Do you believe that you’re just average? Do you want to achieve more in your life, but you don’t know how? Do you realize that it’s possible to get smarter overnight? Sometimes letting your smart shine is more about how you learn, not how smart you are. It’s about what you do to bring out your smarter self.

When I was in high school, I did not think I was smart. I looked at the kids who got straight A’s and wished that I was like them. I figured some people were born smart. The rest of us were less…

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Can companies make their office layout truly welcoming for all employees — both neurodivergent and neurotypical? As America gears up for a return to the office, now is the perfect opportunity to create an office that works for everyone.

It’s interesting that many companies, prior to the pandemic, were remodeling their office spaces to reduce the quiet spaces in their environment. Out went the frequently maligned cubicles; in came “group spaces” with minimal privacy. Workers got lockers for personal items, just like high school! …

TECH HACKS, PRODUCTIVITY

Do you have a story inside you? Have you procrastinated because you despise the thought of sitting for hours at a keyboard?

These days, most of us communicate at least once per day in writing — whether through a Facebook or Instagram post, an email, creating a blog post, or even writing a book. Regardless of the length of the message, it can feel like a chore to open your laptop or pull up the onscreen keyboard to type it out. When you’ve committed to meeting a daily word count, it can feel even more daunting.

So don’t do it…

The pandemic has revealed a silver lining for employees: reduced commuting time. Rather than spending two to four hours per day commuting to and from an office, employees are signing on and off each day with zero commute time. They’ve gained so many more hours in their day that many workers are reluctant to return to the old office-based work structure.

In addition to not having a long commute to bookend their day, employees are reporting that they have more energy to devote to their jobs, too. It’s not unusual in cities with grueling commutes like Boston, San Francisco, and…

Entrepreneur

When I started my business, I did almost everything myself. I did my own marketing, booked my speaking engagements, bought plane tickets, created my business plan, you name it. Other than paying someone to do my taxes, I handled the key aspects of the business myself. And I’m certain that many entrepreneurs started in the same way, with their sleeves rolled up.

Very quickly, however, managing all of these aspects became overwhelming. I knew I needed help, but hiring someone wasn’t part of my business strategy at that point. Fortunately, a colleague told me to hire a virtual assistant.

That…

Employee Engagement

Do your remote employees seem unmotivated, cynical, and even a little angry? Has their productivity dropped? Do they just seem to not care? Pay attention, because your employees are burning out.

In fact, a November 2020 Spring Health survey of 1,136 employed adults found that 76% of remote employees are currently experiencing burnout!

“Worker burnout symptoms include exhaustion, reduced work performance, and feeling negative, cynical, or detached from work,” Spring Health’s study notes.

Likewise, a late 2020 study by Asana that surveyed 13,000 employees worldwide pegged the level of burnout at 71%.

This is a crisis.

It’s not just having…

Professional Speaker

Several years ago, I found myself sitting in the office of an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist, panicking. For over a year, I had suffered from laryngitis and other chronic voice issues. The doctor, knowing that I was a professional speaker, looked me straight in the eyes and said, “If you don’t start taking care of your voice, you will lose it.”

Most speakers never get formal voice training. Yet at some point in our lives, most of us will need to speak to a group, in a loud, clear, controlled voice — whether it’s as an executive at…

Even though it appears that we’re approaching the end of the pandemic and a return to “normal,” remote work, for many employees, is here to stay. Why would a company decide to keep the remote work structure, in some format, even after the offices reopen?

The benefits to the employee have long been touted: they save commuting time and expense; they get much greater flexibility in their work schedules.

But those benefits to companies weren’t always recognized until a worldwide emergency forced companies to create remote work programs. …