The most effective way to organise work and life is by projects and areas of responsibility. A project is an endeavour that has<ol><li>a desired outcome that you can mark off as complete,</li><li>a timeframe by which you'd like it done.</li></ol> An area of responsibility has <ol><li>a standard to be maintained that</li><li>is continuous over time.</li></ol> In essence, a project ends while areas continue indefinitely.

Projects and areas

<ul><li>Running a marathon is a project. Health is an area.</li><li>Publishing a book is a project. Writing is an area.</li><li>A vacation to Thailand is a project. Travel is an area.</li></ul>In the above examples, the projects have completion dates. The projects finish when the desired outcome is achieved. But just because a project is over doesn't mean you can forget about that area of your life.

Every project has a corresponding area that it falls within

There is no end date or final outcome with the area of responsibility. Your performance may increase or decrease over time, but the standard continues indefinitely and requires a certain level of attention. Areas have no finish line you can reach that allows you to "complete" managing your health or "achieve" writing once and for all.

Every area of responsibility has a standard to be maintained

At a deep level, projects and areas depend on each other. A project is like a rocket taking off. It starts with an explosion of energy toward an objective. Your areas are like the stable infrastructure that enables that rocket to take off. By keeping your areas of responsibility healthy and thriving, you are building up reserves of strength that can be spent in an explosive burst of energy toward a goal that matters to you.

Projects and areas are interdependent

“Project people” are good at sprints. Give them a clear goal and a path to get there, and they'll chase after it.The weakness of sprinters: Once they've reached their goal, they will lose interest, only to change direction and run after the next goal. “Area people” excel at marathons. Send them on a long journey with some supplies, and they will keep at it for as long as it takes.The weakness of marathoners: They have trouble generating a lot of power on short notice. They have difficulty changing direction when an opportunity requires quick, decisive action.

Project people vs Area people

<ul><li>Adopt a morning or evening routine</li><li>Set limits to your working hours</li><li>Take regular breaks and walks in nature</li><li>Journal and write out your internal anxieties and thoughts</li><li>Create a mindful habit</li><li>Set your intentions each day, week, month, or year</li><li>Evaluate your schedule for a balance of intense work and healthy, mindful activities</li></ul>

Project person: improving your ability to sustain your areas

<ul><li>Set a deadline with consequences</li><li>Use “timeboxing” to concentrate your energy output</li><li>Promise someone that you’ll deliver by a certain time</li><li>Schedule a meeting or presentation during which you’ll show your work</li><li>Reduce the scope of the project and drop features as the deadline approaches</li><li>Break the project down into smaller pieces and set milestones for each one to be finished by</li><li>Design your working environment to promote focus by removing distractions and notifications</li></ul>

Area person: improving your ability to execute projects

When you launch a new project, you have to set aside many of your usual habits, routines, and boundaries you usually rely on. You must let go and focus every bit of energy on a single outcome. For example, when you’re about to close a big sales contract with an important client, that isn't the time to rigidly stick to your gym routine. When you temporarily let go of control in this way, a considerable amount of extra energy becomes available to you.

The explosive power of projects

When I started my career, all the work I was doing felt like a giant blob labeled “work.” The tasks I was responsible for stretched out before me toward

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Problem Solving

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Product & Design

Project People vs. Area People: Are You Running a Sprint Or a Marathon? - Forte Labs

The second as we know it was one introduced in the late 1500s when the Gregorian calendar began to spread across the globe alongside British colonialism. The Gregorian calendar defined a day as a single revolution of the Earth about its axis. A day could be divided into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. Yet, the second was more a mathematical idea than a useful unit of time.

The history of the second

The second only became important when society became interconnected through fast-moving railways where cities needed to agree on exact timekeeping. By the 1950s, several global systems required every second to be accounted for with as much precision as possible.  Today, devices are synchronised to help us maintain a globally consistent time, from radio signal transmitters to satellites for global positioning systems.

The growing importance of the second

As early as 1955, researchers started to develop atomic clocks, which relied on the laws of physics to establish a new foundation for timekeeping. An atom consists of negatively charged electrons orbiting a positively charged nucleus at a consistent frequency. You can lightly disturb an electron's orientation if you expose an atom to an electromagnetic field such as light or radio waves. If you briefly tweak an electron at the right frequency, the vibration will resemble a ticking pendulum and can tick for centuries.

Atomic clocks

Before timekeeping could go fully atomic, countries had to decide which atom would work best.  At the Thirteenth General Conference of the International Committee for Weights and Measures in 1967, researchers decided on Cesium-133. The element conformed to the following specifications:<ul><li>It had a long-lived and high-frequency electron oscillation for precise, long-term timekeeping.</li><li>It maintained a reliably measurable quantum spin </li><li>It could easily vaporise.</li></ul>

Finding the right element

Determining how many ticks of a caesium atom were in a second, the conference used the most precise astronomical measurement of a second available at the time.  They started with the number of days in a year and divided it down. Compared to the atom’s ticking rate, one second was defined as exactly 9,192,631,770 ticks of a caesium-133 atom.

The cesium standard

Discover how scientists developed atomic clocks, which use the vibrations of atoms to measure and maintain a globally consistent time. -- In 1967, researchers gathered to answer a long-running scientific question: just how long is a second? It might seem obvious at first. A second is the tick of a clock, the swing of a pendulum, the time it takes to count to one. But how precise are those measurements? And what is that length based on? John Kitching digs into how we scientifically define this fundamental unit of time. Lesson by John Kitching, directed by Tjoff Koong. Support Our Non-Profit Mission ---------------------------------------------- Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop ---------------------------------------------- Connect With Us ---------------------------------------------- Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram ---------------------------------------------- Keep Learning ---------------------------------------------- View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-decides-how-long-a-second-is-john-kitching Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-decides-how-long-a-second-is-john-kitching#digdeeper Animator's website: http://greenhouseanimation.com/directors/tjoff-koong/ ---------------------------------------------- Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Lawrence Wu, Xavier Dupont, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Sebastiaan Hols, Aries SW, Amy Lopez, Liz Candee, Kathryn Vacha, Anthony Arcis, Jeffrey Segrest, Karmi Nguyen, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Mohamed Elsayed, Les Howard, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Charles A Hershberger, Robert Seik, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Mario Mejia, Nicolas Silva, Kurt Almendras, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry and Kristiyan Bonev.

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History

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Time Management

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Videos

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Science & Nature

Discover how scientists developed atomic clocks, which use the vibrations of atoms to measure and maintain a globally consistent time. 

--

In 1967, researchers gathered to answer a long-running scientific question: just how long is a second? It might seem obvious at first. A second is the tick of a clock, the swing of a pendulum, the time it takes to count to one. But how precise are those measurements? And what is that length based on? John Kitching digs into how we scientifically define this fundamental unit of time.

Lesson by John Kitching, directed by Tjoff Koong.

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View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-decides-how-long-a-second-is-john-kitching
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-decides-how-long-a-second-is-john-kitching#digdeeper

Animator's website: http://greenhouseanimation.com/directors/tjoff-koong/
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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Lawrence Wu, Xavier Dupont, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Sebastiaan Hols, Aries SW, Amy Lopez, Liz Candee, Kathryn Vacha, Anthony Arcis, Jeffrey Segrest, Karmi Nguyen, Yelena  Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Mohamed Elsayed, Les Howard, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Charles A Hershberger, Robert Seik, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Brady Jones, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Mario Mejia, Nicolas Silva, Kurt Almendras, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry and Kristiyan Bonev.

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TED-Ed

Who decides how long a second is? - John Kitching

The critical path method (CPM) was developed in the late 1950s to resolve the problem of increased costs due to inefficient scheduling. The technique can help you identify and map out critical tasks you need for project completion. The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks that must be finished on time. Any delays in critical tasks will delay the rest of the project. This technique allows you to set realistic timeframes and manage task dependencies.

Creating a project roadmap

CPM helps to plan projects, allocate resources and schedule tasks. CPM benefits:<ul><li>Improves future planning: CPM can be used to compare expectations with actual progress. Current data can inform future project plans.</li><li>Effective resource management: CPM helps project managers prioritise tasks and give them a better idea of how and where to deploy resources.</li><li>Helps avoid bottlenecks: CPM will give you a better idea of which activities can and can't run in parallel.</li></ul>

CPM provides valuable insight

Finding the critical path involves looking at the duration of critical and non-critical tasks: CPM steps:<ol><li>List activities</li><li>Identify dependencies</li><li>Create a network diagram</li><li>Estimate task duration</li><li>Calculate the critical path</li><li>Calculate the float</li></ol>

How to find the critical path

List all the project activities or tasks required to produce the deliverables of each task. The list of activities in the work breakdown structure serves as the foundation for the rest of the CPM.

List activites

From your work breakdown structure, determine which tasks are dependent on one another to identify any work that can be done in parallel with other tasks. The dependent tasks, known as an activity sequence, will be used to determine the critical path. For example, a marketing team is producing a new interactive blog post. In the example above:<ul><li>Task B is dependent on A</li><li>Task C is dependent on B</li><li>Tasks C and D can run in parallel</li><li>Task E is dependent on D</li><li>Task F is dependent on C, D, and E.</li></ul>

Identify dependencies

A network diagram is a flowchart that shows the chronology of activities. Create a box for each task and use arrows to show task dependencies. Add other time-bound components to the network diagram until a general project schedule is worked out.

Create a network diagram

To calculate the longest sequence of critical tasks, you need to estimate the duration of each activity. How to estimate the duration:<ul><li>Make educated guesses based on previous experience and knowledge.</li><li>Estimate based on previous project data.</li><li>Estimate based on industry standards.</li></ul> Use the forward pass and backward pass technique to calculate float.<ul><li>Forward pass is used to find early start (ES) and early finish (EF) dates by using a previously specified start date. EF is ES + duration.</li><li>Backward pass is used to calculate late start (LS) and late finish (LF) dates. LS is LF -duration.</li></ul>

Estimate task duration

Calculating the critical path can be done manually, but a critical path algorithm can save time. Step 1: Write down the start and end time next to each activity. The first activity time is 0 and the end time is the duration of the activity. The next acitity start at the previous activity end time. Do this for all activities.Step 2: Look at the end time of the last activity in the sequence to determine the duration of the entire sequence. Step 3: The sequence of activities with the longest duration is the critical path.

Calculate the critical path

Float, or slack, refers to a given task's flexibility. It shows how much the task can be delayed without impacting subsequent tasks or the end date of the project. Critical tasks have zero float. Their dates are set. How to determine the two types of float: <ul><li>Total float is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the project finish date. Total float = LS - ES or LF - EF .</li><li>Free float is how long an activity can be delayed without impacting the following activity. Free float = ES (next task) - EF (current task)</li></ul>

 Calculate the float

<ul><li>CPM provides visibility into your project’s progress.</li><li>At times, a project deadline may e pushed up with fast-tracking (parallel processes speed up overall duration) and crashing (allocating more resources to speed up activities.)</li><li>Resolve resource shortages. When there is a resource shortage, like an overbooked team member or lack of equipment, you can use resource levelling techniques to solve the issue. </li><li>Compile data for future use.</li></ul>

How to use the critical path method

business

Business

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Startups

Critical path method: How to use CPM for project management

Most of the caffeine we consume is found in coffee and tea, but it can also be found in some sodas, chocolate, caffeine pills, and decaf beverages. Caffein helps us feel alert, focused, happy, and energetic, even if we lack sleep. However, it can also raise our blood pressure and make us feel anxious. Caffeine is found the leaves and seeds of certain plant species. It's toxic to insects, but when they consume it in lower doses, such as found in nectar, it can help them to remember and revisit flowers.

Caffeine consumption

In the human body, caffeine acts as a stimulant for the central nervous system. It keeps us awake by blocking one of the body's sleep-inducing molecules, called adenosine. Your body gets its supply of energy by breaking down ATP, a high-energy molecule. In the process, adenosine is released. When adenosine docks at the receptors in your brain,  it activates a cascade of biochemical reactions that makes your neurons fire more slowly, making you get sleepy. Caffeine interfears with this process of slowing your neurons.

Why caffeine keeps us awake

Adenosine receptors are linked to the dopamine receptors in some neurons in the brain. Dopamine promotes feelings of pleasure. When adenosine docks in one of these paired receptors, it makes it harder for dopamine to fit in its own place and interrupt mood-lifting. But when caffeine takes the place of adenosine, dopamine can fit in its own place and increase the mood.

Caffeine boost positive feelings

Caffeine can reduce the risk of diseases like Parkinson's,, Alzheimer's, and some types of cancer. It can increase the body's ability to burn fat.  However, caffeine can also raise your heart rate and blood pressure, cause increased urination or diarrhoea, and cause insomnia and anxiety.  The body adapts to regular consumption of caffeine. When you suddenly quit caffeine, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, tiredness and depressed moods.

Caffeine long-term effects

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-caffeine-keep-us-awake-hanan-qasim Over 100,000 metric tons of caffeine are consumed around the world every year. That’s equivalent to the weight of 14 Eiffel Towers! Caffeine helps us feel alert, focused, and energetic, even if we haven’t had enough sleep — but it can also raise our blood pressure and make us feel anxious. So how does it keep us awake? Hanan Qasim shares the science behind the world’s most widely used drug. Lesson by Hanan Qasim, directed by Adriatic Animation.

food

Food

health

Health

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-does-caffeine-keep-us-awake-hanan-qasim

Over 100,000 metric tons of caffeine are consumed around the world every year. That’s equivalent to the weight of 14 Eiffel Towers! Caffeine helps us feel alert, focused, and energetic, even if we haven’t had enough sleep — but it can also raise our blood pressure and make us feel anxious. So how does it keep us awake? Hanan Qasim shares the science behind the world’s most widely used drug. 

Lesson by Hanan Qasim, directed by Adriatic Animation.

How does caffeine keep us awake? - Hanan Qasim

Pre-warm your mug. Before adding water to your ground beans and filter, pour some hot water into your mug. Your coffee will stay hot and keep flavour longer. Not-quite-boiling. The water temperature for pouring directly over the grounds should be 200 degrees F. Don't save your beans for special occasions. The further you get for the roast date, the weaker the flavour. The golden ratio of coffee to water is 1:16 for above-average beans (about 22 grams of coffee to 253 grams of water).

Improving your coffee game

If you have an espresso machine at home, it is helpful to know how to use it properly. <ul><li>Ensure the screen on top of your ground, compacted beans is totally wet before brewing. This will ensure that water runs evenly through the entire thing, the coffee sitting beneath will be hydrated evenly, and your flavour will be concentrated and consistent.</li><li>Break up the crema - that tan, creamy froth on top of the dark brown espresso - to release all the aromatics.</li></ul>

Tips for making espresso

From pre-warming mugs to water temperature guidance, we're here to improve your morning ritual with 5 quick tips.

5 Tips for a Better Cup of Coffee

As a PM, expect your successes to be recognized. Understand that executives will often attempt to spray accolades across the entire team. You must be vigilant: you are the one who is being celebrated, and you are the one who must take all of the glory. Credit is career currency, and you’re polishing your own LinkedIn profile, not theirs.

How to Work With Software Engineers: Absorbing Praise

Occasionally something will go wrong. In software development, the thing that goes wrong is usually software. When software fails, a software developer is to blame. That’s just logical. Make sure to redirect the accusations when they’re aimed at you, and to preemptively sow blame whenever possible. Always remember: there is no “we” in me.

How to Work With Software Engineers: Deflect Blame

Frivolous little technical details are for the engineers, and you have much better things to be doing. Like ideating. Comprehension only leads to disappointment and fosters a so-called “rational” view of what’s possible. You can’t change the world if you know what’s hard and what’s easy. Avoid minutiae at all costs. Anything you imagine can be done in ten lines of code. It hardly matters which ten.

Don’t Bother With The Details

Software engineers write code, that’s what they do. They’re always fretting about how stuff is distracting them from their hacking. So why would you waste their time involving them in a project before it’s ready for coding? You don’t see a bunch of construction workers kicking back in an architect’s office. Bring them in once all of the strategizing and synergizing is done and all that’s left is the programming.

Involve Engineers Late In The Timeline

The best way to demonstrate your value to the team is by introducing processes. Rules grease the wheels of progress. Look for opportunities to schedule update meetings, daily briefings, and all-day reviews. Keep your engineers productive by requiring them to fill out tracking spreadsheets, status reports, and cross-functional executive update emails. If you don’t do it, nobody will.

Adding Processes

Engineers are highly analytical, which means they take a less-sophisticated approach to decision-making that often relies on “supporting data” or “rationales” rather than vision and blue sky thinking. Maintaining an air of mystery when decisions are made will keep them on their toes. They’ll complain regardless, there’s no reason to give them specific things to gripe about.

Never Tell The Reason

Your job as the product manager is to make assurances on behalf of your team. Leadership means setting the bar high and challenging everyone to teleport over it. Show your ambition by committing to project schedules without consulting your team. Being held accountable to somebody else’s promises builds character and brings out the best in people.

Always Commit For Them

You’re a busy knowledge worker, and the last thing you need is to wait for an engineer to finish their current task. You need it ASAP (pronounced “AY-sap”). Whatever an engineer is working on is less important than what you need right now. Feel free to interrupt them at any time. Chat windows and phone calls can be effective, but nothing beats the good old shoulder tap for impact.

Interrupt Any Time

There are few things more dangerous to your career than being proven wrong. Ensure this never happens by aiming to be as vague and imprecise as possible. Feel free to change your mind at will. If you take every position imaginable, by definition you were right. Don’t record anything in writing, or better yet make documents so wordy and tedious nobody will bother reading them.

Be Ambiguous And Vague

Engineers will sometimes say something is “impossible.” They’re lying. Nothing in engineering is impossible if you set your mind to it. The Wright Brothers never thought that flying across the Atlantic was impossible! Assume a software engineer is always deceiving you and act accordingly. So when you hear terms like “technical debt” or “working from home,” you’ll be ready to call their bluff.

Engineers Are Always Lying

If it’s not blindingly obvious by now, you should do exactly none of these things. Even the most conscientious PMs are occasionally guilty of less extreme infractions in each of these categories. Strive for the opposite and chances are you’ll succeed as a PM.  <ul><li>Deflect praise</li><li>Absorb blame</li><li>Sweat the details</li><li>Involve them early</li><li>Streamline process</li><li>Always tell the reasons</li><li>Never commit without them</li><li>Respect their time</li><li>Be specific</li><li>Trust them</li></ul>

The Bottomline Of This Satire

Best Practices to Align Stakeholders, Guide Development Teams, and Create Value Together

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Books

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Teamwork

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Leadership & Management

communication

Communication

Leading in Product Management 

A satirical take at handling a product team.

How can product managers learn to work effectively with engineers? In this tongue-in-cheek essay, Ken Norton tells you how.

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Career

computerscience

Computer Science

How to Work With Software Engineers | Ken Norton

Agile project management is a methodology that uses short development cycles called “sprints” to focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service.This new way of managing projects that grew out of Agile software development has become the standard and for very good reasons.

What is Agile Project Management?

One of the tenets of Agile software development is to get a working piece of software out the door as early as possible and then see how it behaves, how people use it, what should be changed, how to build on it, and so on.Startups have generally adopted the concept of using a minimum viable product (MVP), but oftentimes, startups still fail to do this properly. This is where Agile project management comes in.Agile project management employs various mechanisms and practices which encourage a rapid product release and prepares your startup for moving forward.

Launching Your Product

Agile provides you with an empirical way of identifying how to best add value to your product and constantly improve upon it. This includes determining what to build next and how to weigh the costs of doing it against the estimated benefits, as well as better estimates on how long it will take to make those improvements.

Constantly Improving Your Product

Communication is one of the core ideas of Agile software development and it was embraced fully by Agile project management.<ul><li>For one, Agile project management will encourage internal communication within the team. This is done through different meetings that all serve very specific purposes and reduce the need for additional meetings.</li><li>It is crucial to understand that Agile project management also puts great emphasis on external communication. This entails getting feedback from users and ensuring the product is truly valuable.</li></ul>

Emphasizing Communication

Agile accepts change. In fact, it welcomes it. In the startup world, this is a huge thing since it is an ecosystem that is constantly changing.Thanks to the short iterations in which Agile project management handles projects and products, you will be able to react more quickly if the market changes or if you find out that your existing product is falling behind the competition

Becoming More Adaptable

Agile teams are not managed in the traditional sense of the word. They are self-organized teams that operate as a unit in order to add value to the product and the organization as a whole. They decide on the best way to get the work done and they take full responsibility for their results.In addition to this, good Agile project management will also have certain mechanisms in place that encourage the team to actively look for ways to improve as a unit.

Building Strong Teams

One of the main goals of Agile software development is to establish a sustainable way to deliver working software in short iterations.<ul><li>You should have a rough roadmap that will provide guidance for your startup’s growth. By truly thinking this through, you will avoid situations where you set unrealistic goals for your team because you skipped a step somewhere.</li><li>You should strive to set sensible goals for your team, with timeframes that will not require 20-hour days.</li></ul>Of course, there may be times where your team will have to put in extra hours, but it should not become a habit.

Avoiding Burnout

Startups usually operate on very tight budgets, especially in the early days. This goes both for money that is available and, sometimes even more importantly, for the work that your startup’s small team can handle.In such a situation, investing in large, time-consuming initiatives can become spectacularly wasteful, resulting in all kinds of negative outcomes, including having to close shop.

Reducing Waste

Agile project management is perfect for startups. Here's what you need to know about why it can help your startup work faster, move faster, and grow faster.

7 Ways Agile Project Management Can Help Your Startup Grow Faster

"Don't be intimidated by what you don't know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else."

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice."

"Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them."

"One of the most important things I have learned is that businesses don't fail, entrepreneurs give up. Now sometimes, giving up is the right decision. But usually you just need to dig in and figure out how to make things better. Remember: Every day is a new opportunity to get up and do it better than yesterday!"

"Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender, it's holy ground. There's no greater investment."

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes but they don't quit."

"Take criticism seriously, but not personally."

"Failure is just a resting place. It is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently."

. "It's not about money or connections. It's the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business."

"What good is an idea if it remains an idea? Try. Experiment. Iterate. Fail. Try again. Change the world."

"I stand up on my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way."

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Quotes for Entrepreneurs That Will Uplift and Inspire

The pandemic has revealed that remote and hybrid teams can be very productive. One report found that 83% of employers said remote work has been successful. But then the Great Resignation began. Statistics show that anywhere from 26% to 55% of U.S. employees plan to quit their jobs, meaning momentum can be lost on projects and productivity. Therefore, it is vital for companies to find ways to mitigate these issues.

Key employees that quit

The chances are that you will lose a key employee at the worst possible time. <ul><li>At the outset, consider how you're going to capture information, so it's widely available. When the loss happens, inform the entire team at the same time to limit rumours.</li><li>Determine how you'll keep new and existing team members informed of the project's purpose, how it fits into organisation goals, and how you'll share information across disciplines. That way, it's easier to bridge the gap when someone leaves.</li></ul>

Plan like it's going to happen

It is necessary to build in cross-training and backup for each key role on the team. That way, you have one or two other people within the discipline that can step up to fill the position. It's a good idea to have sessions where team members find out more about the roles of team members in other positions and departments. That can help to get a new team member up and running faster and facilitate collaboration and brainstorming.

Build redundancy

As you cross-train team members, ensure to keep your talent bench deep. Then, when a high-impact team member leaves, another candidate can be ready to overlap and replace them. Consider a clear plan on what you want the transition to look like in terms of content knowledge that you expect for the new leader to develop, the necessary individual relationships, and the most critical potential fail points for the project.

Always be succession-planning

Capture enough information about why decisions have been made, the next steps, and who is accountable for them. Best practices include:<ul><li>Determine the frequency of the meetings for effective information-sharing and schedule them.</li><li>Capture meeting notes, including the reason for the decision, the next steps, and the person responsible.</li><li>Use uniform collaboration tools (Slack, Asana, Monday, etc.) to track project steps, progress, communication, and outcomes.</li><li>Establish a communication hierarchy so the team has norms about where information can be found.</li></ul>

Create a clear and comprehensive information trail

If you're leading a team and a key member is leaving, don't try to solve the issue by yourself. Instead, involve HR and a set of cross-functional peers. Look at what's required for the role and brainstorm about who could best fill the position. They may recommend someone you’ve never thought of. Document the most immediate team needs and actions, and identify who can fill those roles. It may be possible to hire temporary or freelance help to fill gaps.

Perform triage if you need it

Team members may keep information to themselves if they feel some threat in the organisational culture. Organisations should work to establish a culture of trust to help employees feel they can share knowledge. Part of trust-building is giving employees a sense of ownership and autonomy, so they feel valued.

Trust is an overlooked asset

Employees are leaving their jobs in record numbers. Here’s how to prevent the loss of a key team member from derailing your multidisciplinary project. 


productivity

Productivity

How to keep your big project going, even after key team members leave

Studies pointed out that individuals who regularly consume caffeine have a greater tendency to be anxious. Caffeine can contribute to panic attacks, even if nothing is explicitly triggering the anxiety.  Individuals suffering from anxiety often attempt to switch to a milder caffeine option such as tea or avoid caffeine altogether.

Correlation between caffeine and anxiety

Caffeine increases stress because it raises blood pressure, causes heart palpitations, and increase stress hormones. When you drink caffeine, especially if you can't function without it, it enters your brain and affects your stress hormones. In addition, when it is consumed in large quantities, your cortisol levels will be negatively affected.

Caffeine raises your stress hormones

Caffeine makes you feel alert because it blocks adenosine - a neurotransmitter that activates drowsiness and exhaustion. That is why caffeine often feels like a quick fix. However, caffeine can cause serotonin depletion in the long run. When serotonin is low, there is a risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Caffeine impacts neurotransmitter balance

Caffeine can cause insomnia, particularly when consumed in the evening. Instead of getting high-quality sleep, your sleep is disturbed. If you're someone prone to overthinking and anxiety, insomnia can cause a negative spiral in your thoughts and prevent you from having restorative sleep.

Caffeine causes insomnia

Some people can sleep after caffeine intake, while other individuals with anxiety can become caffeine sensitive. That is why they feel palpitations, restlessness, and jitters. People can become caffeine sensitive because of their genes, metabolism, age, lifestyle, or medications that don't mix well with caffeine.

Caffeine causes sensitivity

Caffeine is no longer only found in coffee and tea. Caffeine can be found in sodas, coffee, tea, energy drinks, prescription drugs, painkillers, vitamins, and supplements. A 1/4 tablespoon of caffeine can cause acute anxiety, so if you're sensitive to caffeine, it will likely affect you. One tablespoon of caffeine is enough to kill an adult.

It's easy to over-consume caffeine

Caffeine deprives your brain of nutrients that impact your mood and brain functions, such as Magnesium and Vitamin B. Magnesium plays a role in anxiety and depression, and Vitamin B is known as the anti-stress vitamin. Anxiety causes reduced blood flow to your brain, and caffeine worsens it. That means that your brain gets fewer nutrients such as oxygen and water.

Caffeine reduces nutrients to your brain

Caffeine withdrawal can cause anxiety. Anxiety is common in those who choose to quit drinking caffeine or even gradually reducing their caffeine intake. This is more true for those who depend on caffeine to function, such as a morning cup of coffee. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a week or two.

Caffeine withdrawal

Not all caffeine is natural, such as caffeine found in sodas and energy drinks. Added caffeine is made synthetically and can damage your health worse than natural caffeine. Synthetic or added caffeine is also found in painkillers and prescription drugs, making it easier to overdose on.

Added caffeine is dangerous

Your caffeine habit might be a significant source of anxiety. Here's 12 ways that caffeine and anxiety are linked.