Displaying All Posts by Susan Johnston

Awesome Links #7: Defeating Distractions, Blog Boosting, Freelancing Fees

The 7 Secrets of Running a Wildly Popular Blog
A top direct marketing copywriter shares his tips on using personality and likeability to build your blog’s popularity.

20 Strategies to Defeat the Urge to Do Useless Tasks
Ever find yourself refreshing Facebook or cleaning out your desk instead of doing what’s really important? Read this post!

Three Reasons You’re Not Charging What You’re Worth
Many freelancers and other self-employed folks sell themselves short, but this post shows them how to break this habit and start charging more.

5 Ways To Boost Your Best Business Relationship
These days, finding a job or getting promoted is all about relationships, and this post shows you simple ways to strengthen those contacts.

Freelance Decor: 6 Motivational Posters from the Movies
Lastly, we bring you a fun, light-hearted post from our sister site, FreelanceSwitch, with humorous motivational posters. Click Here to Read Article …

Have You Hired a Business Coach?

Susan Johnston 22nd July Productivity 12 Comments

Though I’ve been freelancing full-time for two years, and I’m happy with where I am in my business, I’m a big fan of personal development. I read books, follow blogs, take classes, and attend conferences in my field. After all, everyone has areas where they could improve. Recently, I had the idea that I should hire a business coach to help me rethink some of the strategies I use and help my business climb to the next level.

A colleague suggested several business coaching candidates, so I contacted a smaller subset of that group and discussed my needs over the phone. The first coach seemed friendly, yet professional, and we clicked almost immediately. As our conversation concluded, she agreed to send me a proposal of what our coaching relationship would look like.

The second coach seemed equally friendly and professional, but after we chatted for awhile, she did something that few self-employed professionals do: discouraged me from becoming a client. “It sounds like you have solid strategies in place, and the few issues you’ve had were unusual circumstances,” she said. “I hate to turn away business, but I’m just not sure you need this right now.” I told her appreciated her honesty and that I’d get in touch if I really did need her in the future. When the first coach got back to me with her proposal, I responded similarly. I’d also been thinking about hiring a personal assistant and that seemed like a better use of resources anyway.

Though I didn’t end up using a business coach, there are others who went the other way.

Have you hired a business coach or a life coach? What did you look for? How did they help you? Click Here to Read Article …

Are Work Friends Counterproductive?

Susan Johnston 9th July Office Life 8 Comments

A few years ago when I began working at a startup company, I made friends with several of my colleagues in the marketing and creative departments. We’d grab lunch together and occasionally meet up on the weekends or after work. I’d never been super-close with any of my coworkers before, so it was exciting to form such friendly bonds!

Having work buddies can make the workday pass more quickly and take the sting out of working late, but it can sometimes be a distraction. Plus, hanging out with coworkers after hours blurs the lines between your personal and professional life. In the case of my work posse, we got chastised a few times for taking longer lunches than we should (we were having so much fun chatting we lost track of time!).

Some career experts warn that being too chummy with friends at work also makes it less likely that you’ll be tapped for a promotion, because you may be seen as someone who’s serious about advancing their career (or you may subconsciously avoid any changes that would split up you and your work clique). Now that I’m working from home, I actually have the opposite of this problem: too few opportunities to interact with colleagues.

What’s your take on work friendships? Are work friends bad for your career? Click Here to Read Article …

Popular search terms for this article:

work friends

What’s Your Summertime Work Strategy?

Susan Johnston 6th July Office Life 3 Comments

Traditionally, summertime means kicking back with a cool drink and escaping to the beach. But some people actually use this time to get ahead, taking advantage of a lighter workload to plan for the rest of the year or tackle long-neglected projects.

Both approaches have their merits.

Obviously, it’s nice to slow down and smell the cool ocean breezes so you can return to work relaxed and rejuvenated. That said, beaches and other vacation destinations are crowded this time of year, so it may make sense to save vacation time and forge ahead at work to show your boss how committed you are. As a self-employed writer, I’m planning to do a little of both this summer. I may be taking a few half days to catch up on reading – but otherwise it’ll be business as usual.

What do you plan to do this summer? Will you be observing half-day Fridays, as they do in many companies? Maybe taking a week off for some fun in the sun? Or will you keep things at the status quo? Click Here to Read Article …

Using Spare Time: What Can You Do in 10 Minutes?

Susan Johnston 2nd July Productivity 8 Comments

Imagine you have a scheduled appointment or phone call in 10 minutes (let’s assume that you’re fully prepped for the appointment – or it’s not the type of thing that requires advanced work). 10 minutes is not enough time to tackle a major project, but still enough time to accomplish some small task. The question is: what will that task be?

When I have a window of spare time, I typically pull up Google Reader and scan through a couple of posts. It’s productive, because I’d want to read those posts at some point later. However, sometimes I’ll keep longer posts marked as unread if I don’t want to get sucked in to a “think” piece.

What about you? Will you click over to Facebook or Twitter and see what your friends are up to? Open a desk drawer and give it a quick refresh? Or start that big project and return to it later? Click Here to Read Article …

Popular search terms for this article:

what can you do in 10 minutes, what to do for 10 minutes, what to do in 10 minutes, what to do in spare time, What can I do for 10 minutes, what can i do in 10 minutes, things to do in spare time, what can you do in ten minutes, 10 minutes to spare, things to do in 10 minutes

Are Modern Conveniences Really a Time Saver?

Susan Johnston 25th June Productivity 5 Comments

Real Simple recently discussed modern time savers that aren’t all the supposed “improvements” that we twenty-first century folk take for granted. You know…things like microwaves, iPhones and the DVR.

The author makes a very valid point. Many of these innovations are a good idea in theory but actually end up requiring more time, not less. Take interstate highways – they’re fabulous until you’re mired in endless miles of traffic when you could be doing something (anything!) else.

One of the so-called “conveniences” that comes to mind for me is NetFlix (the poor man’s DVR). It’s a great way to avoid the video rental store, but then you end up spending the time you saved rearranging your queue or obsessively reading other people’s movie reviews. And if I didn’t have it, I’d probably spend less time watching movies and more time reading books (all right…or surfing the web). While trying to end up with more hours in the day, you end up with the same – or less. That’s pretty much the opposite of what you really want in a time saver.

What about you? Can you think of other “time-saving” innovations that actually take up more of our time? Click Here to Read Article …

Popular search terms for this article:

modern conveniences, List of Modern Conveniences

The “Upgrade iPhone” Dilemma: Will You Be Getting an iPhone 4?

Susan Johnston 24th June Communication 15 Comments

As the iPhone 4 prepared to hit stores today, I recall my Apple-obsessed boyfriend is trying to get me to camp out with him at the Apple store last night. I’m quite content with my Blackberry, thank you very much.

And after reading these tips from Geek Juice on Smartening Up a “Dumb Phone”, I’m starting to wonder whether I need a BlackBerry at all. Still, it seems like it would be simpler to use my smartphone’s browser than “googling” things via text message (Google and I are BFFs – I probably do several dozen searches per day).

What about you current or prospective iPhone users? Are you on the yearly “Upgrade iPhone” cycle? Will you be jumping on the faster, shinier, newer bandwagon or sticking with your current phone? Click Here to Read Article …

Popular search terms for this article:

iphone email has yellow text, iphone email yellow text

Productive Working Hours: What Are Your Best Work Times?

Susan Johnston 23rd June Productivity 27 Comments

Although most offices operate on 9 to 5 (or 8 to 6) working hours, not all workers work best on this timetable. Night owl workers prefer to burn the midnight oil, working late into the night when there are no distracting coworkers and their brain is at its sharpest.

I, on the other hand, prefer to follow regular business hours (roughly 9-6), so I’m available for dinner or drinks when my cubicle-dwelling friends get out of work. Plus, I like that feeling of accomplishment when the clock strikes noon and I can strike a bunch of items from my to-do list and break for lunch. When I’m still tethered to my computer at 7 or 8 at night, I feel antsy and unproductive (though I’ll do it if that’s what it takes to meet a deadline).

What about your working hours? What are your best work times? Why? Click Here to Read Article …

Popular search terms for this article:

best hours to work, best working hours, best work schedule, best work hours, what are the best hours to work, best time to work, ideal work schedule, best time to start work, ideal working hours, most productive work hours

←Older Posts

→Newer Posts

Join Our Mailing List

Categories