This month’s blog comes to us from our friends at Bostitch, the creators of the Konnect line of desk accessories. Whether you’re working from home, in an office, or in a classroom, having an organized workplace will make your work life less stressful and chaotic. You may not be able to control many things during your workday, but you can control the beauty and functionality of your work space.
Make the most of any space.
A cluttered desk hinders your productivity and makes it hard to find important notes and documents. It’s important to minimize clutter and maximize space. You can do that with organizers and stackable storage bins. You can also mount accessories on a wall or cubicle to keep them off the desk and within reach.
Be comfortable while you work.
Whether you’re working in a cubicle or at home, comfort and ergonomic support are important for your overall comfort and wellbeing. Choosing footrests, lumbar support for your chair, phone stands, desk converters and monitor stands will ensure an ergonomic workspace that will boost your productivity and help to alleviate some common pain associated with working at a desk.
Break free from the mess.
By utilizing organizers with multiple features, such as stackable storage bins to monitor risers with hidden storage drawers, you’ll save space and minimize clutter. Say goodbye to that messy junk drawer and hello to optimized organization!
Charge up your most critical devices.
Another important feature to an organized office is to “bring the energy”! No, we don’t mean another cup of coffee, (but hey, we’re not judging). Choose desk organizers that provide power to your desktop so that you can charge your cell phone, tablet, or other power device right from your desk as you work — keeping your most important devices charged and ready to take on the day.
Finally, say goodbye to messy cords and cables.
Keep your desk free from wires by easily wrapping your phone charger and other wires around units with a built-in cord wrap or route your laptop cord through a cable management rail. Products like this will keep unsightly cable wires hidden for a much neater appearance.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these suggestions for a more peaceful workspace. To order the products shown here, visit our website or call to ask us about the Konnect collection of desk accessories from Bostitch:
Graduation is an exciting time! Graduates may be going on to more schooling, to a new job, or may not know what exactly the next step might be. The future is full of possibilities and it’s normal to feel a bit nervous. Give the gift of planning to help them sort it all out!
Wherever they are in their after-school pursuits, an AT-A-GLANCE® planner, professional notebook or calendar can help give your graduate a sense of control and organization. It gives them a place to write down dreams, thoughts about the future, current accomplishments and help set them up for future success.
While many people may use a smartphone calendar, a planner is more than just a spot to keep appointments and meetings. A planner gives the user a place to:
Brainstorm dreams and goals
Break down goals into manageable to-do’s
Write down information they need to remember
Plan projects alone or with a team
Track habits, workouts and more
Time management is one of the most important skills in life. If we manage what we have to do, we can create time and space for the things we want to do – activities that bring us joy and connection while allowing us to best use our talents.
Review this gift guide for some gift ideas that will support your graduate now and throughout life.
The Signature Collection
Choose a Signature Planner or Notebook for your graduate. This collection was created for busy students and professionals who like a simple planning experience. They have large areas of open writing space and simple, yet stylish covers. Plus, high-quality paper resists ink bleed which helps prevent writing from bleeding onto the next page.
Our Signature planners are available in both weekly and monthly formats, so you can choose the style that best fits your graduate.
The Harmony Collection
Give your graduate the gift of guidance. The Harmony Collection gently guides and helps users focus on the life they desire most. Your graduate can track goals, plans, notes and ideas throughout the year. And each month features a motivational quote to keep them inspired!
Harmony Planners also include a storage pocket, premium paper that resists ink bleed, durable covers and colorful stickers to color-code plans, projects and goals.
Harmony
The BADGE Collection
The perfect gift for a fashionable graduate! The Badge Collection offers durability and stunning original cover art. Inside, uncluttered layouts give your grad plenty of space to write out their plans on the thick, premium paper. They have colorful and sturdy tabs to quickly flip to the current month.
Like many of our collections, BADGE offers matching desk calendars and wall calendars, which are great for team or group projects.
Encourage Your Graduate All Year Long
Before you wrap the gift you’ve chosen, take time to jot down some little notes of support and encouragement throughout the year. Let your grad know that they’re in your thoughts!
Here are some ideas:
I believe in you
You are doing awesome!
Any day you feel frustrated, call me!
Sending you positive vibes today
We are so proud of you
Please share this article with others who may be looking for graduation gifts this year.
These graduation gifts and others are available from Penny Wise Office Products.
Are you ready to wipe away the grimy buildup of the winter months? We are too! We’re excited that the season of spring cleaning has arrived.
But where to start? How to begin? There’s no single “best” way to spring clean and there are many possibilities to choose from. Read on for some steps to get things kicked off and create your own ideal plan!
Step 1: Write Down the Plan
Capture your cleaning goals in your planner! Think about your approach. Do you want to go from the top to bottom of your house or work in one room at a time? You could even start outside and work your way in. It’s up to you!
Once you have your plan, stick to it. Use our At-A-Glance planners to keep track of those spring cleaning goals. You can also hang up one of our wall calendars at home to remind you of your projects.
Step 2: Prioritize Your To-do’s
There are tons of cleaning tasks you could do for the ultimate spring clean, but be realistic about how much you can accomplish at once. Set your priorities. Determine which tasks need to be done right away and which can be left until later.
Browse through our spring cleaning ideas at the bottom of this article and pick the ones your home needs right now. Make a list in your planner and check them off one by one!
Step 3: Find Time to Clean
Don’t burn out on your cleaning schedule. It may help to spread the process over a few days or weeks. For example, set aside 15-20 extra cleaning minutes every day, plus an extra hour once a week. If it takes you three weekends or six weeks to finish your spring cleaning, that’s totally OK! Clean at your own pace.
Step 4: Prepare Your Supplies
Organize all your cleaning supplies in one handy area for the big clean. It’s best to stock up ahead of time, so you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to run out for supplies. We carry a wide variety of supplies, so you can always call us for fast, free delivery!
Spring Cleaning Tasks
Throughout your home:
• Check expiration dates on fire extinguishers
• Clean/disinfect trash cans
• Clean windows, screens, windowsills and blinds
• Dust books and shelves, décor and picture frames
• Open windows and screen doors
• Replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Shampoo/wash rugs and carpet
• Sweep and scrub floors
• Wipe walls, trim, baseboards and ceilings
• Wash floor registers and other vent covers
Bathroom:
• Clean mirror, sink and drain
• Clean toilet, inside and out
• Clean out cabinets and vanity
• Discard old and expired makeup
• Polish faucets
• Update first-aid kits
• Wash bathmats
• Wash and/or replace shower liners and shower curtains
Bedroom:
• Clean out dresser drawers
• Flip or rotate the mattress
• Clean underneath the bed
• Wash bedding, pillows and curtains
Garage:
• Clean garage door and door frame
• Declutter tools, sports equipment, games and toys
• Replace batteries in garage door openers
Kitchen:
• Clean and descale your coffeemaker
• Clean the dishwasher
• Clean the garbage disposal
• Check food expiration dates in fridge and pantry
• Clean oven and microwave
• Sharpen knives
• Wash cabinet doors and knobs
Living room/family room:
• Clean television screen
• Sanitize remote controls
• Spot clean sofas
• Wash throw pillows and blankets
Office/work-from-home area:
• Organize files
• Disinfect your computer keyboard and mouse
• Shred any papers with potentially sensitive information
Outside:
• Sweep porches, decks and walkways
• Pressure-wash the driveway/patio
• Wash exterior doors and siding
• Wash outdoor furniture
For Calendars, Planners, Cleaning Supplies and more, contact Penny Wise Office Products. We’re help to help you!
This month’s blog post comes from Christopher Littlefield. Christopher is an International Speaker, Trainer, and Founder of Beyond Thank You!
I hope this message finds you well and beginning to slow down for what I am sure is a much-needed holiday break.
As you prepare for the New Year, I want to share an end-of-year personal reflection activity to help you become present to all the ways you have learned and grown over the last year. Grab a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a pen and paper, and carve out a little time to celebrate your year!
Answer These 5 Questions Before Wrapping Up Your Year!
Do you ever find that no matter how hard you work or how much you accomplish, you end up focusing on everything you didn’t do? No matter if your last year was the best or worst yet, before you mentally and emotionally reset and establish goals and resolutions for the year ahead, invest thirty minutes to an hour to reflect, learn from, and celebrate the last twelve months.
In this article I wrote for Forbes, I share a simple, personal reflection activity to support you in this process. You can read the full article via the link above, and I have included the questions below:
Questions:
1. What were my most interesting moments and unique experiences over the last year?
Did you attend a conference, start a new job, or get to sit in on a meeting with the boss? Did you attend a cool concert or a friend’s wedding or pick up a new sport? What moments or experiences defined your last year and why?
2. What challenges did I face in the last year, personally and professionally? How did I grow from these?
Did you start a new position that required more responsibilities? Did you or a loved one face a health issue? Did you go through a breakup or start a new relationship? How did you deal with these challenges and what did you learn in the process?
3. What new skills did I develop/improve last year?
Did you learn how to code, give presentations, or start learning a new language? Did you improve your ability to run meetings, coach employees, or increase the speed at which you write reports?
4. What have I learned about myself, how do I work, and what do I need to be at my best?
Did you develop any personal routines/processes that support you in and outside of work? Did you learn anything about the types of projects or topics you enjoy working on most/least? Did you learn anything about the types of people or work environments you enjoy most/least? Did you learn about what impacts your physical or mental health the most?
5. What am I most proud of?
After answering the above questions, reflect on what you are most proud of yourself for over the last year.
After, take a minute to reread and celebrate all that happened over the last 365 days. When you are done, schedule time to brainstorm what you want to make happen in the year ahead!
This month’s blog comes to us from Christopher Littlefield. Christopher is an International/TEDx speaker specializing in employee appreciation and the founder of Beyond Thank You. This blog is about focusing on gratitude, and we are grateful for his wisdom.
Taking care of our mental health during a pandemic isn’t easy. Since the outbreak began, we’ve all been feeling — understandably — a lot more stressed. One study found that 57% of people are experiencing greater anxiety, and 53% of us are more emotionally exhausted. These kinds of emotions tend to arise when we lose some form of stability in our lives. Right now, we just don’t know what comes next. Living in a constant state of uncertainty can feel like running a race with no finish line or completing a puzzle without a reference picture. Everything seems unclear, and the worst seems possible.
Of course, this not a fun state of mind to be in. So what can we possibly do to help minimize the impacts of uncertainty on our wellbeing? While it may not address the root cause, research shows that gratitude can help balance us out.
“Gratitude is an emotion that grounds us and is a great way to balance out the negative mindset that uncertainty engenders,” said Dr. Guy Winch, author of the book Emotional First Aid. When we express gratitude, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin — two hormones that make us feel lighter and happier inside. If we want to take care of our minds during this pandemic, understanding how to trigger this feeling is an important tool to have at our disposal.
Before you can trigger it, let’s understand why gratitude is so important. We experience gratitude when we shift our focus from what we don’t have to what we do, and when we take time to appreciate and be thankful for those who have contributed to the abundance in our lives. Nearly a decade of research by Dr. Robert Emmons — the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude — and others has found that people who have regular gratitude practices are healthier, happier, and have better relationships. Further research suggests that gratitude is also key in helping individuals and teams persevere in challenging tasks.
Think of your mind like your digestive system — what you put in it impacts how you feel. When you flood your mind with a constant flow of worry, envy, resentment, and self-criticism (compounded by a barrage of news and other media) it negatively impacts your mental wellbeing. A gratitude practice is like a workout and a healthy eating plan for your mind.
In his article Why Gratitude is Good, Dr. Emmons shares, “You can’t feel envious and grateful at the same time. They’re incompatible feelings, because if you’re grateful, you can’t resent someone for owning things you don’t.” He goes on to share that his research found that people with high levels of gratitude have low levels of resentment and envy. When we take time to focus on what we are grateful for, we choose positive emotions over negative, thus we take steps to nurture our mental health and wellbeing.
How do we trigger gratitude in ourselves? It’s simple. We take time to shift our focus.
How to Trigger Gratitude in Ourselves
Have you ever noticed that when you are looking to buy a new phone or a jacket all of a sudden everyone around you has it? That’s because, consciously or unconsciously, whatever we are focused on is what we see. If we want to trigger gratitude in ourselves, we need to intentionally shift our focus to that which we are grateful for. The simplest way to do this is through questions and prompts and a few daily rituals.
Pause and reflect
When you find yourself stuck in a constant state of worry, or hyper focused on what is not working around you, try to pause for a second and ask yourself one or two of the following questions.
1. What have I gotten to learn recently that has helped me grow? 2. What opportunities do I currently have that I am grateful for? 3. What physical abilities do I have but take for granted? 4. What did I see today or over the last month that was beautiful? 5. Who at work am I happy to see each day and why? 6. Who is a person that I don’t speak to often, but, if I lost them tomorrow, it would be devastating? (Take this as a cue to reach out today!) 7. What am I better at today than I was a year ago? 8. What material object do I use every day that I am thankful for having? 9. What has someone done for me recently that I am grateful for? 10. What are the three things I am grateful for right now?
By taking time to write down our answers, we consciously redirect our attention to that which we are grateful for. It’s also a great way to look back and realize what we may have thought of as insignificant was actually the things that brought us joy.
Write a gratitude journal
One common practice is to keep a daily gratitude journal. Jae Ellard, the founder of mindful-based consulting company Simple Intentions, recommends book-ending your day with thoughts of gratitude. She recommends carving out a few minutes at the beginning of the day and end of the day for reflection. Maybe it is the fresh pomegranate you had with your yogurt or gratitude for the health of one’s families. Dr. Winch suggests starting the practice of “writing one paragraph every day about one thing for which we’re truly grateful and why that thing is meaningful to us.” He says, “This introduces positive thoughts and feelings into an emotional climate that is tipped too much toward the negative.” We can also focus our gratitude exercise toward the meaningful things in our lives of which we are certain, such as our friendships, passions, or family, thereby reminding ourselves that while uncertainty exists in some aspects of our lives, certainty still prevails in many others.
Build it in like a routine
Since the start of the pandemic, my wife, our four-year-old daughter, and I start every meal by going around the table and sharing one thing we are grateful for. It may be our health, the food on our table, or getting to play with Legos for an hour earlier that day. Although my daughter resisted the practice at first, she is the first one to remind us if we now eat a bite without sharing our thoughts.
I recently came across someone who has taken on the practice of sharing one picture a day on LinkedIn of something he is grateful for and tells his audience the reason behind it. His daily practice not only helps him focus on the positive but inspires others to do the same.
Another way to create a ritual around gratitude is to start or end each virtual meeting or co-study session with a grateful minute. Pick any one or two questions outlined above and invite a few team members or friends to share their answers.
If we want to be able to keep running in this race with no clear finish line, we need to learn to take better care of the runner. Although there is no one solution, learning to trigger gratitude may help us cope along the way.
Penny Wise Office Products carries a wide variety of journals to begin your own Gratitude Journal: www.penny-wise.com
•Christopher Littlefield is an International/TEDx speaker specializing in employee appreciation and the founder of Beyond Thank You. He has trained thousands of leaders across six continents to create cultures where people feel valued every day. He is the author of 75+ Team Building Activities for Remote Teams—Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communication, and Laugh Together from Afar. You can follow his work through his weekly mailing The Nudge.
Today’s blog comes to us from renowned organizer, Julie Morgenstern. Her best-selling book, “Organizing From the Inside Out” is one of our favorites.
Here’s an interesting challenge: How do you structure your time when you are not tied to an outside schedule? A reader inspired us with this note:
“I am retired and struggling to accomplish the important things because I get so bogged down in daily must-dos. I’d like help with overwhelm and staying on track to fulfill the big life purpose stuff.”
Whether you crave retirement or dread it (because you don’t know how you would fill all that free time), it’s astonishing how days can suddenly slip through your fingers when the routine of the workday is gone. The most mundane tasks (shopping, laundry, or researching a new cell phone plan) can suddenly take over your entire day, leaving you exhausted and drifting in a sea of unsatisfying drudgery.
It’s not just retirement that can put us in this situation. Sudden job loss, illness, or choosing to stay home to raise kids all remove the external structure generated by our work lives. As much as we may sometimes feel slaves to our work schedules, the structure is also powerful and grounding as an organizing principle for our lives.
So, how do you organize your days to be meaningful and fulfilling when you are not tied to an outside schedule? Here are three strategies that can help
1. Preserve the structure of the work day.
When you think about it, the structure of our workdays is an extension of the structure of our school days, a routine that has been with us since we started kindergarten. That predictable, reliable architecture subdivides our days into smaller blocks of time. You wake up, get ready and leave the house. There’s a morning activity, lunchtime, followed by an afternoon activity. Then dinner time, an evening activity, and bedtime. It is a helpful infrastructure in that it is easier (and arguably more interesting) to organize 2 or 3 hours at a time rather than 24 amorphous hours.
2. Fill the structure with activities you choose.
Once you embrace the built-in structure that is at your fingertips, the only question becomes what you pour into that structure. When you are in charge of the routine, you get to choose what activities you will assign to the morning, afternoon, and evening blocks. Choose activities you find meaningful, fulfilling, and fun. It might take some experimentation, but the good news is–you have the freedom to explore and find the things that bring you energy and satisfaction.
3. Assign themes to time blocks:
I have noticed certain patterns of what people crave time for when they are too busy with work. We all tend to crave time for Physical health (exercise, body care); Learning (expanding your knowledge through reading, adventures, classes, etc); and Relationships (spending time connecting with and expressing love for the important people in our lives). You can take these themes and assign them to different time blocks in the day (like being your own camp director). For example, perhaps mornings are for physical health, afternoons are for learning, and evenings are for relationships. Of course, you may occasionally need to spend time during the week or weekend for life’s drudgery stuff, but it can be contained to just one or two blocks, as needed. That still preserves plenty of time blocks for more fulfilling activities.
When you have the gift of freedom to organize your own schedule as you wish, the goal is to fill it with what’s most important to you. Stick to the beautiful architecture that you’ve had your whole life, but embrace the opportunity to fill that architecture with activities of your own choosing. Things that really ignite your spirit and allow you to explore all of who you are in your best self.
Why do lists seem to magically help get everything in order? According to The Guardian, people perform better when they have written down what they need to do.
It’s usually easier to remember what you need to get done at work when you write (or type) it out – even if you’re not actively looking at it. That concept can apply to nearly every facet of your life. Here are some tips to make the simple list, an effective professional productivity tool for you.
Master List
Your master list should be a broad brain dump of short and long term goals you want to accomplish in your professional life. Don’t over-complicate this list. It can be messy and updated whenever you want.
Weekly List
This is where you start to break down your to-do’s into more manageable chunks. First, collect all the items you want to achieve this week. Include small and big accomplishments like “respond to emails” or “complete part 1 of X project.”
Daily List
Now you’re ready to make a daily list. This list should be very specific and can be broken down chronologically or you can assign priority to each item. Start with higher priority projects and leave the smaller stuff for later in the day. If you don’t get to the lower priority items, just be sure to add them to tomorrow’s daily list.
Go Digital
Going old school and writing down your lists on a piece of paper is effective (and feels great when you get to check them off). But papers often get lost in the busy shuffle. Consider using a digital tool to keep track of your short and long-term goals. Many phones already have a list app built–in – and you can refer to them any time!
Include Yourself
Lastly, make sure you schedule some time for YOU. Ideas include: coffee breaks, a 15-minute walk, or stretch, and video chats with your career mentor.
Penny Wise Office Products has a huge selection of List Trackers and Notebooks.
Visit us at www.penny-wise.com or call 1-800-942-3311. We’re happy to help!
Our last blog of the year comes from Christopher Littlefield of BeyondThankYou.com. Christopher has lots of thoughtful questions to ask yourself as the year comes to a close, and the New Year unfolds.
Answer These 5 Questions Before Wrapping Up Your Year!
Do you ever find that no matter how hard you work or how much you accomplish, you end up focusing on everything you didn’t do? No matter if your last year was the best or worst yet, before you mentally and emotionally reset and establish goals and resolutions for the year ahead, invest thirty minutes to an hour to reflect, learn from, and celebrate the last twelve months. In my latest article in Forbes, I share a simple, personal reflection activity to support you in this process. You can read the full article on Forbes, and I have included the questions below.
Questions:
1. What were my most interesting moments and unique experiences over the last year?
Did you attend a conference, start a new job, or get to sit in on a meeting with the boss? Did you attend a cool concert or a friend’s wedding or pick up a new sport? What moments or experiences defined your last year and why?
2. What challenges did I face in the last year, personally and professionally? How did I grow from these?
Did you start a new position that required more responsibilities? Did you or a loved one face a health issue? Did you go through a breakup or start a new relationship? How did you deal with these challenges and what did you learn in the process?
3. What new skills did I develop/improve last year?
Did you learn how to code, give presentations, or start learning a new language? Did you improve your ability to run meetings, coach employees, or increase the speed at which you write reports?
4. What have I learned about myself, how I work, and what I need to be at my best?
Did you develop any personal routines/processes that support you in and outside of work? Did you learn anything about the types of projects or topics you enjoy working on most/least? Did you learn anything about the types of people or work environments you enjoy most/least? Did you learn about what impacts your physical or mental health the most?
5. What am I most proud of?
After answering the above questions, reflect on what you are most proud of yourself for over the last year.
After, take a minute to reread and celebrate all that happened over the last 365 days. When you are done, schedule time to brainstorm what you want to make happen in the year ahead!
This month’s blog comes to us from author Pamela Bump and our friends at HUBSpot. They have a huge selection of resources to help balance your work and personal life.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “If you love your job, you’ll never have to work again.”?
Well, that myth is both false and incredibly misleading. In fact, research shows that the more passionate you are about a job, the more work you’ll actually do.
The truth is a successful career takes time, initiative, and hours of hard work. And, while some companies enable employees to successfully execute on their roles within 40 hours each week, you’ll occasionally need to work later or longer to excel at other organizations
When you think you have the perfect job, you might tell yourself, “I clock in 70 hours a week because I’m doing what I love,” or “The family dinners I’m missing will be worth it in the long run.” But, while your role might not “feel” like a job, working long hours without making time for yourself eventually takes a major toll.
In fact, research shows that throwing yourself into work too heavily could cause stress, burnout, and — commonly — a lonely personal life.
Yes — Managers value employees who take initiative and put in extra effort when needed. However, your personal life is important to your
physical, psychological, and emotional well-being
.
So, how do you continue to excel in your career while making time for yourself and your loved ones?
The truth is there’s no simple trick to achieving an ideal work-life balance. But luckily, there are a handful of strategies that can get you pretty close.
To help you juggle your work and personal life, even if you work remotely, here are six tips that I collected from a few highly motivated HubSpot marketing managers.
While the tips below work well for in-office employees, these can be especially helpful if you’re working remotely and finding it hard to separate your work life from your personal life.
6 Tips for Achieving Work-Life Balance
1. Set hard-stops for each workday.
Despite the thought that successful employees will work late into the night, studies show that you’re least productive at night. Additionally, working late hours can make you tired in times of peak productivity during the day.
If your role revolves around large projects or long to-do lists, you might be tempted to work late or on weekends to get more done. However, our marketing managers suggest setting hard stops so you don’t overexert yourself.
“When working on a long-term project, it’s very easy to keep going into the night thinking, ‘I can get the whole thing done today,’ which was obviously bad for work-life balance,” says Joe Mayall, an associate product marketing manager at HubSpot. “Setting hard stops for myself in the evening really helped me balance things out.”
“Set (and abide by) your own boundaries and accept that a task is usually not THAT important that it can’t wait until tomorrow,” advises Lisa Toner
To prevent any tasks that you can’t plausibly complete in normal work hours, Toner says, “You should manage expectations with your manager about how much can actually be done during business hours.”
When you’re working remotely, setting hard stops can be even more import.
My blog colleague Christina Perricone explained that knowing when to stop working is a common struggle of remote employees who usually work where they live.
“Since you miss out on the social cues to head out for lunch or end the workday that are inherent in in-office settings, you have to create them,” says Perricone. “Set calendar appointments for lunch or a walk or a midday workout. Otherwise, you might find yourself sitting in front of your computer for 10+ hours a day.”
2. Make time for self-care and breaks each day.
Whether you’re working remotely or in an office, you can take steps towards managing your personal life without getting distracted from work. If your schedule allows, one way to do this is by blocking time for breaks or short self-care activities, such as taking a walk, on your calendar.
“Schedule personal things in your calendar like workouts, phone calls with family or friends, or coffee breaks. Then honor those commitments. This will force you to take a break in your workday and do the things that will recharge and fulfill you,” says Jennifer Stefancik, a marketing manager in our acquisitions department.
“When I get back to work after doing something personally fulfilling, like going on a run, I always feel more focused and energized.” Stefancik shares.
3. Be transparent with your manager and colleagues about your personal-life boundaries.
While you need to set work-life balance boundaries for yourself, you should also be transparent about boundaries you’ve set with your team or manager.
One way to do this is by noting your work and off-work hours on your company’s internal calendar. Additionally, you should also talk to your manager to come up with a schedule that enables you to experience and manage important moments in your personal life.
One HubSpot manager who’s transparent with his team and creates a public schedule to embrace his life as a parent is Victor Pan, HubSpot’s Head of Technical SEO.
“I cherish the small talk I do when I drop off my daughter at school and with other parents. To do this, I talked to my manager about blocking out time in my work calendar — which is shared externally to my peers and colleagues,” Pan explains.
However, Pan notes that establishing a flexible schedule with managers won’t always be doable at other companies.
“Being able to engage in work-life design is a privilege for teams with safe spaces, but it’s also something someone engaged in part-time work can consciously control,” says Pan. “At the end of the day, we’re here to make the most out of the time we have given to us.”
4. Prioritize and audit your to-do list.
Along with establishing a transparent schedule that fits in both time for life and work, you can prevent yourself from instances where you’ll need to work overtime by taking on prioritization tactics and auditing your to-do list to ensure that you’re working efficiently.
“So many of us get bogged down by never-ending to-do lists and as you check off one item, three more gets added. In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to focus on the high impact activities and reduce or cease the activities that do not drive significant results,” says Toner.
To help her prioritize her tasks so that the most important items fit smoothly into her work hours, she draws out an “Impact/Effort Matrix”: a four-by-four chart where you list all your tasks on scales related to the effort needed to complete them and the impact they’ll create.
Once she’s done filling out her matrix, Toner follows these steps:
• Review the activities in the high effort low impact bucket and assess if you can simply stop doing them — these are usually not worth your time.
• Take the activities in the low impact, low effort bucket. Determine if you need to keep doing them or if they can be delegated to someone else.
• Look at the high impact, high effort bucket and research more efficient ways to achieve the same results. If so, move those items into the high impact, low effort square.
When you’re done using the matrix, “you should have one to two items remaining in the high effort, high impact bucket that you continue to work on over a longer period of time,” says Toner.
“Everything in the low effort, high impact bucket should be the work you prioritize,” Toner adds. “By doing this exercise regularly you can learn if your to-do list is actually worth the time it takes to do it. Then, you can decide if you should stop, delegate, improve efficiency, or keep going.”
5. Schedule time off as needed.
In a recent blog post where HubSpot marketers revealed how they prevent burnout, Irina Nica, a community and influencer relations manager, noted that taking time off can help you eliminate stress while also adhering to your personal life.
“I was one of those people who would rarely take any time off because ‘there are so many things to be done,'” Nica said. “Even when I did, I still let some work slip into my day, even if that meant only checking my emails.”
“Over time, I’ve changed my views on time off and it’s been great for my productivity,” Nica explained, adding, “I learned to disconnect in the evenings and during weekends. Now, aside from the regular summer and winter holidays, I take long weekends off every now and then. That helps me relax and refreshes my perspective.”
Taking time off doesn’t necessarily need to be devoted to vacations or travel. For example, if you live with family, time off can be used for staycations, where you stay in and spend time with loved ones. Or, if you live alone, you could simply take a few days off to relax, video call friends, binge some TV, and perform self-care.
6. Physically separate work from your personal life.
If you occasionally or regularly work from home, the lines between work and life can get incredibly blurry. Because of this, you might find yourself working too late or thinking about work when you try to relax in your home. Luckily, one strategy that can help with this is creating a workspace for yourself.
“Try to designate a space in your home exclusively for work,” Perricone advised. “Taking calls from your bed or writing memos in front of your TV likely won’t be very effective. You need a space that allows you to focus and be productive. That way, you can keep your work and home life as separate as possible.”
Finding a Good Balance
While the five tips were all slightly different, they all followed just a few major themes that you can keep in mind when aiming to achieve a work-life balance:
• Time off: Everyone needs breaks or time to disconnect from work. Even if you work remotely, be realistic with yourself about when you’ll need a break from work and schedule break times in your day or longer PTO accordingly.
• Setting boundaries: Schedule hard stops and breaks for yourself, while also setting boundaries related to your work hours with your team and manager.
• Prioritization: Recognize the tasks you can save until tomorrow and how to complete your weekly to-do list more efficiently.
• Separate work from life at home: When you work from home, the lines between work and life can get blurry. Be sure to use the tips above to help separate your work life from your personal life at home.
Is “Inbox Zero”—the clean slate with every email handled—an impossibility at your workdesk? Whether you work in the office or remotely, archiving, keeping tabs, delegating, and crafting the right responses to every important email you receive is probably becoming another job in itself.
There is an epidemic of email overload, and virtual work has led to serious stress for many professionals. According to a 2021 Superhuman survey, email fatigue is the leading cause of distraction at work and a major cause of rising dissatisfaction with remote work. It’s such a pain point that 22% of remote workers want to leave their current job because of the volume of email they receive.
While your flood of email can’t be stopped, here are some efficient ways to handle overload so that you can minimize interruptions, decrease mistakes, and gain back more of your time for productive pursuits:
Email Strategy #1: Set clear expectations for email use with your team
Harvard Business Report reveals that 57% of employees report not being given clear direction, and 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees. Set communication guidelines with your team, accounting for the following points:
• When email is the appropriate communication platform and when it is not • When direct messaging, phone, or in-person discussions should be used • When a “reply all” is necessary and when it is not • Which team members certain types of requests and communications can be delegated to, as needed • The importance of being concise and getting to the point immediately
Email Strategy #2: Answer emails at designated times
Set up 3-4 blocks of 15-30 minutes per day, depending on your email volume, to respond to emails, so that you can maintain your workflow at all other times. Communicate this to your team so that no one expects immediate responses, and provide an alternate channel for urgent messages such as direct messaging.
Email Strategy #3: Turn off email notifications
With your time block system in place, you won’t have a need to receive distracting notifications. Notifications can be stress-inducing and overwhelming themselves.
Email Strategy #4: Delete, do, delegate, or defer
Go through your inbox during the designated time slots and organize emails in folders by using the 4 Ds model. You’ll notice an immediate feeling of relief when you see how many emails can be deleted, delegated, and deferred. This habit will enable you to take timely action on the emails that matter most, and still effectively handle other communications as your priorities require. You may want to add a fifth option—a “waiting” folder for action-pending emails that require others to respond before you can do anything.
Email Strategy #5: Create subfolders, if necessary
If step 4 still leaves you with too many emails in the “do” category, create subfolders and group together important emails and email chains according to key topics. This archiving method will make it much easier to find what you need when you do have time to respond. Outlook and other email applications can automate this step once you set up rules to categorize or filter emails into subfolders and prioritize based on the sender.
Email Strategy #6: Add follow-up reminders to your calendar
For messages that require a follow-up action that you have designated to defer, put a reminder on your calendar including the folder location and date when a follow-up is required.
Email Strategy #7: Unsubscribe from unwanted email
Do you receive industry newsletters and marketing communications in your work email? Remove yourself from these lists by using the unsubscribe button. For those communications you still want to receive, change your email to a non-work address that you can review by choice during your personal time. Mark all unwanted communications as “spam”, so that you won’t continue to receive more of the same from these sources.
“Inbox Zero” may be an unrealistic pipe dream, but with these strategies, you should be able to conquer your inbox without feeling overloaded. Let us know how these tips are working for you!
