When communication technology makes a new thing (like responding on the go) possible, doing that thing can be a way for people to signal how dedicated they are as workers or family members—and, crucially, not doing that thing can suggest that they aren’t dedicated enough. Now when people feel they haven’t responded sufficiently quickly, they think they owe their correspondent an apology. Example: When Blackberry phones became popular, people thought it was a kind of superpower to respond to texts and email messages on the go.

The Spiral Of Expectations

With the mass adoption of email and smartphones, is that the “acceptable” window of response time has gotten much smaller. Someone could conceivably apologize for their delay when responding in the afternoon to an email sent that morning.All of these sorries raise the question of whether any harm is actually done when someone commits the sin of unavailability.

The Sin Of Not Being Available Right Away

Even if being responsive at all hours has no bearing on an employee’s actual productivity, many bosses lazily use it as a proxy for gauging workers’ value.

Wrong Expectations At Work

A delayed response can cause genuine problems too. If your partner texts you “I love you,” responding two days later is not a good idea. In personal communications, a lack of a speedy response risks signalling a lack of care. After all, your phone was right there.

A Genuine Problem

The most common way for people to resolve the tension between the pressure of speediness and the reality of busyness is to start messages with four words: Sorry for my delay. It is an innocuous, polite gesture. But, having multiple obligations and priorities means that we are, all of us, in a perpetual state of delay on something, and apologizing for that fact feels like having to apologize for your standard mode of being.

Apologizing For Everything

Even if “Sorry for my delay” is a social nicety, performing remorse can have real effects. Repeating it can make us feel like we’re perpetually behind, and worse, it models an unreasonable standard of responsiveness for the person we’re (allegedly) slow in writing back to.

Repeated Mistakes Out Of Nothing

Instead of 'Sorry for the Delay' or 'Thank you for your patience', there is another alternative.If a message will take you a while to respond to, you could first reply with a quick note saying when you plan to respond fully. This can reduce uncertainty and stress on the part of the sender, but the downside is that … well, you’d still have to respond relatively quickly to tell them you’ll respond more thoroughly later.

The Right Approach

More than a graceful email response, is a more humane culture of work and communication. Technology, for instance, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/economist-email-less-painful/518934/">could be designed</a> to that end. Apple’s latest mobile operating system is a start: When people turn on “Focus” mode, others can see in the Messages app that they aren’t receiving notifications. The law can help too. In France, a legal “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/02/world/europe/france-work-email.html">right to disconnect</a>” cuts down on after-hours work emails.

psychology

Psychology

career

Career

communication

Communication

timemanagement

Time Management

What If We Just Stopped Being So Available?

Numerous research projects have found that having friends at work is a good thing. <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/08/having-work-friends-can-be-tricky-but-its-worth-it">Science</a> has found that meaningful friendships in the workplace have benefits like increased emotional well-being, trust, and loyalty. It’s also good for you physically. Making and keeping workplace friends will reduce stress and anxiety and increase your productivity. Your career friendships lead to more candid feedback, a greater sense of belonging, and <a href="https://www.calendar.com/blog/6-ways-to-foster-better-collaboration-in-the-workplace/">improved teamwork and collaboration</a>.

Colleagues With Benefits

You can be friends with your employees. That’s because it comes with advantages like having a fun and relaxed atmosphere. The connection can also help you get to know each other better. As a result, you’ll have more respect and appreciation for one another. And, you’ll be more committed to helping each other out when needed.On the flip side, there are disadvantages. For example, if the friendship goes south, it could lead to conflicts that have nothing to do with work. When the connection has negative consequences, performance decreases, and a toxic work environment has been created.

The Pros And Cons Of Having Friendships At Work

Sometimes it isn’t easy to treat all people the same, but keep this in mind at all times. The balancing act is somewhat like being a parent who has more than one child. You can’t pick favourites, and you need to be consistent.  <ul><li>Resist hiring anyone merely because of their sunny disposition. You want upbeat, yes, but you need to insist on qualifications.</li><li>Be respectful to all of your employees and treat them how you would want to be treated. You wouldn't want to work at a company where your voice is never heard; your colleagues always rely on the opportunity to speak up.</li></ul>

Treat Everyone The Same

Avoid disastrous leadership mistakes like:<ul><li>Publicly creating and bullying others.</li><li>Failing to share and receive feedback.</li><li>Discouraging creativity and innovation.</li><li>Solving problems with a quick fix.</li><li>Not properly delegating work to the right people.</li><li>Resisting change.</li><li>Micromanaging and assigning too much work to others.</li><li>Failing to set goals for your organization.</li></ul>

Don’t Be a Toxic Leader

There needs to be some distance between you and your employees. After all, you still need to have some sort of perception of hierarchy. Some understanding of authority ensures that everyone can get along just well without crossing the line.The best way to stay within guidelines is by establishing ground rules. For example, you can spend time outside of work during happy hour, volunteering, or when attending industry events. But, you may have a policy that you do not attend the birthday party of your employee's children or that you never drink alcohol with them.

Establish Ground Rules

Don’t hide out in your office all day. Get out there and mingle with everyone. Have them lunch with them -- schedule one-on-ones with each team member. And, occasionally get your hands dirty and work in the trenches with them.When you take the time to get to know your employees, you get to find out what their interests are and what makes them tick. You get to learn what hidden talents they possess. And, you may discover that you have more in interest then you previously thought.

Take The Time to Nurture The Relationship

Honesty is one of the best principles you can use to establish a healthy balance between caring for your employees and leading them professionally.The closer you get to someone on a personal level, the harder it becomes to give them honest feedback as employees.Build trust with each of your employees. For example, grant them autonomy and flexible schedules. Trust in your employee builds resilience -- shows you rely on them enough to work where, when, and however they prefer. As a result, this will create a more positive and productive culture.

Be Honest, Trusting, Understanding

If you don’t feel confident enough to strike a balance between being a boss and friend, seek assistance from someone else. For instance, you may want to have an unbiased party make important decisions, such as promoting or <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/79928">firing employees.</a> Don't mention anything about your personal feeling and relationship to the third party -- and give them complete autonomy to determine the decision.

Enlist the Help of a Third Party

As the boss, you'll want to take care of your own well being as far as workplace connections. Do what's best for your emotional well being and your emotional intelligence so that you can stay at the top of your team productivity.

The Bottom Line

How to make sure your personal connections at work are healthy and productive.

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

teamwork

Teamwork

Team Productivity: Striking a Balance Between Being a Boss and Friend

Do you remember the excitement of getting your first Gmail account? If my memory serves me right, my first one dates back to 2004. The Gmail invite represented a friendship token from my boyfriend back then, who only got five of them to spread. Its scarcity made it valuable. Years later, he became my husband — funny coincidence.

When Gmail Was Not For Everyone

See, it doesn’t matter that anyone can have it, as long as only one may own it. Pretty dope, is it? Here the circulating supply is plenty, but having it doesn’t make you rich. Hence, the token immutably vouching the ownership is the valuable asset and not the item itself.

Nfts For Dummies

So to recap, NFTs use scarcity of ownership to increase their value regarding the digital asset the token is assigned to. Cryptocurrency and stocks also are finite in supply, and sometimes (even if it’s only perceived) scarcity influence their price. And the same goes with collectables — they become more expensive as there’s a limitation of supply (i.e., the rare Mercedes-Benz Grosser 770).

Scarcity Makes Economy Roll

Study the top writers on these topics and strive to be better than them. Let’s take Tim Denning, my favourite example. If you want to be better than Tim at personal development, then you really need to top up your game. So, when it comes to me, I probably stand no chance (I better write about horses if I want to shine.)

#1 Tip To Become A Valuable Writer

Find your own angle, and don’t be afraid to look at yourself as a special human being. I’m sure there is something that makes you stand out in a crowd. Find it, and put it in writing. Maybe you are a painfully direct individual in just the right ways, you are witty, charming or like to throw in facts to support your arguments. It doesn’t matter. Whatever makes you special as a person, replicate it in your writing.

#2 Tip To Become A Valuable Writer

Discover a new niche. Maybe you are really good at writing about horses (apparently I like exemplifying on horses just as much I like using Tim Denning in my plastic examples). So, write about horses and create a community around this topic. I imagine there are not a lot of writers writing about horses today. It helps to be passionate about the topic because it makes writing more effortless, but if research and documentation is your cup of tea, then it’s equally good. It will just take you longer.

#3 Tip To Become A Valuable Writer

For the 4th tip and the more important one check out the original article.<a href="https://medium.com/wholistique/how-can-understanding-scarcity-increase-your-value-as-a-writer-5909cb094b8e">Read more.</a>

#4 Tip To Become A Valuable Writer

Story published in Wolistique about writing and scarcity

Do you remember the excitement of getting your first Gmail account? If my memory serves me right, my first one dates back to 2004. The Gmail invite represented a friendship token from my boyfriend…

writing

Reading & Writing

business

Business

How can Understanding ‘Scarcity’ Increase your value as a Writer?

Targeting proper keywords is as crucial to successfully operate a website as creating eye-catching images or coming up with a winning URL. To assess which keywords are or are not worth targeting, webmasters use various tools and techniques — by far the most popular the keyword difficulty score. It’s important that you opt for low-scoring keywords only, as the higher the rating, the more difficult that given keyword is to target and exploit properly.

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy  

Keyword difficulty is one of the most basic SEO metrics — a rating that tells you how hard it would be to target a given keyword and optimize your webpage. The higher the score, the more difficult it would be to achieve decent results while focusing on a given keyword, which also means that it would be harder for you to win against the competition and invite new customers to try out your products.

Why You Should Care About It 

Start out with lower-ranking, longer keywords that potentially have the shorter one within them. Such long-tail keywords, despite having a lower number of searches, can still turn out to be extremely beneficial, especially for niche businesses or websites targeting a single and clear user group. They also have far lower keyword difficulty, meaning that it will be easier to rank for them.﻿

1. Settle for long-tail keywords

At first, aim for keywords with difficulty scores lower than 50. Try to make your approach a little bit more paced and nuanced, and only try to rank for the higher-rated ones when you are sure the quality of the site content matches the quality offered by the websites typically targeting the big keywords..

2. Start with lower-volume options

Before you try to rank for any given keyword, it’s crucial to understand your website’s audience and its needs — well enough to be pretty much convinced that you know what they are looking for, even if their intent is not exactly clear.

3. Keep user intent in mind

Is there a particular high-ranking keyword that you wish to try and target, no matter what? Then consider creating a hub page on your site, which will help organize and gather the necessary information which you will be able to offer users searching for a given high-rated keyword in the future.

4. Hub for difficult keywords

Keyword difficulty is a vital consideration, to be sure, but there are other things to take into account before deciding if a given keyword is worth targeting. Perhaps, even if the keyword difficulty is high, targeting it is worth a shot if the ROI is attractive enough and the potential conversion rate is satisfactory..

5. Don’t forget other aspects of SEO

Proven techniques to help assess a keyword difficulty score correctly and use it effectively in overall SEO efforts.

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy

The concept of “modal bias” is simply the thought that our idea or approach is best. We all think that, but it can become much more troublesome when a <a href="https://www.mickmel.com/dont-let-the-hippo-have-the-final-say/">HiPPO</a> (the highest paid person in a meeting) falls into that trap and we all need to follow it.Once a HiPPO thinks they have the right answer, the only way to fight back is with data.

Data beats Modal Bias

It’s critically important to support business proposals and decisions with data. In the absence of data, you’ll ultimately be forced to do things the boss’s way. Modal Bias ensures that the bosses think that their way is best, unless you can prove otherwise. In a battle of opinions, the HiPPO always wins.

“In God we trust… all others bring data.”

If you can bring data to support your points, your boss should pay attention to that. If your boss repeatedly refuses to see the data, that’s another problem entirely. If you find yourself as the HiPPO in a situation, try to stay open to other ideas and data that may refute what your initial thoughts were.

The concept of "modal bias" is simply the thought that our idea or approach is best. We all think that, but it can become much more troublesome when a HiPPO (the highest paid person in a meeting) falls into that trap and we all need to follow it. Once a…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

problemsolving

Problem Solving

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Data beats Modal Bias - Mickey Mellen

<ul><li>A consequence is the result or direct effect of an action. </li></ul>> Consequences give your child the message that he is capable of taking responsibility for problems and can handle them.<ul><li>Punishment is defined by Merriam-Webster as “suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution. </li></ul>> Punishment can cause resentment and rarely teaches a child what you want him to learn. It also can be damaging to your child’s self-esteem and does not facilitate secure attachment.

Consequences versus punishment

<ul><li>It backfires. Punishment is almost always delivered with anger.</li><li>It is temporary. Punishment teaches children to respond out of fear rather than out of a desire to please or do the right thing.</li><li>It reinforces the child’s negative view of self. It creates an expectation by the child and others of additional bad behavior.</li><li>It provokes revenge, makes the child feel angry and resentful.</li><li>It maintains emotional distance. Punishment feeds into their defenses against being close and reinforces a “me against you” mentality.</li></ul>

Why punishment doesn’t work

Three steps:1. Tell your child to sit for a brief time to think about her behaviors and choices.2. When you are ready, not when your child demands, go to your child.3. If your child responds appropriately — with honesty and without blaming others — give praise, a big hug, a warm smile and the assurance that all is forgiven. If your child does not respond appropriately, say, “I guess you need more time to think it over. I’ll be back soon.”

Instead of punish

Parents are often unclear about the difference between consequences and punishment and the end result. 

Parents are often unclear about the difference between consequences and punishment -- and that's one reason efforts to discipline children can be ineffective.

parenting

Parenting

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

Consequences versus punishment 

Are you having trouble in speaking out your idea/points to others? Do you get confused while presenting? Did you wind up being unclear exactly what you hope other people will do?If yes, then the habit of brevity can help you

The Habit Of Brevity

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.

The average leader -- even the above-average one -- might gather the team and explain why it's such a great opportunity for the company/organisationThe emotionally intelligent leader, however, frames everything from the point of view of his or her teams

To Effectively Communicate..

<ul><li>think about different angles to craft the right message.</li><li>segment things better, so that you don't try to communicate everything to everyone at once.</li><li>Try to be brief </li><li>Take time to weed out the many things you might want to say in order to make the ones that you truly need to say more memorable, makes the difference between confusion and clarity.</li></ul>

Crafting Your Message In A Emotionally Intelligent Rute

How to be emotionally intelligent while conveying your message

How Emotionally Intelligent People Use the 'Mark Twain Rule' to Become Exceptionally Persuasive

<ul><li>Feeling what someone else feels</li><li>Actively listening to what they have to say</li><li>Not judging</li><li>Being aware of nuances and non-verbal cues</li><li>Discovering their perspective</li><li>Acknowledging everyone's feelings.</li></ul>Empathy is the ability to understand and share a person’s feelings. An empathetic person can feel someone else’s emotions, regardless of their personal experiences.You’re able to discover their perspective with awareness of non-verbal cues. You’re also able to simply listen without feeling forced to provide unwanted advice.

What is empathy? 

<ul><li>Having thoughts about what someone feels</li><li>When in conversation, giving unasked advice</li><li>Passing judgment</li><li>Only noticing the surface level issue</li><li>Understanding only from your perspective</li><li>Ignoring or suppressing your own emotions.</li></ul>Unlike empathy, practicing sympathy doesn’t mean you feel what someone else feels. Instead, you feel pity or sorry for someone else’s feelings.You feel bad for someone, but you don’t understand how they feel.A sympathetic approach only provides a surface-level understanding of someone else’s situation. This understanding is typically from your perspective, not theirs.

What is sympathy?

Learn the main differences between empathy vs sympathy and similar concepts like compassion and apathy. Plus, read about the best ways to practice empathy.

Empathy vs. sympathy: understanding key differences

The mere exposure effect is defined as "the finding that individuals show an increased preference (or liking) for a stimulus as a consequence of repeated exposure to that stimulus."How can you use the mere exposure effect to get people to like you? By letting them see you often. Turn your camera on during Zoom meetings. Comment on your friends' social media posts. Go to the gym at the same time every day to increase the odds of bumping into the same people.

Be seen often

Asking questions puts the focus on the other person, and lets them know you value their opinions and experiences. Research shows that people who ask more questions during conversations are perceived as more responsive and are better liked by conversation partners.Asking someone follow-up questions about something they told you is particularly effective because it shows that you are listening and interesting in what they have to say.

Ask questions

People who smile are perceived as more competent and more attractive. And people are more apt to like someone they consider attractive.

Smile

Making a great first impression isn't as hard as you might think.

3 Easy Ways to Make People Like You That Are Backed by Science

Alan Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and teacher credited with bringing Eastern philosophy to a wide audience in the West; philosophy that included Buddhism, Taosim, and Hinduism.Writing over 25 books and articles on the subject of religion and philosophy, Watts believed that philosophy, such as Buddhism, could be used as psychotherapy.Here are some of his best quotes:

Alan Watts

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself."

“You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing.”

“Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live. There is no other reality than present reality, so that, even if one were to live for endless ages, to live for the future would be to miss the point everlastingly.”

“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

“When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was.”

“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

“A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.”

“If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.”

“Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”

“The only Zen you’ll find on mountain tops is the Zen you bring up there with you.”

“What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.”

“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”

“Philosophy is man’s <a href="https://wealthygorilla.com/5-ways-curiosity-can-breed-success/">expression of curiosity </a>about everything and his attempt to make sense of the world primarily through his intellect.”

“Other people teach us who we are. Their attitudes to us are the mirror in which we learn to see ourselves, but the mirror is distorted. We are, perhaps, rather dimly aware of the immense power of our social environment.”

“What we have forgotten is that thoughts and words are conventions, and that it is fatal to take conventions too seriously. A convention is a social convenience, as, for example, money ... but it is absurd to take money too seriously, to confuse it with real wealth ... In somewhat the same way, thoughts, ideas and words are "coins" for real things.” ﻿

“When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.” –

Alan Watts was a British philosopher and writer. Here are some of his quotes on life, zen, wealth, Buddhism, spirituality, power and lot's more. 

Alan Watts quotes are commonplace today. Watts was a British philosopher, 
writer, and teacher credited with bringing Eastern philosophy to a wide 
audience in the West; philosophy that included Buddhism, Taosim, and 
Hinduism. Writing over 25 books and articles on the subject of religion and 
philosophy, Watts believed that philosophy, such as Buddhism, could be used 
as psychotherapy.

philosophy

Philosophy

Alan Watts Quotes

Find 100+ Facts About Communication  - Curated from inspiring sources like Books, Podcasts & Articles - Genuine Insights from like-minded Users like You!

What If We Just Stopped Being So Available?

Team Productivity: Striking a Balance Between Being a Boss and Friend

How can Understanding ‘Scarcity’ Increase your value as a Writer?

How to Use Keyword Difficulty in Your Content Strategy

Data beats Modal Bias - Mickey Mellen

Consequences versus punishment

How Emotionally Intelligent People Use the 'Mark Twain Rule' to Become Exceptionally Persuasive

Empathy vs. sympathy: understanding key differences

3 Easy Ways to Make People Like You That Are Backed by Science

Alan Watts Quotes

It's time to Read like a Pro.

It's time to
Read like a Pro.