Time Management Tips

Time Management TipsTime Management TipsGot time management issues? Read on for some tricks that can give you mora control over your workday.I dont know about you, but I cant get enough information about time management. Life is busy, busy, busy and its great to learn new ways to gain more time to the day. From how you set up your workflow to how you utilize desk space, bringing all aspects of your workday up to optimum efficiency can save you time and stress and, fruchtwein importantly, prevent a pileup of work that builds up and makes you a bottleneck in the bigger picture.Master the fundamentalsSo overwhelmed you dont know where to begin? Shoring up your time management can be daunting, but tackling it one minute at a time makes it feel more achievable. Start with some of the basicsRestrict multi-tasking. We all know how easy it is to respond to emails while on a conference call, but missing important information could limit your ability to complete the required tasks and ultimate ly hinder your performance.Keep a record of your activities. You may notice that some duties are best suited to a certain time of day or week. You may also realize that you can batch tasks together and tackle them once a week.Organize your own way. Outlook isnt the only tool out there for managing your tasks - and others can be simpler and more intuitive to use. For taking notes and creating to-do lists, theres OneNote and Evernote. All of these tools are streamlined and efficient. But be sure to choose the one that is easiest and most useful for you.Plan ahead. Setting aside time at the end of the day to plan for the next one may sound obvious. But its one of the best time management tips out there. Few things can help you stay on track better than planning ahead, and it should take only 10-15 minutes.Get TickledAre you using a tickler file? If not, its worth adding to your time management arsenal. What is a tickler file, you ask? Its a filing system with folders for each day of t he month.To put a tickler file into action, place tasks that need to be done by particular days into the subset daily folders for the current month. For example, if you process invoices on the 15th of the month, place all invoices that come across your desk into folder number 15. If the due date for a task is more than 31 days out, place it in the corresponding monthly folder.You can place any type of task into your file. The system is especially useful for time-sensitive documents or anything with a hard deadline. You can also use it to remind yourself of recurring tasks, like filling printer paper every two days. Just write yourself a note on an index card and place it in the correct folder.Make your desk work for youKnowing how to organize your desk can save your sanity - let alone time. Here are some top tipsCustomize your method. Experiment with different organizational systems to see what works best for you. Try out various containers, baskets or drawer organizers.Nix the pap er. If you have notes taped all over your computer monitor and desk, convert them to electronic documents or slip them in a binder. See if you can streamline the layers of paper on your bulletin board.Stash it - or toss it. Put items you dont use on a daily basis, like a tape dosierpumpe or stapler, into a drawer or container. Getting rid of things you dont need anymore can clear up even more space. Shred or recycle unnecessary paperwork. Toss out old catalogs and publications. If you need to keep paper records, a file cabinet can bolster the organization of your files while clearing space from your desk.Keep it up. When you have organization under control, dont let it slip back into disorder. Take a few minutes at the end of each week to straighten things up. Youll save yourself time and future headaches on an ongoing basis.Dont forget your computer. The benefits of organization apply to your virtual desktop as well. There are a number of apps that can help you reduce computer clu tter. Organize email and sort items into folders. Cleaning out or deleting unnecessary emails once a week makes it faster to find emails you need later. Remove unused files - especially larger ones, such as outdated photos and videos - to free up space.

Why Failures So Important - The Muse

Why Failures So Important - The MuseWhy Failures So Important Have you ever done something new and exciting, looked at it later, and thought to yourself Oh my word. This is terrible.You feel a prickling of shame, a sigh of What was I thinking? and then a shrug of Oh well, never again.As a part of my business, I periodically have to shoot professional video. I used to think it was all glamorous makeup and fun times, but Ive since realized that its a lot of sweating under bright lights and wondering why my hair looks so flat all the time.In short, its stressful.When I first started doing this, I didnt use a professional. Nope Instead I used my iPhone and terrible overhead lighting. Suffice it to say, it did elend look awesome. This photo is real, as is my decision to wear sunglasses. (Guys, I dont know why that seemed like a good idea.)After witnessing this mess I made, I graduated to a professional videographer- but I still hadnt mastered my hair. It was questionable at best.Now, ma ny videos later, I film in a studio and hire professional hair and makeup help. (Plus, I pay for animation) It was a long road to get here. And when I look back at my old videos, I sort of cant believe I let other people see them. (No, seriously, I was shooting one of them in a closet. Why?)With that said, I never wouldve gotten here without starting there first. And that brings me to one of the hardest lessons Ive ever had to learn You are not perfect. (I can say this, because I also am not perfect) You are rarely born with the ability to immediately master something, with no practice or learning.And thats OK. I get emails all the time from folks who are terrified of making a change in their jobs or careers, because they are terrified of messing up. I understand, but I also have good news Failing is human.But, instead of naming it failure, lets call it what it really is An epic lesson on the road to success.To get anywhere, to become masterful at anything, youve got to start from s omewhere. And for many of us, somewhere often ranges from terrible to OK. And this fear of being terrible at something, wellit keeps you stuck. Often completely paralyzed from doing anything.So, what if we made a pact This week, well all try something that is scary in our work. Something that potentially might not turn out okay. Something that weve been thinking about, but putting off.Maybe its signing up for a new course, or a new online program to get certified in something.Maybe its volunteering for something new at work, a project or position that seems challenging.Maybe its just trying out a side gig, practicing a little bit, so that you can improve your skills before you put them out in the world.Maybe its sending that first application out, or asking for that first informational interview, or asking for that first new client to work with you.But Heres the critical part Once you do it, if it doesnt go quite as planned, dont think Oh no, I failed.Instead think Well that was an interesting lesson. What do I want to do differently next time to improve?So, ask yourself right now what youre going to learn this week- and tell me on Twitter. (Oh, and if what you want to learn is how to find your passion, heres a fancy-pants free workbook to help you do just that.)

Specialty dining on cruises elevates your culinary experiences

Specialty dining on cruises elevates your culinary experiencesSpecialty dining on cruises elevates your culinary experiencesCruising is a vacation option packed with value. Included in your cruise fare are meals in the main dining room and many casual venues on board, as well as your cabin, and most entertainment and onboard activities. Specialty dining restaurants charge either per diem per passenger or guests can pay a la carte.Weve asked travel experts about why to splurge on unterstellung dining extras.Specialty dining helps make cruise vacations relaxing and exclusiveAt specialty dining venues, there is a broader selection of dining times, allowing guests you mora activity choices, says Charlotte Nichols, director of business development, supplier relations and partnership marketing for AAA Travel at AAA Northeast. Generally, when eating dinner in the main dining room, guests have a set dining time. A specialty dining reservation can change an evening routine a bit.Special reque sts may be easierSpecialty dining allows more customization available for your overall experience. If there are food restrictions, they may be easily handled there. Also, if sailing during a celebration, it can be nicer in a more intimate setting like birthdays and anniversaries.Ambiance mattersThe main dining rooms are nice and the servers are very attentive but the noise level can be a challenge. Specialty dining venues are smaller and more intimate spaces for romance or are easier to have conversations with like-minded people, Nichols says.Mix it upNichols said to try an avoid the boredom of the same venue night after night. Switch it up, she recommends. On Royal Caribbeans newest ship Symphony of the Seas, which is also the largest ship in the world, guests can elevate their main dining room experience at dining venues including Chops Grille, Hooked Seafood, 150 Central Park, Jamies Italian by Jamie Oliver, Wonderland and Izumi.The level of service and dining experience is well worth the cost at any of these restaurants.Try and book your cruise with dining perksThe cruise lines use have been using specialty dining promotions and perks as part of their booking incentives instead of reducing cruise prices, says travel blogger at WeAtTheSea.com, Michelle Miller.Specifically, they are being offered in a choose your perk format, Celebrity, MSC, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian have all have done this fall, she says.According to Miller, cruisers are given options of things like 1) specialty dining, 2) beverage packages, 3) internet use, 4) onboard credit, 5) shore excursions. Depending on the level of cabin selected, the cruisers can choose one or even all of the perks offered, Miller continues.The ports of calls may even be featuredTravel professionals like Rachael Young with Journey Genies Travel Planning, recommend specialty dining to their clients for a more enhanced experience over a buffet or the main dining room. Sometimes, these dining venues feature menu i tems tied to the ports the ship is calling on.Along with fine dining selections, a specialty restaurant may be themed to a particular destination or region, explained Young. This often means you can venture outside of your culinary comfort zone, trying new and delicious foods that have more cultural flair.

What Motivates You to Do Your Best at Work

What Motivates You to Do Your Best at WorkWhat Motivates You to Do Your Best at Work?What Motivates You to Do Your Best at WorkSome adults find it difficult to place their feet on the floor after the alarm clock goes off in the morning. Others cant wait to spring into action. And others wake up without emotion, knowing it will be just another day at the office.Those are three brief but different pictures of personal motivation. Each of us has to have some reason to get up every day and go to work. For some, the motivation is financial making the money to provide for a family and socking some away for retirement. For others, its the thrill of accomplishing something worthwhile and taking pride in it.

Relevant Skills Resume Secrets

Relevant Skills Resume Secrets In accounting, the term relevant range usually refers to a normal variety of volume or standard quantity of activity where the overall amount of a businesss fixed costs arent going to change as the volume or volume of activity changes. With large companies its a good bet they are going to have the size and infrastructure to be certain that the ideal processes, controls and checkpoints are in place to be sure that the scores are valid, auditable, and verifiable. Local methods need an accurate and suitable document similarity measure. You need to talk about the advantages and dangers of using Accolate (zafirlukast) while youre pregnant. The expression relevant range is contained in the definition of fixed costs, since if a corporations volume should happen to decline to an extremely low level, the corporation would take action to decrease its total sum of fixed costs. For example, relevant price is utilised to figure out whether to sell or maintai n a business unit. The outcomes are striking. The concentration in the business is forecast to increase over the following five decades, as the key players fight to raise their market share through acquisitions. Further companies should have a minimum yearly revenue of $12B Like query models, there are a number of different varieties of document models widely used in search. The majority of the huge accounting firms apply the FAST standard for a guideline. To begin with, you should have the ability to identify which journals are peer-reviewed. Every work applicant knows the way to compose a resume. While bank teller jobs can act as a great way to enter the discipline of finance, its important that you show that you have the required skills to serve as the surface of the branch. Also if its too fancy, it may switch off the employer. Also, in the vorstellung the employer is an ageist, I dont need to allow them to know that Im a geezer. For drafting an impressive application, its important that you know the things that ought to be included in your CV. Therefore you should know exactly how to pick the best resume design before putting in an application for a work interview You will need to understand how to include technical skills on your resume if you would like to make the most of your probability of getting hired. These tricky language skills have to do the job. The Rise of Relevant Skills Resume If you get a wide selection of technical abilities, however, your abilities might end up being precisely what gets you hired. Functional resumes are excellent for highlighting transferable skills which are applicable to your new field of work. Job-specific skills vary dependent on the position. Next, you are going to start to list your major abilities and abilities. The overall appearance of your resume is dependent upon the resume format, font and outline you select. Resume length can fluctuate based on your circumstance. Chronological resumes ar ent the very best fit for fresh graduates due to the fact that they dont have a lot of expertise in the very first spot. What to Expect From Relevant Skills Resume? Dont forget, the web is an extraordinary resource for recruiters and if you dont want to devote massive amounts of grant upon directionless job boards, at this point you have the skills it requires to locate clear Sample Skills Resume. Creating a functional resume can be fascinating whenever you have the most suitable guideline to follow. The program isnt open-ended, however. On the Journey is a great program though. What You Need to Know About Relevant Skills Resume For readability, the footnotes are moved to the conclusion of the appropriate chapter. On occasion the phrases refereed journals or scholarly journals are utilized to spell out exactly the same kind of journals. Locate the official web site on the world wide web, and check to see whether it states that the journal is peer-reviewed. If you cant limi t your primary search to peer-reviewed journals, youll need to check to see whether the source of a report is a peer-reviewed journal. Essentially, the procedure for content curation is the action of sorting through considerable amounts of content on the www and presenting the best posts in a meaningful and organized way. If you dont locate the journal youre interested in, you might want to utilize Method 3 below. Quite simply, content curation is extremely different from content advertising. Content curation is turning into an important tactic for virtually any advertising department to keep up a successful on-line presence.

10 Things Successful People Never Do Again

10 Things Successful People Never Do Again Never go back. What does that mean? Fromobservations of successful people, clinical psychologist and author ofNever Go Back 10 Things Youll Never Do Again(Howard Books, June 2014), Dr. Henry Cloud has discovered certain awakenings that people have in life and in business that once they have them, they never go back to the old way of doing things. And when that happens, they are never the same.In short, they got it.Years ago, a bad business decision of mine led to an interesting discussion with my mentor, Dr. Cloud says. I had learned a valuable lesson the hard way, and he reassured me The good thing is once you learn that lesson, you never go back. You never do it again.I wondered, what are the key awakenings that successful people go through that forever change how they do things, which propel them to succeed in business, relationships, and life? Dr. Cloud continues. I began to study these awakenings, rese arching them over the years.Although life and business have many lessons to teach us, Dr. Cloud observed 10 doorways of learning that high performers go through, never to return again.Successful people never again1. Return to What Hasnt WorkedWhether a job or a broken relationship that was ended for a good reason, we should never go back to the same thing, expecting different results, without something being different.2. Do Anything That Requires Them to Be Someone They Are NotIn everything we do, we have to ask ourselves, Why am I doing this? Am I suited for it? Does it fit me? Is it sustainable? If the answer is no to any of these questions, you better have a very good reason to proceed.3. Try to Change Abedrngnisher PersonWhen you realize that you cannotlage force someone into doing something, you give them freedom and allow them to experience the consequences. In doing so, you find your own freedom as well.4. Believe They Can Please EveryoneOnce you get that it truly is impossib le to please everyone, you begin to live purposefully, trying to please the right people.5. Choose Short-Term Comfort Over Long-Term BenefitOnce successful people know they want something that requires a painful, time-limited step, they do not mind the painful step because it gets them to a long-term benefit. Living out this principle is one of the most fundamental differences between successful and unsuccessful people, both personally and professionally.6. Trust Someone or Something That Appears FlawlessIts natural for us to be drawn to things and people that appear incredible. We love excellence and should always be looking for it. We should pursue people who are great at what they do, employees who are high performers, dates who are exceptional people, friends who have stellar character, and companies that excel. But when someone or something looks too good to be true, then they probably are. The world is imperfect. Period. No one and no thing is without flaw, and if they appear that way, hit pause.7. Take Their Eyes Off the Big PictureWe function better emotionally and perform better in our lives when we can see the big picture. For successful people, no one event is ever the whole story. Winners remember that each and every day.8. Neglect to Do Due DiligenceNo matter how good something looks on the outside, it is only by taking a deeper, diligent, and honest look that we will find out what we truly need to know the reality that we owe ourselves.9. Fail to Ask Why They Are Where They Find ThemselvesOne of the biggest differences between successful people and others is that, in love and in life, in relationships and in business, successful people always ask themselves, What part am I playing in this situation?Said another way, they do not see themselves only as victims even when they are.10. Forget That Their Inner Life Determines Their Outer SuccessThe good life sometimes has little to do with outside circumstances. We are happy and fulfilled mostly by w ho we are on the inside. Research validates that. And our internal lives largely contribute to producing many of our external circumstances.And the converse is true People who are still trying to find success in various areas of life can almost always point to one or more of these patterns as a reason they are repeating the same mistakes.Everyone makes mistakes even the most successful people out there. But what achievers do better than others is recognize the patterns that are causing those mistakes and never repeat them again. In short, they learn from pain their own and the pain of others.A good thing to remember is this Pain is unavoidable, but repeating the same pain twice, when we could choose to learn and do something different, is certainly avoidable. I like to say, We dont need new ways to fail the old ones are working just fineOur task, in business and in life, is to observe what they are and never go back to doing them again.A version of this article originally appear ed on SUCCESS.com.Dr. Henry Cloud is a clinical psychologist and leadership coach and has written and co-written more than 20 books, including his latest, Never Go Back 10 Things Youll Never Do Again (June 2014).

How to Deal With a Micromanaging Boss Who Slows You Down - The Muse

How to Deal With a Micromanaging Boss Who Slows You Down - The MuseHow to Deal With a Micromanaging Boss Who Slows You Down Tzu siches nothing left to tackle on your to-do list. Unfortunately, its not because youve been a productivity superstar. Its because every last thing on your list is at a standstill- pending an approval, edits, or guidance from your manager. Managers often do this with the best of intentions. They want to see, review, and endorse everything that goes out of the department to make sure its the best it can be. But in the process of doing that, emails build up in their inboxes, and employees sit around, waiting for the approvals they need to move on with their projects. How do you handle a bottleneck thats impeding your ability to get your work done? Here are a few tips to absprache with a micromanaging boss.Plan for ItYou know that friend whos late to everything? Shes the one who says Im almost there when she hasnt even pulled out of her driveway yet. You may dea l with her perpetual lateness for a while, but when you know theres an important event that she absolutely has to be on time for- like your wedding- you tell her that it starts an hour earlier than it actually does. And then she shows up perfectly on time. In the same way, you have to plan ahead when you know youre going to encounter a bottleneck. That could, for example, mean getting the report into your managers inbox a week earlier than you otherwise would, to allot some extra time for him or her to review and approve it. Or, if youre writing a company newsletter, maybe you get your managers approvals on each of the story ideas before you actually start writing- instead of working to complete the entire newsletter and then presenting it to her approval, forcing a tight deadline that probably wont be met.Remind, Remind AgainThe absolute worst thing you can do is send a request or assignment to your boss by email, and then simply wait (and wait, and wait) for a response. Thats prac tically begging for your task to get caught in the bottleneck.At the root of the issue, your boss is probably very busy (and perhaps a bit disorganized)- and that means that he or she may need a reminder or two to make sure tasks get accomplished. So, maybe you email your boss on Monday afternoon with your request or assignment for review. On Tuesday, as you pass by his office during lunch, you stop in and say, Just wanted to remind you that I need your review and approval on the Smith proposal by end of day on Wednesday- its in your inbox now. And then Wednesday morning, you pop in again to ask, Will you be able to get me your changes and approval this afternoon? I can re-send if you need.I know, it sounds annoying. But frankly, your boss will likely appreciate the reminders- and if it helps you get what you need, its ultimately helping your boss (and the entire department) succeed. Ask to Take the LeadWhile its clear that your manager prefers to review and approve everything that goes through the department, if you make him or her feel mora confident in your abilities, he or she may be willing to hand over the reins.For example, I recently had a manager who liked to have the last look at everything my team and I wrote- down to the most mundane emails- and it was significantly slowing down everyones progress. I finally took a chance standing my ground on a small assignment I knew I had nailed Hey Lisa, there are two webinar invites that are due today. I reviewed the copy and there were very few edits. I know you have a lot on your plate already would it be OK if I went ahead and moved them forward?She (somewhat reluctantly) agreed, and I was finally able to cross that item off my to-do list- and she saw that it turned out fine. Once I had tested the waters, I slowly started feeling more confident about making those calls on other assignments I dont think this one needs your review, so Im going to go ahead and finalize it. Is that OK? And most of the time, she agreed. Sure, if we were writing a company-wide email communication on behalf of the executive team, wed need her approval. But if I was making minor edits to an existing sales brochure or PowerPoint deck, she agreed that she didnt need to review. And that opened up her time and loosened the bottleneck. Have a Frank ConversationOf course, your boss may be more of a stickler- and his or her response to your attempt to sidestep the established process may be, No, I still need to review it. Ill get to it as soon as I can.In that case, you need to address the issue more directly. During your regularly scheduled one-on-one meeting (if you dont have one set up- you should), bring up the issue and how its affecting the team I know you have quite a few projects and assignments that are waiting for review. Is there a way we can make the process more efficient? Is there anything I can do individually to make it easier on you? For example, maybe shed prefer you to specify the deadline in the subject line of your email, so she can prioritize her inbox based on whats due immediately. Or, maybe your boss would prefer that you bring a list of pending items to a weekly check-in meeting, and you can address any questions- and immediately check off approvals- as you go. But even if you cant determine an immediate solution, alerting your boss directly will help him or her realize its not just a matter of disorganization or an overflowing inbox- its a problem thats impacting the entire teams productivity. And that can be the wake-up call your boss needs to figure out a solution.Photo of hose drip courtesy of Shutterstock.

The best things in life are usually byproducts

The best things in life are usually byproductsThe best things in life are usually byproductsThales of Miletus, considered the first true philosopher in ancient Greece, lived a simple life.We know him today for his application of early scientific principles to the study of nature. In a way, he welches the intersection that caused mythology to diverge away from a world of facts.Naturally, there is little he had to say that is considered profound today, but for the time he lived in, his approach was nothing short of revolutionary. When he talked, people listened.According to legend, however, as his appeal grew, so did the noise of his critics. What could a man of such humble origins tell them about how the world worked, they wondered. Surely, if he knew what he was talking about, his wealth and his success would speak for itself.Much of their irritation with Thales came from him shunning such worldly desires. They had a point, too Can you really criticize something that you havent exper ienced for yourself?Thales, the story goes, then set out to make his case. Using his observational knowledge of astronomy, he rightly predicted that one of the years would have a particularly favorable climate for olives to grow on olive trees. The winter before harvest season, he made his bet.By hiring away all of the olive presses before the harvest, he became the single point of distribution for the machinery needed to collect the fruit, making a fortune in the process.He didnt have much money or any visible form of leverage before this, but he did have a theory based on his tested knowledge and that, apparently, paid off in an indirect way.When people began acknowledging his worldly success, he simply went back to his old, simple way of being. The only difference this time was that no one dared to doubt him.Second-order effects carry the rewardLike most parables of historical figures, there is as much chance that the story of Thales is grounded in myth as it is in reality. That, nonetheless, doesnt stop it from being useful.There are a few points we can take away here. The obvious one concerns itself with virtue and Thales living what he preached. Another is the value of knowledge and understanding how to think well enough that the theories we rationalize translate into practice.The most interesting illumination, however, which connects to the other two but is mora foundational, is the fact that everything has both an intended and an unintended side-effect.Thales never cared about being wealthy and successful things we think of as the reward but his intention to learn and to understand the world paved a way there regardless. Granted, he walked away when he got there, but the connection between the two matters.Most of the things we want this could be said to include our pursuit of happiness, too are arbitrary cultural constructs which have changing definitions. They have no fixed point, and they dont represent a universal, timeless emotion or feeling or value or way-of-being.Even if we, ourselves, define success and happiness at some point, theres still nothing concrete to grasp because we live in a world of constant change, making them arbitrary.Any attempt to acquire such rewards, then, is misguided. You cant intend to wake up living a perfect life in a year, hoping that your goals and the 10 steps you laid out will get you there, because your expectancy of what that perfect life is fluctuates as you interact with reality.The best things in life are byproducts. They are almost never intentional first-order effects, but unintentional second-order effects. They emerge as a consequence of just doing what you ought to do in a way that is valuable and meaningful over a sustained period of time.In Thaless case, maybe wealth brought him new conveniences, and that was nice, but his appreciation of the simple life was born from not minding whether the reward was there or not, which in turn likely enabled him to enjoy it in a healthier an d more balanced way.The most direct way to get what we intuitively want is to let it go and keep moving.Orienting yourself in what is disorientingMost of us think about the future a lot. We make plans, we consider, and we compare. Many of us, in fact, live in this imagined thought-game more than we do in the reality around us.This is a natural human instinct, one most people need to engage for survival. But in order to make sense of this thought-game, we do something that damages us We use the arbitrary words like happiness and success and their association with imagined events to orient us.Not only do we live in a made-up world, but we use that made-up world to guide us in reality, centering it on made-up definitions of words that dont have concrete definitions.We cant deal with the fact that the future is unknown and disorienting, so we create all this in our mind as a reference point. For the most part, it does fine, but at its core, its a thinking pattern that can only lead to dissatisfaction because the predictions we make are often poor.In his book Obliquity, economist John Kay makes the case that complex goals in complex systems which very much applies to us as humans are best achieved indirectly.Most rewards are byproducts, yes, but there is another caveat Due to the uncertainty we face when dealing with the future, the only way to orient ourselves in the right direction is to self-correct towards some roughly undefined point while focusing on something else.To make optimal decisions, an agent has to force their attention onto what they can control, which usually has nothing to do with happiness or success or any other worldly desire.This means that much of the imagined future we construct is a waste of mental energy and resources, because the only place where you can control something is right now, in reality.To orient ourselves in a disorienting world, we need to forgo our fixation with whats defined.The takeawayWe live in an interconnected reali ty, one in which the effects of actions produce externalities that cant always be predicted. Theres more to life than knowing that two plus two is four.The fable of Thales is telling because, once we extrapolate from it, its a reminder that there is usually more going on around us than we intuitively think, and we should respect that fact.Every choice we make, every action we take, and every effect we produce ripples to create second, third, and fourth-order effects that leave unintended byproducts. Often, its these byproducts that surprise us by giving us an answer we didnt even know we were looking for.It makes sense that we chase arbitrary definitions of success and happiness, and it makes even more sense that we try to define them for ourselves when we realize this, but broken down, the whole enterprise still fails because these things are simply coping mechanisms.They provide a reference point in an imagined future which offers orientation in the present. This is, naturally, va luable, but taken too far, it leads towards a game of disappointment.Complex systems are unpredictable which makes complex goals difficult to design. Rather, a better way of interacting with reality is by focusing on what can be controlled moment-to-moment, adjusting our orientation as we figure it out, letting the externalities play their part.This doesnt mean that we shouldnt strive to be better or that its not worth fulfilling any of our desires. All it means is that the best things in life dont always respond to attention.If we learn to focus on what we simply ought to do, quite often, the rest takes care of itself.Want to think and live smarter? Zat Rana publishes a free weekly newsletter for 30,000+ readers atDesign Luck.

The 3 Hardest Job Interview Questions for Young Professionals

The 3 Hardest Job Interview Questions for Young ProfessionalsThe 3 Hardest Job Interview Questions for Young ProfessionalsYour first job interviews can be nerve-wracking. Youre eager to make a good impression, but you may not feel like you have much experience, either at interviewing or in your professional field. But with a little preparation you can be your best in any interview. Heres how.There are hundreds of potential interview questions you might be asked. The following are tricky because they suggest that you veer a bit into the personal side with your answers.Tell me about yourself.What were you paid in your last position? (Or Whats your salary history?)Do you have any questions for me?Lets get into them.Tell me about yourselfThe question might suggest you start with a description of yourchildhood, then move onto your education and hobbies. Keep it about the work.Start with a successful moment from a previous position. Heres an exampleIve focused on creating visual narrative that tells a story as quickly and effectively as possible. As an example, I was able to cut a video clip to half its length by identifying an entirely new entry point. My boss told me that it more than doubled views.Take that specific example and make it into a statement about a more general strength or ability you possessI particularly enjoy paring a story down to its essential visuals so its impact can be exceptionally clear and direct.End with what youre looking forIm looking for a position where I can put my skills to use. I love contributing. But I also love being in an environment where I can learn and continue to advance my skills.Notice that most of your answers are about helping them.What were you paid in your last position?I recommend not answering this question if at all possible. You want them to evaluate you based on your work and how you present yourself. Your past pay is about who you were before. Its not about who you are now and going into the future.Even if you fee l forced to answer this question, you want to put off answering as long as possible. So, the first step is to turn it aroundWhat have you budgeted for this position?Then, follow up withHow did you determine that range?You can also honestly sayI dont feel that would be relevant information at this point because my skills have improved dramatically- as youve seen- since that compensation package was established.You can also take the initiative and cite your own research withIve reviewed the surveys, and, given my experience, I believe I should be paid $___.And my favorite answerI need to keep my past salary confidential for my employer as well as for myself.Do you have any questions for me?Most people find themselves unprepared for this one. It almost always comes at the end of the interview, and at this point you may be feeling a sense of relief and thinking youve survived, its gone OK, maybe youll even get the offer. And then they hit you with it, and youre on the spot to prove you have your own well-developed, insightful and distinctive questions.The trick is to have own questions prepared in advance. And no matter how enthusiastic you get addressing some of these saatkorn topics during the interview, hold back on a few until the end.By now, you and the interviewer have gotten to know each other a bit. If its gone even reasonably well, youve likely begun forming some kind of a personal connection.You could ask general questions about the job, the company or the industry. All of these would be reasonable. But youcould further that personal bond with the interviewer by addressing something more individual to them, along the lines of the followingWhy did you join the company?What do you like about working here?Whats your favorite part of the job?And, finally, you can say something likeYou are part of a remarkable organization. Your work in short films is game-changing. Id like to be a part of that, and I believe I have a lot to offer.Bonus tip A few more ways to respondKeep these phrases at the ready. You can use them as needed or appropriate in the course of the interview.Help me understand. This is athoughtful, polite way to ask a question that challenges the other person to clarify something murky without insulting them.I started on this journey in grade school when I . Thisestablishes thedepthof your dedication.In my experience . Because everyone, no matter how young or old, has some distinctive experiences of value to offer.Ted Leonhardt helps creative workers define their strengths and own their value in the marketplace. A designer, illustrator, and former Global Creative Director of FITCH Worldwide, Teds specialized approach to negotiation for creatives has been featured in Business Insider, Fast Company, Communication Arts, and HOW Design.