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.

Focusing on the present moment is the key for letting go of stress you’ve been carrying around. Instead of worrying about everything in your life, you can zone in on the task at hand. And often that task is a lot simpler than you may have thought. Once you get absorbed in what you’re doing, work can feel so much more satisfying. Instead of resisting and struggling, you become engaged, alert and involved.

Here are a few simple tips to help you find that sense of focus and increase your present moment awareness.Take It One Day at a Time

In the book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, self-help guru Dale Carnegie encourages people to live in “day-tight compartments.” He uses the analogy of a ship to illustrate his idea. Ships are designed to have separate compartments that can be closed off in case of emergency, making the risk of sinking much smaller. If one part of the ship fills with water, you can simply lock off that compartment and continue on your way.

So often, we function like poorly designed ships. We allow one problem (or several) to fill up our whole minds and take over our lives. After awhile, we become immobilized with worry. Dale Carnegie’s solution is to take life one day at a time. Everyone can get through one day. When we take on more than that, we eventually run into trouble.

So try not to worry about your entire life. Don’t even worry about tomorrow. Just live today. Letting go of the need to manage your whole future can free you to live your life and enjoy the journey.

Focus on What’s Working

Your thoughts are powerful. Whatever you focus on tends to increase. If you focus on potential problems, they will become bigger and bigger. If you focus on the good things in your life, extraordinary blessings will start popping up everywhere you look. Your life may not be any different, but the way you look at your life changes the way you experience it. Plus, the whole self-fulfilling prophesy effect can play a role as well.

Helen Keller put it this way, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” What a beautiful reminder. Face the sunshine and start paying attention to what’s working. Celebrate the good things in your life whether it’s a new job prospect, a friendly co-worker or a steady paycheck.

Practice Gratitude

A simple way to focus on the positive is to write out a list of everything you’re grateful for. While you’re at work, you can type it out into a word document. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate, but taking the time to notice and appreciate all the things that are going right will make you realize how lucky you really are. Your worries will fade into the background.

This may seem obvious, but saying “thank you” is another great way to practice gratitude. When a co-worker successfully completes a tough project, say thanks. When the baristas at the local coffee shop make you a delicious drink, let them know you appreciate it. Building positive connections with the people around you reinforces your sense of well being. It makes everyone else feel better, too.

Don’t Buy into the Grass-Is-Greener Myth

You’ve heard the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” We know that once we get over there, it isn’t really greener. It just looks that way from a distance. The grass-is-greener myth prevents us from recognizing how good we’ve got it. Instead, we spend our time wishing for something better.

When you were in high school, you might have fantasized about how great it would be to be living on your own. You longed to experience more freedom and independence. But once you were on your own, you couldn’t help but think about how amazing high school was. No worries. No responsibility. No bills. If only you could go back!

That might not be your personal experience, but there may be other phases of life you tend to idealize. Maybe you think your life will really take off when you get married or get promoted or have a baby. While those goals are certainly worthwhile, don’t let them prevent you from appreciating the here and now.

Narrow down your focus to this day, this moment, this place. Then act. Get involved. Find what works. Give thanks. And be present.

Do you start planning your weekend long in advance?

Do you start thinking about what you’re going to do on the weekends as early as Monday morning?

We all need something to look forward to. But people all around us remind us to stay in the moment.  For example, how many times have you heard this?

“Live for today!”

Or this timeless classic:

“Enjoy each day because you never know if there will be a tomorrow.”

Well, it’s my conjecture that most of us, unless we are retired or really enjoy our jobs, live for the future. I am definitely guilty of this but I tend to think it’s a healthy practice. Having activities to look forward to is beneficial to a positive outlook on life. At least we aren’t depressed and feeling sorry for ourselves in what could possibly be a mundane job. Getting through the week is so much easier when we have fun times to look forward to.  While I’m not exactly “living for the weekend”, I make it a point to have something to look forward to and I’m happier for it.

How do you approach each day of your working life?

But it does more than give us unlimited classifieds. It offers new ways to connect to people who are looking for candidates and for candidates to screw up the opportunity.

Don’t let it happen to you. Here are some concepts you need to master when it comes to finding a job using technology and the Internet.

Resumes and Cover Letters Still Matter

Yes, these two pieces of paper are still important. Maybe they’re attachments to your e-mail. But you need to give the hiring managers something to print and read.

While you’re at it, make sure you use proper grammar and spelling. One HR professional says she cuts and pastes all the cover letters she receives into Word so the spell check can tell her who gets it wrong.

Use Social Networks

College students are ignoring Twitter but the people who want to hire them are on it. Get in front of the people who are looking for your talents. Network in their circles.

Don’t Abuse Social Networks

Take a look at your Facebook account. How many times do the words “drunk,” “wasted” and “PARRRR-TAY” appear on pages? That doesn’t cut it with most employers. Sure they did it when they were your age. But not they’re responsible adults who want to hire people who know how to pretend they’re responsible adults.

Don’t put anything in a tweet or update that you wouldn’t say in a job interview.

• Bonus Tip: Change your Facebook privacy settings so that the only photos of you that can be tagged with your name are ones you tag. So all those beer pong photos don’t show on your wall.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn can be a valuable tool for finding a job. Make sure your public profile looks as good as your resume.

Clean up Your Email Address

Do you know how many people in your industry want to hire someone with the email address party_girl69 at hotmail.com? Unless it’s more than 90%, you’d better create a new job search email address. Any clean variation of your name will work fine – unless you’re John Smith.

Also, employers are searching social networks for candidates’ e-mail addresses. So give them one that’s not attached to your MySpace page.

Get Creative

Of course creative is a relative term. You don’t want to be seen as avant garde when you’re looking for a job in accounting, insurance or banking. But you want to stand out in a good way and show you know how your industry works.

Consider Alex Brownstein. The copywriter identified five creative directors he admired and started using Google Adwords campaigns for their names. When the directors Googled themselves, they saw this ad at the top of the search page:

“Hey, [creative director's name]: Goooogling [sic] yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too”

You’ll never guess who got his dream job.

How does the Internet help or hurt your job search?

“Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength that you think that they have.”

This one was actually introduced to me by my daughter. When I read this quote, I immediately think of a phobia that I had growing up which especially manifested itself when I was in high school. That phobia is the fear of public speaking. Who hasn’t experienced this phobia in their lives? If you haven’t, then you are in the minority. Being a former scientist, I oftentimes had to present my research in front of other scientists at national symposiums or seminars. I knew that I was not gifted in the way of articulation and I didn’t want to embarrass myself on the national stage, so to speak. So I turned to the international speaking group called Toastmasters International whose mission is to make effective oral communication a worldwide reality. Well, it worked for me. After joining and having to give organized speeches as well as extemporaneously speaking at each meeting, my skills progressed well enough that I was able to deliver an effective presentation. I looked at that obstacle in the eye and hit it head on. Recently, after years of being away from a Toastmasters club, I rejoined a local club near my work. I had almost forgotten how supportive fellow club members can be.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

How true is the above quote? We affect how we think. No one else can control our thoughts. When I hear someone say “He made me sad” or “She got under my skin”, I say NO. You made yourself sad or upset. We are all responsible for our own thoughts and our own actions. Take responsibility for your own thoughts and your own actions. Turn around the way you look at things. A fundamental change in your thoughts could lead to a huge change in your life.

“Be impeccable with your word.”

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote a book entitled the “Four Agreements” and his 1st agreement is entitled “Be impeccable with your word.” If there is one thing that we all have in common it is that our words define us. We can control how we speak and what we say, just as we can control our thoughts. If we do not choose our words wisely then we will be judged by others according to those words. So it is imperative in our lives to think before we speak. At work, and in our personal lives, it is our words that represent us. Being careless and irresponsible with your words, can be disastrous. The common expression “Loose lips sink ships” is synonymous with the above quote. Being responsible in your verbal interaction is extremely important, not only in your work life, but in your personal life, as well.

“The Truly Educated never Graduate.”

If there is one quote that I tend to live my life by it is the above quote. I’m not sure of its origin as I saw it on a car, as a bumper sticker. I always try to learn something new every day, whether it be in my working life or otherwise. I know that this is the reason that I gravitate to non-fiction versus fiction. I don’t learn anything new by reading fiction. You cannot go wrong by learning something new. As an older worker, I am always concerned that a younger worker could be brought in to take my place. OK, I may be slightly paranoid, but I’ve seen it over and over again. They say they are having a layoff, but miraculously the position is supposedly abolished and then a young buck is hired who just happens to have the same job duties. How surprising is that? Being complacent in your job is dangerous. Open yourself up to the bleeding edge technologies. Immerse yourself in skills you do not yet know. Never graduate!

Inspiration can come from many sources. It’s up to you to use those words to make the positive changes that can benefit your life.

Some titles have stayed true to this purpose, remaining concise and unpretentious, like “Software Developer,” or “Account Manager.” But others have grown more vague and grandiose, like “Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Marketing,” or “Solutions Architect and Change Management Lead.”

Indistinct job titles and descriptions may impress some people, but they also risk giving the impression that your organization is overstaffed and that you are one of the nonessential fringe-workers. If you can’t answer the question, “What do you do?” without resorting to intentional ambiguities, you’re going to sound more like a cornered, dodgy politician than a competent worker.

The truth is, any job can sound impressive and important if you craft a little complexity into the title. You could call a window washer a “Transparency-Enhancement Facilitator,” or give the title of “Media Distribution Specialist” to a paperboy, but it doesn’t change the nature of the work.  After a short conversation, their roles will be clear – regardless of their job title.

Is a long, vague job title a sign of ordinary, mundane work being embellished? Is it a sign of “bloat” in an organization? Or is it just part of the game?

We’re looking to rebrand our business/website/product/publication, and we’re seeking a graphic designer to help us develop a new corporate identity. If interested, send us your concepts for our logos, layouts, typography and illustrations, and we’ll pick the best work and pay you handsomely for it.

In this scenario, all candidates are to do all the work, and only one will get paid. Although it’s quite common, this practice is clearly unfair to graphic designers, much like asking Target, Walmart and Sears to all send you a toaster, and promising to pay for only your favorite one.

Hire a ton, just pay one

Some websites accept as many as a hundred design submissions, and only one is purchased. The practice of “hire a ton, just pay one” would be indefensible if it weren’t for one issue: While you can evaluate several different fully-built toasters before you buy your favorite, businesses can’t evaluate or compare any design work until it’s all finished and submitted.

As a result, companies get the required variety the only fiscally viable way that they can; by asking for many designs and paying “handsomely” for one. Since logos and illustrations are usually customized for the unique purpose, It’s likely that nobody will ever buy the unchosen work. Unlike a toaster, designs are made for just one customer.

After seeing so many of these fruitless graphic designer job offers, one designer jokingly turned the concept around on its creators:

I am a graphic artist and in need of a job. I have decided to fill this need the same way many people think the can fill their graphic design needs; with a contest!

Here is how it will work;

Send me one weeks worth of salary and benefits. I will keep all of the checks that are sent to me and use all of the benefits. Whoever sends me the best salary and benefits package will win the contest and get the prize of two days of graphic design work!!!

Good Luck! I am really looking forward to receiving your payment packages!

Graphic design is not a commodity

A lot of graphic designers (like the one quoted above) insist that “graphic design is not a commodity.” Their point is that creative design, unlike copper or crude oil, varies in quality. You pay the cheapest possible price for things like gold or electricity, but the same strategy shouldn’t be employed when purchasing graphic design work. With design, the more you pay, the better the quality, right?

Not always.

Designers are correct beyond any doubt; graphic design does vary in quality, and it should vary in price accordingly. But, the quality doesn’t always match the price, and as much as they hate to admit it, designers aren’t always the ones getting the short end of the stick.

The 2012 Olympics Logo

Case and point: The logo for the 2012 Olympics to be held in London. This logo cost roughly $800,000 to develop, and it is widely considered to be controversially ugly and amateurish. Many were demanding a replacement logo from the minute this one was unveiled.

(Also, the website for the firm that designed this logo seems to be over 2500 pixels wide in certain areas. Many would consider this yet another unusual design choice.)

Clearly, design is not a commodity. Maybe that’s exactly why it’s unclear how much it’s worth. A business could shortchange a group of talented artists just as easily as it could overpay tremendously for amateurish “clip art.” Have you seen a designer get underpaid? Have you seen one make a killing? Do you like the 2012 London logo, or do you picture it on a birthday cake instead of a billboard?

Since I’m self-employed, had no need to drive, and was enjoying the first nice Friday afternoon in what seemed like an eternity, I opted to have a beer with my pizza.  I tried to get my beer-loving friend to join me, but he felt that it wasn’t appropriate given that he still had to go back to his office.

It got me thinking over the past week:  When is it okay to have an adult beverage?

When I was a cable guy, driving a company vehicle – no question.  And let me say this clearly – if you are driving, there’s no acceptable time to have a drink.  But when I got into the advertising world and learned that a beer fridge in the office was not grounds for immediate termination – let’s just say I didn’t think it was that big of a deal to have a “pop” and then walk back to a communications position in an office building.

Now, there’s a world of difference between wanting a drink and needing a drink – and if you are in the latter stage on a regular basis, you might want to consider asking for help.

My question to the folks in WorkAwesome:  Is there an acceptable time to have a drink during the work day?  Do you take part in a “liquid lunch” ritual?

LottoMax is a weekly lottery where you pick seven numbers, from 1 to 49, for your chance to win.  The pot starts at $10 million, and once it hits $50 million it goes into super-fancy “maxmillions” mode, with additional $1 million draws on top of the main jackpot.   The other night there was one draw for the $50 million prize, and an additional 45 – $1 million draws.  No one won the $50 million.

The odds of winning are 1 in 28 million, but considering that there are only 33 million people in Canada – it’s surprising that it hasn’t been won yet, but not that surprising that it’s featured prominently in the news.

So what does this have to do with WorkAwesome?  I’m sure I’m not the only one to play the “what if?” game:

“What would I do if I won the big jackpot?”

How much would you need to win in order to quit your job?  Or would you keep working where you are if you had an extra $50 million in the bank?  Would you move on to something else altogether – something you truly love?

What would you do if you won the big jackpot? 

Which comes first? Do your ever-improving skills grant you confidence? Or, alternatively, is it your confidence that catalyzes the growth of your skills?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

You can certainly have one in spades and suffer a conspicuous lack of the other. Some people are brimming with confidence and have no skills to back up all that bravado. Others have a brilliant array of abilities, but don’t have the gumption to put them all to use.

Sure, it would be ideal to have tons of both. But if you could only have one, which would you pick? Which is a “nice to have” and which is a critical component of your working persona?