers.</li><li>Be authentic and produce quality content.</li></ul>

Success Is In Your DNA

“There is no excuse for anyone living in the United States or anywhere else right now to slog through his or her entire life working at jobs they hate, or even jobs they simply don’t love, in the name of a paycheck or a sense of responsibility.”

Gary Vaynerchuk

“Quality is a tremendous filter. Cream always rises, my friends, no matter how many cups of coffee you pour.”

<ul>
<li>Plan to develop and grow your own brand and business alongside your current job. This is how you will open opportunities in the digital economy.</li>
<li>As long as you are working for someone else, you will never be living entirely true to yourself and your passion.</li>
<li>To monetize your personal brand, you need two pillars: product, and content. Great content is what will attract people to your blog.</li>
</ul>

A Whole New World

Someone with less talent and poor content can beat you if they work harder than you. Before you invest in yourself, you have to invest in your long-term future.When building your personal brand, focus on creating communities by starting conversations. Once you have created your online brand, do some online advertising. You can also engage in affiliate marketing.

Keep It Real

<ol><li>Identify your passion</li><li>Make sure you can think of at least fifty awesome topics and posts.</li><li>Answer the following questions: Am I sure my passion is what I think it is? Can I talk about it better than anyone else?</li><li>Name your personal brand.</li><li>Buy your user name.</li><li>Choose your medium: video, audio, written word</li><li>Start a Website.</li><li>Hire a designer</li><li>Select all of the platforms to which you want to distribute your content.</li><li>Post your content.</li></ol>

Your Personal Brand: Starting Your Thing

<ol><li>Start creating community by leaving comments on other people’s blogs and forums.</li><li>Find more blogs that are relevant to your subject on Google</li><li>Join as many active fan pages and groups relating to your blog topic as possible.</li><li>Repeat steps 11 through 15.</li><li>When you feel your personal brand has gained sufficient attention and stickiness, start reaching out to advertisers and begin monetizing</li></ol>

Your Personal Brand: Small To Big

Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.

mindfulness

Mindfulness

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.

Crush It!

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