Month: April 2013

3 Tips to Avoid Distractions

I used to joke that if you wanted my dorm room, house or office to be spotless give me a deadline that I didn’t want to meet. In an effort to avoid meeting the deadline, I would do most anything, including cleaning anything and everything. Of course, eventually, I’d have to meet the deadline and I’d have even less time to do so, although I would have a neat space.

I now employ a few tricks to force myself to focus. I’m using one of them right now as I work on this blog.

1. Set a time limit. I’ve procrastinated all day writing this blog — and not because I didn’t want to but because I couldn’t figure out which topic I wanted to address. Finally, I picked one and employed this technique. I now have 45 minutes to write, edit and post the blog.

2. Play a CD. Sometimes when I can’t motivate myself to tackle a house project — whether it’s actually cleaning the house or cleaning out a closet — I’ll pick a CD and work until the CD finishes playing. I get to enjoy my music and often get lost in the tunes and before I know it the project is finished, and almost always before the CD has finished. If, by chance, I still have work to complete on the task, I am now motivated and will continue — usually with another CD. I also will listen to a few songs while I clean out e-mails. It makes the task much more enjoyable.

3. Promise yourself a reward. Sometimes the task is just not something you want to do. In that instance, I promise myself a treat, which ranges from a Starbucks to dinner out with friends depending on the challenge of the task.

How do you help yourself to focus?

 

World Press Freedom Index Released

WebThe other day a report about media freedom crossed my desk, and I thought I would share some of the findings.

Finland, the Netherlands and Norway have distinguished themselves as countries that most respect media freedom. Those in the last three positions are dictatorial countries – Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.

The results are from the 2013 Reporters Without Borders World Press Free Index.

“The Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders does not take direct account of the kind of political system but it is clear that democracies provide better protection for the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information than countries where human rights are flouted,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

 

4 Reasons to Attend NFPW Conference

Four months until the NFPW conference and I’ve already booked my hotel and flight. Next I’ll register. Why I am so eager? The conference affords me many opportunities, including:

Stretching: At this conference, NFPW members applied to be speakers on various topics. I frequentlsmall_badgey speak on issues related to my profession, including on social media, branding and crisis communications. I agreed to be a panelist on crisis communications.

I also pitched a seminar on “The Brand of You.” I’m interested in coaching and decided that offering a seminar on this topic would force me to review all of my learnings, study some more and then create a presentation. My summer will be busy, and I hope it will be worth it to those who attend my session.

Networking: Our members have lots of knowledge and they’re just plain interesting. They also are always willing to share advice or simply listen. With social media, it’s even easier to stay in touch.

Learning: I’ve increased my knowledge about agriculture thanks to Jenni Latzke, Lori Potter and Barb Batie. The result is that for th2013_conf_logo-300pxe past several years I have grown my own vegetables. This summer I may try canning. I’ve learned about book publishing and video editing. At an NFPW conference I first learned about blogging and thought, “I could never do this” and now I’ve been blogging for four years.

Exploring: One of the added benefits of NFPW conferences are the tours. The affiliates that host know the places to see and often can provide access behind-the-scenes. I’m looking forward to exploring Southern Utah.

Why do you attend conference? Please share as a comment to encourage others to attend.

 

4 Tips to Help College Graduates

College graduates are facing a tight job market. You may not be able to hire anyone, but you can still help them. Here are four ways:

Introductions While your company may not have an opening, you may know someone whose company does. Connect your colleague and the graduate and share why you think the recent graduate would be a good addition to the staff.

Mock Interviews One of the challenging parts of landing a job is the interview. If a graduate asks for your time, you could conduct a mock interview with the person. This enables the graduate to work on interviewing techniques. At the conclusion of the interview, you can offer suggestions on how to improve answers or delivery.

Shadow Exercises Do you remember the challenge of figuring out what you wanted to do when you graduated? You can help a student by letting them shadow you for part of a day. It means a bit of extra work for you as you explain what you are doing and why but you will provide the student with a better understanding of your work and the business environment.

I like to invite students to join the team meeting so they can hear from everyone. Then, depending on the student’s interest, I schedule 30-minute informational interviews with different team members. I ask the team members to honestly share about the highs and lows of the position. In a few short hours, they get an understanding of the work environment and they have made some new connections.

Resumes Students almost always list their education first on their resumes. Most employers, however, want to know what the graduate can offer. I frequently review student resumes. One of the first things I do is put the education at the end of the resume. I also encourage them to note what they achieved through their extracurricular activities. Many part-time jobs enable students to develop customer service and management skills so I help them highlight those.

None of these activities require a significant time investment. For the student, though, it’s a huge investment in their career.

Next Step — Walking Meetings

I spend too much time each day in meetings, which means I am not moving – unless you count the steps I take to walk to a different meeting room.

When I was a reporter, I had to leave my desk and seek out a story. As a spokesperson, I had to respond to a situation, which meant walking – and lots of standing.

I recently instituted a Monday agile meeting. The goal was 15 minutes to quickly update others on the team about our integration points for the week. The plan was to stand. Instead, because we’re in a conference room, we all sit.

Then I read about walking meetings – or walkntalks as the author Nilofer Merchants call them – on Wired. The concept is simple. For one-to-one meetings walk with the person and truly listen to what they have to say. If preparation is needed, provide the materials in advance. If you need to capture something from the meeting, you can record a short message on your mobile device.

The best part of walking meetings is the additional fitness boost.

I’m going to give it a try.